VOIP Experiences?

[#1]

I am thinking of going to FF because a) it is cheaper than my current package and b) I never use my landline.

SO, does anyone who has gone to FF use some kind of VOIP service and, if so, how is it?

[#2]

If you never use your landline, you don't need VoIP. It is merely  a digital replacement for a fixed-line phone.

[#3]

I have been using Vonage Residential VOIP for some time. It currently costs £10.25/month.

Transferring my old landline number was straightforward.

They supply a cigarette pack sized adapter which allows you to connect a standard analogue or DECT phone to your router via an Ethernet cable.

It's been fairly reliable, apart from one instance where the system stopped receiving incoming calls. Outgoing calls still worked normally so It took some time before I became aware of the problem. Power cycling the adapter fixed it.

It supports voicemail, caller id and call blocking.

Voice messages automatically generated within the network have an american female voice that I find annoying.

They offer a free 'Vonage Extensions App' that allows you to use your mobile to make or receive calls over VOIP using WiFi. That provides a less noisy connection compared to an analogue or DECT phone.

The Vonage VOIP system does NOT fully support online banking: If you try to key in an authentication code displayed on a PC using a DECT phone, it doesn't work. Key presses are not transmitted to the far end. Experts on here can probably explain why. I think it may have something to do with DTMF key information being sent out of band.

Another thing to bear in mind is that, unlike the old copper landline, if you lose mains power or your broadband or router fail then, unless you have a mobile, you have no way to report the problem. You can't regard VOIP as a backup.

[#4]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Full Fibre to Tech Help

[#5]

@briank  Sounds like a non standard expensive VOIP service ( you have to use their own adaptor ) that doesn't work properly.☹️

Many other better suppliers are available.

[#6]

My limited research ended up concluding that Vonage was the most straight forward way to move to VOIP if I needed to.

My wife is not yet prepared to give up on the land line number we have had here for more than 20 plus years. I've just started an 18month broadband and phone contract with PN so have that time to figure out what we need to do.

@RealAleMadrid Who do you have in mind when you say many other better suppliers are available please? Would really like some objective reviews like the excellent summary provided by @briank 

Thanks

[#7]

@the_groundsman  I'd start by having a look at A & A https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

Unless you make lots of calls on your landline, their PAYG rates are likely to be competitive. They will supply preconfigured voip equipment or you can use your own and they have setup guides for most.

[#8]

It probably works out cheaper than Vonage.

Unless I have misunderstood the info on their website, It looks like you have to buy one or more VOIP handsets instead of using existing DECT phone(s). That may not be a bad thing since I find my BT DECT phones to be unreliable and noisy.

[#9]

For anyone considering purchasing new equipment I'd recommend one of the Gigaset VoIP DECT systems, which are very easy to configure and let you register multiple SIP accounts.

Why would you want multiple accounts you may ask.  Well once you have your number ported to and 'hosted' by someone such as A&A (but not Vonage) to use for receiving incoming calls, you're not required to use them for outgoing calls, and it seems many people don't realise that you can use very cheap alternative accounts for those whilst sending your 'landline' number as CLI.

In my case I use FreeVoipDeal for calling UK geographic numbers and International, and €10 lasts many months as you get 'Free' calls for 120 days each time you top up (see the details given at link).

and with DiscountVoip for calling UK mobiles at 1/3p per minute it's been ages since I topped up £10.

You don't need to download the software offered, those accounts are easy to set up in a device such as the Gigaset N300-IP, and it handles routing of the different types of calls seamlessly and automatically according to very simple dialling rules.

Dirt cheap, and I've been using those two for years without issue; many other accounts are available from the same stable of companies to suit different requirements.  No contracts involved, unused credit doesn't expire and only needs to be topped up (if you want to) when it runs out.