I noticed today that my local Staples store has a few Netgear TA312V VOIP adapters
in their clearance section for £20 . I know they come with 555 minutes of talk time for
SIPGATE, but I've read in the past that the firmware is locked to SIPGATE, is this true?
( a bit like some Linksys PAP2's with Vonage ? ).
Does anyone use a Netgear TA312V and is it any good ?
Netgear's website barely mentions it...

thanks

Alex

not familar with it but pap2's are £50.00 so maybe locked to sipgate just depends what you want to do with it ? if sipgate is ok for you its cheap

I was thinking of setting up my own VOIP PBX using ASTERISK@HOME so my relatives spread over the UK
could use VOIP to communicate. Since Sipgate to Sipgate
calls are free, I suppose I could use that if the TA312V cannot be set to use another VOIP server/service...
Would be an interesting project though if I could get it
working...I'd just rather not buy 3 or 4 TA312V's if they turn
out to be lemons !! I'm currently testing a Linksys PAP2
with ( you guessed it ) Sipgate.

Alex

if you already have a pap2 your sorted if its a uk unlocked model, i have one and its config now for bt talk (job and a half as bt don release the log in info for the sip server) see my posts on it in telecoms section

I got one of the Netgear TA612V VOIP routers from Staples. It is locked to sipgate out of the box but it can be easily unlocked. Go to http://www.sipgate.co.uk/netgear to configure the router. There is a link to 'open firmware' on the right-hand column, which basically flashes the firmware to one where you can configure the SIP proxies, etc.

I have a PAP2 as well (the Netgear will go to a relative) and compared to that the Netgear is quite limited. You can set the usual SIP proxy, outbound proxy, STUN, codec, fax settings which will get it up and running and making/receiving calls. It doesn't go as far as the pages and pages of fiddly settings available on the PAP2 (which in some ways could be a plus since there's fewer things to screw up). Also, both lines must be assigned to the same proxy so you can't have e.g. an account with sipgate and another one with voipbuster.
Last edited by jon2099 : 07-10-2006 at 23:31

Hi Jon, Thanks for the info. I went to Staples and got the remaining 3 they had in stock.
I plan to do the same as you, keep the PAP2 for myself and setup the TA312V's ( with Sipgate initially ) for relatives...

thanks
Alex

Does anyone know if these thing work behind a broadband router, or do they have to connect between PC and a modem?

Many thanks

Yes, they do. Just plug the internet/WAN port into one of the LAN ports on your router. However, in this configuration it depends on your router performing QoS. Also, you can only configure the TA612V from its LAN side (unless you enable remote management).

You might need to use port forwarding as well if behind a router. Check the help section of Sipgate website for instructions. I get dropped calls sometimes, even with port forwarding, since I changed my config so that the router is in-between the modem and VoIP adaptor. I recommend direct to the modem if you can.

My brain has not been functioning properly for a few days methinks !
I purchased Netgear TA612V's not TA312V's , where I got the "3" from I've no idea...
I've been trying to "open the firmware" on them using the
Netgear link on the Sipgate site for a few days.
The first copied down the new firmware no problem, the other two either pretend
to download the firmware, but don't or the web setup wizard refuses to accept the MAC
addresses I enter. They are correct according to the
labels on the base of the units...
Has anyone else attempted this procedure on more than one unit ?
Using a different Sipgate account doesn't make any difference.

thanks
Alex

I can't remember if the original firmqare has an 'update firmware' option. If it does, you can Google 'TA612V open firmware'; there is a copy of it out there. Otherwise, you'll have contact sipgate.