Siemens Gigaset 3070 - This is a superb ISDN toy, that handles 2 analogue devices and up to 8 wireless ISDN devices, plus an internal ISDN computer adapter, via USB.
The Gigaset 3070 may be full featured - but it doesn't take up much space. Here, you can see it next to my good old Diamond 56K modem.
ISDN stands for "Integrated Services Digital Network". In Portugal, we call it RDIS (Rede Digital Integrada de Serviços).
The ISDN technology became commercially available in the early 1980s, and its motivation was to allow the communication between any two compatible devices, with better quality, relative to regular switched phone networks.
In Europe, ISDN sells as ISDN2 and ISDN30. ISDN2 means that you buy two 64K channels; ISDN30 means that you buy thirty 64K channels. ISDN2 is also known as "basic rate access"; ISDN30 is also known as "primary rate access".
I recently rented a ISDN2 connection. Again, this connection consists of two 64K channels, known as the B paths, or bearer paths, or "canais portadores" (in portuguese), plus a single 16K D channel, for signaling the communications. An ISDN30 connection would consist of thirty 64K B channels + one 16K D channel.
As far as I know, in the USA, a "primary rate access" is less good, offering "just" 24 B channels + 1 D channel.
Each time you use one of the B channels, you'll have to pay your ISDN service provider. For example, this means that if you connect to an ISP that accepts the PPP 128 Kbps protocol (2 B channels), you'll have to pay the double you regularly do, when surfing over the regular phone network. And if you want to connect to some "special" service, that serves over multiple B channels (remote video), the caller ends up paying each and all of the used B channels.
Having a pair, or more, of B channels, debuts the question: how many channels should I use? The answer is nearly always automatic, thanks to protocols such as Multilink PPP and BonDing.
Multilink PPP is probably what most interests you, as an Internet surfer. Suppose you have a basic ISDN and would like to have a bandwidth of uncompressed 128 Kbps... In order to see your wish realized, you'd need your ISP to support the Multilink PPP, but chances are that you'll be answered with fixed PPP (point-to-point) 64K.
ISDN calls usually cost the same as "regular analogue" calls, but the transaction to an ISDN connection might enclose some surprise expenses. ISDN is incompatible with analogue devices, so your computer modems and analogue phones become trash. In order to voice-talk over ISDN, you need an ISDN phone, and even the most affordable costs ~10 times the price of their analogue equivalents. And in order to do Internet over ISDN, you'll need an ISDN adapter, sometimes called an "ISDN modem", which is a wrong expression, because the signal won't be modulated / demodulated anywhere, being digital from point to point. Its interesting that even the best ISDN computer adapters, cost "just" ~3 times the price of "regular" modems.
If you don't want to get rid of your analogue comm devices, there are solutions. The Siemens ISDN Gigaset 3070 is one of those solutions. The 3070 can make use of two analogue devices - in my case, a telephone and my dear old Diamond 56K external modem. The 3070 can also support up to eight (8) wireless ISDN devices - in my case, one Siemens 3000 Comfort wireless ISDN phone.
One last great feature of the Siemens ISDN 3070, is that it includes a computer ISDN adapter, that connects via an USB interface. In other words, the Siemens Gigaset 3070 is the best value for money, if you are doing the jump to ISDN, and don't want to make obsolete some of your analogue gadgets, and yet want to profit from the potential 128 Kbps bandwidth, for data communications.
Besides its physical capabilities (all in a small gray box, the size of a pocket book), the Gigaset 3070 allows everything that your ISDN provider supports: you can have different phone numbers to each of the connected devices, you can switch internal and external calls, you can know who is calling you, you can monitor your on-going expenses, etc, etc... but I don't care much about these features. I bought ISDN for data, hoping for the long promised portuguese flat rate... (will it ever happen?! shame on everyone who is involved!)
However, there is a dark problem with the ISDN 3070 - its internal computer adapter only comes with (drivers) software support for Windows 98, and I am a Windows 2000 user... I can't understand how come Siemens doesn't support Windows 2000, or even Windows NT4, but these are the facts. This means that you'll need an extra ISDN computer adapter... and I'll review my own Asuscom TA-200, soon...
For now, despite (currently) not supporting Windows 2000, the Siemens Gigaset 3070 is so full featured, does such a perfect job with my analogue devices, and is so crystal clear with the 3000 Comfort wireless phone, that it can't deserve nothing short of a very strong recommendation!
Still, on the Windows 2000 subject: you can buy a "Siemens M101 Data", which is kind of a wireless ISDN computer adapter, that will remote link to the Gigaset, making it usable under any operating system; in fact, this solution completely bypasses the internal ISDN adapter, which will remain usable, should you ever need it.
Ah, and shame on the provided CDROMs, that won't install on multiprocessor machines... But they include nothing, but average ISDN software, so don't worry much about it.
This green light - is also a push-button, that blinks when a communication is going on, and that should be pressed when "registering" wireless ISDN devices to the console.
The Siemens 3000 Comfort - is the best wireless ISDN phone you can buy. There are more expensive and smaller models, but no other has so many functions, including built-in speaker and microphone for "hands free" conversations.