HP/3COM 350x IP phones support

Asterisk Asterisk Support
1

Hi,

I am trying to connect a 3Com/HP 3500B IP phone to my SIP provider through
Asterisk. I am currently evaluating AsteriskNow and SwitchVox Free.

It appears that 3Com “SIP-based” phones require a VCX infrastructure to download
the proper SIP configuration from… not much of a “feature” for my domestic setup :frowning:

Did anyone succeed in getting those 35xx phones to work with asterisk ?
Is there any appropriate module, documentation, incantation, … to provide
this hardware with the right firmware, without a VCX download server ?

Being brand new to the world of VoIP, I guess the solution (if any) is straight forward,
as I could find no real information here nor on any other forum out there.
Therefore please forgive, beforehand, my ignorance.

Best regards,

–javier iglesias

2

A fruitless attempt to find any technical data (just marketing “benefits” hype) suggests these phones are only really intended for medium to large business use.

3

Thanks David for taking the time to search the web.

The “entry-level” and “SIP-based” things were not to be taken too seriously, then…

Well, I guess I’ll go for a Polycom set to be on the safe side, this time.

Argh!

4

“Entry level” just means they don’t have many buttons and lights.

“SIP based” is probably true, but may well be a marketing bullet point rather than any indication that they are intended for use outside a VCX environment. I couldn’t find anything that quantified the SIP conformance.

5

I found this from HP site:

  • 3Com business phones (excludes early models) will function as EITHER an NBX phone (and thus use proprietary H3 packet protocol communication) OR can be used on a 3Com VCX server (and will then communicate via industry-standard SIP protocol)

  • 3Com business phones when powered off have no operating system, and therefore when powered up MUST receive their O/S from either an NBX or a VCX server only.

  • Once a 3Com business set boots up and downloads it’s SIP operating instructions from a VCX server, it then acts as a SIP-compliant device. Since the configuration is NOT retained when the unit is powered off, and must re-download it’s O/S every time it is powered up from ONLY an NBX or VCX server, depending on what system/protocol the phone is to be used.

  • This allows a 3Com business set to be used on either NBX or VCX depending on the system it is connected to at any point in time. But his also prevents the 3Com business phone from operating as a SIP phone on any other vendor’s system.

Fix: No Fix: Works as Designed

HP might quit hardware business, It is time to dump them now?!

h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/VCX/3com-3 … -p/2316939

6

Hi sonnyyu,

Many, many tanks for taking the time to help with this matter.
Your description of the situation is cristal-clear!