Old laptop to "VoIP to PSTN" gateway?

I have no idea about asterisk nor about VoIP to PSTN.

So my question my sound stupid.

I have few old laptops, all running linux and have simple internet modem in it with RJ18.
Can that modem be used for connection to PSTN?

So what i want:

  1. I want to be able to use my home land line even when i’m in another country. Connecting via internet.

Internet gateway is not problem, i can set whatever needed. Static IP, proper routing etc…

  1. If possible, i would like to have simple voice recording and voice message machine.

Could you please give me some guidelines?

Do i need some special hardware for PSTN or integrated modem is suitable for that task?

I don’t know about the analog modem, but a cheap 1 port FXO ATA device might cost you arround 60 USD, so I don’t think that spending hours fiddling arround the laptop analog modem drivers is worth it (even it this is possible to do).

If you use FXO ATA, you can eazily connect it to Asterisk to do some cool stuff. And Asterisk will work on an old laptop with no issues :wink: