Simple, cheap unit. Works perfectly, and I had no problems just following the configuration instructions from my VOIP provider (I use CallCentric). With one of these you can get a working landline for just a few dollars a month. Great device. Grandstream HandyTone HT286 VoIP Phone Adapter
The GrandStream HT-286 is a fantastic product, and serves its role as an analog-to-voip adapter quite well. Call quality is great, and the featureset is pretty good for an entry-level unit such as this. I am currently using this model as the ATA for my home phone setup and couldn't be happier with it.
HOWEVER:
I'm looking at Amazon's current price on this item (via a reseller): $75.99 + 19.99 Shipping. This is absolutely absurd, bordering on highway robbery. I would urge anyone considering this product to shop around: this model can be found brand new at other reputable online VoIP dealers for around $30 shipped. With a $30 pricetag, the HT-286 is a fantastic value and will serve the needs of most home users well. If you're willing to pay almost $100 for an ATA, do yourself a favor and go for the Linksys SPA2102 or SPA3102 which has a much larger featureset.
This is a solid and inexpensive little product that does what it purports to do. Once set up properly it just sits there and works. The reason it didn't earn a fifth star is that the setup was not as smooth as one would like. It took several attempts to get into the setup screens, why isn't clear to me, but it did finally work. Call quality is good.
When it works it's great but, it may be the provider to blame more than the hardware, I use Gizmo5 with Google Voice, I'd say it a 90% hit and 10% miss most of the time. But was a pain to get it to work!!
I've only had a few hours with this device. It's serviceable, but I'll offer some advice to help you avoid some problems.
1. If you can't get it to register to a SIP provider, disable DHCP and give it explicit values, particularly for your DNS server.
2. Been looking everywhere for a place to put your area code so you can use seven digit dialing? That option is called "Home NPA". Put your three digit area code there if you live in North America.
3. I use voip.ms for my SIP provider, termination, and DIDs. They're inexpensive and very flexible, but nontechnical folks would have difficulty setting everything up.
4. I apparently have dreadful interference during rainstorms, so I suspect this device is not at all RFI immune.
5. Grandstream tech support had me return this to the dealer after the dialtone went away for good, and voice prompts didn't work to permit a factory reset.
6. I've had the replacement model for about a week now. I did update the firmware as on the previous. It is working much more solidly, and I'm not even having the rainstorm interference. I am adding a fourth star for this product, as it would appear the previous unit I had was not a representative sample.
I set up an Asterisk phone box to run to my VOIP provider, and I just needed an Analog Telephone Adapter to talk to that local PBX. This little device works great for my needs. My calls connect quickly and sound great over my cordless phones.
Setup is fairly easy. Just go search for the manual on google first. Dial *** and use the voice menus to set/determine the IP, and then login. You can set a surprising number of things on the phone keypad (including codec selection). I did get a confusing access denied message when I first tried to view the web-based menus, but it resolved after a minute. There are an overwhelming number of settings, but you just set the 8 or 9 you need and can leave the rest at default.
I didn't mess with the firmware update settings since it seems to work fine. I was a little afraid since I didn't see many people talking about using this with Asterisk or recommending it, but it is fantastic for the price.
I'm replacing a Vonage device and I love how small and practical this adapter is. Instead of four jacks and a dozen lights, it has one Ethernet, one Telephone and one Power in. The configuration is easy enough to do once. There are two 'advanced' tabs and the second one lets you change the dial tones you hear when you lift the hook (and ring tones, busy tones, etc.) from 480 Hz North American to 425 Hz European which was great for helping us keep our lines separate in our two-line household, and kind of kitchy since we use this line to call our family in Europe.
Some reviewers have said that it lacks features at this price, but I haven't found any that are missing. It nails what it is supposed to be - a VOIP adapter, and not a router/fax machine/game boy/voice changer.
This is an outstanding, low-cost product that does exactly what it says it will do. In my case, it has given me the option of adding a free second line via Sipgate One to my two-line AT&T deskphone (my other line is standard POTS service). If you know how to set up and tinker with a SIP account, this is exactly what you need. - Voip Adapter'
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