Quick description of test I did with Grandstream Networks POTS-to-Ethernet interfaces

1. Cheap and Dirty Test of POTS Over HSMM-
MESH with Grandstream HT701
Jesse Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Prince George's County ARES/RACES, Clinton CERT, SKYWARN
wb2ifs@arrl.net
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
3.0 Unported License.

2. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
● Works with interfaces
out of the box: no
configuration required!
● Any amateur can
connect without prior
arrangement
● No PBX function
needed
Pros & Cons
●
Only works with new basic
phones—not with older POTS
phones
● Typing in IP address can be
tedious
●
All participating nodes must be
in 5-host mode
● Security issues with using the
interfaces not configured. For
example, anyone can access
them with the “admin”
password

3. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Step by step
1.Connect the nodes first and wait for them to boot
2.Configure each node from the console for “5-hosted” mode as
highlighted above and save configuration
3.Reboot each node (far node first)
4.Connect the Grandstream interfaces to the nodes and phones.
Power them up.
5.On the “port forwarding, DHCP, and services” page configure the
port forwarding as shown. You may use any hostname you want.
Save the configuration
6.Starting from either node, call the other using one of the following
methods (see this manual):
a)“*47” then the IP address of the other phone with “*” as dots, then “#” (e.g.
*47 192*168*0*22#)
b)“***” then “47” when the interface asks for a menu option. When the dial-
tone returns type the IP address as described in “b)” above

4. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Network Architecture
Far Node:
WB2IFS-106
Near Node:
WB2IFS-115
Management console
Grandstream
HT-701
interface
Grandstream
HT-701
interface
wired phone
wired phone

5. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Near & Far node configuration

6. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Near side node configuration

7. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Far side node configuration

8. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Far side node configuration

9. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Remarks/Observations
● Phones used must be the now “Cheap-oh” POTS wired phones
available from Sprallmart, Radioshack, etc. The interfaces don't
provide enough current to ring old phones (Ringer Equivalence).
● The passwords of the interfaces must be changed because
anyone in the mesh can access the interface's web configuration
tool.
● I suspect that 5-digit dialing is available but you may need a PBX
to do that (Raspberry PI running Asterisk software can do that,
I've heard.)

10. 09/21/15 Jesse N. Alexander, WB2IFS/3
Resources
● Grandstream HT701 manual:
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/607874/Grands