Using VoipBuster on Linux / Mac OS X / Solaris / FreeBSD

Note: This document is out of date! It tells you about how to use VoipBuster via the IAX protocol – but VoipBuster no longer supports this protocol. And I no longer use VoipBuster. VoipBuster can now be used from your computer using the SIP protocol -see http://www.voipbuster.com/en/sip.html. Also might find this fellow helpful: http://mega.ist.utl.pt/~jmfv/VOIPBUSTER_Linux.html
You won’t get any help by asking me any questions about this – I’ve never used it! I leave this page here just for historical interest – maybe it’ll be of use to someone, somehow…

Last update of this document: 11th July 2005

French translation available at: http://play.m0k.org/index.php?2005/04/20/122-voipbuster-on-mac-os-x-linux-free-bsd-free-phone

Italian translation available at: http://gift.altervista.org/index_ita.php?section=30

For some months now this page has been top on Google when you search for “IAX Linux”, which is interesting…

VoipBuster Homepage: http://www.voipbuster.com

Reasons to use VoipBuster:

1. Free calls to landlines to many European countries (also US)!
2. If you buy credit (for non-free calls), you get a free inbound number.
3. Uses IAX protocol – “just works” from behind NAT/firewalls.

Currently, VoipBuster is in beta. When they’ve finished the Windows version, they say they’ll produce a Linux version. For the moment, though, you’ll need to use something different. As they use the IAX protocol, there are a few choices for clients. Maybe when they come out of beta, free calls will end; but they haven’t announced their long-term plans yet.

Who are VoipBuster?

1. They are: Finarea SA, Po Box 5648, Lugano 6901,
   Switzerland, telephone +41 91 9335412
2. They are the same company as is behind https://www.call18866.co.uk

   and https://www.call1899.co.uk
   and http://www.dialwise.co.uk/
   – providing cheap calls from landline telephones in the UK. If you sign
   up with them, make sure that when you hand over your credit card
   details you are secured. When I signed up they had errors on their
   website such that you were presented with a credit card form not sent
   secured (over https) – fix this by changing the URL from http to https
   (this was in April 2005).
   If you don’t know what this means, find a technically-minded friend who
   does!

3. At least some of their programmers and support are working
   from the Netherlands; their VoIP server is currently in Germany… so we
   have a Swiss company with workers in Holland providing telephone
   services to the UK from Germany… we live in a small world!

4. Don’t send the VoipBuster contacts questions about 18866 or 1899
   – they are the same company, but please respect their mode of operation.
5. I have no connection with these companies, apart from using
   their products.

Windows:

1. You don’t need to read this document. Just go to http://www.voipbuster.com
   and
   use their provided program.

Linux:

1. The current Windows binary doesn’t work under the latest Wine (at 24th May 2005). So don’t try! However, I have received a report that it does work with CrossOver Office 4.2 – at least as far as the point where you create your username and password.
2. You’ll need to install and run on Windows once in order to set up a username/password. Maybe they’ll make this possible from the website
   soon.
3. I recommend the IAX client (a.k.a. soft phone) “Kiax” – get
   it
   from http://kiax.org.
   I did some of the
   work on packaging RPMs. They have static binaries, RPMs and .debs
   available. Kiax is a pure Qt application – that is, it doesn’t require
   KDE to work, despite the “K” at the beginning. If you don’t know what
   that means, don’t worry about it!

4. Don’t
   run kiax through
   artsdsp – it will cause latency which makes it unusable for normal
   usage. If you don’t know what artsdsp is, then don’t worry about it –
   in the default, you’re not using it.
5. To call, you will need to use full international dialling
   code –
   e.g. for the UK, 0044 followed by the area code (minus the leading 0)
   followed by the rest of the number.
6. Kiax 0.8.4 and later, you can integrate into your address
   book
   program (e.g. kabc / kontact) to do direct dialing (but not yet to
   actually import that address book into Kiax itself). Command line
   syntax is: “kiax dial [–account-id] –extension <extension>”.
7. In Kiax (or whatever IAX client you use), use the
   username/password you set up in 2., together with iax server
   “iax.voipbuster.com”. In the audio settings, just play with them and
   use whatever works best for you! For the codec, U-Law needs 64kbps; the
   others need less. Voipbuster’s Windows client apparently needs 128kpbs,
   so they must be using a codec not available in Kiax (and other
   iaxclient-based softphones). For the caller id, put in whatever you
   like.

   

Mac OS X / Solaris / FreeBSD:

1. See the first two points for “Linux”, above.
2. I recommend the IAX client iaxcomm from http://iaxclient.sourceforge.net/iaxcomm/.
   There are only binaries provided for Mac OS X, Linux and Windows – so
   for FreeBSD / Solaris you will probably need to compile the source
   yourself. http://iaxclient.sourceforge.net/
   states that it will run on
   FreeBSD / Solaris.
3. See 5. for “Linux”, above.
4. The IAX server to configure your client with is
   “iax.voipbuster.com”.

Links:

1. VoipBuster – http://www.voipbuster.com
2. Kiax (IAX Linux client) – http://kiax.org
3. IaxComm (IAX Windows/Linux/Mac OS X/FreeBSD/Solaris client)
   – http://iaxclient.sourceforge.net/iaxcomm/
4. Call18866 (calls from UK landlines) : https://www.call18866.co.uk
5. Call1899 (calls from UK landlines): https://www.call1899.co.uk
6. Dialwise (calls at cheap rates via dialling 0844): http://www.dialwise.co.uk/

Feedback / E-mail / Anything I forgot to mention?: use the e-mail address on my homepage (but do try Google first, please!)

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