Re: VOIP (was: Since we were speaking of Gmail....)

[Fritz Hayes <fhayes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Actually, the Aterisk@Home works great for the home use.  It does 
require some technical know-how, like network and telephone wiring. 
Also, running IP phones (the Linksys SPA 941 is about $150) can be 
costly but has some great features.  The server will communicate with 
the VOIP service providers (not Vonage unless you add the 'Softphone' 
feature) and provide unlimited called for less than $50/mth.  Overseas 
called is cheap also at about $.03 to Great Britan.  Italian cell phones 
are still $.34/min! so be sure to check the plan.  There are howtos on 
keeping the monthly cost below $10, but that requires more tweaking.

On the subject of security, has anyone really tried to sniff and 
ethernet/wireless connection?  Huge amounts of data to sort through. 
Also, VOIP protocols are digital and not analog, so 'wire tapping' is 
really done at the collectors, like Vonage or Qwest.  My guess at the 
moment is that VOIP has more security than analog lines, but who knows 
what's going on in the switching rooms?

Fritz Hayes

Walden H. Leverich wrote:
> > Unless the VOIPs offer encrypted transmission. 
>
> That would be possible w/something like Asterisk, which is an
> open-source VoIP PBX -- neat product, but not for home use. 
>
> > ...only a wired landline phone
>
> Don't take this the wrong way, but that logic always cracked me up. You
> know that I can walk to the patch panel down the street from your house
> w/a $10 phone from home depot and listen to any land-line conversation,
> right? Given that digital cell phones calls (we're all digital these
> days, no?) are encrypted, plus, hooking into a data stream isn't the
> easiest thing in the world, I'd say a good-old analog land-line is
> probably the least secure method of communication these days.
>
> -Walden
>
> ------------
> Walden H Leverich III
> Tech Software
> (516) 627-3800 x3051
> WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.TechSoftInc.com
>
> Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
> (Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)