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This page describes how to connect to the internet or send and receive faxes using ISDN.

ISDN and Linux

What is isdn4linux?

isdn4linux is a set of kernel modules. It consists of the main module "isdn" and a set of hardware drivers (mainly "HiSax") that control specific ISDN cards. In addition, the package "isdn4k-utils" contains utilities to make use of ISDN-specific features.

What is mISDN?

mISDN is the successor of isdn4linux following the adoption of the CAPI interface with Linux kernel 2.6. Like isdn4linux, it consists of kernel modules (it has been rewritten from scratch).

The following diagram offers an overview of the differences between the older kernel module architecture based on isdn4linux and Terminal-emulation (ochre), and the newer mISDN architecture (blue) based on mISDN and the CAPI interface.


What ISDN cards are supported?

isdn4linux supports both "active" (built-in firmware) and "passive" cards that plug into a desktop PC's PCI slot as well as PCMCIA cards (for laptops) and USB adapters.

mISDN currently supports AVM Fritz!Cards and most HFC-PCI based cards via its hardware drivers.

For a comprehensive list of supported ISDN cards, see the Hardware Support wiki page.


Can I use my ISDN card to send and receive faxes?

At present, fax support for most passive ISDN cards is only available in conjunction with the older isdn4linux kernel module package. The GPL-licensed ivcall software is able to send and receive voice calls and faxes via passive cards (using isdn4linux, not mISDN). It makes use of the spandsp library which is part of the Asterisk project.

Users of (passive) AVM cards are somewhat luckier: they can take advantage of a binary CAPI 2.0 driver that supports faxing in tandem with the mISDN modules.

mISDN does not offer fax support for passive ISDN cards (other than AVM). There are plans to extend mISDN with layer 2 and layer 3 protocols for fax. Once this works (e.g. with the Sedlbauer Speedfax card) then the layer 1 protocol (modulation/demodulation) could also be implemented via the spandsp library.

See this section of the isdn4linux FAQ for details.



Connecting to the Internet using ISDN


IconsPage/apt.png Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake)



IconsPage/note.png For all Hardware configurations:


ToDo

To be added:

For More Information

Linux and ISDN

ISDN card manufacturers

Standards Bodies, Working Groups

Asterisk

Other Tutorials

man pages


CategoryNetworking

IsdnHowto (last edited 2013-12-14 10:29:59 by knome)