Grandstream HT-802 VoIP Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA)

It is rare to see any mentions of an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) here in this forum. So, I thought perhaps it is not a common device used by anyone here, except me.

Anyway, I wanted to share here with you about the clearance of this Vonage Box VoIP Phone Adapter US 98¢ from any of your local Walmart stores (if it still has some in stock). It is basically a customized Grandstream HT-802 (specs) device with 2x RJ-11 ports and runs on a Linux OS. Its basic functionality is to connect any old Plain Old Telephone Station (POTS) and/or a cordless phone for placing/receiving phone calls over Internet. Even though this device is customized (locked) to Vonage, it can be simply un-customized (unlocked) to use with any Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) service providers and/or any open-source digital PBX system, i.e. Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, YATE, etc. With any of this digital PBX systems that supports Google Voice (GV) through XMPP for free US phone calls, one practically can have a free US telephone system sans any monthly fee. Please beware that Google is retiring the XMPP used by its GV and I don't keep track how these open-source digital PBX systems will keep up with this change to support GV with its new voice platform in the future.

So, if you are in a VoIP thing, then this is really a great deal, especially if any of your local Walmart stores still has it on clearance for 98¢ a pug. Or, since it runs Linux, perhaps you can try to grab some and port debian OS to run on this device and turn it into a digital PBX system, too.

very good deal if it's unlocked or easy to unlock

habibie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is rare to see any mentions of an Analog
> Telephone Adapter (ATA) here in this forum. So, I
> thought perhaps it is not a common device used by
> anyone here, except me.
>


They had two left @ $1 apiece when I got to Wal Mart, and too bad I didn't have $10 for a Vonage big box with three cordless phones in it.

But, just know I'm on board if you have instructions or something. I'm still clearing bench to get the DreamPlug up too.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2018 07:21PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
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> But, just know I'm on board if you have instructions or something.
>
If you are looking instruction on how to un-customize and/or unlock this HT-802, it is on my OP and/or here. Unfortunately, my local Walmart stores ran out of stock. :(

habibie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > But, just know I'm on board if you have
> instructions or something.
> >
> If you are looking instruction on how to
> un-customize and/or unlock this HT-802, it is on
> my OP and/or
> here.
> Unfortunately, my local Walmart stores ran out of
> stock. :(

I had to specifically go to the Clearance aisle, and the "Associate" pointed me to the wrong one lol. I found it. But again, there's Vonage box with the same home base but it includes three cordless phones. You might do well at $10 to get one of those if its within your means.

Me, I'm taking the slow road. Like you're saying, Google Voice is making changes and I read what I could. The thought occurred to me I'd consider trading for an Rpi W, which you might think is a lopsided trade, but this would save a person over $500 in phone bills in a year if you didn't brick it.
But, I'll set these on a shelf and wait to see what Google says. Maybe these are forever legacy, who knows. If this unit ran Magic Jack I'd just run it. Vonage wants to lock you into $24 a month after you get hooked on it and that's way more than Magic Jack. I dunno.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2018 10:31PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

Joey,

The way I see this differently. After all, this device is a Linux embedded system and you could get if for less that US $1. Like I said, I wished my local Walmart stores still have some stock so I could grab them all and try to hack it to run debian. IIRC, the internal CPU of this device is clocked @ 1GHz and that is plenty of juice to drive FreeSWITCH.

habibie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Joey,
>
> The way I see this differently. After all, this
> device is a Linux embedded system and you could
> get if for less that US $1. Like I said, I wished
> my local Walmart stores still have some stock so I
> could grab them all and try to hack it to run
> debian. IIRC, the internal CPU of this device is
> clocked @ 1GHz and that is plenty of juice to
> drive FreeSWITCH.

If I see any more of them Habibie I'll mail you up to two, no problem. I think the likelihood is high because there's probably a lot of them in Wal Mart warehouses and they can dump them at our store. I don't know of anyone who saves money using Vonage anyway, the ISPs jack up the price when you don't include phone service.

Maybe keep searching too because it's possible other retailers will dump them, and also, the price isn't bad in the first place even at $5 is what this was originally.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2018 04:39PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If I see any more of them Habibie I'll mail you up to two, no problem.
>
Joey, I really appreciate such a thought. However, I think it will be more prudent to spend such a shipping cost of the item on other needed things.

OTOH, I already have some of HT-701 (single RJ-11 port) and IIRC they both have the same CPU and the amount of RAM. After all, they both run Linux OS, too.

habibie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > If I see any more of them Habibie I'll mail you
> up to two, no problem.
> >
> Joey, I really appreciate such a thought. However,
> I think it will be more prudent to spend such a
> shipping cost of the item on other needed things.
>
> OTOH, I already have some of HT-701 (single RJ-11
> port) and IIRC they both have the same CPU and the
> amount of RAM. After all, they both run Linux OS,
> too.

Thing is, it seems real light, so I don't think shipping would be too much.

I'd love to see another time like the Pogoplug sale a few years ago, everyone could afford one and everyone on the same page - that was cool and my E02 is still going this minute, running torrents. Really this deal is one of those things I hope everyone can get one at $1 and go to town. My intention was to get 5 and donate 2 or 3 of them.

