Networking

Practicing Safe SIP: Adding SIP URI and Free DID Connectivity to Asterisk

Practicing Safe SIP: Adding SIP URI and Free DID Connectivity to Asterisk

Monday, August 19, 2013

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Last year, we began our exploration of safe SIP options for Asterisk® by introducing a hybrid solution using VoIP.ms for a registered SIP trunk and IPkall for a free DID. Today, in addition to a free IPkall DID to accept incoming PSTN calls, we have a slightly different approach that provides a direct SIP URI address from Sip2Sip.info for your server. As with the original tutorial, today’s implementation preserves our Zero Internet Footprint™ design for total SIP insulation of your… Read More ›

Introducing NeoRouter 1.9 VPN: Still a Shining Star

Introducing NeoRouter 1.9 VPN: Still a Shining Star

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

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In a previous article, we introduced PPTP VPNs for interconnecting remote users and branch offices to a central network hub. Known as a hub-and-spoke VPN, the advantage of this design is it lets remote users participate as peers in an existing home office LAN. It’s simple to set up and easy to maintain. The drawback is vulnerability to man-in-the-middle attacks. Today, we want to revisit the more traditional client-server VPN which relies upon a central server but uses a star… Read More ›

WebRTC: Asterisk Joins the Brave New World of Real Time Communications

WebRTC: Asterisk Joins the Brave New World of Real Time Communications

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

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This week we’ll be wading into the world of real time communications and the Asterisk® 11 implementation of WebRTC, a JavaScript API that makes it easy to build click-to-call systems and softphone interfaces using nothing more than a web page. To simplify the task of creating an Asterisk 11/WebRTC platform, we’ve created a free virtual appliance for you that can be deployed in a matter of minutes on any Windows®, Mac®, Linux® or Solaris® desktop using Oracle’s VirtualBox®. In producing… Read More ›

The Ultimate Android Tablet: Meet the Microsoft Surface Pro

The Ultimate Android Tablet: Meet the Microsoft Surface Pro

Monday, February 18, 2013

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We were fully prepared to hate the Microsoft Surface Pro. After all, it was designed and produced by Microsoft, and we haven’t seen many flashes of brilliance from Redmond since the XBox. That was more than eleven years ago! Yes, Microsoft has new smartphones, but they’re too little, too late in our opinion. So why is the Surface Pro different? For openers, it runs pure Windows 8, not the Windows RT crippleware. While we’re not much of a Windows cheerleader… Read More ›

Paradise Found: The Holy Grail of Mobile Communications » Meet the OBi202

Paradise Found: The Holy Grail of Mobile Communications » Meet the OBi202

Monday, February 4, 2013

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Much has been written about the quest for Unified Communications where all real-time communications services are transparently accessible by phone, by email, or via the web using multiple devices and various media types. But the Holy Grail of Business Communications is a bit different from our perspective. For the modern business person, business telecommunications comes down to a 3-way time slice between a home or home office, a real office with a real phone, and a cellphone whenever the person… Read More ›

The 5-Minute PBX: PIAF Virtual Machine for VirtualBox (Windows, Mac, or Linux)

The 5-Minute PBX: PIAF Virtual Machine for VirtualBox (Windows, Mac, or Linux)

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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For most of us, today marks the last time we’ll ever see the day, month, and year line up on the calendar in perfect harmony so Happy 12-12-12 to everyone. It’ll be 88+ years before it happens again. And the Mayans believe the world will be ending in 9 more days so there may be no need to worry about the 88 years anyway. Whatever happens, it seemed like an appropriate time to take stock of how we’re doing in… Read More ›

Introducing PBX in a Phone: Grandstream GXP2200 featuring Incredible PBX

Introducing PBX in a Phone: Grandstream GXP2200 featuring Incredible PBX

Monday, November 26, 2012

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One of the long-term goals of the PBX in a Flash™ Project has always been the desire to integrate a full-featured PBX directly into a desktop phone. For those that travel or support small branch offices, this would be the best of all possible worlds. We never quite achieved it with PBX in a Flash, but thanks to the Raspberry Pi™, Grandstream’s new GXP2200, a couple of screws, and a power drill, we’ve found the perfect couple. Imagine managing a… Read More ›

VPN in a Flash Reborn: Meet the Dedicated Server Edition in PIAF 2.0.6.2.4

VPN in a Flash Reborn: Meet the Dedicated Server Edition in PIAF 2.0.6.2.4

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

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We’re dusting off our favorite old trademark to introduce the all-new VPN in a Flash™ featuring NeoRouter™ 1.7 Free Server Edition. Last month we showed how to install NeoRouter as an add-on for existing PBX in a Flash™ servers. In sites with 10 or fewer machines to interconnect, this works extremely well. However, for those with major collections of servers and PCs scattered across the universe (up to 256!), you’re going to want dedicated hardware to manage your virtual private… Read More ›