Exotic Pages: Useful and Dynamic Information For Everyone

Free Home Phone Service = Google Voice+Gizmo5+ATA

Advancements in internet technology has finally paved the way for free home phone service from google. A short tutorial on this service is proviced here, so that everyone can benefit from the available free service. If you like this tutorial, then please don't forget to spread the word about this website to your friends.

Note: You need broadband internet connection at home to make this service work effectively. This free home phone service comes with unlimited incomng call time and limited (3 minutes) outgoing call time. The unlimited incoming call time is provided by google voice service. The limited outgoing call time is controlled by both google and gizmo5 networks. The outgoing calls are routed through the gizmo5 network which limits the call time to 3 minutes as per gizmo5 terms and conditions for the time being. This might change in the near future.

Tutorial:

Explanation of Terms:

Google Voice: Google has come up with its own VoIp (Voice over Internet protocol) service called google voice. This service provides/assigns you with your own/dedicated phone number based on the zip code in which you are located. Simply speaking, the number assigned to you by google voice service will be your phone number for this VoIp connection. To get this service you must request an invitation from google voice with your email ID. The link to request the service is provided below. Note: You will be asked to register a home or cell phone number with google voice when you first set up your account.

Gizmo5: Gizmo5 is nothing but another VoIp service provider who has a direct contract with google voice. Both google voice and gizmo5 are expected to completely intergrate soon. Google voice and gizmo5 can be interfaced easily as explained on the tutorail below. The gizmo5 account/service has the ability to communicate with your ATA adapter, so that you can make and recieve calls using any standard telephone unit at home. The link to get your gizmo5 account is given below.

ATA Adapter: ATA adapter is otherwise called the analog telephone adapter. This hardware unit has the capability to interface with your gizmo5 account and provides the ability to use any standard home phone unit to use with this free home phone service. There are many types of ATA adapters available in market now. You can get the simple one for approximately $30 on ebay. The simple ones from linksys (cisco) are SPA1001 and linksys PAP2T-NA (NA stands for north america).

Note: When buying an ATA adapter, make sure you get the one that is unlocked. Look for the description on the ATA adapter to ensure this.

Follow the links given below before proceeding further with this tutorial.

After getting your google voice service phone number and gizmo5 account, get the linksys PAP2T-NA unlocked adapter and connect them as shown above. The PAP2T-NA ethernet port should be connected to the broadband router using an ethernet cable.You will recieve this cable as a part of the PAP2T unit when you buy. Once you have connected the linksys PAP2T-NA and broadband router, connect your regular home phone to line1 of the linksys PAP2T-NA adapter.

Upto this point you had achieved gathering all the basic hardware and account requirements for your free home phone service. Now it is time to integrate them together and get your free home phone service working.

Note: Login to your gizmo5 account and note down your gizmo5 number (This number will be in the 1-747-XXX-XXXX format). You will need this to proceed further.



Resetting your ATA Adapter to Factory default settings:

If you are using a brand new ATA adapter, then you dont have to reset to factory default settings. But if you are trying to use a used one (unlocked version), then it is advisable to reset your adapter to factory default settings before proceeding further. The procedure to reset your linksys adapter is explained under "Linksys PAP2T Factory Default Reset Procedure" section on this website. Important note: You must disconnect your ATA device from the internet before resetting to factory default settings.



Step 1: Communicating with your ATA Adapter

This might sound intimidating for non-techies, but this process is very simple. Just follow the steps below.

On your Phone handset (which is already connected to the line 1 on linksys PAP2T adapter with the phone cord) dial the following numbers

****110#

After this you will hear the IP address assigned to the linksys router. Usually the IP address will be in the xxx.xxx.xx.xxx format. (For example 116.123.15.203).

Note: If you do not hear this message via your handset, then something is not right with your hardware set up. You must correct this before proceeding further. Make sure all the hardwares are connected as shown in the picture above.

If you hear the IP address from your handset, then it shows your hardware setup is perfect and you are ready to proceed further.

Step 2: Setting up your router for home phone service.

Go to your web browser (internet explorer or similar) and type in the IP address you heard from your phone handset in the following format (example, http://123.123.12.123)

http://xxx.xxx.xx.xxx/

You should get the linksys interface screen. On this screen click the "Admin login" link on the top right corner as shown on the left side picture. This should gain you the admin login to proceed further with your set up.

Step 2a: Integrating your ATA with your gizmo5 account.

Note: Relevent pictures on this setup is shown at the bottom of tutorial page 2. These pictures were taken from a proper working ATA unit.

After getting the Admin Login screen, click the "switch to advanced view" link. After this click the "line1" tab. You should enter the following information on the screen.

SIP settings
SIP Port: 5060

Proxy and Registration Settings
Proxy: proxy01.sipphone.com
Register Expires: 3600

Subscriber Information
Display Name: Name you want others to see as your caller ID.
Password: Your gizmo5 account password.
Auth ID: Your gizmo5 number. This number will be in 1-747-XXX-XXXX format.
User ID: Enter your gizmo5 number again.
Use Auth ID: yes.

NAT Settings
NAT_Mapping_Enable: yes
NAT_Keep_Alive_Enable: yes
NAT_Keep_Alive_Msg: 0000
NAT_Keep_Alive_Dest: $PROXY

Audio Settings
Preferred codec: G729a

After entering these informations, save the settings.

Click on the SIP tab and enter the following information

NAT Support Parameters Settings
Handle VIA received: yes
Handle VIA rport: yes
Insert VIA received: yes
Insert VIA rport: yes
Substitute VIA Addr: yes
Send Resp To Src Port: yes
STUN Enable: yes
STUN Test Enable: yes
STUN Server: stun01.sipphone.com:3478
NAT Keep Alive Intvl: 179

After entering these informations, save the settings.

Note: You will get dial tone if you have done everything correctly so far. If not double check the settings explained above one more time.

You can also look at the trouble shooting guide on this website.

Now your ATA adapter is ready to send and recieve calls using gizmo5. The next step is to integrate google and gizmo5 accounts and hence try your free home phone service.

Please proceed to part 2 of this tutorial to continue