PSip - Puppy SIP

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Sylvander
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#241 Post by Sylvander »

The reason I decided to use an "Internet Phone Adapter" and a standard phone [for everyday phone calls] rather than PSIP run within Puppy on a [Desktop] PC:
a. With this arrangement, there's no need to have the PC powered on and the Puppy OS booted; when a call comes in, the phone rings just ling a normal phone on a landline, and I only need lift the handset to take the calls.
There IS a necessity to have powered-on [for the period during which I'm prepared to accept calls]:
Phone, phone adapter, router, modem.
This supplements my landline telephone.

b. I can choose which regional code to use for my phone line.
This could be really useful.
e.g. I saw a guy who lived in Canada explain that he had a Glasgow->Scotland area code, so all of his relatives in Glasgow [who have no PC] could make calls to his internet phone at local Glasgow call rates.
I chose to use my local area code, but could change to using the area code of the region where most of my relatives live.

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smokey01
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#242 Post by smokey01 »

To make voice calls to normal desk phones try psip with voipbuster.com.

Read my tutorial here towards the bottom.
http://smokey01.com/help/psip/psip-help.html
Last edited by smokey01 on Wed 06 May 2015, 10:25, edited 1 time in total.

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Sky Aisling
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PSip - Puppy SIP

#243 Post by Sky Aisling »

Sylvander

Excellent! I'm in the process of researching it now.
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smokey01
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#244 Post by smokey01 »

Over the last week I have noticed some issues with Psip not working in peer 2 peer mode. This means NOT going through a sip server, in other words from my external IP to the other persons IP.

It seems to have been caused by the stun server/s I was using. Psip was also noticeably slower to start which was also a bit unusual.

If you login via a sip server such as ideasip, iptel or voipbuster then you probably haven't noticed any issues because stun is not required.

Typically a ping to stun.iptel.org was taking about 350+ms which I don't believe is any slower than it was previously. Speed will vary because of distance from your location to the stun server. Other stun servers I have used in the past are stun.ideasip.com and stun.voipbuster.org which haven't caused problems.

Anyway long story short, I searched for a stun server that was closer to my location (South Australia). A comprehensive list of stun servers can be found here: http://emc.cc.st/public-stun.txt

Try the stun servers that have your country code in the name. I have chosen stun.alltel.com.au:3478 as it give me a ping of 35ms which of course is much better than 350ms.

Since changing stun servers everything is working fine again.

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Sky Aisling
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PSip - Puppy SIP

#245 Post by Sky Aisling »

Anyway long story short, I searched for a stun server that was closer to my location (South Australia). A comprehensive list of stun servers can be found here: http://emc.cc.st/public-stun.txt
Thank you, smokey01

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smokey01
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#246 Post by smokey01 »

Sky, did you get Psip working the way you wanted?

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Sky Aisling
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PSip - Puppy SIP

#247 Post by Sky Aisling »

Hello smokey01,
Am sending you a Personal Message.
Sky

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Sky Aisling
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PSip - Puppy SIP

#248 Post by Sky Aisling »

Trial Run 1
My location is USA.
Testing https://www.voipbuster.com/
I was able to successfully connect two landline calls using my computer (not a handset or cell phone).
Then Voipbusters said I was out of free calls and to pay for more calls.
I set the *rate* chart to show in US Dollars and checked the rates.
The rate schedules says United States (landline) Free and United States (mobile) Free.
So, I went back to try another call and again VB said again I was out of free calls.
I went to *buy* more time, but, the page shows only Euros.

Three questions:
Will some magic happen and my VISA card will know what to do with the order in Euros?

How much time or how many calls does 10 Euros purchase?

Can I receive calls on this system?

I intend to test other methods, but, this is as far as I can get today.

