What the deal with VOIP?

sid

sid

sid

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In my new house there will be no telephone line and i'll be using telewest cable for internet.

So i've got a simple question. Is there any technology avaliable to that allows me to remain contactable over VOIP 24/7

Like a phone that plugs into the router? Ideally I need something skype based as that lets you call normal number and allows you to receive calls from normal landlines and mobiles as well.

I don't fancy leaving leaving my pc on just to be able to receive calls anytime.

sid

Edit// I just saw a £200 netgear Wifi phone on the bay, anything cheaper that you guys use?
 
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VOIP and Skype are not the same, I'd forget skype and go VOIP.

Get yourself a number from Voiptalk Sipgate or similar.

Then get either a router that allows you to plug in a phone or one of the other devices. The choice is yours really, if you already have a router that youd like to keep, then get a ATA. If not get a VOIP/router. You can get what looks like a normal corded phone too, but I prefer the ATA or router option with a normal cordless plugged into it.

Just type VOIP into google and in the first few results theres some good examples of hardware and some explanations of what they do. I'm hesitant to link to anything because of the draconian rules on competetors and most of these places offering routers.

TDF.
 
I use a ZyXel 2602 HW with a phone directly plugged into it for VoIP calls. As I have to have a BT phone line I've not bothered to register a number on the VoIP line and just use it for outgoing calls.

If you get a decent router you will be able to prioritise VoIP traffic. I had azureus on full wack last night and made a crystal clear VoIP call. Its definitely worth investing in decent kit.
 
Yes you can forget the telephone line and just use a voip router such as the Fritzbox Fon with QOS (quality of service which gives priority to voip calls over downloads etc.
http://www.avm.de/en/Extern/fritzbox_special/fritzbox.html
One can get a Fritzbox Fon without the adsl modem feature but one can turn off the adsl in the firmware and use as a pure router. This router is number one in Germany very regular firmware updates which are very easily implimented in the brower - bought mine on ebay for peanuts
www.sipgate.co.uk offers an incomming number
I use www.internetcalls.com ( one of the many firms owned by Finaera)
I was issued with a normal Leicester number. One must pay £8 odd for 4 months but this can be used for calls; rather difficult to use as calls of 5 hours a week are allowed to most mainline countries - so one has to use the money up for 0845 and mobile numbers
Its foolish to buy a router today without the voip feature
 
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Hi thanks for the help so far

I found this product on the bay

FDX-840 Fujitsu 2 Phone Port VOIP Telephone Station Gateway / 100Mbps Router

Can someone confirm what this does? From what I can see, it connects a normal PSTN phone to the router which connects to some external cable modem and routes VOIP rite?

Sid

Edit// Noticed its just locked to BT gayness!!

Edit// Netgear TA612V seems to do the same i think without laming around.

So heres the question, can i plug the wan port of the netgear into the cable modem and the LAN port into a switch or Wireless AP?

sid
 
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I remember a case in america where I believe a prosecution was made against vonage(?) when someone couldn't call the emergency services after the connection went down. I don't know what's changed since then, just something to think about.
 
Zogger said:
I remember a case in america where I believe a prosecution was made against vonage(?) when someone couldn't call the emergency services after the connection went down. I don't know what's changed since then, just something to think about.
Click to expand...

We will latest N series nokia phones, so it won't be the only phone in use but would prefer not to use them when at home to save money.

sid
 
Nokia's latest take on the business mobile (e60??) has wifi and a VOIP client built in, could be good with an AP and an account with voiptalk or sipgate. Other than that, something like a cisco 7960 Ip phone will do the job, they're wired and very expensive but do everything you could ever wish for...
 
bigredshark said:
Nokia's latest take on the business mobile (e60??) has wifi and a VOIP client built in, could be good with an AP and an account with voiptalk or sipgate. Other than that, something like a cisco 7960 Ip phone will do the job, they're wired and very expensive but do everything you could ever wish for...
Click to expand...


Lol the whole point of not having a landline and using VOIP was to do this cheap. Cisco isn't cheap !

I have seen the netgear TA612v router which I plan to use now, and plug in a normal telephone to that which wil be cheaper than a IP phone.

I dont have a e60 but i have a n80 which also does VOIP over SIP I think

sid
 
Not wanting to hijack this thread, but rather than creating a new one I decided I would use this.

I'm currently using Sipgate (which I have found to be faultless) however I don’t want to have the PC on to receive calls, I'm currently looking at getting a CISCO ATA 186 voip adaptor, however would it be easy to configure for Sipgate, I'm on NTL broadband and I already have a router which I would like to keep if possible?
 
reasonably straightforward on the ATA186...

in reply to earlier, no, cisco isn't cheap but it's flawless kit. but to be honest if cheap is the prime concern, why bother with VOIP, get a decent priceplan with a decent number of minutes on your mobile and use that, it works anywhere too. VOIP is nice for business and a few other discreet uses but I see no reason to have a home phone unless you need the line for broadband.
 
The Netgear TA612V is locked to Sipgate.... plus it's Netgear.

Avoid it!

I'd recommend a Linksys SPA941/942 - they're about £100 and are a feature packed handset.
 
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