$100 for a Home Phone System
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$100 for a Home Phone System is possible? It was totally a dream if living in twenty years ago. At that time, one line (ether PSTN or extension) would cost you around 100 dollar. Only big company could afford such analog PBX, like PBX made by Nortel, SIEMENS, NEC, Panasonic……….
However, you can build a home phone systme for three-bedroom house by as low as $100 now.
Deployment
Assumption:
Assume your home has already had below items:
- internet connection
- a router
- Ethernet port (RJ45) in each room/ place
- some smart phones either iPhone or Android
Hardware for $100 Home Phone System
PBX server: from aliexpress.com
Orange Pi PC + Power Support + Shipping= $19 + $9.91 = 28.91 from aliexpress.com
IP Phones:
CISCO refurbished SPA303 or SPA504G: $15 x 3 = $45 including shipping from ebay
Or cost more from amazon.com
Power supply for CISCO phone:
5V / 2A power supply: $3.05 x 3 =$9.15 inncluding shipping from ebay.
Network cable
CAT5e ethernet cable: $1 x 4 = $4 from local dollar store.
Softphone:
You can also use free softphone on your smart phone as an extension.
- Zoiper
- GS wave
- CSipSimple
- Linphone
Free Software for $100 Home Phone System:
- FreePBX
- FusionPBX
If you have a x86 desktop or laptop on hand , Issabel is also a good option for newbie.
Estimated total costs:
| Item | Quantity | Unit Price | Sub-Total |
| Orange Pi plus power supply | 1 | $28.31 | $28.31 |
| IP phone | 3 | $15.00 | $45.00 |
| Power supply for IP Phone | 3 | $3.05 | $9.15 |
| Ethernet Cable | 4 | $1.00 | $4.00 |
| Softphone on Smartphoen | $0.00 | ||
| Free Software | $0.00 | ||
| Total Estimated: | $86.46 |
Conclusion:
In conslucion, you can own a home phone system with budgetd costs, which could be less than 100 dollar with the above assumption.
Update in 2023:
The prices of all orange Pis increased much since COVID-19 spreaded in the word.
However, Orange Pis are still good budget option as IP PBX option for personal or small business uses.
In 2023, the most budget Orange Pi for IP PBX is still Orange Pi One with 1GB RAM.
Orange Pi PC is still available, but the price also increased much comparing to the price years ago
Free IP PBX solutions:
- Asterisk (FreePBX)
- Freeswitch (FusionPBX)
- SIPFoundry
- OpenSIPS
- Kamailio
How to Build an Enterprise-class Phone System?
PBX on Raspberry Pi
