Using laptop as landline telephone
PC10SR:
I am severely disabled (I have no use of my arms) and I would like to use my adapted Windows laptop to talk on my home PSTN landline here in the UK. Could I achieve this using an OBi110 or similar device coupled with VoIP software on my laptop?
I would anticipate locating the voice bridge next to my wireless router and landline socket and linking to my laptop via wi-fi.
Is this feasible? If so, how would I connect and configure the system (conceptually not physically, I have able bodied assistance), and would I need any an extra hardware or adapters?
Any help would be hugely appreciated.
ianobi:
PC10SR - welcome to the forum.
What you would like can be done if two conditions can be met:
1. Your router must be able to give static local ip addresses to your laptop and to the OBi110. Sometimes this is done by binding the local ip address to the devices mac number.
2. The voip client (softphone) on your laptop must be able to call without registration. I use PhonerLite mainly for testing these kind of setups, it is free and allows calling without registration. Once the setup is proven to work, then you might want to find a more sophisticated softphone.
If those conditions can be met, then the only cost to you would be the OBi110. The PSTN line plugs into the Line Port of the OBi110, which will interface with the softphone on your laptop via your router.
Another option is to use the OBiTALK network to connect between the laptop softphone and the OBi110. This has the advantage of not needing the above two conditions. The disadvantage is that you are using servers located in California to set up each call, although it is free to use once you have bought the OBi110.
The OBi110 needs a physical Ethernet patch cable to connect to the router - this comes in the box. The Line Port connection is the North American rj11 style and needs an adaptor to plug into the British Telecom socket. A suitable one is recommended on Amazon.co.uk next to the OBi110 ad.
I won't detail all of the setup configuration in this first reply, but I'm happy to do so if you go ahead with the idea. The OBi110 comes with settings suitable for North America, so it needs some alterations to get the best out of it in a UK situation. I'm in the UK, so I'm happy to advise on those alterations.
PC10SR:
ianobi - many thanks for your speedy and informative reply.
I am expecting my OBi110 and adapters from Amazon UK tomorrow.
My Sagemcom 2504n router can allocate reserved IP addresses and I will use whatever Windows 8.1 compatible softphone program is recommended. Alternatively, I have BlueStacks, so I could possibly run an Android app if that offered any advantage.
Fingers crossed that I don't end up with a tangle of wires and frayed nerves!
Is this topic appropriate in this thread or should I move to the newbies area?
ianobi:
I should have said that a phone that can plug into the Phone Port of the OBi110 will be required to add the device to the OBiTALK network. This is part of the initial set up which is explained in the Quick Start Guide that comes with the OBi110. The phone can be an old corded type (may need another adapter) or a new hands free / DECT phone.
I recommend port forwarding in your router of port 10000 to the ip address of the OBi110. I don't think other ports will need to be forwarded as you are not using any voip services and the data links between your laptop and the OBi110 are all in your local router subnet.
There's more than one way to program your new OBi - I'll be going along with the standard Obihai company method.
Let's try PhonerLite as the laptop softphone to start with. It's free and a good test tool if things do not go right first time (often the case!)
Quote
Fingers crossed that I don't end up with a tangle of wires and frayed nerves!
Be prepared for frayed nerves! There's a lot of settings to change and it's easy for you to get one wrong (or for me to get it wrong in the write up). Testing is something we'll get to in good time!
Take it step by step - first add the OBi110 as described in the Quick Start Guide, then make sure it can receive incoming and make outgoing calls via the PSTN - there will be big delays in incoming calls ringing the phone attached to the OBi and outgoing calls getting the through to the called number, don't worry about this it will be fixed when we get to the configuration part. If all that works, then change all the settings which will be in my next post arriving here soon!
The best section for this thread is "Installation and Setup". It may well be useful to others looking for something similar.
ianobi:
I’m assuming that by this post you have added your OBi110 to OBiTALK (**5 etc…), you can make a test call to the OBi echo number **9 222 222 222 and you can make an incoming and outgoing PSTN call from the phone attached to the OBi110.
This looks scary, but most of these settings you will only be changing this one time. A lot of the settings are to optimise your OBi110 for UK use, the rest are for the actual config needed to link PSTN to laptop softphone. I recommend regular tea breaks and soothing music throughout :) Almost certainly, this will not work first time, but this forum has never failed to solve this type of setup. (So far!)
