NSLU2 powered Asterisk systems
This is how tangent projects get out of control...
One day in Walmart I noticed a little linksys box that provided network connectivity for a USB hard drive.
For ~$70, why not try it. I went out and got an external 200 GB USB hard drive.
For around $200 I had a network data server. Cool!
Somewhere along the line I found 3CX server and extension software online for free. I downloaded it tried it.
It worked fine with softphones on PC's so I did some digging and found inexpensive ATA's.
The ATA's worked fine with 3CX.
I had 2 DWL-2100AP's sitting around because I had been trying to network the farm houses with them in WDS mode.
I tried the ATA's across the WDS link, crystal clear.. There the trouble began!
I had been trying to get field phone lines across a taxiway and 1000ft of traffic at a WWII show for several years.
Here was a solution! Hide the laptop, battery power the access points and ATA's and I was across the obsticle.
Somewhere along the line I discovered Asterisk....
Then I discovered you could run it on that neat little box I found at Walmart.
The fun just grew exponentially from there...
If you didn't get to this page from my project notes page it's a must read before you get similar ideas..
One idea I had was to equip a WWII era BD-71 switch board with an Asterisk system so that the system would have hidden wireless capability.
This added feature would allow for quick setup at shows where wires are not allowed for long runs and over road surfaces.
After learning the complexity of the combination of Asterisk, the NSLU2 and VOIP in general,
for some reason I still think it would be great at home.