Can an OBi110 replace an $$$$ FXO card? I say yes!

[Mango]

The setup: a cable VoIP ATA connected to the FXO port of an OBi110, configured to route calls to an Asterisk server.  The Asterisk server is configured to route calls to my SPA921 IP phone, approximately 1000 kilometers away from the OBi110.  Audio travels directly from the OBi110 to the SPA921 and is not proxied by the Asterisk server.  Both the OBi110 and the SPA921 are behind Tomato routers with strict QoS rules and are on different ISPs.

The result: today, upon finding out where I was located, one of my callers told me I sound "better than most local calls".  This comment was completely unsolicited, and the caller knew nothing about the fact that I use VoIP, or even the fact that I designed my employer's phone system.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  VoIP has the capability to sound at least as good as a POTS line.  If yours does too, then you're doing it right.

[Felix]

Mango.

Wholeheartedly agree. Corollary - if VSP is assuming that it is inherently impossible to make it work as well as POTS, they are incompetent. It may be economically unprofitable (sometimes it's better to lose a customer, than to keep a customer that is more expensive to service than the income you are getting); and I realize that the provider may be reluctant to say it so bluntly. But at least it's more honest than start blaming router, modem, and ISP without doing any troubleshooting to support the point...