Cheap SIP hardware

The Green Bean

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2003
6,506
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What is the cheapest way to set up SIP on a regular looking telephone. I know it works fine on PC and Android, but it's too complicated for my parents to actually want to use. They end up using regular telephone for international calls which cost about 10x more.

There are linksys solutions but $100 is too expensive. I'm looking for a solution for <$20.
 

drebo

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2006
7,034
1
81
MagicJack?

Also, a Linksys PAP2T is only about $60 new...like $40 on ebay (just make sure it's unlocked).
 

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
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I purchased OOMA 1st generation for home and for my father, and be done with it. Works with any regular phone. It cost $199 each up front and not cheap, but no more monthly fee within U.S. states and works with any existing internet.

If your parents have existing phone bill that runs $20 a month, they/you can recoup the cost in a year.
 
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bobdole369

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2004
4,504
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Repurpose any of the linksys boxes, as noted earlier. A little difficult but not impossible to get them registered with any SIP provider. Then you get a couple RJ-11 phone jacks and you plug in your parents cordless or wired phones.

If theres enough bandwidth it should be just fine as is, but I find that I need to do QOS on my outbound stuff at the firewall to keep it happy.
 

Binky

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,046
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Linksys SPA3102 ~$65
Linksys Pap2T ~$40-$60
Grandstream 386/486 ~$30-$60

The Pap2 is by far the most common. The 3102 is the most interesting due to built-in routing based on where the call is going (i.e. configure by provider based on lowest cost to that destination).

Beware of fakes. If its on ebay for less than $50, and it's shipped from Hong Kong or another place in Asia, its probably not a good purchase.
 

pitz

Senior member
Feb 11, 2010
461
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Linksys or Cisco SIP phones aren't that expensive. They look like a normal phone. SPA-941, SPA-942.