Voip

kwikbreaks

I've posted this here rather than home phones as it is a bit of a techie question.

I found the VOIPCheap service in the homephones section and it seems that for me I can essentially get free national number calls which seems to be pretty good. I'd be keeping my existing home phone setup and getting something additional for VOIP use. I know I could use a DECT phone in conjuntion with a computer and their software but would prefer a standalone unit that only needs the router. I've found a unit on eBay - it is only a WEP device unfortunately....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310187708032

Now all those specs mean little to me as I've never looked at VOIP before and what I really want to know is will it work with...

http://www.voipcheap.co.uk/en/sipp.html

or does the stuff on there mean their service will only work if their software is running on a PC somewhere on the network

tronator

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I've posted this here rather than home phones as it is a bit of a techie question.

I found the VOIPCheap service in the homephones section and it seems that for me I can essentially get free national number calls which seems to be pretty good. I'd be keeping my existing home phone setup and getting something additional for VOIP use. I know I could use a DECT phone in conjuntion with a computer and their software but would prefer a standalone unit that only needs the router. I've found a unit on eBay - it is only a WEP device unfortunately....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310187708032

Now all those specs mean little to me as I've never looked at VOIP before and what I really want to know is will it work with...

http://www.voipcheap.co.uk/en/sipp.html

or does the stuff on there mean their service will only work if their software is running on a PC somewhere on the network

I wouldn't use any WEP devices. The best approach would be to get a DSL Router where you can connect one or two phones directly to it. Then you don't need a PC at all. You can find installation instructions for some routers under the link you just posted.

My old BeBox had such ports, but I think they stopped shipping them. The new ones don't have such ports anymore, I believe. Now I'm using a Fritz!Box Fon from AVM together with my Sipgate account. The model WLAN 7270 has even a DECT station built-in, but it doesn't come cheap...

thescouselander

I've used VIOP for years now. I have a VOIP phone that just looks like a normal phone but plugs into a router instead of the phone line. Phone like this will work with pretty much any SIP based service and should work with the provider you linked to.

I also run a sip client on my mobile that connects to the internet via wi-fi when I'm at home and I find this works very well.

jimbms

You also have to make sure your ISP is set up for VOIP, ours is as standard to such an extent they even provide a router with the VOIP socket in it, but some ISP's wont accept VOIP.

Alias_Omega

I share next doors wireless.

We used a DECT Cordless Phone plugged into the laptop, and use skype through the internet.

kwikbreaks

thescouselander wrote: »

Phone like this will work with pretty much any SIP based service and should work with the provider you linked to.
.

So that is a "standard" SIP service then and the software they refer to is any SIP clientand not just their PC software?

thescouselander

kwikbreaks wrote: »

So that is a "standard" SIP service then and the software they refer to is any SIP clientand not just their PC software?

SIP is just a protocol but there are a number of variables that can be set to do with things like encoding and bit rate etc. If you have a SIP based VOIP provider it should, in theory, work with any SIP phone or software as long as you can configure the appropriate settings - I wouldn't expect this to be a problem.

Something along the lines of this would sort you out although there are loads of alternatives about:

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=VOIP+phone&cid=9155545149635390433&ei=jeX7S87eFIHu2ASG5_2nCA&sa=title&ved=0CBkQ8wIwAzgA&os=tech-specs

Most VOIP services are SIP based but I belive Skype uses some other protocol.