(From Tom Keating's Blog)
I just came across Johanne Torres' interesting article: DVG-1402S:
The First Unlocked VoIP Router?
In case you weren't aware, SIPPhone sued Vonage for allegedly
releasing misleading packaging and advertising on locked VoIP ATAs
(analog telephony adaptors) from Cisco's Linksys.
In the suit, SIPphone demanded that Vonage properly label boxes and
advertisements to list the mandatory fees and restrictions of their
locked hardware, which I wrote about awhile back in this blog
entry. I'm all for open standards, so I tended to side with SIPPhone
from a moral standing, but that doesn't mean that Linksys and Vonage
were doing anything illegal. Partnering is as much a part of
capitalism as anything else.
Anyway, it appears that in her article, Johanne Torres mentions the
D-Link DVG-1402S is now supported by SIPPhone, and the article also
states that the D-Link DVG-1402S is the first "ATA firewall/router
combo" from a major manufacturer -- namely D-Link that is not tied to a
specific VoIP service provider. (Most router/firewall ATA devices are
locked to a specific VoIP service provider.)
I should mention that Zoom also has an "unlocked ATA" which I recently
reviewed, but unlike most ATAs, their ATA is not only a
firewall/router ATA device but it features an integrated DSL modem --
but it does require DSL service to work -- cable broadband users need
not apply! Actually, I take that back. I just recalled that 2 out of
the 3 Zoom products are DSL-based, but they do offer an "unlocked
SIP-based ATA router/firewall combo" -- the Zoomtel V3 Model 5567 that
works with cable broadband, DSL (using your existing DSL modem), or
other IP connectivity.
So I guess technically there are two manufacturers offering unlocked
ATAs, but Zoom is certainly less well-known than D-Link, so maybe they
don't fall under the "major manufacturer" category stated in Johanne's
article.
The D-link DVG-1402S hasn't been out long, but it already has started
to build a fan-base. For instance, there's an interesting 2-page
thread in the VoIP Forum about the D-Link DVG-1402S titled "Need To
Unlock D-Link DVG-1402S" you should go check out.
Updated: Hmmm, it appears Linksys was also offering an unlocked ATA
but pulled it from the market.
Did I miss any others? Let me know ...
TrackBack for Unlocked ATA:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/1111 First open VoIP router?
Hardly. from PhoneBoy's Blog I've seen covered a couple of places, but
the D-Link DVG-1402S is not the first unlocked VoIP router I believe
that honor belongs to the Sipura SPA-2100, which has been out for a
few weeks. The SPA-2100 has a fairly ...
Comments on Unlocked ATA
Re: Unlocked ATA
Um, what about the Sipura SPA-2100?
Posted by: PhoneBoy
Yeah, I was wondering to myself if Sipura had a ATA router/firewall
combo device that wasn't locked down. I remembered I wrote about the
Sipura 2100 when it came out here:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/voip/voip-blog/sipura-spa2100-and-spa841-ata.asp
And like you say it is unlocked.
Actually, didn't Linksys OEM the Sipura firmware? But Linksys
"locks" the device to one VoIP service provider, so that negates Sipura's
openness that they have in their own box.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In part 2 of this article today, we
will look at the original article presented by Johanne Torres. PAT]
Tom Keating (keating@telecom-digest.org)