VOIP SunRocket Internet Phone Service $199 for 15months = $13.27/month

[ttown]

Does the "call" button on anyones sunrocket-contacts-list work? (from the website when logged into your account)

When I click "call" -- it starts my SR phone ringing, but the destination phone# does not ring. (I tried calling my cell phone)

I don't have incomming working yet, so I don't know if the "call" button thing is related to that or if it a sign that I have other problems.

edit: MrNutz -- I finally found a used hub at a computer graveyard type store (for a whopping $1... well, since they were "as-is" I actually found 3 for a total of $5, figuring 1 out of 3 would work) and have monitored the gizmo. Port 5060/udp is used to initiate calls to/from the gizmo. It talks to sunrocket at 67.133.234.125 every 15 seconds to "register" itself. Once a call is initiated, SR hands off to 67.133.234.136 where the "audio" starts pouring in/out via local (gizmo) port 16384/16385 (udp) w/an application assigned destination port. The "call status" (like when it is "trying" to call, "ringing" the number and finally when you "hang up") is communicated from the gizmo to 67.133.234.121:5060.
My goal is to be able to write a SIP based app, so getting the hub was definately worth-while. It's one thing to read a SIP RFC, but to actually see what's going on is a lot better.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: dundevil

Originally posted by: WaltJ
My Gizmo DR currently does not work. SR CSR said (yesterday) that they hoped to have DR fixed by the first week in March....Dundevil

The first time that the phone rings, it is with the original (old) ring tone/sequence.

Subsequent rings are with the specified ring that I have set up on the "signature number".

 

[imported_fatman]

Originally posted by: lnguyen

Originally posted by: Devistater
One router that you can do this with is linksys wrt54g or wrt54gs with various 3rd party firmware options (since linksys released the firmware open source, people have been adding features). There's a thread on it here in AT hot deals, I list some of the links to get various types. http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=40&threadid=1343138

I think that linksys is the only one..... and it's a hack too... not that it matters for me, I have it in front of the router.

do you have any server running on your machine? web server, ftp server, or any host? if yes, can you still run those server? I can't make those server working...

 

[ttown]

<bump> To ask if anyone has successfully used any of the "call"-contact buttons when in the contact manager on the SR website... ?

 

[RNEMTP]

ttown
not yet on my end

I am happy with my set up.

modem ---> router ---> gizmo

 

[jono8]

Originally posted by: ttown
<bump> To ask if anyone has successfully used any of the "call"-contact buttons when in the contact manager on the SR website... ?

I've been able to use it both to call within the US and for international. Basically it maks my phone ring, then i pick it up and hear some music, then the other end starts ringing after a little bit. Did you wait after picking up your phone? or did you just hang up figuring it never worked?

 

[ttown]

Originally posted by: jono8

Originally posted by: ttown
<bump> To ask if anyone has successfully used any of the "call"-contact buttons when in the contact manager on the SR website... ?

I've been able to use it both to call within the US and for international. Basically it maks my phone ring, then i pick it up and hear some music, then the other end starts ringing after a little bit. Did you wait after picking up your phone? or did you just hang up figuring it never worked?

I get a busy signal. But I've got a couple more days before I panic regarding incoming calls.
It's a bit strange that incoming calls make the phone ring, but no audio. I IM'd SR support and they said that was "normal" for the first ~10 days.
Mostly I just wanted to make sure those buttons are supposed to work and not just there to tease us about a future capability. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[jono8]

Originally posted by: ttown

Originally posted by: jono8

Originally posted by: ttown
<bump> To ask if anyone has successfully used any of the "call"-contact buttons when in the contact manager on the SR website... ?

I've been able to use it both to call within the US and for international. Basically it maks my phone ring, then i pick it up and hear some music, then the other end starts ringing after a little bit. Did you wait after picking up your phone? or did you just hang up figuring it never worked?

I get a busy signal. But I've got a couple more days before I panic regarding incoming calls.
It's a bit strange that incoming calls make the phone ring, but no audio. I IM'd SR support and they said that was "normal" for the first ~10 days.
Mostly I just wanted to make sure those buttons are supposed to work and not just there to tease us about a future capability. Thanks for letting me know.

Just to clarify, the call button worked before incoming calls worked for me. I actually haven't tested it after incoming calls started working. Also, before incoming calls started working, a SR tech was able to make my phone ring by calling it with a SR phone. When he used his cell, it was just a fast dial tone.

