Question 1

What is the difference between Kamailio and Asterisk?

Accepted Answer

Kamailio is a SIP proxy server focused on signaling (routing, registration, and SIP-level security). Asterisk is a media server that handles call logic, IVRs, and RTP streams. They serve different layers of VoIP infrastructure and are often used together.

Question 2

Is Kamailio better than Asterisk for high call volumes?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for pure signaling traffic, Kamailio performs significantly better than Asterisk. It can handle thousands of calls per second because it’s stateless and doesn’t process media, making it ideal for load balancing and SIP trunking at scale.

Question 3

Can I use Kamailio and Asterisk together?

Accepted Answer

Many production VoIP systems use Kamailio and Asterisk integration for optimal performance. Kamailio handles registration, routing, and SIP security, while Asterisk takes care of media features like voicemail, conferencing, and IVRs.

Question 4

What’s the best way to set up Kamailio and Asterisk together?

Accepted Answer

The most common Kamailio and Asterisk setup places Kamailio as the SIP edge server, handling NAT traversal and load balancing. It routes calls to Asterisk nodes only when business logic or media processing is needed.

Question 5

Does Kamailio act as a Session Border Controller (SBC)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Kamailio can be configured as a full SBC. It enforces SIP-level access control, rate limiting, topology hiding, and NAT traversal, making it a strong edge solution in combination with Asterisk.

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