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xxM5xx's Avatar
Posts: 354 | Thanked: 93 times | Joined on Oct 2007 @ New York
#14
I have several Sunrocket (actually ATS) IP phones at home. Look here:

http://www.atsphone.com/internet/6000/6011s.html

Sunrocket went belly up. Late in 2007 and earlier this year these 6011S phones could be purchased on eBay new in the box for ~ $10 each, sometimes less. I have something like 8 of them. I programmed them to work with Gizmo Project's SIP service instead. (I do not have home PSTN service whatsoever). I use these 6011S phones for incoming (mostly) and out going as follows:

My Nokia N800 is with me at all times, connected to my LAN, and I have DialCentral running on the N800. I simply dial out on the N800 touch screen (DialCentral is awesome), and pick up the ATS 6011S handset to be connected with the party I am calling out to. The call costs nothing per minute, nothing per month, and there are no taxes. I use the N800 as a dial-pad. If people call in on my Grandcentral number it rings in on "everything". When home I pick up the incoming call on one of the three 6011S handsets I have spread around the house and press #1 (or some other choice) on the 6011S handset, or I can answer that incoming call using Gizmo5 on my N800 if I chose (using the touchscreen keypad). I also can answer with the call w/ a GSM cell because that rings at the same time everything else is ringing. For outbound I have the option of using Gizmo's backdoor dialing (0101) to call certain parties directly from my N800 or any of the ATS 6011S handsets. I could set-up one or more 6011S devices to MagicJack or Webacall or I can use a laptop or desktop also.

The great thing about the N800 is I can have it SIMULTANEOUSLY registered to Gizmo5, Skype, Webacall, MagicJack, Tpad, FWD (formally FreeWorldDialup), and more SIP carriers/providers for incoming, and I can chose from several methods at the ready for N800 outgoing. Incoming calls from any of several sources will ring the N800 (all free of charge to me), and when it is SIP to SIP, or Skype to Skype free for both in either direction. This multiple / simultaneous registration to many VOIP providers is equivalent to having a half dozen (or more) ATA adapters all in the one device...my *N800*. I pay almost nothing monthly for all of this flexibility. Even after the free ride with GrandCentral's outbound Click2Call eventually comes to an end, my monthly costs will remain tiny. GC promises the incoming service will remain free even after they switch to paid outbound services. If GC vanishes, I still have IPkall inbound and GroovyTel inbound PSTN numbers people can use. Something new is available now also... inum.

John: I know you said you don't like the packet switched SIP but I sometimes use WebaCall's service (I am not affiliated) and I can't complain about call quality when I am in my wireless LAN or in someone else's wireless LAN that isn't a flaky LAN. More and more PSTN and cell calls use some portion of the Internet to transmit voice data these days, some of your calls are subject to packet switching traffic even if you don't like it or want it.

I use the Free42 RPN scientific calc., KMplayer, MAP, Kagu and so many other things in the N800 daily I cannot imagine being without it.

I have leveraged my N800 heavily. For me a day without it would have a huge void, to others maybe not.

Last edited by xxM5xx; 2008-11-19 at 02:34.