 

[TheCoop]

I have one problem with this service. Before I got the gizmo, I was running an ftp from my computer and everything worked perfectly. After I got the gizmo, I could not get the ftp to work (people could not connect to me at all) I had my gizmo in front of my D-Link DI604 router and no one could connect to the ftp. I called their SunRocket customer service and they could not come up with an answer. Finally they told me to hook up the gizmo behind the router by plugging in the gizmo's WAN port to one of the open ports on the router. I do not have wireless. Still would love to have it in front of the router in order to control the bandwidth so the phone would take what it needs when running. Right now I have to stop my downloads and lower my uploads to 10Kbs in order to get crystal clear phone usage. If I leave my uploads over 20Kbs, I get no phone service at all, it will not connect. If I leave a download at over 300Kbs, I get no phone service at all. If it is below 200Kbs, it is a little choppy but still can get through.

Anyone know how to get my ftp to work with the Gizmo in front of the router? Thanks if anyone can help. If not, I will leave it the way it is.

 

[ttown]

TheCoop -- have you tried logging in to it (from the LAN port, port 80, password "welcome") -- I think there is some port-forwarding settings in there.
When in front of the router, its dhcp server probably assigns your routers wan port a different IP than what you're used to -- so keep that in mind.
It may be that the IP is "non-routable" -- and that's the road-block. (that idea just occured to me...) I don't know how routers behave if the WAN port is assigned a non-routable IP.... hmm...
I have my gizmo behind the router and can't say for sure, but I just got curious -- so I may have to tinker.
Anyway... try logging in and seeing if the port-forwarding idea works.

 

[gjbaker]

I received the offer today in the mail. I currently have phone service through the local cable company. I plan to try this out and wonder whether I have to worry about the voltage on the phone network. Anyone know?
Thanks, George

 

[TheCoop]

Originally posted by: ttown
TheCoop -- have you tried logging in to it (from the LAN port, port 80, password "welcome") -- I think there is some port-forwarding settings in there.
When in front of the router, its dhcp server probably assigns your routers wan port a different IP than what you're used to -- so keep that in mind.
It may be that the IP is "non-routable" -- and that's the road-block. (that idea just occured to me...) I don't know how routers behave if the WAN port is assigned a non-routable IP.... hmm...
I have my gizmo behind the router and can't say for sure, but I just got curious -- so I may have to tinker.
Anyway... try logging in and seeing if the port-forwarding idea works.

Nope, must be that the IP is non-routable. Have to leave the gizmo behind the router in order to keep the ftp running. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[randomlinh]

I have ssh and ftp running w/ the gizmo right behind the modem, in front of the router with no problems here. is NAT on? I also have it set so the mac of my router always gets the same ip from the gizmo

 

[ImSeeker]

Same here - I can ftp with no problem.

Bittorrents work, but give a "yellow light" vs. green, but that's probably because I haven't done whatever I need to do to "open the ports" for bittorrent.

 

[gjbaker]

Still wondering whether I have to worry about the voltage on my existing phone system. When cable company supplies phone service as part of their service offerings is it VOIP? If I don't have to worry about the voltage on the line then I could try leaving my existing phone service in tact while testing SunRocket. Just trying to keep my existing phone number working during the transition. Anybody know?

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: gjbaker
Still wondering whether I have to worry about the voltage on my existing phone system. When cable company supplies phone service as part of their service offerings is it VOIP? If I don't have to worry about the voltage on the line then I could try leaving my existing phone service in tact while testing SunRocket. Just trying to keep my existing phone number working during the transition. Anybody know?

I'm not sure what you mean. if you're trying to connect the gizmo to your current home system... you can't do it in conjunction w/ keeping your old line. But you don't have to.. you'll just have one phone connected to the gizmo for testing. That's what I'm doing now.

I'm going to switch my number over to the gizmo.. after that, I'm disconnecting the main outside line, and the gimzo will then take over my house

 

[mm60]

I do not think that the phone service offered by the cable companies is standard VOIP. I am guessing this because they would not be charging all those taxes that get charged for regular phone service (the absence of which is one of the major attractions of VOIP). I have COX phone service here in Northern VA and my phone bill is almost the same as it was with Verizon (> $65 per month).

