[VoIP] Naive question

[John Novack]

Steph Kerman wrote:
> Gizmo is another techno-geek solution.  Anyone who already has an ATA 
> set up and has distributed their Voip service throughout the house is 
> not going to chain themselves to a PC to talk on the phone.
Techno-geek? Doesn't that apply to this whole discussion? Obviously you 
haven't explored Gizmo either.
That isn't the only way Gizmo can be used. Once the free account is 
established the Windows application can be removed, and the information 
gleaned from the installation can be used to set up almost ANY  SIP ATA. 
I know of NO ATA that can have 2 hosts for ONE port, and many of the 
commercial VOIP services lock the box to their service for BOTH ports
Hosting by a CNET would be necessary ONLY for users that don't have a 
Gizmo account. Or is this intended to be simply an OPX?
Remote hosting has and is being done by several CNET users now. SIP can 
be a problem, depending on routers at both ends
IAX remote hosting may be a better solution, though only one IAX box 
supports pulse dial, which may or may not be an issue in this special 
case, and being at the mercy of someone elses computer is less than 
desirable. In the US cases I know of, that is a stopgap measure until a 
better solution is in place.
There is a nice IAX box being sold on eBay for $70 plus shipping, and 
for the one application I am familiar with seems to work OK, though 
higher than normal noise. Perhaps a poor level of comfort noise that 
seems not adjustable. It is operating on the users LAN

Many many ways to skin this cat.

John Novack