Thank you for your response.
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Sky Aisling
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PSip - Puppy SIP

#249 Post by Sky Aisling »

Sylvander
You write:
The reason I decided to use an "Internet Phone Adapter" and a standard phone [for everyday phone calls] rather than PSIP run within Puppy on a [Desktop] PC:
a. With this arrangement, there's no need to have the PC powered on and the Puppy OS booted; when a call comes in, the phone rings just ling a normal phone on a landline, and I only need lift the handset to take the calls.
There IS a necessity to have powered-on [for the period during which I'm prepared to accept calls]:
Phone, phone adapter, router, modem.
This supplements my landline telephone.

b. I can choose which regional code to use for my phone line.
This could be really useful.
e.g. I saw a guy who lived in Canada explain that he had a Glasgow->Scotland area code, so all of his relatives in Glasgow [who have no PC] could make calls to his internet phone at local Glasgow call rates.
I chose to use my local area code, but could change to using the area code of the region where most of my relatives live.
I've called several Internet Phone Adapter equipment outlets.
The adapters in the US are running about $45 and there are choices of brands.
I've found many 'free' SIP providers. For Example:
http://voip.about.com/od/sipandh323/tp/ ... viders.htm
Now that I know what these devices are called and look like, I'm heading for Goodwill soon to see if I can find one in their pile of electronic gizmos. If Goodwill fails me then the $45 is small price to pay compared to my current land line charges. As I come to understand these different systems I will be able to choose one and release the grip of our land line provider from my wallet.
I like the idea of not having the computer running all the time.

Also, I only need to make US calls, rarely, if ever do I make a call outside the US.

Thank you for your helpful post. :D

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smokey01
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Re: PSip - Puppy SIP

#250 Post by smokey01 »

Sky Aisling wrote:Trail Run 1
My location is USA.
Testing https://www.voipbuster.com/
I was able to successfully connect two landline calls using my computer (not a handset or cell phone).
Then Voipbusters said I was out of free calls and to pay for more calls.
I set the *rate* chart to show in US Dollars and checked the rates.
The rate schedules says United States (landline) Free and United States (mobile) Free.
So, I went back to try another call and again VB said again I was out of free calls.
I went to *buy* more time, but, the page shows only Euros.

Three questions:
Will some magic happen and my VISA card will know what to do with the order in Euros?

How much time or how many calls does 10 Euros purchase?

Can I receive calls on this system?

I intend to test other methods, but, this is as far as I can get today.

Thank you for your response.
Although you purchase in Euros it can be converted to your local currency.

See links below for making calls.
https://www.voipbuster.com/ways_to_call/fixed_line
https://www.voipbuster.com/geo

I'm not sure if Voipbuster has a facility like Skype's Skypein.

Sylvander
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Re: PSip - Puppy SIP

#251 Post by Sylvander »

1.
Sky Aisling wrote:I've found many 'free' SIP providers.
I use iptel.
Info here on this page.
They provide lots of great/detailed info, but I cannot easily/quickly find it right now. [Search their site]
So far I have no complaints about the service they provide.
One of these days [later this year] I'm going to terminate our land-line service and use only the internet phone.

2. Here's the adapter I'm using.
I should say that the quality of sound when using the internet/adapter/DECTphones isn't quite as good/clear as the landline+BTphone.
Sounds slightly "bassy"/muffled, but not so bad as to be unacceptable.
My wife, when on the other end, say it's OK, but could be louder.
I'm not sure which item[s] are introducing this.
Might be the DECTphones [see below].
Right now we're using the DECTphones on the land-line [because of the features], even though they're not as clear as the BTphone on the land-line.

3. Gigaset C300A Twin DECT Cordless Phone Set with Answer Machine.
I LIKE these WIRELESS phones, even though the sound quality isn't as good as my BT WIRED phone.
Can be carried around [even outdoors, but nearby], laid down where working, or kept in a pocket.
Here's some of their features.
So many I have difficulty learning all of them.
e.g.
a. Press the green phone button: once to accept a call, twice to put the call on loudspeaker [plenty loud], 3rd/4th time to toggle it [off/on loudspeaker].
b. Red button once to terminate a call.
c. Can easily make internal calls between handsets [press the left side of the square button].
d. Contacts list [bottom of the square button].
e. The ringtone is nice and load [BTphone ringtone is too quiet].
f. Built-in answering machine.
g. You dial a number [or choose it from the contacts list] and see it on-screen to confirm it's correct, and only then hit the green button to dial. NICE! :D

dogle
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Re: PSip - Puppy SIP

#252 Post by dogle »

