Category: voip

Internetworking with Internode. 97%

Quiet week in the ‘cottage.

Phase 1 of the de-installation of Bigpond as our ISP: Internode, all the way! Added ADSL via Internode: the highest quality Aussie-owned ISP in Australia, to the home network. Once Telstra Wholesale get their act together, the next step is 8Mbit/s. It seems that Telstra has not correctly provisioned their IT for ADSL resellers.

Based on the low quality of cable modem internet in our part of Sydney, 8Mbit/s will match our so-called “up to 17MBit/s” on Bigpond Extreme. This is due to the shared bandwidth nature of cable.

Internode’s backhaul, or throughput to their servers and to the internet the US, is amazing. That’s why they have a 97% referral rate according to CRN.

Also signed on to Nodephone, Internode’s Voice-over-IP service. Plugged in the landline to the Billion Router, and we have low Australian calls. Installed X-Lite on my Mac, and now I have a softphone.

Also took the opportunity to increase the security on our local wireless to WPA. Leaving WEP and MAC layer filters in the past as they are easily cracked. We don’t wish to become the local ISP for the neighborhood.

Yes, my superfund is an investor in T3. But Bigpond’s recent comments as to network control is a major concern: and I am voting with my liquid dollars. Business-wise, I trust that Telstra management grok the new IP/digital world ahead.

So, on the Xmas list: ADSL2+ and Nodephone Direct-in-Dial.

VoIP is probably easier than I thought

  1. Churn to Internode Issue in our household is the nGb/month – not mGb/second. Whilst Internode has yet to install ADSL+ into our exchange, I am happy to wait for ’em, and rid outselves of Bigmuddle/Bigpuddle.
  2. Purchase Nodephone service, and get a “incoming” phone number
  3. Install Asterisk on our Debian server
  4. Install a Softphone, maybe buy an ATA (or just get a Billion router)
  5. Poke hole in Firewall for SIP access, or use IAX.
  6. Configure incoming voicemails, extensions, outgoing call dialplans. All that stuff
  7. Save at least AU$20/month on comm calls with x2 bandwidth

Notes from the the Web

As per yesterday’s post, I am attempting to live outside desktop applications.

Notes

  • Signed up for Google Apps for Your Domain. As I am entering a “micro-business”, I really don’t want to set up all the infrastructure. I hope Documents, Spreadsheets and soon GoogleSharepoint (formerly known as JotSpot) will flow into these custom apps soon.
  • VoIP. Interesting thing to research: SIP etc. It’s all too hard. I’d like to have a business phone number, voicemail, mobile phone redirection etc – without adding a new Telstra phoneline. Seems more difficult than it should at the moment.
  • Wireless 802.11n: these virtual machine virtual drives are huge, and 802.11g isn’t fast enough to exchange them to/from the server.
  • A Google Contact List. I’d like my contacts somewhere safe in Google. Maybe even a small business CRM, too. Maybe Google should just buy Stikkit
  • Google Calendar on mobile. At the moment, mobile access is via SMS only (if you are in the US). Just like the excellent Gmail mobile interface, I should be able to see my calendar online.

Now ABC News is reporting that Doctors use Google to diagnose patients. Every time I go to the doctor, he tells me not to consult the internet for medical advice.