Number 0Nxxxxxxx is currently OFFLINE

This is something that's been bugging me for a little while with my iax2 trunk to 2talk. Fundamentally I'm just a bit sow to get how it all hangs together. Generally it works out of the box so I don't 'need' to understand it to use it ... except it's good to know how it hangs together when things get weird.

That said some kind of recent change (possibly with 2talk plus account set-up) my registration died and 2talk showed me as 'OFFLINE' .. hmm.

*CLI> iax2 show registry
Host                  dnsmgr  Username    Perceived             Refresh  State
202.180.76.166:4569   N       0Nxxxxxx               60  Timeout
202.180.76.166:4569   N       0Nxxxxxx               60  Timeout

Ok so I'm not registered - but, I can make outbound calls ... odd? No - this is a clear description:

The only purpose of registration is to allow a device to identify its location on the network, so that Asterisk knows where to send calls intended for that device.

Thank you Mr O'Reilly http://ofps.oreilly.com/titles/9780596517342/asterisk-DeviceConfig.html

OK so I didn't change anything so perhaps I can force a registry reset / refresh, etc 

*CLI> iax2 unregister
Usage: iax2 unregister
       Unregister (force expiration) an IAX2 peer from the registry.

Hmm .. not helpful - I can't figure out what the peername is .. a few attempts from iax2 show peers to get the name don't seem to help. So I default to a fallback option - change the registry string to something wrong, reload asterisk, then change in back .. maybe. 

So I choose (rather fortuitously)  to replace:

0Nxxxxxx:@iax.2talk.co.nz 

with

0Nxxxxxx:@iax.plus.2talk.co.nz 

and  guess what, it works .. well maybe a change to the 2talk+ accounts? I can't find a reference say here http://blog.2talk.co.nz/iax2.html or  here http://www.2talk.co.nz/2talkplus/ . I've created a ticket so will see what they say.

*UPDATE* apparently if you're on 2talk+ you should always use .plus .. so looks like the last related change got pushed through and they've stopped supporting registration on the old domain. OK.

Nexus 7 - Office tablet - it's time to go paperless people

OK so after moving to Auckland to start a fledgling branch of the company I work for I'm thinking about operational readiness. And, next on my list is a printer/scanner/copier .. or is it? So I don't want toner cartridges or paper jams or manual duplex or whatever. Furthermore all the cool kids up here just take a tablet to meetings and with the features of Adobe Reader X (i.e. highlighting and freehand overlays) I'm thinking a tablet is a better first choice and aim to go paperless.

So having considered (and discarded .. for now) the Samsung Note 10 I have opted for a Nexus 7. So far so good - will update .. just opted for Wifi model to keep it cheap and simple but aside from tethering issues (easily getting documents on it before a meeting) we're up and running.

Phones can be hotspots - but what about laptops?

So here I am chewing through mobile data and surely I don't need to buy and set-up a permanent wifi AP when I want the odd bit of wireless data. Normal process follows - ask google what ubuntu can - wifi tethering?

Turns out 'yes' and some good instructions are forthcoming on askubuntu.com but (aside from only seemingly supporting WEP and some IPv6 issues) I don't see a hotspot?

The answer - via http://askubuntu.com/questions/76981/cannot-make-wi-fi-hotspot

 $ sudo iw list | less
   ...         
 Supported interface modes:
                 * IBSS
                 * managed
                 * monitor

 so no AP and so hardware does not support being an AP. Bummer - but good to know.