Phone Number Porting

Johnboy1951

I have not been keeping up to date with events so need to ask here for some assistance.

I will soon have the opportunity to split my existing phone number from my broadband provision.

I want to place the phone number with a provider, purely for receiving calls, so their call charges are not relevant.

I wish to be able to specify the VOIP account to which the calls are relayed, and to have easy access to change that VOIP account at will.

This is not for business just my personal use.

Of course the porting of the number will be crusial so I am looking for personal recommendations as well as general information on alternative providers.

Hopefully the above is clear enough but if not please ask.

Thanks in advance.

Mr. G

The porting process has become much simpler in the past few years. It takes between 24-48 hours for the number to port.

There are a few cheaper ones: Goldfish, IrishVoIP.com that come to mind

Johnboy1951

Thanks ...... have been looking at irishvoip.ie (not .com) ..... are they the same company? They seem to have different web sites

I had forgotten about Goldfish, TBH, so must check them out.

I have a slight complication that I hope will not interfere too much ...... my phone has the same UAN as my broadband, so hopefully it can be done carefully.

I sent an email to irishvoip.ie but got no response, so rather concerned about them.

I still have a couple of weeks I think ...... trying to get info out of Eir is akin to getting blood from a stone!

regards.

jgbyr

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Thanks ...... have been looking at irishvoip.ie (not .com) ..... are they the same company? They seem to have different web sites :confused

IrishVOIP.ie were just a reseller of voip services from Dellmont. They have multiple services under different names, discountvoip.co.uk, cheapvoip.com, the list goes on. Handy for making cheap calls but you can't port your number to them.
I had credit with them & it just stopped working one day. That was a few months ago.


IrishVOIP.com have a porting option for €2 approx per month.
I gave their service a trial a while back & it was impressive.
Waiting for FTTH to port my own number.

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

IrishVOIP.ie were just a reseller of voip services from Dellmont. They have multiple services under different names, discountvoip.co.uk, cheapvoip.com, the list goes on. Handy for making cheap calls but you can't port your number to them.
I had credit with them & it just stopped working one day. That was a few months ago.


IrishVOIP.com have a porting option for €2 approx per month.
I gave their service a trial a while back & it was impressive.
Waiting for FTTH to port my own number.

Thanks, that is great to know.
It is informative to hear reports from those who have used or are using these providers.

You will port to irishvoip.com when the time arrives?

I meant to ask ..... when you tried their service what option did you sign up for, and for how long? Thanks.

jgbyr

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Thanks, that is great to know.
It is informative to hear reports from those who have used or are using these providers.

You will port to irishvoip.com when the time arrives?

I meant to ask ..... when you tried their service what option did you sign up for, and for how long? Thanks.

I'll move my number to them once I can separate phone & broadband.
I found them very helpful with any questions I had regarding the service.
I tried the 'New Number Monthly' option on their recommendation, as a trial. One month is €5 approx.
I picked my own geographical number & was set up very quickly.
Call quality was excellent & what I like about any of their services is you can receive calls even if you have no credit.
They have their own app, but I believe you can get their sip settings on the site.
Worth a shot for a few euros as a trial.

https://www.irishvoip.com/payg.php

Johnboy1951

Thanks, I am in the same boat presently regarding my phone ...... it apparently has the same UAN as the broadband so I need to get them separated.
I have also been unable to determine if I am in contract for the phone ..... was out of contract prior to getting FTTH, and now the two are 'bundled' apparently.
In any case it seems that BB contract should end early next month.

Trying to meaningfully communicate with Eir is the pits!

Note: the prices quoted on their site are subject to 23% VAT.
So the ported number should cost €30.26 per year .... very cheap for the service it seems.
Most alternatives are near double that.

Their call prices, on first look, do not seem impressive, but I will look again, comparing them to other Delmont provider prices.
I guess they have to make a few bob somewhere

I will get in touch with them with a view to porting there.

Thanks again.

jgbyr

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Trying to meaningfully communicate
Note: the prices quoted on their site are subject to 23% VAT.
So the ported number should cost €30.26 per year .... very cheap for the service it seems.
Most alternatives are near double that.

Their call prices, on first look, do not seem impressive, but I will look again, comparing them to other Delmont provider prices.
I guess they have to make a few bob somewhere

I will get in touch with them with a view to porting there.

Thanks again.

I currently use discountvoip.co.uk for making calls & would intend to continue with it as its very cheap. I've both my mobile & landline set up as caller id so would intend to use irishvoip.com just for inbound calls & then the other service for outbound as it is much cheaper for all calls.

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

I currently use discountvoip.co.uk for making calls & would intend to continue with it as its very cheap. I've both my mobile & landline set up as caller id so would intend to use irishvoip.com just for inbound calls & then the other service for outbound as it is much cheaper for all calls.

My initial intention is similar ...... using freevoipdeal for the past few years.
Call costs are minimal, although rising recently I think.

I have to figure out whether I can test using the Eir F2000 or not ....... last time I tried was not successful

jgbyr

Keep me updated

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

Keep me updated

I sent an email to them to get a trial for a month and asked if their service can be set up on the F2000 and if they can provide set up details for that router.

We'll see what becomes of it.

Thanks for the assistance and especially the information provided.

jgbyr

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I sent an email to them to get a trial for a month and asked if their service can be set up on the F2000 and if they can provide set up details for that router.

We'll see what becomes of it.

Did you get any response to your query?

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

Did you get any response to your query?

Yes, I did.
I have not updated this thread because no decision has been made, as the present contract has not expired - early next month is decision time.

