ClassicConnect

[nick99nack]

This post was made over a dial-up connection through an Adtran TA908e to a Patton Dialfire 2996. This post contains the configuration sample for an Adtan Total Access 908e with 5 analog FXS lines, a SIP trunk connected to voip.ms, and a PRI connection to the Patton. Thanks to @traceroute6 in The Serial Port discord for a nudge in the right direction!

Note: I am running a 2nd Gen 908e. On voip.ms, the device type for the sub account should be configured as "Asterisk, IP PBX, Gateway or VoIP Switch".

Here is my config file. I have T01 as the PRI trunk to the Patton, and T02 as the SIP trunk. You will need to adjust account credentials and registrar addresses as needed for your account.

Also, using the web UI to change SIP settings will break the configuration! Either edit this config file as desired, or use your own and edit it as necessary to match this one.

[nick99nack]

A few resources that helped me figure out the missing ingredients:

Adtran support video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYI9__LYQ_Y
Github Gist from @traceroute6 on TSP Discord, which had a couple lines I was missing from my own config file specifically for the connection to voip.ms: https://gist.github.com/bwann/cedb6fdb27f6b03510fd54153acc3119
Total Access 9XXe - SIP to PRI sample configuration: https://supportcommunity.adtran.com/t5/Total-Access-900-900e-Series/Total-Access-9XXe-SIP-to-PRI-sample-configuration/ta-p/29141

A couple commands helpful for debugging:

[VCSMaster]

Hello! Not quite the same setup as you, but scarily similar and done mostly on my own. I'm using an Adtran Total Access 924e third gen for my T1/PRIs, and it also provides the analog FXS lines for my house. The T1s exclusively go to modem banks, originally I had a pair of them going to a pair of Eicon DIVA Server PRIs to get 46 channels @ v.90, but this seemed excessive and I've been on a real quest to get v.92 working anyways, so I wound up bribing an ISP to sell me a Patton Dialfire 2960/16, which is now being fed off just one PRI from the 924.

Some things to be aware of: Not all Adtran TA900 series are built equal! Many 924s are configured with 16 FXS (phone lines) and 8 FXO (central office) connections! Sadly, mine is like this. Even if you have the 8FXS board out of a differently configured 924, you cannot swap the boards. There appears to be some licensing done in firmware. It does not prevent the unit from booting, and the FXO lines do not show up, but you don't get the extra FXS lines either.

Additionally, the TA900 series stuck around for a real long time and so you are likely to see a ton of units available. Models without an "e" suffix are the earliest units, and while there's nothing specifically wrong with them, they only have two T1 ports which are in a fixed configuration. One can only be configured as a user and the only configured as a network. Models with an "e" but still in the old wedge shaped white case Adtran considers "Second generation" units. These have four fixed funtion T1s, ports 1 and 2 are always user mode and 3 and 4 are always network mode. You can configure them any way you want, but they will not work in any other mode. I guess this is some kind of hardware limitation, because the third gen units do not suffer this. Third gen units are much more square and black. All units, even the weenie 904e 3G seem to include 4 T1 ports, which you can freely configure to be user or network in any pattern you like. Mine is a 924e 3G 16FXS/8FXO unit, with all four T1s configured as network. Ports 3 and 4 run my Eicon DIVAs (which are not currently powered on anymore) and port 1 runs the Patton Dialfire.

Sometimes, these can be a bit finnicky. I find it much easier to configure throgh the web interface, but I've found a lot of people who seem to prefer it through the CLI. I've had to occasionally go and reboot mine because something goes wrong inside - A codec mismatch or a DSP error or something - Which causes the audio on the analog ports to become distorted in interesting ways, preventing modems from handshaking.

With this setup, I can very reliably get hybrid connections at near line speed. The little +- at the top end really depends mostly on the modem and which bank you use. I find the Dialfire gives much worse connection quality than the Eicon DIVAs. For the most part, I hover around 52K on most modems connecting to either host, however. Softmodems always seem to do much better in terms of connect speed and throughput, though. Turns out, external serial modems are heavily limited by the RS232 speeds. Unless you have a 16C750 compatible serial card and a modem nice enough to support 230K, you will not see your full peak speeds with v.92.