As for cellphones, I just don't want to microwave my optic nerve and much prefer a regular old phone with a cord. So if we get to a place Google Voice or something works, that would really be great. I'd get my relative to change the phone system and save a lot of money that's going out the window because AT&T is, I dunno, evil.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-

habibie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------

> Joey, I really appreciate such a thought. However,
>

The thought occurred to me too that maybe - in the event I have jing for Wal Mart and they have them in stock - that you're uncomfortable giving out your address - if so I can understand that. But maybe it's a long shot anyway.

Some research on my part shows Vonage and Magic Jack both have deal-breaking shortcomings and Google Voice like you said is in the middle of some changes. There's the Obi200 series units at around $50 which might be the way to go after all. Not that I have it, but it's a goal.

So right now the bigger question for me is which Internet-only connection is the best one here? The choices locally are Charter and AT&T, which know they don't make as much money that way and I'm sure put up some deterrents to peoples saving money that way.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> in stock - that you're uncomfortable giving out your address - if so I can understand that.
>
Joey, as I mentioned before, I already have some HT-701 devices that I bought from local Walmart stores for less than US $1 each. IIRC, both HT-701 and HT-802 use the same CPU and run on Linux OS. The difference is HT-701 only has 1x RJ11 port while HT-802 has 2x RJ-11 ports. TBH, if you insist to waste on S/H cost, I really don't have problem to give you my shipping address through a PM. so you can ship some of the HT-802 units to me.

>
> There's the Obi200 series units at around $50 which might be the way to go after all.
>
For a non-tech savvy, using an OB-200 device is the best option, AFAICT. For me, I would prefer to setup (install) a digital PBX system on my Linux embedded device to handle all my GV calls. In this cae, you probably want to use Asterisk, but my preference is FreeSWITCH. This way, I can use any SIP compliance ATA devices, i.e. HT-701, and a cordless phone as one of the extensions to my digital PBX system to handle all my free calls from GV and/or other free SIP providers.

>
> So right now the bigger question for me is which Internet-only connection is the best one here? The choices locally are Charter and AT&T, which know they don't make as much money that way and I'm sure put up some deterrents to peoples saving money that way.
>
I believe that is only a preference.

In my case, we are using AT&T 1 Gbps fiber connection and its connection very good. Previously, we used Comcast and the connection was also good, except its costly internet connection is slower than AT&T 1 Gbps fiber. The only thing we don't like AT&T service is it is bundled with its DirectTV satellite service whose connection is pretty flaky, especially when it starts to rain outside.

Well, I am still using the old unlocked Vonage PAP2 (in sipura 1001 firmware) together with RasPBX on Rpi3B.

Obi110 can be another nice SIP adaptor if it finally drops off Google voice support.

daviddyer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, I am still using the old unlocked Vonage PAP2 (in sipura 1001 firmware) together with RasPBX on Rpi3B.
>
That is the best ATA device, AFAICT. I bought some of the original Linksys/Vonage locked PAP2 back in late August 2005 from some local Staples stores under US $25 each + 6% local sales tax (US $1.5) and got a US $25 easy rebate / PAP2. The easy rebate took about 2 weeks to process and the rebate check came in a week later, IIRC. To this date and after 12+ years, I am using such a PAP2 device. Unfortunately, a PAP2 is not the same as an HT-701 or HT-802. I believe it runs on a different close-source OS with a much less powerful CPU and less RAM which in turn consumes much less electricity.

> Obi110 can be another nice SIP adaptor if it finally drops off Google voice support.
>
Yes.

@habibie,

Quote

For a non-tech savvy, using an OB-200 device is the best option, AFAICT. For me, I would prefer to setup (install) a digital PBX system on my Linux embedded device to handle all my GV calls. In this cae, you probably want to use Asterisk, but my preference is FreeSWITCH. This way, I can use any SIP compliance ATA devices, i.e. HT-701, and a cordless phone as one of the extensions to my digital PBX system to handle all my free calls from GV and/or other free SIP providers.

You are one of the most experienced VOIP users here. If you'd like to post some tutorials about how to setup FreeSwitch (with which hardware...) It would be great to add to the Wiki. It could be brief, or as details as you'd want. Or if the subject is "some dos-donts experience with VOIP" would also be good.

Quote
Wiki thread

Asterisk

Asterisk for Google Voice
Setup a Google Voice telephone server based on Asterisk PBX (external link)
FreePBX12 (IncrediblePBX) and Asterisk 13 on Pogoplug Pro V3

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

fusionpbx is a good option : freeswitch with web-gui. Easy to setup and configure.

I installed it on both raspberry pi 3 and orange pi pc, but not so stable as freepbx.perhaps need tune-up for arm-device.

https://www.fusionpbx.com/download.php



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2018 08:51PM by asterix.

I run raspbx on Rpi3B with NFS root (NFS root on Kirkwood box). Very stable.

