VOIP - Thinking about getting it, need some help thou

[h2009]

Hi there,
im thinking about going with VOIP system for my house because at the moment i have a ISDNe2 telephone system which is on its last legs.

its very clear that the VOIP costs much less than ISDN, but im trying to find a provider which will allow me to keep my existing number (BT), and is very reliable.

My second problem is this:

Ok in some areas of my house, I dont have any way of getting a fixed ethernet cable to the rooms, so these areas are covered by wifi, but in some areas the wifi signal cannot pass through the walls and there is no ethernet cable either. In these areas i've only got your standard telephone cables, but im pretty sure that a coreless telephone signal could reach these areas.
My question is, is there a system out there for VOIP which has wifi handset, ethernet handsets, and coreless handsets or handset which can run off standard telephone cables?

What i need from VOIP:
To keep my existing telephone number
Not to lay any new cables
Keep cost to a minimum
A relieable service provider
Cheap international costs
Deciated hardware for VOIP which can plug into my existing cable router.
I need the ability, to make internal calls.

Ideally i need a system which can use standard telephone line as a backup option only.



If anyone can help with the hardware needed for this i would really be very grateful.

 

[h2009]

hi there,
I understand what its all about - i've got broadband, and ISDN. Broadband is just for the internet at the moment, and ISDN is a my telephone system line - i.e. 2 incoming lines, 2 out going lines - 4 numbers, 16 user telephone system. A normal telephone line cannot support this, hense the nee for ISDN.

I want to use my cable broadband connection, for the internet and VOIP to reduce my costs. At the moment im spending in the region of 400 pounds a month on BB and ISDN.
ISDN is a major cost at about 350 pounds.

The way things are setup at the moment are very complex - and hard to put into words.
Its need someone with expert knowledge of VOIP, and the what systems are out there at the moment.

i.e. some rooms have ethernet, others have wifi, and a few other only have standard telephone wiring (hense the need for a radio telephone handset).

Homeplug wont work here, as different parts of the house, are on completely different circuits, and are not connected to each other.

 

[h2009]

Hi TrX,
Thanks for your reply. im just looking into 'asterisk' now. I hope its easy to use!
I've found that vonage allow me to keep my number and have fairly good rates.

To get the high quality call you mention ULAW, how would i go about conbining this into asterisk?

Although in practise i will have more than 16 internal telephone sets - at any one point i doubt that more than 2 will be in use, so i think my broadband connection will be fine.

Im currently using a d-link dir-655 router, which seems to provide me with good shaping at the moment, if needed i'll get a seperate broadband connection for the VOIP.

Can i ask, have you had any experience with setting up asterisk?
And when you say you can use just about any phone with it, do they all have to be the same manufacture? Because finding wifi phones and ethernet phones all the same is very hard.


Thank you for your help.