Sylvander wrote: One of these days [later this year] I'm going to terminate our land-line service and use only the internet phone.
I quit my landline quite some time ago in favour of cellular services, and like yourself I am looking forward to experimenting later this year with PuppyPhone via cellular data link .... one hurdle might be the ISP's tendency to keep changing the customer-end URL, which I expect might make necessary some measures as Smokey01 has described, for peer-to-peer stuff at least.

Do you intend to ditch your present wireless (DECT) handsets, or do you have a cunning plan for adapting them to a non-landline setup?

I have one of these USB wireless handset gadgets, which has long been awaiting my attention - whether it can be persuaded to play nicely with Puppy remains to be seen!
http://cordlessheadsets.co.uk/product/y ... w1dl/1954/

Sylvander
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#253 Post by Sylvander »

1. "I quit my landline quite some time ago in favour of cellular services"
My wife uses a [Cellular] "Smart Phone".
I was wondering if it might be possible to "Tether" the PC to the Smart Phone, and by this means to connect to the web.
This could save us paying about £60/month to our Virgin ISP [if we also buy harware for "FreeSat" TV, and a HDD TV recorder unit].
Although I guess "Tethering" would be an expensive method of streaming data to/from the web.
We stream videos/movies from the web using:
Our Virgin account, using the Virgin box...
BBC iPlayer [Smart TV]...
Chromecast run on Desktop->[Puppy->Chrome->Chromecast gets the SmartTV->ChromecastDongle to download direct from the web via Powerline Adapter connected to router->modem].

2. "I am looking forward to experimenting later this year with PuppyPhone via cellular data link"
Any idea how to do it?

3. "Do you intend to ditch your present wireless (DECT) handsets, or do you have a cunning plan for adapting them to a non-landline setup?"
a. Originally, the DECT phones were connected to the web via the internet adapter, and working fine in that way.
I used the BTphone connected to the land-line for the better quality.
But then I decided to switch them over to get the better DECTphone features on the land-line, and have not regretted that.
So I intend to continue using the DECT handsets if at all possible; they can certainly be used connected via the internet adapter.

b. We bought [at Maplin] a pair of BT DECT handsets that had additional features for blocking nuisance calls, but these only worked if we paid extra for "Caller detection and display", which we don't want to pay for.
So we returned those.

c. We decided upon a new tactic for dealing with nuisance calls, as follows:
Instead of using an answerphone to intercept ALL calls, and only answer non-nuisance calls...
We now answer ALL calls by saying "hello"...
When they say "is this Mr/Mrs so-and-so", we say "who is speaking"...
If they fail to respond appropriately by identifying themselves, or identify themselves [as a nuisance caller], we just hang up without speaking further.
We only speak to legitimate callers.
The wireless handsets are particularly good for this because:
They are usually within arms reach...
Press the green button and say "hello"...
Listen for a maximum of a few seconds...
Press the red button to cut them off.
Very little effort/time involved.
Less time/effort than using the answerphone.

4. "I have one of these USB wireless handset gadgets"
a. Does the base unit connect to a USB socket on a PC, running an OS connected to the web?
The "Internet Adapter" avoids the need for a PC+OS.

b. What advantages [if any] over using an "Internet Adapter"?

dogle
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#254 Post by dogle »

Thank you, Sylvander.

1 - £60/month sounds pretty heavy, my internet costs <£6/month now, all-in with Three PAYG data SIM (but I'm not downloading all that 'entertainment' you mention). NB data SIMs are not the same as 'phone SIMs.

This ISP does not permit 'tethering' on PAYG sims - perhaps a ruse to lead the mugs into paying more for 'contract' deals? - but that is not a problem for me as I am not running multiple devices on the service.

Your 2 - just the same as if I were still using a landline connection, I hope, barring the possible URL changing glitch mentioned, which might not be a problem using the basic IpTel service.

