Using 18866/1899 for internet

Aiadi

Thanks Andy, of course the price will always need to monitered but even if it goes up I don't think it will be such a big jump suddenly. I also have a lot of faith in 1899/18866 because of their excellent track record so far.

andy88_2

Phonix wrote:

This is going really off topic now, but regarding wi-fi, do you know of any free grids in Europe. Any wi-fi schemes going?

No. I'd be in one place where I'd expect free access

dave2986

My mom uses a 020 number and 18866 for dial up, from a TW line so 0.5p/min (2.5 + 6p connection for from blueyonder)

It often takes several attempts to connect and is very slow, and i havent been able to find another one

However it does work

I will try nocharge when i get home (im at uni so i can do it now)

MY long term plan is to get 256 BB from TW (at £18) and getting rid of the phone line (like said)

US cable Co's offer their own VOIP, so god knows why TW dont (maby when they become NTLwest)

However i was going to use a phone pal, so you just plug that into your net connection and then your normal phone into that, so freeish 1899 phone calls and £7.50 broadband

Simpson

dave2986 wrote:

However i was going to use a phone pal, so you just plug that into your net connection and then your normal phone into that, so freeish 1899 phone calls and £7.50 broadband

UH!

I don't understand.

What is this?

dave2986

256 broadband from telewest £17.99 without phone line

phone line rental £10.50 no longer needed

=£7.50 for broadband

All your calls can be routed over VOIP using a VOIP router and your normal phone

Simpson

dave2986 wrote:

256 broadband from telewest £17.99 without phone line

phone line rental £10.50 no longer needed

=£7.50 for broadband

All your calls can be routed over VOIP using a VOIP router and your normal phone

Thanks for the answer Dave,
Is this a satalite BB service or is there another way of avoiding the need for a phone line?

I was on the site but it seems to be talking about cabled areas (I fall outside of these) but I like the idea of ditching line rental if I could.

dave2986

the only other way I know of to avoid phone line rental is if you exchange has been 'unbundelde' and I think only a small number in London have been, I think in the next 5 years more should be done but its very expensive

With sat BB you still need a phone line to upload data so that wouldn't work either

Check if your in an ntl area if TW don't cover you (but don't get confused about NTL ADSL and telephone services)

HTH's

bunking_off

dave2986

The only thing with getting broadband access via cable, dumping your phone line and solely using VoIP for calls is that you must understand the implications in emergency type situations.

Firstly, if you lose the electricity supply to your home, you've no phone service (unless you've got UPS on your cable modem). NB many people have unwittingly put themselves in this situation in any case, by using cordless phones everywhere which commonly suffer from the same drawback.

Secondly, although VoIP providers are increasingly providing access to 999, they do not so (cannot do so) to the same level as the normal telephony network (e.g. in the normal network calls are given higher priority, calling line identity safeguards protect you in the case that you make the call but then keel over before saying anything, and safeguards make it impossible for you to put the phone down).

Thirdly, broadband internet access is nowhere near as reliable as conventional telephony service - this is a fact of life to do with the engineering parameters used in the design. It is possible to engineer an IP network to be as reliable as the telephone network (e.g. BT are about to do this with their 21st Century Network), but the public internet isn't such a beast.

Now, you may feel that even with the above considerations, the £7.50/month saved makes it worthwhile....particularly if e.g. you've got multiple mobile phones in the household. That's your choice; all ll I'm highlighting is go into the arrangement with your eyes open, knowing all the pros and cons.

dave2986

bunking_off thanks for your comments

I'm aware of the limitations of 999 calls, however how often do you call the emergency services? one? twice? every 10 years

So I don't think it would be a big deal

Your right about the power loss, we have cordless phones so run the same risk. And you can get a UPS off ebuyer for £20 now (quoted at 20 mins for a pc so at a guess a lot longer for a router and cable modem) Furthermore I cant remember having a power cut in the last 2 years, and even then they were in the dead of night or the day time when I wasnt their. And you always have your mobile!!!

I had cable BB for a long time and can say when it first came out it went down about 3 times a year but in 2004 it went just once and only for 3 hours.

However our cable phone is always dropping off for the odd half hour, so cable seem to have more trouble with their telephone network then their broadband network

I can only seem VOIP getting better and broadband more reliable and cheaper

Phonix

have a quick gander at https://www.phonegaim.com . A great alternative to skype as it acts as both an IP phone and a universal instant messaging client supporting all the chat protols like yahoo, icq and msn etc.