For example, a comparison of two modems at random:
US Robotics Courier v.Everything 3453C
To Eicon DIVA - Almost always connect at 53.3/31.2 with full v.42bis DC/EC. Throughput around 90K down. 30K up.
To Patton Dialfire - Almost always connect at 50.6/28.8 with v.42bis DC/EC. Throughput still around 90K down/30K up.

Conexant D110 v.92 Softmodem
To Eicon DIVA - 54.6/33.6 handshake without fail, full v.42bis DC/EC. Throughput around 160K down, 40K up.
To Patton Dialfire - Hovers around 52/28.8 but sometimes I will see 54.6/31.2. Full v.44 DC / v.42bis EC. Throughput nearly 300K down, 40K up!


In conclusion, this is a pretty reasonable setup to pursue. If you don't go crazy and gun for v.92 like I have, you can easily get a digital modem bank set up for under 500 USD no problem. Hope this helps.

[VCSMaster]

Oh, and before I forget! This was also posted over a dial-up connection! I am using an iMac G3 conected at 50667/28800 to the dialfire and it seems pretty stable. Hopefully it stays that way.

[LyraNovaHeart]

Awesome! Glad to see it! I have a laptop with a modem but alas no way to connect to it, it'd be cool to post from it, but I've only got Psuedo Dial Up (600Kbps)
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I'm one day closer to being who I wanna be~

[VCSMaster]

[nick99nack]

Wow VCSMaster, I'm impressed. That's a great write-up. I think I need to get me one of those DIVAs if I can find one at a reasonable price.

Welcome to the forum, great to see someone else posting from dial-up here!
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If you like browsing without an ad blocker, you might also like getting rid of your virus scanner, and running around with your pants down. --SomeGuy, 2016

[VCSMaster]

No problem. I intend to eventually do a youtube video or two on the topic myself as a nice little walk through for the others out there like me who find it difficult to know who to ask or were to find information. Throughout the entire project, I was told again and again by a lot of people that "you can't do that," which never made sense. Someone did do that, and it's how the world used to work. Clearly, it can be done!

While this iMac most definitely has the option of ethernet, I find the dial uto be more interesting.

On the subject of the DIVAs, you can occasionally get them as low as 50 bucks on eBay if you keep an eye out. The BRI versions are often even cheaper, if you can stomach the extra setup and the cost/complexity of actually getting BRI ports these days. That's something I'm still working on.

[nick99nack]

[VCSMaster]

It may interest you to know that I already have a DSLAM - a Pannaway BAS-ADSL32R. Neat purple thing, kinda shaped like the Dialfire. I have it configured far enough to get it to handshake with modems - I was able to achieve 18MBit down with ADSL2+ to a Motorola Netopia 2241N, but I have not been able to get any further in the project. It will not assign IP addresses for anything, and I seem to be on a different firmware from the only manual I can find, and a different firmware from the only other person to ever configure one of these! It's very aggravating. I would love to experiment with it if you have any suggestions, though.

If you can, get a DSLAM with a built-in combinatorial filter. It's definitely more expensive but much, much more convenient to set up. This unit does not have such a filter and so I had to spend a few days elapased building one from a 110 block and DSL splitters. Absolute misery, but at least the Pannaway was only $35.

Yeah, finding any information on getting some of these devices working specifically was very difficult, finding the software for some proved nearly impossible, and even knowing what hardware was neccesary, or what features I needed from that hardware was very difficult.

Would you believe this whole project started after Cathode Ray Dude released his first phone rambling video and showed off a Teltone TLS5? I saw that and knew I had to get back into modems. Before that, I collected them but only ever called out to other people's hardware!

[LyraNovaHeart]

[VCSMaster]

[LyraNovaHeart]

[VCSMaster]