Has anyone been using Grandstream’s newer models such as the GXP 2200? Can you comment on features and stability?
I have a VERY bad taste in my mouth from a past experience with stability on the GXP2000 and GXP2010 phones. Random freeze-ups was a big issue.
But that was nearly 3 years ago, and because Grandstream is still around making phones, people have to be buying them. So that leads me to believe they may have gotten better. Does anybody have any experience?
I’ve used the GXP2000 and GXP2100 extensively and found them to be stable and reliable. Perhaps you got ended up with some that had sneaked through the QC process?
3ish years ago, they were fairly new and had loads of issues, just like their ata’s. I have purchased their ata’s since then and all the issues have been resolved. I am glad to hear the phones have been working well for someone. I will give their line another try. But I’d love to hear from people that have used their new products.
I found the 2000/2100 sound crappy (cheap hybrids) and run hotter than a firecracker.
One of my favorite little secrets of the Gateway world is that used Cisco voice routers are cheaper than dirt on eBay. You can put a mix of FXO and FXS cards in them. These ports originally cost $500 each and the quality reflects that. The transformers and capacitors are telco grade. It’s the difference between a cheap stereo and a top of the line audiophile gear.
If you are in an environment that you are comfortable with Cisco IOS (it’s not hard) and can use used gear then you won’t get more bang for your buck.
You can get the NM-HDA boards (base with four FXO or FXS) for under $100 and they accept two expansion cardsof four ports each that can be either FXO or FXS. The DSP are onboard.
This will work great in a Cisco 26xxXM (make sure you get the XM model it has faster CPU, more flash and RAM to run modern IOS). Make sure the one you purchase has IOS 12.4 or later (or have access to Cisco code).
That’s funny you bring the voice gateway tip up. I actually bought a 2600 and a fxo card to play with after reading that same comment from you on the trixbox forums years ago. I had just got my CCNA and was ripe to play with more cisco gear. Awesome tip among many other tidbits I have read from you over the years. Thanks for sticking around as long as you have.
I ended up ordering a GXP2200 to play with. It’s too interesting for me to pass up. After being an Aastra guy for so long, occasionally I branch out and see what cool things I may be missing from other companies.
I don’t know why I thought you were talking about gateways. I do like to drop that tip, it works well. I have also posted sample configs a half dozen times on the year. Sometimes I Google my self when I can’t remember a particular solution
Take a look at the new Grandstream Android phones. Big hit at Astricon this year.
Personally I haven’t used Grandstream phones since the original GXP2000 came out. At that time the voice quality was not good and I have used Aastra phones since and never looked back. However I do know someone who has been using 40 of the GXP1200 phones for the last 2-3 years without any problems at all.
We have 4 2200’s that I don’t have anywhere near enough knowledge to make work proper. We signed with virtualpbx.com and it appears they can’t make them work with their system. The phone has many many more settings than they address in their setup instructions. Where can a beginner learn more about the many settings that are available on the phone setup?
I can’t even dial out on a vitelity DID that I’ve set up on account 2. I’m missing something simple. Grrrrr.
Thanks,
Brent
Reply to self - Vitelity helped me out. I have outbound and inbound on the DID from them. Virtualpbx.com is still working on finding the magic setting. They seem very nice, I hope they get it going soon.
Thanks,
Brent
I had a horrible experience with GXP2000s. These were early units (2008 timeframe) mind you, and the firmware was atrocious to the point of weekly firmware updates!
Then about a year ago, the phones started dying one-by-one. It was some sort of electrical problem, probably cheap capacitors that dried out. They would freeze with all lights on, start buzzing loudly, etc. Initially moving them off PoE onto the wallwarts helped, but the problem came back a few months later.
I junked all the GXP2000s and got Aastra phones. Much happier with that solution!
But still Grandstream carries on, with a whole plethora of voice and video products now, and I would be curious to know if anyone has used their new ATAs (HT70x series) for T.38 faxing with any level of success. I’m willing to give them another shot, or if there are better suggestions…
To Skyking’s point about the Cisco gear on ebay. One does have to be careful about that, specifically in regards to the licensing of the IOS on those devices, not to mention counterfeit gear, in which case the capacitors are probably not telco grade.
Cisco’s licence grant is to the original purchaser only, and is non-transferable. There is a good deal of discussion on the 'Net about the IOS license and getting support on used gear.
I would have problem with putting that type of equipment into production in a customer environment unless the end-customer did the acquisition of the used gear and was prepared to live with the consequences.
–MTLVoice
I’ve got 1 GXP2200 that seems OK so far, I’m a little disappointed that it doesn’t have any option for BLF keys so far and I’d much rather see Android 4 than 2 - especially so I could run OpenVPN. (PPTP VPN seems to work OK but has to be re-initiated after reboot)
Otherwise it’s working well but seems to have locked up once in the first couple weeks of use.