I have responses from
[HTML]Goldfish - €5 +VAT per month; Calls extra ; €5 to port number
Irishvoip.com - €5 +VAT per month non expiring top up includes 'line rental'
with the top up used by call costs.
Alternative yearly rental of €24.60 +VAT just for 'line rental' with calls extra.
Irishvoip.ie - Sent query via their website but got no response. FAILED
Digiweb - no useful response, responding only about 'their bundle'. FAILED
Airwire - €5 per month rental plus call costs; €15 to port number.
Helpful and detailed responses, plus a call to ensure I understood everything.
Phone available with BB connection
[/HTML]
I have had most communications with IrishVoip.com and have received helpful advice such as this

Just to add on the movement of the number in a combined package with broadband. We only request the number port and usually this causes no issues. We have had a few instances though where Eir cancel the full package for a customer. This is not something we can control as we are only requesting the number port. When this has happened the customer has usually been able to get Eir to reactivate broadband within a day. It’s up to you but would recommend chatting with Eir in advance and letting them know you are porting the number but you don’t want your broadband to be cancelled.

I do not look forward to trying to 'chat' with someone sensible and knowledgeable in Eir, to attempt to ensure they do not cancel everything.
If they do then I am stuck without BB or VOIP phone!

After eliminating the two 'failed' above I am left with a choice of three, of which irishvoip.com seems to be the more economical as the number of outgoing calls I intend to make is limited.

I am presently leaning towards irishvoip.com for the phone service.
Port the number and pay a yearly 'rental' cost of €24.60 (+vat) and do a 'top up' if required to make outgoing calls. Most of my outgoing calls will be made on another service.

To make outbound calls you can topup as you wish from 1e (1.23 inc vat) with no obligation. The monthly option includes free rental when you commit to a 5e topup per month (6.15e inc vat) All call types are possible including Irish non geographic, free phone and locall etc

I think it is obvious which way I am inclined.
The major difficulty in my mind is Eir and how efficiently, or otherwise, they manage the port of the phone alone.
They could leave me without phone or broadband and no means of communication if they mess it up.

We will see

jgbyr

Wow, you have been busy. That's a lot of research you've done.. As you mention, it could be tricky just porting the number but keeping the broadband.

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

Wow, you have been busy. That's a lot of research you've done.. As you mention, it could be tricky just porting the number but keeping the broadband.

Just to add, the two who responded the quickest and with answers to my question were
airwire.ie
irishvoip.com

I have discarded the others from my 'short list'.

jgbyr

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Just to add, the two who responded the quickest and with answers to my question were
airwire.ie
irishvoip.com

I have discarded the others from my 'short list'.

I've also found both to be very helpful with any queries I've had.

Johnboy1951

I went with Airwire for both BB & Phone to try to ensure the phone number was not lost in the porting.

There is not a huge difference in cost between the two, but if I wish to port the phone from Airwire later I can as it is on a monthly contract whereas the broadband is an 18 month one (to avoid connection fee of  €99).

Hopefully it will all come together on Monday.

jgbyr

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I went with Airwire for both BB & Phone to try to ensure the phone number was not lost in the porting.

There is not a huge difference in cost between the two, but if I wish to port the phone from Airwire later I can as it is on a monthly contract whereas the broadband is an 18 month one (to avoid connection fee of  €99).

Hopefully it will all come together on Monday.

Good that you're getting it sorted. I see though that they charge a phone add on set up fee of €49. Did you have to include this or can you configure the router yourself?
Also did you go with the basic phone addon for €5, no calls.
I'm still waiting on Ftth so won't be going anywhere for a while.

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

Good that you're getting it sorted. I see though that they charge a phone add on set up fee of €49. Did you have to include this or can you configure the router yourself?
Also did you go with the basic phone addon for €5, no calls.
I'm still waiting on Ftth so won't be going anywhere for a while.

I have been using VOIP on my 3Mb/s DSL line for many years .... just gave it priority and it worked out OK ..... even better when the speed doubled.
It was the upload speed that was the limiting factor - don't remember now how bad that was but less than 1Mb/s.

Porting the number was €15, and €5 per month to receive calls.
Extra needed to make calls.

I have set up my existing provider on the router and made some calls out - this one does not receive calls. All good so far.

I have not yet figured out how to use a particular VOIP account for any call I might wish to use it for.
In fact I am unsure how I can use a VOIP account to phone something like
sip:name@sip.provider.xyz

Numbers should be OK, based on first number of digits ...... if the filters can be arranged in a particular sequence.

Maybe it can be done with a virtual number but it is a bit awkward if it can.

All part of the learning curve for me ....... it seems I was spoiled with my old Draytek router.
That allowed me to specify which account to dial each number from, and it did not limit the 'numbers' to digits!

jgbyr

Bit of a learning curve so. Hope it all goes well for you.

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

Bit of a learning curve so. Hope it all goes well for you.

Oh it is a completely new environment

There is so much built in to this router that I will likely never get to all of it!

DECT base station which I am using
Mesh, which I have not yet figured out, seems to be on permanently, not that it interferes with anything.
Telephony system I am trying to get to grips with - telephone book, call logs, multiple phone accounts etc etc.
Alarm calls to phones
NAS controller
Media server, including internet radio
Connections to IoT smart home devices ..... none of those here as yet.

Maybe in a year's time I will be familiar with the things I use most often

Actually the biggest hurdle is most likely the differences in terminology when referring to things I am familiar with, which causes doubts and hesitation.

jgbyr

Think I'll be getting back to before I get it. Hopefully you'll have it all worked out by then :-)

Johnboy1951

jgbyr wrote: »

Think I'll be getting back to before I get it. Hopefully you'll have it all worked out by then :-)

Unless I am less confused than now I won't be much help

I will post a new thread seeking some assistance ....

Posted:
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=111444286#post111444286