get rid of home phone but limited mobile coverage

housetypeb

I would like to get rid of my home phone and use a mobile smart phone instead.
The problem is that I live in a area that has very patchy mobile phone coverage at best.
Is it possible to get a smart phone(iphone,blackberry etc) that would allow me to receive calls -even if only to a skype number/account- through my internet while I am at home?

housetypeb

Mods-Can you move the above post to the VOIP forum as I think that may be the correct place for my post.
thanks

rmacm

Moved from Nets & Comms as requested by the OP.

Stainless_Steel

Yes you can get Skype apps for android and iPhone.

Look into VOIP phones though. There are skype branded ones too. They plug into your network.

housetypeb

Stainless_Steel wrote: »

Yes you can get Skype apps for android and iPhone.

Look into VOIP phones though. There are skype branded ones too. They plug into your network.

Thanks, I'm looking at blueface at the moment and thinking of porting my landline number over to them for my home phone and upgrading to a wifi enabled mobile as well.
There's plenty of info on this forum-I just have to make sense of it all.

PogMoThoin

housetypeb wrote: »

Thanks, I'm looking at blueface at the moment and thinking of porting my landline number over to them for my home phone and upgrading to a wifi enabled mobile as well.
There's plenty of info on this forum-I just have to make sense of it all.

You will need proper fixed broadband, not mobile.

housetypeb

I have wireless broadband from a local provider,they offer a internet phone option as well for an extra 11 euro/month plus whatever they charge for calls, but I wouldn't get to keep my home number-whether that's a deal breaker or not is something I have yet to decide.
I have skype which is mainly used by the kids to video call to the american Grandparents and Aunt/Uncle/cousins,school friends etc.
I've made up my mind to get rid of the landline once and for all,At the moment I'm researching blueface as at the very least it shows me what is achievable .
After that I guess it comes down to which company offers the best rates for my particular circumstances .
I must add that just reading a couple pages of this forum has taught me a lot and opened my eyes to possibilities.

Mr. G

Yes that would be a good start. its ridicules that eircom still use a copper voice network still, and have discontinued their own voip service.

Look over the voip-info website aswell and if you've any questions come and ask here.

Johnboy1951

For what it is worth .... I 'invested' in a very up-market router a number of years ago.
I guess it was essentially a business class router ... a Vigor 2910VG
I am sure there are plenty of similar devices on the market now ..... and much lower cost than I paid at the time.

This has two VOIP lines out, and all the QOS settings one would like etc etc.

Its big attraction to me at the time was the six VOIP accounts it allowed to be active at the same time.

I also set one of the six to be a direct dial to IP number ... for receiving calls without use of any VOIP provider.

With 5 people in the house, each was able to have their own VOIP 'number', and each of those could be set with a different ring tone.

No problem either making calls to other VOIP users ...... it has an 'address book' into which I can put VOIP URIs and allocate a fast dial number to them for easy use from a phone handset.

Also included is a Dial plan ..... which, depending on the number dialled will use one of the six registered accounts to make the call. It means that I can determine which account -- based on cost -- makes the call out.

While I understand that most of the above is beyond most home users needs, it is worth noting that there are devices out there which provide such functions ..... if you have a desire to have them.

regards

housetypeb

Update
I made the switch to voip, ported my eircom number over to Blueface, paid 99 euro for a year (8.25 euro/month) of their Freedom Basic plan which is 5 hours/month free calls to Irish and American land lines, which is just about right for my families (myself and two young kids) phone usage.
Plus a Top Up as You Go Plan of 5-10 euro as needed for calls to mobiles.
Also bought their Panasonic tgp500 with extra handset.

No problems so far, call quality is actually better than what i was getting with Eircom, and of course,the savings, it's costing me less monthly now than what I was paying Eircom just for line rental.
I'm delighted I made the move.

fatherbuzcagney

I have little or no mobile coverage in house . I have wireless broadband and bought linksy voip adapter(about 60e but got one free) and ordinary hands free phone from argos for 16.99e. Got landline number from goldfish.ie for 2.50e pm and it works a dream, i can top up with credit if i need to make a outgoing call but only use it for incoming.