OBI100 tech details

[nostar]

Right before I bought my OBI100 I was considering starting an electronics/computer project of setting up and building an open source VOIP solution, possibly using Asterisk.  I soon realized asterisk was way more complex for my needs, the OBI being exactly what I wanted.  I still want to learn about the internals though.  Before I break the box open, can someone tell me if OBI is hobbyist friendly and/or willing to share source code and/or tech details?  Being affiliated with google, I kinda hoped so.

If not, I at least need to find out specifics about how the OBI100 module communicates over the Internet.  Can someone tell me the specific url/address and port(s) that OBI connects to?  The reason I ask this is that I have a friend that lives in Iran that is unable to use Vonage or Lingo due to the ridiculous restrictions Iran places on Internet access over there.  I am willing to bet that the OBI via google voice will work over there, but who knows for how long.  Before I suggest that she buy one, I woudl like to be able to have her do a simple ping/portscan of the address(es) that she needs to be able to connect to from over there.  Going back to the open source question, lets say the address is blocked, or becomes blocked later.  If I had access to the firmware, I could change the address that the OBI connects to, to some server of my own, and write an daemon that simply redirects to OBI servers.

I hope you guys are willing to help me out here, love the product so far.

[QBZappy]

nostar,

Interesting what you are trying to do. All the effort the you are prepared to go through could be better spent by sending a cheap router with a 3rd pary firmware like Tomato, DDWRT, or Neorouter. The first two involve setting up OpenVPN. The last a one is built on Tomato firmware however using a different VPN product. Good routers to mod are Asus WL-500gP v2 (cheap), Asus RT-N16 (a little more expensive, but more power). Your router and the overseas router then be setup as if they are on the same internal LAN. I think this would satisfy the need for security, voice quality issues, no future maintenance if ports or protocols are blocked.

Before I break the box open, can someone tell me if OBI is hobbyist friendly and/or willing to share source code and/or tech details?  Being affiliated with google, I kinda hoped so.

Going back to the open source question, lets say the address is blocked, or becomes blocked later.  If I had access to the firmware, I could change the address that the OBI connects to, to some server of my own, and write an daemon that simply redirects to OBI servers.

If you have the skills to write a daemon I think you can easily set up this type of router. Also anything dealing with Google and GTALK/GCHAT can be applied automatically to the OBi, since the OBi is a hardware unit with the GTALK/GCHAT builtin. If you can dream up some app which involves GTALK/GCHAT then the OBi will ring the attached phone. By the way I don't think that the OBihai and Google are affiliated in any way, at leate not publicly. I would think that OBihai would one day be a perfect target for Google.

[pc44]

I somehow recall hearing about Iran's blocking of all secure/SSL traffic within their country a couple of months ago.  If this is so, then I would imagine VPN options may not be successful.

Does anyone know if this SSL/TLS traffic block is still in effect over there?

pc44

[nostar]

Yeah, I setup a VPN on my Dreamhost webserver and set her up on it.  She connected fine but all attempts to visit sites hung or dead crawl.  Not sure how they implimented that but VPN is pretty much useless.

First things first though, I have a feeling ATM an OBI will work out of the box for her, since it's still kinda under the radar, but I like to get the addresses used first and have her test first.

[QBZappy]

nostar,

I seem to remember that all the ports used where in the FAQ, but I can no longer find it.

If you want q quick way to find out if the OBiTALK service will work in the country, you can ask your friend to install the OBiAPP+softphone (Xlite) on their computer. This will simulate an OBi unit. Make sure that the OBiAPP is linked to your OBi unit in the OBiTALK web portal.

[GregoryZ]

nostar,

I seem to remember that all the ports used where in the FAQ, but I can no longer find it.

Here is that Link to the Ports used:
http://www.obihai.com/FAQ.html#ports-to-keep-open-on-my-router