Freshtel 3010 ATA

Design
Freshtel's 3010 ATA (it's actually a slightly rebadged Virbiage 3010 ATA) is a small white and green adaptor that allows you to connect up any standard landline phone and utilise it for making VoIP based calls. Naturally, Freshtel would be happiest if you were using it with their network, although the configuration utility does open up the possibility of using it with other providers; you'll still have to live with the apple green Freshtel badge on the top, however.

The 3010 is visually very simple, with a single large indicator light on the front that flashes one of three colours -- red for initial booting sequences, green for a solid VoIP connection, and orange for any problems or if the ATA hasn't been configured to any provider. Ports on the back are used for connecting up to a router/hub or ethernet port, a standard landline telephone and a power supply. Like most other ATAs, there's little to go wrong with the 3010, although more cautious users might find it a touch worrying that none of the ports are labelled. You're unlikely to fit an ethernet cable into the phone port by accident, but stranger things have happened.

Aside from the ATA device itself, the 3010 box also includes the necessary power adaptor and a short length of standard ethernet cable for connecting up to a router or hub; you'll have to provide the phone part yourself.

Features
In order to configure the 3010, you'll need to access its configuration pages, which can be viewed by any web browser. The 3010 features a very clever method for determining the IP address you'll need. Once you've connected up the ATA to your router/hub, and plugged in a standard telephone, you'll get dial tone, at which point hitting the star key three times will make the ATA recite the IP address of the ATA back to you. If you're feeling particularly brave, you can even force an IP address on the ATA via your phone keypad.

Once you've got the IP address of the 3010, you can directly access the web based configurator. As web configuration utilities go, the 3010 is quite simple to get the hang of, and the very nervous will appreciate the quick setup guide that Freshtel provides in the box, which guides you very simply through entering the correct settings for VoIP functionality. Aside from configuring the provider, the 3010 also lets you set default speaker and microphone settings -- bearing in mind that as a device that'll work independently of your PC and even when it's off -- as well as local date and security settings. Of note for those on limited download dialup plans, the default setting for the 3010 is to automatically download any available firmware updates; those who skirt the limits of their plans on a regular basis may wish to disable this and manage firmware updates manually.

Performance
VoIP call quality is a very tough nut to accurately test. Invariably, if there's a problem, the VoIP provider will point to the PSTN network for quality problems, while the telephone companies will bemoan the VoIP providers or the ISP. Your mileage may vary, and it's worth bearing in mind that if your home network configuration allows for QoS-style settings to enable VoIP traffic over other traffic, it's often well worth enabling to ensure smoothest possible VoIP perfomance.

That being said, our test calls via the 3010 delivered mostly good call performance from an ADSL2+ broadband connection, calling local, mobile and international numbers and utilising Freshtel's VoIP service (you can read our review here). As the 3010 works in a PC-free environment, all of its calling functions are direct, so you don't need to hit any key combination for normal PSTN calls, although you will need to remember to input the area code, even for local calls. The 3010 does support free calls on the Firefly network, for which you'll need to hit the star key followed by the user's Firefly number.

The 3010 ATA is simple to use and configure, and it's priced at a competitive level to other ATA devices. In our tests it performed well and was simple to use, and thus comes recommended.