VOIP using Plusnet, Grandstream, A&A

[#1]

Interesting. I looked at voipfone(.co.uk) because someone else recommended them (and I liked the fact that they don't advertise at all - entirely growing by word of mouth; also they answered some of my technical queries quickly and clearly), and they look similar to what you say for A&A: A&A £1.44/month, 1.2p/minute; voipfone cheapest £1.50/month, 1p/min to landlines (might also be 1.2 as might be +VAT), They also do packages - £5/month for 100 minutes (UK mobiles and landlines), £10/500, £15/1000, £20/unlimited; I presume A&A (and others) also do packages. voipfone also provide the "zoiper" software. (voipfone are - outside the free bundles - 7p/m to UK mobiles, only 2p/m to most of rest of world mobile or not; I presume that's universal across providers and due to some crazy aspect of the UK mobile system!)

I agree, if you can access your recent call lists, for most of us, the cheapest package (A&A or voipfone, probably anyone else too) would be appropriate for most months. I've recently been on hold to several companies for a long time which would skew it, though might _still_ work out cheapest.

I might well download your attachment - sounds useful. (Voipfone like A&A sell adapters, but for somewhat more than they're available elsewhere - I take it that's why you didn't buy yours from A&A.)

[#2]

Yes, thats right, I did buy the adapter from elsewhere. I dont like paying more than is necessary for such items. I paid £40 on amazon. It came from the USA so it was a bit slower delivery

[#3]

Do BT have _any_ email facility?

I don't believe so!. They used to, but like many providers, they don't offer it to new customers.

[#4]

Think the ongoing prices for Voipfone are a bit more that A&A.

A&A Port in £15, then £1.44 per month

Voipfone, port in £free, then £3.00+vat per month on Flex, or a price plan with included minutes. Not the £1.50+vat pm as advertised

Voipfone - Move your number to Voipfone

[#5]

What IS good, is that they state in black and white that they will recover numbers ceased within 31 days as per OFCOM rules

Before making your request please check that:

• The number is still working. Otherwise, we can recover it if service was cancelled less than 31 days ago.
• You're happy for any services on the current line/number to end - including any broadband service.
• If Redcare (a Fire/Intruder Alarm Security Monitoring Service) is on the line this needs to be ceased, and the order completed, before you start the porting process. If you still need it you could move Redcare to a different line.
• Do not place an order with the current provider to cease or stop the line, as the porting process is designed to do this for you.

[#6]

Interesting thread.  The OP’s situation was similar to mine.  My Plusnet contract was up so I decided to upgrade to FTTP and move my telephone service to A&A whom I'd read some good things about on the forums

I wanted to keep my present call blocking BT cordless phone so I purchased A&A’s Grandstream HT801.  I could have bought a new one much cheaper but as I was dealing with something I knew very little about and A&A's ATA came pre-configured and included the appropriate cables for UK use I decided that was the way to go.  Used Grandstream HT801’s can be picked up very cheap on Ebay but apparently some of them have locked firmware and I was afraid it might finish off as a door stop…

The one thing I have changed in the ATA config is the ring tone – originally it had what was presumably the American ring, I’ve changed that to the standard UK ring.  Other than that its standard apart from the changes A&A made.

Now the one thing I have not seen mentioned anywhere in any forums is passwords.  I have obviously changed the Grandstream’s admin password but there are two other passwords that can be changed within the config and I’d be grateful if anyone on here could give me some idea what they are.   These are the top of the Basic Settings page – New End User & New Viewer.

Incidentally thanks to the OP for posting the setting-up pdf - I'm sure there are lots of users who will find this useful.

[#7]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Home Phone to Tech Help and Stickied 

[#8]

Tettin's guide is excellent. I couldn't get hold of a Grandstream HT801 at a reasonable price, so managed to find an HT802 (simply has ports for two phones rather than one) on eBay at a great price. Leaning on Tettin's guide (thank you!), I adapted it with the HT802's settings in mind and am attaching it here for anyone who wants to set this up using the following configuration:

Setting up the Grandstream HT802 analogue telephone adaptor (ATA) to replace a PlusNet analogue landline with an A&A VOIP line, while still using your existing analogue landline phones.

The guide assumes you already have an A&A VOIP account, which is very quick and easy to create.