Voice over IP phone

Frank Garrett

My mother wants to get an analog phone for Christmas because my nanny is staying over and she'll want to talk to her sons and daughters in America, but an analog phone is too inconvenient because of the price of calls and young kids in the house pulling the phone and its cords out of the socket. My telephone socket is hanging on by a thread, so if it gets one more tug, we're left with no internet.

I'm thinking of buying a voice over IP phone in Argos and plugging it into the router which is located at a safe distance from the mischievous hands of the infants. Apart from Skype, I've never used VoIP before and I don't know if just plugging in a IP phone will work? I don't want to spend an awful lot of money on something that doesn't work.

How do I figure out what my phone number is? Will it work for ADSL2+? Do I have enough speed for the line to stable?

Sheldons Brain

A VOIP phone will work, but you need to sign up to a VOIP service. Or you could use Skype or similar from a computer. If you are paying for a phone line just plug in a phone, clip the cable to something so it can't be pulled. Apart from calls being cheaper on it people can cheaply ring you. Use telesavers http://www.telesavers.ie/index2.php if you don;t have a good deal for the Intl calls.

Frank Garrett

Sheldons Brain wrote: »

A VOIP phone will work, but you need to sign up to a VOIP service. Or you could use Skype or similar from a computer. If you are paying for a phone line just plug in a phone, clip the cable to something so it can't be pulled. Apart from calls being cheaper on it people can cheaply ring you. Use telesavers http://www.telesavers.ie/index2.php if you don;t have a good deal for the Intl calls.

An analog phone is too inconvenient. It broke because of the kids pulling at the phone. If I get another one, they'll pull the whole socket off the wall.

The router is in a safe place. Do I have good upload speeds and ping times for for a VoIP service?

Which company would you recommend? I'd rather sign up with them instead.

TheBoffin

Try blueface.ie

Mr. G

Frank Garrett wrote: »

An analog phone is too inconvenient. It broke because of the kids pulling at the phone. If I get another one, they'll pull the whole socket off the wall.

The router is in a safe place. Do I have good upload speeds and ping times for for a VoIP service?

Which company would you recommend? I'd rather sign up with them instead.

29ms ping is grand for VoIP, and so are those upload speeds. You should allow 100 kbps upload and download per concurrent call for standard G.711, if upload is usually a lot less than that you could use the G.729 codec (like Mobile phone quality). Don't forget to set up QoS on the router to give it priority if others are online.

The last time to order phones from Blueface was last week. Post for Christmas was last Friday (20th), so you may not have it in time.

I would recommend getting an ATA (such as the Linksys PAP2T, note this is no longer being manufactured, but is good quality). An ATA can connect to any regular analogue phone, such as a DECT cordless phone, so you have a lot of flexibility.

By how do you find your phone number, I am not sure what you are asking?

You could use a Betamax company (See sticky) to make cheap calls abroad. I would recommend an Irish provider over them as the quality would be much better. Have a look at Goldfish.ie and Vomino, though do some research before hand. I haven't heard any complaints for Goldfish. Blueface no longer have suitable home plans and have contracts on their monthly plans. They may still do their PAYG plan that comes with a free 076 number.

Most providers can add a CLI to the SIP account if you wish to show a landline number, even though you are not calling from it. You may need a copy of a bill to verify this.

If you need help just shout.

Sheldons Brain

An analog phone is too inconvenient. It broke because of the kids pulling at the phone. If I get another one, they'll pull the whole socket off the wall.

As I said in my earlier post

Mr. G

Sheldons Brain wrote: »

As I said in my earlier post

It would connect to the ATA beside a router. It would be just as easy to pull the plug on an ip phone.

gctest50

Frank Garrett wrote: »

An analog phone is too inconvenient. It broke because of the kids pulling at the phone. If I get another one, they'll pull the whole socket off the wall.

The router is in a safe place.

A wireless phone maybe ?

http://www.voipon.co.uk/panasonic-kxtgp500-p-2741.html

Mr. G

I have a Gigaset A510ip, works fine and never had an issue.

http://www.gigaset.com/en_HQ/shop/gigaset-a510-ip.html