Add and Install G729 Codec on FreePBX

 FreePBX, VoIP  No Responses »
Mar 282020
 
FreePBX Logo

I found out today that some time ago, the G729 codec was released from all patents, and is now available free of charge to use on FreePBX (and probably Asterisk).

On fresh installation of the FreePBX SNG distribution, the G729 codec is pre-installed and ready to go out of the box, however if you have an older system that you have been maintaing and upgrading, G729 is not automatically installed.

As of version SNG7-PBX-64bit-1712-2 (with FreePBX 14.0.1.22) which was released on December 21st, 2017 the codec is included.

As per the release notes:

Open Source G729 codec is now present on installation
 Older installations can activate it with the 'g729' command

How to install G729

If you have an older install that you have been updating to the latest release, as per the release notes you must run the “g729” command. This will tell you if it is, or is not installed. If it is not installed, it will advised you to run the “yum -y install asterisk13-g729” command.

I ran the commands and installed the G729 codec on my system running SNG7-PBX-64bit-2002-2 (FreePBX Version 15.0.16.42, OS Version: 12.7.6-2002-2.sng7).

[root@pbx01 ~]# g729
 The Open Source G729 code is not installed.
 You can install it with the following command:
          yum -y install asterisk13-g729
[root@pbx01 ~]# yum -y install asterisk13-g729

The package then installed, I restarted the PBX, and g729 was available to use. I tested and it works great!

Configure Cisco/Linksys SPA3102 for Trixbox or FreePBX FXS and FXO

 FreePBX, Trixbox, VoIP  12 Responses »
Mar 022012
 

Well, today I was cleaning up and found an old Linksys SPA-3102 device that I purchased 3-4 years ago. I originally purchased this device to connect my Trixbox (Asterisk) PBX to my land line at my house.

The SPA-3102 is a device manufactured by Linksys/Cisco that provides one FXS terminal, and one FXO terminal. This device can connect your PSTN phone line to your VoIP PBX, and it can also allow you to connect a standard phone to your VoIP PBX as an extension, all at the same time.

While I wasn’t to happy with performance of the solution, nonetheless I figured it out and got it running. I decided to write up a little blog post as a How-To get the SPA-3102 working with Trixbox. This solution is mostly just a bunch of config, so excuse the lack of How-To and the bulk of config dumps:

Update (2017): This also works on new versions of FreePBX Asterisk Linux Distro. I can confirm T.38 faxing works on the FXO line, but have not been able to get it working on the FXS PSTN line (fails to re-negotiate).

 

1) Configure the Asterisk extension (this configures the line you hook up to a phone on the SPA-3102):

Create a extension inside of Trixbox or FreePBX. Leave everything default except:

Display Name: Fax Machine (change this to whatever you want)

Extension: 199

secret: password (choose you password)

canreinvite: yes

host: dynamic

type: friend

nat: yes

qualify: yes

2) Configure the Asterisk Trunk for the SPA-3102

Go to the Trunk Menu inside of Trixbox or FreePBX PBX configuration. Add a new SIP Trunk. Leave settings default except:

Outbound Caller ID: 1234567890 (Change the number to your PSTN line, if the number doesn’t match, it could break things)

Trunk Name: spa3102

PEER Details:

username=spa3102
type=friend
secret=P4SSw0rdz (replace with your password)
qualify=yes
port=5062
nat=no
host=dynamic
dtmfmode=rfc2833
context=from-trunk
canreinvite=yes

3) Configure Outbound and Inbound Routes

The configuration for the Outbound route is normal and doesn’t require any special configuration other than the normal outbound route you’d normally create for a trunk. However, the Inbound route does require special attention. When creating the Inbound route, make sure that the DID Number value exactly matches the 10 digit number you configure for the PSTN. This is how it will recognize this and categorize the incoming call under that specific inbound route.

4) Now for the SPA-3102 Configuration

There’s no way I’m writing all the config out for the SPA-3102, so instead I took screenshots for each tab that requires configuration.

 

 

And Voila!

You now have your SPA-3102 configured to both act as an extension and a gateway to the PSTN. If anyone has any better configuration please write a comment, I’d love to update this article, and I’d like to get this working better than it currently is of possible. One additional note: When the SPA3102 is factory reset, it’s default settings are optimized for the North America region.