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VoIP Devices Are Not Fun To Configure
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
One of the ways I first got known in the VoIP industry was figuring out the arcane art of configuring Linksys (then Sipura) devices. The SPA-2000, the SPA-3000, and a whole host of others. Just to give you an idea of what you're up against when configuring one of these devices, let me show you just the Ext 1 tab of an old SPA 941 I just pulled out of storage to take some snapshots for this piece. Click on the image to see it up close and personal:
In order to get things working right, quite often, you have to jump into the advanced settings, which I can't even get in a single screen shot!
Of course, that's not the entire configuration. There are several other tabs in the interface to configure other arcane features on the device that may or may not be needed for compatibility with a particular Internet telephony service provider, IP PBX, SIP Proxy, and so on. It's enough to make your eyes spin!
This reason alone is why, on the whole, VoIP providers want to manage the configuration of these devices as much as possible. These devices are complex to configure. One wrong setting can cause untold issues with your VoIP service.
Those providers that do offer bring your own device support--voip.com being one that does--typically provide you the necessary information with the disclaimer that they won't support your device if it doesn't work as expected. It's most certainly for advanced users only.
If it's at all possible to avoid having to configure your VoIP device, I'd recommend letting the provider handle it, particularly if you are not inclined to dug into the configuration of these little beasties. Otherwise, go to town!
