Switching from FTTC to a VOIP service

[#1]

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@MisterW wrote:

he only consistent issue is that the phone is much more prone to misdialling. Unless you leave a short pause between each button press there is a high chance that the call won't work.

@JSHarris it might be worth experimenting with changing the DTMF Tx Mode setting from Strict to Normal and see if that makes any difference

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Thanks, I'll give that a try (once I've discovered where that setting is!).  I'll report back if that does indeed fix the misdialling issue.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

@JSHarris  i dont have a Cisco ATA but I believe its in the Line 1 & Line 2 settings

[#3]

Thanks again.

For the Cisco SPA112 I have it's in the "Voice" menu option, towards the bottom at the right.  I've changed DTMF Tx from "Strict" to "Normal", so will see what happens.  Screenshot in case this may help someone else with a Cisco ATA:

[#4]

Just an update and thanks again to @MisterW , as changing the DTMF Tx setting to normal does seem to have resolved the somewhat hit and miss dialling I was getting before. 

Overall, I can't tell the difference between using the VOIP phone connection over broadband and the PSTN connection, both seem to be the same to my (somewhat ancient) ears.  Based on my experience I'd say that VOIP is a perfectly acceptable replacement for a landline, subject to my reservations about the way it will cope with several hours, perhaps a couple of days, of the power being out. 

As if on cue our power went down this morning for about an hour, first power cut we've had since March (something of a record!).  I'm using an old UPS that has a fairly dire battery to keep the power up during the short period that our automatic backup power changeover switch takes to operate, and that worked fine, kept the 4G gateway and ATA up without a glitch.  I might look at changing the UPS battery. 

Although APC state that the battery isn't replaceable, I have a sneaky suspicion that it may well be a standard size rechargeable battery.  I don't really need it to work for long, but if I could (fairly cheaply) get it back to working as it did before I swapped it out for a new one (for my PC - it got to the point where it wouldn't keep the PC running long enough for me to shut it down when the power goes off) then it would give an extra bit of resilience to our emergency phone system.  I've measured the power the 4G gateway and ATA use and it's only about 12W, so not a lot.

[#5]

Had another power cut last night - seems like the electricity people are practising for winter a bit early.  Took the opportunity to test the (battery backed) VOIP phone and 4G gateway to call 105 and find out when we were likely to get the power back.  I also timed how long our broadband stayed up, and it seems the local cabinet falls over after about 35 minutes now, so longer than I remember from last year, but still nowhere near good enough for a phone working over broadband to be a safe emergency phone option. 

I think I'll stick with the extra cost of the 4G gateway option, as I've been told that the tower that provides this has a back up generator and will stay up for at least a couple of days if the power goes down.  Pity I can't get more speed from the 4G connection.  I did a speed test during the power cut last night and only got around 6Mbs, lower than the 10Mbs I got when I first tested it (maybe there were more people using it because the grid was down).  If I could get around 30Mbs from 4G then I think I could probably ditch the landline and FTTC altogether.  Pity Starlink is so expensive, as that might have been another option, perhaps.

[#6]

Just general words of thanks to all the contributors on this thread. My individual circumstances meant I had many technical questions relating to this and a lot of useful info has been imparted and shared.