Maintaining Blueface/VOIP

Skidmcmarx

Hey guys hope someone with a home blueface/voip setup could help me out.

I've recently being considering changing from smart telecom to a voip setup. My main problem is tho, i'm 19 and am living at home with parents, brother and no one in the house except myself would have a clue how to set-up, configure, maintain a voip setup.

What i want to do is ditch smarttelecom(who i have to say, their broadband service is top notch but the phone is getting costly with the line rental and all) completely and swith my broadband to UPC's 10mb package. I'd like to get the Freedom Basic package. The full setup would be:

Broadband: UPC 10mb
VOIP: Blueface Freedom Package
Router: Combination of UPC router and DLink Dir-655
Phone: An undecided ATA and 2 DECT Phones

Ok i'm finnally getting around to the actual question....After the initial configuration, how awkward/simple is it to maintain a fully funtioning VOIP setup? Will my parents be killing me once a month because the phone isn't working and they dont know what to do....:rolleyes::P:D

Thanks in advance
Ritchie

Some_Person

About Smart and the phone, you can just get broadband without phone from Smart can't you? I'd recommend staying with Smart instead of switching to UPC.
I've been with Blueface since early December and haven't had a single problem with them, number port was flawless too.I use a Linksys PAP2T ata with a normal phone, simple to setup.

Skidmcmarx

Thanks 4 the reply.

Being completely honest i'm not 100% sure. Lookin at the smart homepage it looks al their plans are packges(broadband and phone included). I'll have to call tomoro and check it out.

Good to here you've had success with Bluface. I'm finding it hard to find many people complaining about them. Seems their service is great. Do you find yourself changing settings every now and then or does it just feel like a normal landline i.e very little everyday hassle??

Some_Person

I find that the quality is better than a normal landline and slightly louder, you don't have to change any settings apart from the first time really and it's no hassle really as long as your net connection is ok . Smart Options:

Skidmcmarx

Haha, now i know i shouldn't still be awake. Completly missed that. Thanks a million. For some reason, dont know how, it seems we're actually paying less than that at the min with both broadband and phoneline. Must check into it.

The more i look into Blueface the more i'm being convinced to make the switch.

In ur own experience have u found much of a saving since the switch to Blueface?
Our main usage at home would be a deacent(not crazy) amount of calls to mobiles with a moderate amount of landline calls.

Thanks again

Some_Person

Unfortunately Blueface don't seem to have packages for mobiles yet so you need to use top up credit to call mobiles and they're mobile rates are cheaper than others for sure. I've got the Ireland/UK Unlimited package which cost €149 for the whole year (then an extra €15 once off for number port if wanted, + an ata box), with €ircon it could cost €150 just for 2 months limited calls!.

adrian.s

Some_Person wrote: »

Unfortunately Blueface don't seem to have packages for mobiles yet so you need to use top up credit to call mobiles and they're mobile rates are cheaper than others for sure. I've got the Ireland/UK Unlimited package which cost €149 for the whole year (then an extra €15 once off for number port if wanted, + an ata box), with €ircon it could cost €150 just for 2 months limited calls!.

I've been using Blueface for over 3 years now and have to say there is rarely ever a problem with their service. And cost wise, it's one of the few times a product has come through on the promise of cost savings. If you keep your phone usage to just land line numbers, and use mobiles for mobile calls it works out the cheapest. But I do keep some credit on the account for mobile calls.

Regarding maintenance, it's a non issue. Worst case scenario is to pull the power from the VOIP base station, which happens, maybe once a year. Just make sure your Broadband provider is reliable, I currently use UPC 10MB and it's fine.

Best,
Adrian.

com7

I have blueface and 10 mb upc and have no problems with it ! could nt recommend it more

Skidmcmarx

Hey guys,

Thanks for all ye're replies. I've decided to drop smart and go with exactly your setup com7. UPC are calling tomoro to install their 10mb BB and i'm in the process of lookin for a cheap but decent ATA device to set up my DECT house phone.

Anyone got any suggestions??

Some_Person

Linksys PAP2T

Skidmcmarx

Is there a huge difference between the one you linked and this???

GigaByte

Skidmcmarx wrote: »

Is there a huge difference between the one you linked and this???

Yeah, the price. The one you linked to will work fine. I have UPC and blueface and have never had to change my settings. It worked perfect from day one, thats 2 years without a problem.

I like the voicemail getting emailed to me! :pac:

Some_Person

Skidmcmarx wrote: »

Is there a huge difference between the one you linked and this???

That's older I think, get the one I linked to.

GigaByte

Some_Person wrote: »

That's older I think, get the one I linked to.

What is the benefit of him paying more? Are you saying the one he linked to won't work? Do you think it has feature's on it that the other one doesn't that he needs?

Some_Person

Maybe it's mostly the same and would probably work fine, but never tried it myself, I reccomend the PAP2T since I have it and use it.

whowantstwoknow

Just looking to piggyback on this thread.

I have blueface VOIP and am connected via the ATA device I purchased at the time. This ATA acts as my router, but I have no wireless capability on the LAN which I'm looking to introduce. So whats my best option:

1) Replace the above with a ATA with wireless router
2) Or get a standard wireless router and plug/daisychain it (somehow) onto the existing ATA? No idea if this is possible?
3) Or rather than another (wireless) router, would a WAP be more appropriate. Would a WAP restrict the numer of remote clients that can connect to the LAN?

