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> Checking online, it seems I can get to 24 or 48 port switch with gigabit
> depending on which make and model you go for.
>
What's the backplane switching speed? does it really mean you can get
all ports sending gigabit-level traffic? or simply that the clockrate
will be gigabit, but in reality, as soon as two machine get around the
200Mbps range, the whole switch, or a bunch of ports will slow down?
> Erm... what the hell?
>
> (0. So it won't be gigabit, which is virtually the entire point of
> buying new switches in the first place, so I should probably stop here.)
>
> 1. Since when does VoIP require PoE?
Because you can power your phone through the ethernet cable. Unless you
want to have a separate power cord to connect the phone to the wall
outlet. Today's ISDN or POTS phones get a 48v DC power feed down the
phone cable. With VoIP, you either need to send juice on the ethernet
cable's unused pairs, or plug your phones in the wall.
PoE is also often used to power wireless antennas.
> 2. For that matter, since when does VoIP require any special hardware of
> any kind?
Because sometimes people like to use actual phones, and actual phones
need electricity to work.
Because you need special hardware to be able to convert your internal
VoIP traffic to interface with the outside world's phone systems.
Because you need special hardware to be able to convert your fax
amchines, central alarm systems, key-card entry system, etc... that
still use analog modems to use your VoIP network.
VoIP is a lot more stuff than just installing Skype on your PC.
> 3. You want to use VoIP? Um, *why*?? Do you just enjoy extra complexity,
> or is this because VoIP sounds all shiny and new and sexy and we should
> get with it?
Because it cuts down on the amount of wiring than will go in the walls.
Because it cuts down on the number of phone lines coming in and out of
the building.
Because it can cut down on long distance calls.
etc...
Yes, for the most part, migrating to VoIP in an existing office is still
a solution looking for a problem to fix, but in a new building, the
costs of going with VoIP today are often less than the costs of building
a separate telephony and data network.
> 4. So, let me get this straight. We're currently arranging a contract to
> spend tens of thousands of pounds to have our existing ISDN digital
> phone system moved to the new building, but "in the next year or two"
> you want to throw all that in the bin and move to VoIP? Are you mental??
> You're telling us all this *now*?!?
Ok, so you'd prefer to have to scrap the current network hardware ON TOP
of replacing the phone system in a few years?
> Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but last time I checked, VoIP is still
> an immature and very experimental research technology that isn't yet
> usable in the real world. (Unless you have absurd amounts of resources
> to throw at the problem, in which case almost anything can be made
> feasible.)
You are wrong. It is a fairly new technology (e.g. less than 10 years
old), but there are lots of people who use it everyday in the real
world. Office buildings, call-centres, schools, hospitals, etc...
>
> I can't *begin* to imagine what advantage VoIP would offer us as a
> company. (Apart from the obvious benefit that next time our Internet
> access fails, I won't be able to contact our ISP to notify them, and
> next time our VPN goes down, I won't be able to contact HQ to get it
> fixed...)
>
See above.
Besides, I'm sure in the event of a complete network outage, you'll be
able to find someone with a cell phone to contact the ISP.
> Well anyway, I'm moderately certain that our building intrusion alarm
> won't work without a real telephone line, so I guess we still need at
> least a few of those. ;-)
See above.
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