Moving from standard eir phoneline to VOIP

daraghwal wrote: »

I am currently on a WISP and get my phone through pure telecom. €35 for WISP, ~€30 for Pure Telecom phone. I am moving to a new WISP with better speeds and it is going to cost €50 so I was looking into putting the phone on VOIP. What's the simplest way I can just switch my analogue telephone I have at home to VOIP (adapter for the router??) and what provider is best to go with. I only use the landline for about 5 hours of outgoing calls a month and more so for incoming calls.

Thanks in advance

Edit: I did a bit of digging and found the Grandstream HT801. Is it really as simple as plug that into my router, subscribe to something like this from irishvoip.com and make and receive calls exactly like I would with a traditional phoneline?

If so why is everyone with a landline not on VOIP?! If not, what have I gotten wrong?

Some broadband connections are not really stable enough for VOIP of good quality, especially some that are not wired.

The lack of use of VOIP is most often down to lack of knowledge and/or fear of the unknown.
Throw in a traditional reluctance of legacy phone providers to even acknowledge the existence of VOIP and most of it is explained.

I used VOIP on 3Mb/s ADSL for years, while still retaining my landline for incoming calls.
Having moved to FTTH I now have two providers ..... one for receiving calls with whom my number is registered, and the other for outgoing calls at the cheapest rate for my use.

All are managed though my router which has VOIP capability as well as a DECT base station built in.

There are Grandstream devices that can register two SIP accounts so one can be used for receiving calls and maybe certain outgoing calls, and the other for cheap rates to suit your use of the phone.

Lots of ways to mange things when the control is in your hands and not given over to some commercial entity.

daraghwal wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I've just signed up with rocket broadband. A WISP that are actually providing free VOIP with the broadband and 8 hours Ireland and UK landlines which is more than enough for me. Would have been happy just to keep the landline for incoming calls. Haven't got the router yet (I think it will be a Fritzbox) but they said I can just plug the analog phone into it and they will do the rest.

Now I just need to bring an extension from where I have the landline phone back to the router instead of where the eir landline comes in!

Fritz!Box would give confidence that you should be good with that so no need for any extra equipment.
You will port your number to the new provider and from then on ignore/disconnect the copper landline.

For future reference, it is possible to port your number to a provider independent of your broadband provider.
Some (most?) times this is the cheaper option as it allows you to shop around for great deals on VOIP calls out from one of the thousands providers available.

daraghwal wrote: »

Just wondering what's the reason behind this?

I have complete control over which provider I use to make calls out, and can change from one to another depending on my needs.

For instance some providers give great rates on local calls, while others have better raters for international calls.

In addition my phone number, which I have had for decades, is not tied to my broadband contract but is separate so can be managed separately as I wish.

Hi

Have very poor quality landline: constantly crackling and may drop the call altogether (not the phone: we have new ones). In our area, a 10km radius, the mobile signal is so bad, much of it is 999 calls only. But we have FTTH. I can't ditch the landline as most can't phone us on our mobiles when we're at home, due to the poor signal (not everyone calling us knows that, and not everyone calling us has WhatsApp). So to change over to VOIP - does it affect our broadband FTTH; and how would we be billed - a flat rate monthly or a charge per call made out?

It's 2024: there's got to be a better service, it's costing us almost €70pm landline + broadband (supposed to be discounted at that), then we each have our mobiles billpay (with 48 @ €10.99pm which thankfully is reasonable).

A few years ago we were paying nearly €100pm (very poor at the time) broadband, €70pm landline and €40pm with Vodafone mobiles….so it has improved, but for the service we get, it's frustrating that other areas' charges are a lot less.

Thanks

Eir allow you to port your landline over from PSTN to VOIP over FTTH. You also should consider choosing a mobile operator that supports WiFi calling - as this will work over WiFi within your home. Eir & GoMo support full WiFi calling, including SMS text messages and use while roaming. Vodafone have a limited WiFi calling service that doesn't include text messaging. There is no need to be at the mercy of mobile coverage when you have FTTH.