Assuming that your local ip addresses are as follows:
Laptop: 192.168.1.10
OBi110: 192.168.1.11
They can be anything so long as they are fixed, substitute your settings as required.
The setup will be:
PSTN > < OBi LINE Port > < OBi sp2 192.168.1.11:5490 > < laptop softphone 192.168.1.10:5498
PhonerLite (softphone on laptop) settings:
Set up new account:
New > Provider > Manual Configuration > Proxy/Registrar: 192.168.1.11:5490
Green arrow > Username: 12123434
Green tick
Then go into its configuration and ensure the settings are as follows:
(Remember to click on the “save” icon to save changes before moving on to the next page.)
Server > Proxy/Registrar: 192.168.1.11:5490
Server > Register: unchecked
User > Username: 12123434 (random numbers. This is the softphone CallerId and adds to the security of the setup. Same numbers will be used in the OBi110)
User > Displayed name: paulphone
Network > Local port: 5498 (can be almost anything even, but steer clear of 5060, again to add security to the setup)
Other settings at default.
OBi110:
This setup uses sp2. This leaves sp1 spare for future use should you decide you would like to add a voip service one day.
Most of the settings are check boxes or drop boxes. The digit maps etc can be cut and pasted from here rather than typed in, but be careful not to import any spaces.
Make changes via the OBi Expert Configuration pages. From your OBi Dashboard, click on your OBi number and follow the prompts to get there. To change a value uncheck both boxes to the right of the value and leave them unchecked. After changing the values on one page, press submit at the bottom of the page and wait a few minutes for the OBi to reboot. Then move on to the next page.
Physical Interfaces > PHONE Port > PrimaryLine: PSTN (default)
Physical Interfaces > PHONE Port > DigitMap:
([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]S9|[1-9][0-9]S9|999|112|101|111|**0|***|#|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**8(Mli)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli))
Physical Interfaces > PHONE Port > OutboundCallRoute:
{([1-9]x?*(Mpli)):pp},{(<#:>|999|112|101|111):li},{**0:aa},{***:aa2},{(<**1:>(Msp1)):sp1},{(<**2:>(Msp2)):sp2},{(<**8:>(Mli)):li},{(<**9:>(Mpp)):pp},{(Mpli):pli}
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> LINE Port -> RingDelay: 0
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> LINE Port -> RingProfile: B
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> LINE Port -> DialDigitOnTime: 80
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> LINE Port -> DialDigitOffTime: 80
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> PSTN Disconnect Detection -> CPCTimeThreshold: 100
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> PSTN Disconnect Detection -> DetectPolarityReversal: uncheck
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> PSTN Disconnect Detection -> DetectFarEndLongSilence: uncheck
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> PSTN Disconnect Detection -> DetectDisconnectTone: check
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> PSTN Disconnect Detection -> DisconnectTonePattern: 400-30;3
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> Port Settings -> ACImpedance: 370+(620||310nF)
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> Port Settings -> CallerIDDetectMethod: FSK(V.23)
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> DigitMap:
(999|112|101|111|0[4568]xx.S3|0[123]xxxxxxxxxS0|07[1-9]xxxxxxxxS0|116xxx|xx.S3)
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> InboundCallRoute
{ph,sp2}
If it is not required to ring the phone attached to the OBi110, then:
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> InboundCallRoute
{sp2}
Voice Services -> SP1 Service -> Enable : uncheck (another security measure)
Service Providers -> ITSP Profile B -> SIP -> ProxyServer : 192.168.1.10
Service Providers -> ITSP Profile B -> SIP -> ProxyServerPort : 5498
Service Providers -> ITSP Profile B -> SIP -> X_SpoofCallerID : checked
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> Enable : checked
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> AuthUserName : 56789 (anything, but not blank)
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> X_RegisterEnable : unchecked
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> X_ServProvProfile : B
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> X_UserAgentPort : 5490
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> CallerIDName : OBiHome
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> MaxSessions : 4
Voice Services -> SP2 Service -> X_InboundCallRoute:
{12123434:li}
To see how calls have been routed check in “Call History”. This can only be accessed via the OBi110 local web page. Use your browser to go to the ip address you fixed for the OBi110. Default user name and password are both “admin”. Then go to Status > Call History and you should see how the calls have been routed. Very useful if they have been routed to the wrong place!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page