steven n fettig's Jitterin' Thoughts

Frequently enough the rounds get made on the OpenBSD mailing lists regarding hardware that some n00b (newbie) wants support for and people either harshly or calmly explain that the lack of support for xyz are for a few reasons, but the most important is usually that hardware company abc doesn't have or refuses to provide thorough hardware documentation so that good drivers may be written. Worse, is being confronted by products that you purchase which are advertised to be compatible or will work with something and come to find that there is no explanation for how it is supposed to work with that something.
I just have figured out how to configure an Asterisk server for use in my home office and for eventual use in our office at Tankcraft. I was looking for a reasonably priced FXS/FXO SIP device for use with some analog lines that aren't easy to wire to where my Asterisk installation is. So, through a bit of research and price comparisons, I found the Linksys/Sipura SPA-3000 and the Zoom Model 5801.
vs. The Zoom is specifically advertised as having "Proven compatibility with SIP-standard servers from Asterisk, Cisco, NetCentrix, Quintum and more" (bold my emphasis). Considering the Zoom 5801 retails for around $30 less than the Linksys/Sipura and it is advertised as having proven compatibility with Asterisk, it was a relatively easy choice.
My mistake. I should have paid close attention to the product support page. If you take a close look at the specific documents available on the 5801 you will find nothing by way of comprehensive documentation on the functions available through the 5801's user interface. This is nonsense. I am so sick of buying products with little or no instructional support. I'm not asking someone to hold my hand through the configuration and use process, but how the hell do you expect me to leave your tech support people to more important problems when basic configuration instructions aren't available and make no reference to the products you supposedly support. This is what I lost when I decided to save $30. $30 times a few devices isn't all too much, but if we were looking at deploying tens, hundreds or thousands of them, it would make a difference.
I have now not only wasted enough time on trying to do my best at figuring out where the settings were that I needed access to, but I also ended up writing Zoom to see if they could provide assistance (I guarantee that I have blown way beyond the $30 I saved on each of the three ATA's I bought). Who knows what will come of my tech support request. (It may be positive or negative.) I will certainly avoid products like this in the future and will be unlikely to buy products from them again.