Am I getting this right?

Iristxo

Hi guys

Newbie here so bear with me. Have been using Skype for international phonecalls and recently Voipcheap and have a regular phone line with BT, which provides broadband as well. Of course, I pay line rental (25 euro a month, used to be) and I think 15 euros a month for 2 Mg broadband, used to be that anyway.

So, say if I get the Phillips Skype Dualphone, and I get rid of the regular phone line that I have now (keeping the broadband connection of course) say if I get Skypepro and a Skype-in number, I will have a phone line that works just like my regular phone line now and the added advantages of Skype in my phone? If i read it correctly the laptop doesn't even have to be on? So, for like 44 euros a year (as someone mentioned in a different thread) I can have unlimited national calls and can still use Voipcheap as well for my international calls? Seems too good to be true. The only disadvantage then is to have to change my current number, I can't see any other cons? Am I seeing this correctly?

Anyone know, with this service, how expensive are calls to mobiles (only ones not mentioned in these threads, I think), compared to Eircom, BT and the likes?

Cheers in advance

steve-o

You still need to pay line rental! No line rental = no BT broadband.

I don't know if there's a reason why you want Skype specifically. I personally wouldn't like the idea of committing myself to a single company and buying a phone that only works with that company.

My setup is a Siemens Gigaset IP (regular land line + up to 6 VOIP lines). I never make calls on the normal landline, but anyone who wants to call me on it can. I also have a Blueface PAYG account that costs next to nothing (and gives me an 076 number) and I use that line for outgoing calls.

Iristxo

I don't think you have to pay line rental. NTL for example can provide broadband without a regular phone line, throught the cable line. Or am I mistaken?

I also read somewhere that I can use the Phillips with Voipcheap? I thought I could use it with other companies too in that case. Can I use the Siemens Gigaset then for Skype and other companies?

Iristxo

Sorry, my mistake. What is says in the other thread is that the phone can also be plugged into an ATA that'll route the voipcheap calls. So just wondering should I get this phone and an ATA or is there another softphone there that will provide the service wiht Skype and other providers without an ATA? And if I do need to buy and ATA where do I get it and how much does it cost?

God I'm a bit lost. Thanks so much everyone for your help.

steve-o

Sorry for the confusion re landline: you mentioned BT as your provider. If you stay with BT, you need to pay line rental. You can switch to another broadband provider that doesn't rely on the landline (such as NTL over TV cable), but get advice from someone who uses NTL as to how good it is for VOIP.

I don't use Skype, so don't know too much about it. It's a proprietary system, meaning it works differently from standard VOIP. Someone else might know if a regular VOIP phone or ATA can work with Skype, but I suspect it won't.

Some phones like my Gigaset IP have a built in ATA - it just plugs straight into my broadband router. If you want to use your existing phone, you will need an ATA (the ATA simply pretends to be a normal landline phone socket, so a normal phone works exactly the same as it would if it was plugged into an Eircom line).

Iristxo

double post, deleted

Iristxo

Oh, it's a minefield, isn't it? I knew it could not be as good as that

The fact is I have no affiliation to Skype whatsoever but most of my friends are in Skype so facilitating the communication with them would be one of my aims. Getting rid of the line rental charge would be the other but I was checking the prices of the phone-calls that you do pay for with Skype (if I had a Skype-in number and I used it for my everyday needs) and the phone-calls to mobiles fo example are a lot more expensive than with BT. So I suspect as regards saving money I would be saving in line-rental and expending it back on the phone-calls!

I'll have to look into it further. If anyone has an answer to the questions that arise form Steve-o post please post them if you don't mind.

Thanks so much Steve for your help, I'm so lost!