Difference Between SIP and IAX

March 2023 · 5 minute read

Mark Spencer (Founder of Asterisk) created the IAX standard to address some of the shortcomings of the SIP standard. Later, an improved edition of IAX known as IAX2 was released. When opposed to SIP, IAX is far highly effective in terms of capacity utilization; assuming a particular throughput, IAX allows you to conduct a higher number of simultaneous telephone conversations than SIP.

SIP vs IAX

The main difference between SIP and IAX is that IAX is far higher productive in terms of bandwidth use than SIP. Given a certain amount of bandwidth, IAX allows you to carry more simultaneous private communications than SIP. IAX does this by being a digital communication rather than a plain-text interface such as SIP.

SIP is a protocol that is used in VoIP services to begin, manage, and terminate audiovisual interaction engagements. SIP protocols enable audio, multimedia, and message apps to signal and manage each other. Hosted SIP Trunking is often supplied by a dedicated Unified Communications provider, who might also supply VoIP as well as Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS).

IAX is a framework for establishing collaborative client encounters. IAX is comparable to SIP. IAX was created by Mark Spencer as a strong, user-friendly replacement to SIP, MGCP, as well as RTP. IAX is ideal for controlling and transmitting multimedia applications as well as VoIP. IAX is flexible to practically any sort of data transport since it operates effectively with all formats.

Comparison Table Between SIP and IAX

Parameters Of ComparisonSIPIAX
The use of Bandwidth It is lesser effective in terms of bandwidth use.It is highly efficient and effective for bandwidth use.
UsesIn terms of usability, it is extremely highly regarded.In terms of use, it is not common.
Structural rigidityIt is the least durable.It is extremely durable.
ExpansionIt is extensible. It includes an expansion capability.It can never be prolonged. It lacks an expansion capability.
Assault on supply depletionIt is not susceptible to such an assault.It is particularly susceptible to such an assault.

What is SIP?

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol that supports VoIP by specifying the messages delivered between terminals and handling the actual aspects of a conversation. Voice conversations, unified communications, text messaging, and multimedia delivery are all supported via SIP. 

SIP is only one technique of delivering VoIP; its fundamental advantage is that it offers a real link among personal or regional telecommunications networks (PBXs) and the general phone network. People and corporations can connect without the need for a traditional home phone in this manner. 

VoIP is a series of techniques that all allow you to transmit and receive voice communications over the web. SIP is an application layer protocol that is used to transport various types of digital data, including voice messages—as such, SIP is a specialized technology that facilitates VoIP conversations. A SIP trunk connects two zones of the Unified Communication system. 

SIP wiring enables us to divide the system into formal and informal areas by establishing these links. In general, open names are administered by internet telephone service providers (ITSPs), whereas privatized sites are linked to somebody’s private server. SIP trunking is used by ITSPs to securely offer phone and live video services to subscribers who have a personal trunk connection.

What is IAX?

IAX, which stands for Inter-Asterisk eXchange, is the original Asterisk PBX standard that is currently implemented by a wide range of VoIP systems. It offers several benefits over SIP, notably spectrum conservation, the usage of one UDP port, 4569, which allows it to easily pass via NAT, and the fact that it is a binary protocol, which makes it extremely hard to exploit. 

Despite these benefits, IAX is not as extensively adopted as SIP, and it places a greater burden on your system since all communication must transit via the server. IAX is a unique VoIP solution that offers various benefits, particularly while using a limited bandwidth connection to the internet.

 IAX employs just one channel for both signaling and multimedia content, making it far less resource-intensive. Furthermore, IAX uses the Password Authentication Protocol rather than IP for identity verification. It is compatible with NAT and firewalls. 

Finally, the IAX configuration includes codecs, making it simple to make global calls while sparing your finances and the bother of holding them accountable. The biggest disadvantage of IAX is that it is designed on top of the Asterisk operating system, therefore you must utilize an Asterisk router with it. Asterisk is an open-source technology platform built on private major systems.

Main Differences Between SIP and IAX

  • For any amount of calls and any codec, IAX is much faster on the line than SIP. 
  • IAX explicitly isolates Caller*ID from the user’s access control. Unless Remote-Party-ID is utilized, SIP does not offer a clear means for doing this.
  • SIP is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard. While there is some preliminary information courtesy of Frank Miller, IAX is not yet a related framework.
  • IAX enables an endpoint to validate a mobile number to determine whether it is full, maybe comprehensive, or is finished but maybe larger. In SIP, there is no way to entirely enable this.
  • IAX contains a distinct layer 2 and layer 3 segregation, which means that both signaling and music have distinct states. SIP does not possess such a method, and its signaling dependability is quite poor and clunky.
  • Conclusion

    VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is quickly gaining popularity as a low-cost alternative to traditional phone conversations. Other technologies that can be used in conjunction with VoIP comprise the Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, as well as Inter-Asterisk eXchange, or IAX. IAX uses less bandwidth than SIP. SIP is sent in clear text, but IAX is not. 

    IAX is not as adaptable as SIP. SIP is not subject to resources depletion threats, whereas IAX is. SIP is more common than IAX. SIP is the more prevalent of the two in terms of usage. SIP is supported by almost all VoIP clients. SIP is also utilized as the primary protocol by several hardware companies for their VoIP telephones, giving birth to the phrase “SIP phones.”

    References

  • https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1556904/
  • https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6680998/
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