And finally, I'd like to do this on the cheap as much as possible ie second hand etc. (provided it doesn't affect/restrict the LAN bandwidth of the remote clients). Anybody know where best to find suitable device? probably ebay and which of the above is the most suitable solution?

Thanks for any assitance

W.

malachy47

The PAP2T is the superior device. It can provide 2 X g.729 VOIP codec conversations which the older PAP2 cannot. The PAP2T also has more memory. The PAPT2 supports T.38 fax while the PAP2 does not.

malachy47

W,

What make and model is your current ATA? You don't state this but it would help determine your options as to how to proceed.

whowantstwoknow wrote: »

Just looking to piggyback on this thread.

I have blueface VOIP and am connected via the ATA device I purchased at the time. This ATA acts as my router, but I have no wireless capability on the LAN which I'm looking to introduce. So whats my best option:

1) Replace the above with a ATA with wireless router
2) Or get a standard wireless router and plug/daisychain it (somehow) onto the existing ATA? No idea if this is possible?
3) Or rather than another (wireless) router, would a WAP be more appropriate. Would a WAP restrict the numer of remote clients that can connect to the LAN?

And finally, I'd like to do this on the cheap as much as possible ie second hand etc. (provided it doesn't affect/restrict the LAN bandwidth of the remote clients). Anybody know where best to find suitable device? probably ebay and which of the above is the most suitable solution?

Thanks for any assitance

W.

whowantstwoknow

Hi,

Its a Netgear TA612V

Thanks

W.

lensman

I have UPC 20mb BB & switched to bluface about 1yr ago, I tried the Linksys gateway/ATA PAP2- box with my own dect handsets but was not happy with the quality/reliablity of service, I ended up getting rid of the ATA box & got a pair of siemens gigaset C460IP phones & very easy to setup with bluface, never a moments problem. £110 from here

malachy47

whowantstwoknow wrote: »

Hi,

Its a Netgear TA612V

Thanks

W.

If it's purely wireless that you wish to add to your setup then option 2 from your previous post would likely suffice. A small Fonera with a WAN and LAN port would even suffice. You would place the new WiFi router between your existing router and your PC.

However you may run into issues if you want to use the WiFi for voice traffic, e.g. an iPhone, or a Nokia WiFi phone. This is because of NAT/port forwarding issues.

If you want an all-in-one router/VOIP/wireless solution you may be better off ditching your Netgear router and getting a Linksys model that handles all of these functions. I can't think of the model numbers off-hand, but the ones that can use DD-WRT and are Linux based are the best.

One other thing to consider is your BB provider. UPC for example supply more than one IP address per account, your BB provider may also, in which case all you might need is a simple switch, but I don't know if additional IP addresses are available to you. It's a big advantage to have a true public IP for your VOIP device so perhaps you could establish that before going further.

whowantstwoknow

malachy47 wrote: »

If it's purely wireless that you wish to add to your setup then option 2 from your previous post would likely suffice. A small Fonera with a WAN and LAN port would even suffice. You would place the new WiFi router between your existing router and your PC.

However you may run into issues if you want to use the WiFi for voice traffic, e.g. an iPhone, or a Nokia WiFi phone. This is because of NAT/port forwarding issues.

If you want an all-in-one router/VOIP/wireless solution you may be better off ditching your Netgear router and getting a Linksys model that handles all of these functions. I can't think of the model numbers off-hand, but the ones that can use DD-WRT and are Linux based are the best.

One other thing to consider is your BB provider. UPC for example supply more than one IP address per account, your BB provider may also, in which case all you might need is a simple switch, but I don't know if additional IP addresses are available to you. It's a big advantage to have a true public IP for your VOIP device so perhaps you could establish that before going further.

Thanks malachy,

My BB provider is Chorus (/ UPC). So does this provide me with another alternative?

Thanks
W.

malachy47

whowantstwoknow wrote: »

Thanks malachy,

My BB provider is Chorus (/ UPC). So does this provide me with another alternative?

Thanks
W.

Yes it does. It means you have three public IP addresses assigned to your account. This is a actually a very nice feature to have.

In your setup as you described it some way back, only one of those addresses is currently used by you. I would purchase a four port switch (not router). Actually I've done it myself as I too have UPC for BB.

I use this one. http://www-ie.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=IE%2FLayout&cid=1175234313445&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=1344522001B15

whowantstwoknow

Thanks for the feedback,

Forgive the lack of techie understanding, but is the ideal of the switch to improve the VOIP throughput, ie separate it from the PC traffic?

So would this mean I have this setup

UPC modem->

switch->VOIP device

switch->router

But as my router is my VOIP device, I'd still need to introduce the wifi element/router?

Thanks
W

Some_Person

Since you already have the router, just getting an access point is the best.

UPC modem->switch->router/ata->access point

whowantstwoknow

Updates,

thanks for the feedback. The router only has one lan connect and one phone connection so would this setup work?

UPC modem->router->switch->
Desktop
Access point
homeplug connection

Thanks

W.

whowantstwoknow

Can anybody help me with this configuration, as I need to start looking for suitable equipment etc...

Thanks

W.

Some_Person

That setup should work, I assume your router has the ATA built in?

whowantstwoknow

Some_Person wrote: »

That setup should work, I assume your router has the ATA built in?

Yes, so the phone is connected directly to the router and with the switch also connected directly to the router using the single LAN port I can attach the other devices to the LAN using the switch:

deskptop
WAP
Homeplug
etc..

Thanks

W.