@asterix & daviddyer,

It would be great if you guys can write some short/brief/detailed tutorial about this. It would be fine even by just listing the commands you used to download and/or installl PBX nowadays :)

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

very easy to install both freepbx(asterisk) and fusionpbx (freeswitch) on debian, Just follow official tutorial

512MB memory at least, 1GB recommended. it's better to install plain asterisk or freeswitch if memory less than 512MB, but need more time to configure/debug.

Freepbx:

freepbx 13 on debian 8.1: https://wiki.freepbx.org/display/FOP/Installing+FreePBX+13+on+Debian+8.1

freepbx 14 on debian 8.8: https://wiki.freepbx.org/display/FOP/Installing+FreePBX+14+on+Debian+8.8


Fusionpbx: https://www.fusionpbx.com/download.php

Install Script

Debian Install

Debian 8 is currently the recommended operating system by the FreeSWITCH developers. Start with a minimal install of Debian 8. You can download it from here. Then run the following commands as 'root'.

wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusionpbx/fusionpbx-install.sh/master/debian/pre-install.sh | sh;
cd /usr/src/fusionpbx-install.sh/debian && ./install.sh

Note: If using Debian Jessie on Proxmox LXC containers please run the following BEFORE starting the FusionPBX install.

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
apt-get install systemd
apt-get install systemd-sysv
apt-get install ca-certificates
reboot



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2018 11:52PM by asterix.

Fringe newbs like myself would be interested in unit flowcharts as well, just a simple:

* Phone plugs into:
* RJ11 box (so and so) running (so and so) which ethernet cables into a
* PogoPro 3 (for example) running so and so specified as (you know) using (x)_ protocol to internet it's way to
* Google Voice by doing (?).

Just saying the flow of units would help a lot. Those Qui tutorials were some of the best and even to this day are a good reference for other projects. If he came back that might be a great way to present the idea and even options that don't require hundreds of posts all sidetracked.

To celebrate we'll get us a VoIP Conference Call Black Friday 2018 EARLY LOL - having said that, thanks you all and I'll get out of your way.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-

asterix Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> very easy to install both freepbx(asterisk) and
> fusionpbx (freeswitch) on debian, Just follow
> official tutorial
>
> 512MB memory at least, 1GB recommended. it's
> better to install plain asterisk or freeswitch if
> memory less than 512MB, but need more time to
> configure/debug.
>
> Freepbx:
>
> freepbx 13 on debian 8.1:
> https://wiki.freepbx.org/display/FOP/Installing+FreePBX+13+on+Debian+8.1
>
>
> freepbx 14 on debian 8.8:
> https://wiki.freepbx.org/display/FOP/Installing+FreePBX+14+on+Debian+8.8
>
>
> Fusionpbx:
> https://www.fusionpbx.com/download.php
>
> Install Script
>
> Debian Install
>
> Debian 8 is currently the recommended operating
> system by the FreeSWITCH developers. Start with a
> minimal install of Debian 8. You can download it
> from here. Then run the following commands as
> 'root'.
>
> wget -O -
> https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fusionpbx/fusionpbx-install.sh/master/debian/pre-install.sh
> | sh;
> cd /usr/src/fusionpbx-install.sh/debian &&
> ./install.sh
>
> Note: If using Debian Jessie on Proxmox LXC
> containers please run the following BEFORE
> starting the FusionPBX install.
>
> apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
> apt-get install systemd
> apt-get install systemd-sysv
> apt-get install ca-certificates
> reboot

Cool! Please repost this as a new thread in Debian subforum! I’d like to add it to the Wiki. So if users have follow-up questions they will know where to ask.

Suggested titte: “FreeSwitch on Debian”.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

@bodhi:

My FreeSWITCH installation was rather involving. It was a turnkey project based on OpenWRT source. In other words, all I did was to configure OpenWRT source through its make menuconfig to enable (include) software packages into its firmware build, i.e. FreeSWITCH and among other software packages, for a target platform of Marvell Kirkwood (Seagate Dockstar and/or GoFLEX Home/NET). Then, just run a make -j3 to compile and/or build its toolchains from source and use it to build its OpenWRT firmware to install on a Seagate GoFLEX Home SATA HDD. At the time (and I still believe even as of this writing), OpenWRT has no support for the Fusion PBX GUI. So, everything is done on a CLI fashion. I understand this will be a PITA, especially with FreeSWITCH which has a huge learning curve. However, on a hardware with a limited 128 MB of RAM, I reckon this is one good reason to stay away from any GUI.

As pointed out above by some others, one can just install a digital PBX system with a nice GUI from any binary distributions that has a support for FreeSWITCH. I don´t know if the suggested PBX with a GUI is for any Linux embedded system with a limited RAM, i.e. a Seagate GoFLEX Home, etc. However, all I can say is if you are serious and wanna do this, then do it right on a CLI with FreeSWITCH.

As with the debian ARM stretch distro, I believe it no longer supports FreeSWITCH.

As for Raspberry Pi / asterisk / google voice, there are already a lot of instructions...

eg, https://hellbach.us/blog/tech/obi110-reuse-using-raspbx/

and just use this forums wiki to create nfs server on Kirkwood/debian for Rpi's root file system...

Thanks all for your response.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)