Your 3 & 4 - I am not familiar with the kind of adapters you are using, so I can't figure out how you might fix them to work without the landline arrangement for which they were presumably designed (but that is not to say it can't be done!). Yes, the gadget mentioned is intended to be connected to USB of a running PC as you describe - not a problem for me as my main box runs continuously.
Advantage (if I can get it to play with Puppy)? - see 1 above ;-)

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8Geee
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#255 Post by 8Geee »

Sylvander, et al;

On this side of the pond celphones come with standard Caller-ID. Even the Tracfone has it. No extra charge (Landlines US$5/month). Very nice for look at # calling from... no recognize/no answer or quick connect/disconnect.
Dirt-cheap tracfones are quite disposable at $10 a pop. Just don't try phone # change, minutes transfer, etc involving Customer Service (nearly non-existant). Toss the phone! From what I see here 1000 minutes (450 minutes doubled + a promo code for bonus) is US$90, and good for a year.
Linux user #498913 "Some people need to reimagine their thinking."
"Zuckerberg: a large city inhabited by mentally challenged people."

Sylvander
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#256 Post by Sylvander »

1. "£60/month sounds pretty heavy"
Actually...last months bill was £65, and that's typical.

2. "my internet costs <£6/month now, all-in with Three PAYG data SIM"
In addition to the £65 mentioned above, my wife pays £7/month for her smartphone [500MB+150-min text, 150-min phone per month].

3. " I am not familiar with the kind of adapters you are using, so I can't figure out how you might fix them to work without the landline arrangement for which they were presumably designed"
This "Internet Adapter" isn't intended or designed for use with a landline.
It's designed to be used by connecting it to a modem or router, and thus connect to the internet without need of a computer->Operating_System.

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Sky Aisling
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#257 Post by Sky Aisling »

Sylvander

Do Voip Adapters take a special phone?
Can a 'regular' phone be plugged into the adapter?

Thanks, This is quite a learning curve from days past.

Sylvander
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#258 Post by Sylvander »

1. "Do Voip Adapters take a special phone?"
No, just an ordinary/everyday/regular telephone.

2. "Can a 'regular' phone be plugged into the adapter?"
YES. :D
I have a special cable adapter connected to the back of the "Internet Adapter" to convert to the type of female socket needed to accept the male plug coming from the phone.
Can't remember where I got that; possibly bought it at Amazon when ordering the "Internet Adapter".
Amazon helpfully suggests things that people additionally buy along with other items.
Here it is:
Belkin US Plug to BT Socket Adapter

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smokey01
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#259 Post by smokey01 »

Although this is quite an old thread it is still relevant as Psip is currently being maintained by jamesbond the author.

I notice many distributions are still using very old versions such as 1.3pre.

At version 1.4 it is possible to have multiple accounts.

Jamesbond has just released the code for Version 1.42. This version allows three command line parameters:

--config-file file

--log-file file

--version

Having the new --config-file file option is very useful.

The latest version of Psip-1.42 is also built with pjproject-2.7.2 and osxcart-1.2.0.

Read about it here:
https://chiselapp.com/user/jamesbond/re ... psip/index

To get the new source you need to login here:
https://chiselapp.com/user/jamesbond/re ... psip/login

Visitors may enter anonymous as the user-ID with the 8-character hexadecimal password shown in the box below.

Once logged in click on files then click on:
Files of check-in [7fe2b34fde] in the top-level directory.

Then click on Tarball to download the new source.

musher0
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#260 Post by musher0 »

Hi Smokey01.

Your new post is much appreciated, as this is a very useful app that
originated in PuppyLand and should be better known.

But the anonymous login of that chiselapp.com repo gets me running in
circles: the way it's configured, the password is printed so faint on the
screen that by the time I have figured it out, I am never fast enough
to actually log in.

Do you think jamesbond could be convinced to produce a pet archive of
the new version, and kind enough to post it or a link to it here?

I don't know if he still comes to this forum, so please relay the above
request if possible? TIA.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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