Phone service with Digiweb metro

radioactiveman

Hi
was just wondering - I'm thinking about getting the Metro wireless service from digiweb as a replacement for the phoneline and DSL I have at the moment. Does anyone have any good/bad experiences with this? Is it reliable enough to actually replace a regular landline or are there small delays after you talk ? I am thinking about going for the bottom basement package with 256k upload so this is why I'm wondering if it's fast enough.
Cheers

watty

The phone uses 8K to 12k for speech and 80K to 100k for fax/dialup modem. There is built in QOS, so when it is used it always gets the bandwidth it needs.

99.9% of time it is more like copper phone line than like mobile. It is not like 3rd party VOIP such as Blueface or Smart076 as the call is only on Digiweb's private network before going onto telephone network. This means that unlike 3rd party VOIP it is reasonably secure, more secure than copper landline which can be tapped out in the street cabinet easily.

No matter what package you are on the QOS management makes sure the phone calls work.

Some expensive handsets may not work as well as cheap ones. I've tried a range of DECT (cordless) and regular handsets. The ONLY one that didn't work perfectly was a Siemens that Chorus supplied me.

Calls to other Metro users don't go on phone network at all, so are free. eircom can delay a lot if you want to transfer an existing number and that costs extra money too to get it done.

You can make two outgoing calls at once, but incoming both "lines" are the same and only one call unless you pay for a 2nd number.

Wcool

Hi, I am a Digiweb Metro user as well.

So far the experience has been very positive. In general everything has been very reliable. Even the winter storms haven't made any dent.
The call quality is better than a POTS system in my experience.

Digiweb's phone call's are cheaper than Eircom's but not as cheap as real VOIP. I was somehow disappointed with some tariffs for Europe. (but still cheaper than Eircom)

You could of course always install a VOIP box later using your Digiweb connection.

If you think about it: if you only make phone calls, for 20 euro you get a phone line, with cheaper phone calls + broad band for the occasional web browsing or download, that is cheaper Eircom's line rental!

The phone system wasn't working sometimes in the beginning but no trouble lately. I didn't change my old phone number (we have 2 mobiles in the house anyway, I am not that bothered with my landline), so no comment on timeframes there.

watty

A separate VOIP box won't give the same quality though. You can use a Long distance call card I think though. No CPS.

taung

I've been using the basic Digiweb Metro service (Lite) for the past six months. The broadband connect 'does what it says on the tin' with the exception of the occasional service outage.

However the phone service is poor; in the last month or two I have been unable to make phone calls in the evening time. Digiweb don't seem to take these faults seriously.....they've got a few more days left to fix it or I'm going back to eircom......