 

[gjbaker]

Thanks for the replies.... Let me try to describe it better.... I have phone service from my cable company. As "mm60" wrote I don't think it is VOIP like SunRocket. It is part of the bundled Internet, TV and phone package offered by the cable company. They charge $39.95 for unlimited local, regional, and long distance.

I want to try the SunRocket. If I don't go outside and disconnect my house phones from their box and then try using SunRocket, say with the free phones, that come with the deal, will I be able to test SunRocket while having the existing cable phone service? My concern is that both services come through my cable company connection. If SunRocket is just like adding a computer to my router then it might have no effect on existing phone service and I can test while not giving up my existing phone number(a Very Big Deal to my wife).... Does that explain my question better?
Thanks again, George

 

[randomlinh]

yes, sunrocket is just like adding a computer to your router for all intent. in fact, some of us do that. but it's recomended to put it in front of your router for priority. However, don't know if this will affect your phone service, since i'm not familiar with it.

Are you sure your phone service is coming through on the cable? Or is it just the cable company managing your POTS line?

But yes, you can use sunrocket in conjunction with whatever you have now for testing. The only effect you might have is that it won't have priority when it's behind the router (which may hurt quality.. rendering testing useless)

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: gjbaker
Still wondering whether I have to worry about the voltage on my existing phone system. When cable company supplies phone service as part of their service offerings is it VOIP? If I don't have to worry about the voltage on the line then I could try leaving my existing phone service in tact while testing SunRocket. Just trying to keep my existing phone number working during the transition. Anybody know?

You cable company, if anything, uses a higher voltage for their version of POTS.
Do you have a voltmeter?

 

[gjbaker]

Thanks Inguyen.... Yes I am pretty sure the cable company actually supplies the phone service. I remember when they installed it they disconnected the phone line coming in from the street and connected my house phones into their cable service box on the outside of my house.
I will give SunRocket a test and if I feel the configuration is causing quality problems I could always temporarily disconnect their phone service and then hook up SunRocket as you recommend and do some tests for a couple of hours....
Thanks again for the help.... george

 

[gjbaker]

Yes I do have a voltmeter but the more think about it if I just add the SunRocket gizmo after my router I won't have to worry about voltage. Its only when I decide to connect up the house phones at the outside box. Yes???

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: gjbaker
Thanks for the replies.... Let me try to describe it better.... I have phone service from my cable company. As "mm60" wrote I don't think it is VOIP like SunRocket. It is part of the bundled Internet, TV and phone package offered by the cable company. They charge $39.95 for unlimited local, regional, and long distance.

I want to try the SunRocket. If I don't go outside and disconnect my house phones from their box and then try using SunRocket, say with the free phones, that come with the deal, will I be able to test SunRocket while having the existing cable phone service? My concern is that both services come through my cable company connection. If SunRocket is just like adding a computer to my router then it might have no effect on existing phone service and I can test while not giving up my existing phone number(a Very Big Deal to my wife).... Does that explain my question better?
Thanks again, George

Ah, yes, more explanation...
You will be able to leave your cable phone system hooked to it's interface. The cable company puts a new D-mark on the outside of your dwelling in order to service their version of the phone system.

Your new SR gizmo does not connect in any way to the cable company's phone(s) system.

The SR gizmo gets it's power from a transformer that converts your 115/120 house current into it's required flavor of DC.
The signal is "routed" over the cable system's transmission line. It is the line that typically uses the 75ohm (type "F") connectors and at the most, may carry very low voltage DC. The Gizmo is designed to interface with the cable company's transmission line via the cable modem/router.

 

[gjbaker]

Thanks "Ride Free"..... that is pretty much what I had figured out. You described it great for me.... Have a Great Ride........ George

 

[mm60]

I have SunRocket as my VOIP provifer and wanted to get QoS to manage it (I tried putting the gizmo in front of my router but it degraded my download speed, besides forcing me to reboot every day). I just bought a Linksys WRT54G router for 58.78 (including tax) from Best Buy. I used the 20% off Linksys coupon available in another thread on this forum. There is a $20 rebate available making my final price $38.78 after rebates. I already have a DLink DI-624 108MBps router which I did not want to give up due to the higher wireless bandwidth. I plan to connect the WRT54G to my cable modem with the gizmo and the DLink router connected to 2 of the hardwired ports. I will then setup the WRT54G Qos to give priority to the gizmo's port. The DLink will be used for my regular wireless access. Doed anybody see any flaws with this approach or have any better ideas.