Tesco Voice Over IP Phone Line

overcharged

I want to scrap my one NTL telephone landline completely, and no longer have to pay any line rental charge. From now on, I want to use one Tesco Voice Over IP Phone Line via my 2mb Broadband.

Regarding the Tesco Voice Over IP Phone Line, I want to use a really long USB Cable attached to my computer in my bedroom and run it all the way down to the internet phone in my kitchen, so my father doesn't know the difference and can just use the phone in the kitchen as usual, except from now on it will be invisibly connected to the broadband.

What do you think? Is this possible?

Any suggestions very much appreciated as I'm a bit confused, but desperate to reduce my lethal monthly bill.

Tribune

I'm sure it's possible, albeit very fiddly, and call quality may suffer as the data takes longer to reach the computer.

Why not try the USB cordless phone instead? It's £30, which includes £5 calling credit. It's cordless and has a range of 300m from the base station, so your father can just carry on using it as normal.

Click here.

overcharged

Thanks very much for the suggestion Tribune I've gone ahead and ordered the cordless phone. Will let you know how it goes!

Your Order Details:

Description Quantity Price
Tesco FF128 Cordless USB Internet Phone 1 £ 29.97
Delivery £ 2.97
Total £ 32.94

Fingers crossed I get a good reception with it!

costbuster

Tesco,s voip prices are not exactly money saving.

Tribune

It depends.

I assume overcharged has got what is known as "naked DSL" where they have the broadband connection but not the phone service. Over in America it's quite popular because VOIP is a lot better known (plus ringing mobiles costs the same as landlines).

Of course, VOIP services can't dial 999, but your mobile can. That's the only downside to it.

The upside to it is that, if your DSL connection is working, and so is your computer, then it can save money, especially if you don't use the phone that much. Bear in mind that there is no line rental with Tesco VOIP, and you only pay for the calls you make - which naturally are going to be cheaper than BT's and even cable - most cable companies charge a connection charge of around 5p a call.

£30 for a cordless phone isn't bad at all either - I've seen landline cordless phones go for a lot more, even in Tesco itself.

Most decent broadband packages have no data limits, and if you have one, it is worth - as our Martin states - to shop around. Tiscali's customer service is terrible, and you are tied into a 12 month contract, but their unlimited 1mbps DSL is just £10 pm.

BexTech

Tesco rates aren't great, Tesco and Skype are the two of the dearest VoIP services.

Plus USB phones have to have a PC on to work.

You would be better off going with a SIP VoIP provider, and get an ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter). This allows you to connect a regular phone (corded or DECT cordless) and you plug the adapter into a router, so you don't even need the PC on to make and receive calls.

https://www.sipgate.co.uk offer a service which gives you any area-code you wish for you number, have no monthly fee and has voicemail. As you will be using a SIP VoIP service with the right ATA you will get the free VoIP benefits such as Caller Display, Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling, Call Transfer, anonymous caller rejection, plus a couple of others.

There is also https://www.voip.co.uk that offers a good service.

A LinkSys PAP2 ATA (Non-Vonage locked) is one of the better ATAs and very popular, or one of the other Linksys/Sipura SPAs, though Play.com are selling a Zoom 5800 ATA for £33 delivered.

With the ATA you just enter the VoIP providers details.

Also with ATAs you could instead of just connecting one phone, you could build a lead with a RJ11 plug on one end and a BABT master socket the other end and then wire them to all your extensions (ensuring you don't have them connected to the BT or cable master socket - or if using their socket, which you shouldn't mess with past the test socket, remove their wiring). With this (which is what I have done) you can use any phone in the house on the VoIP line and correctly set up you wouldn't know it wasn't a regular line.

BexTech

Tribune wrote:

It depends.

I assume overcharged has got what is known as "naked DSL" where they have the broadband connection but not the phone service. Over in America it's quite popular because VOIP is a lot better known (plus ringing mobiles costs the same as landlines).

No, overcharged has cable broadband, not a dsl service.

Cable broadband doesn't use the phone line, it comes down the same co-ax used for cable TV (though you don't have to have the TV)

Was one of the reasons I wanted to get cable broadband in quickly, so I could dump my landline.

I've been without a landline for around 18 months now, and for many many months before that been using VoIP (I got 15 months of free calling, just for a €6 outlay). Have got 12 months free calling, due to using my old easyMobile free credit on topping up my VoIP account.

Bmwm3gt2

You would be better off going with a SIP VoIP provider, and get an ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter). This allows you to connect a regular phone (corded or DECT cordless) and you plug the adapter into a router, so you don't even need the PC on to make and receive calls.

BexTech could you please tell me if you need to have a pc to set these up as I would like to get some sort of VOIP set up for my mother in law in Morocco. She is not very technical and the area has only just got ADSL. Could I set it up here and sent it to her? Or will she still need a pc? Thanks for your help. Also if it is not easy to use anyone know the cheapest way to call land lines in Morocco, am currently paying 8p with DialAround.

BexTech

cbrookes wrote:

BexTech could you please tell me if you need to have a pc to set these up as I would like to get some sort of VOIP set up for my mother in law in Morocco. She is not very technical and the area has only just got ADSL. Could I set it up here and sent it to her? Or will she still need a pc? Thanks for your help. Also if it is not easy to use anyone know the cheapest way to call land lines in Morocco, am currently paying 8p with DialAround.

You will need a computer initially to set them up, enter the required details for your chosen VoIP provider for example, but once it's all set-up it can be left as is, and it's just a case of plugging it into the other router.

The ATA could be set up with a UK 01 or 02 telephone number if you wished, so no matter where in the world the ATA is (Morocco for example) you can call the UK number and the phone will ring, as far as anything and anyone is concerned it is a standard UK call.

guerillasaver

BexTech wrote:

Tesco rates aren't great, Tesco and Skype are the two of the dearest VoIP services.

Plus USB phones have to have a PC on to work.

You would be better off going with a SIP VoIP provider, and get an ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter). This allows you to connect a regular phone (corded or DECT cordless) and you plug the adapter into a router, so you don't even need the PC on to make and receive calls.

https://www.sipgate.co.uk offer a service which gives you any area-code you wish for you number, have no monthly fee and has voicemail. As you will be using a SIP VoIP service with the right ATA you will get the free VoIP benefits such as Caller Display, Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling, Call Transfer, anonymous caller rejection, plus a couple of others.

There is also https://www.voip.co.uk that offers a good service.

A LinkSys PAP2 ATA (Non-Vonage locked) is one of the better ATAs and very popular, or one of the other Linksys/Sipura SPAs, though Play.com are selling a Zoom 5800 ATA for £33 delivered.

With the ATA you just enter the VoIP providers details.

Also with ATAs you could instead of just connecting one phone, you could build a lead with a RJ11 plug on one end and a BABT master socket the other end and then wire them to all your extensions (ensuring you don't have them connected to the BT or cable master socket - or if using their socket, which you shouldn't mess with past the test socket, remove their wiring). With this (which is what I have done) you can use any phone in the house on the VoIP line and correctly set up you wouldn't know it wasn't a regular line.

Any idea where to get one of the LinkSys PAP2 ATA's? I've seen one on ebay but it is a PAP2-NA which Im assuming is north america but can I use it here in the UK??

BexTech

-NA prefix denotes it's non-locked device. (PAP2-VU, being Vonage locked).

You need to be careful with people selling PAP2's on eBay as many of the 'unlocked' PAP2's on there are PAP2-VU devices being unlocked and had later firmware loaded, problem is if you reset the device it goes back to a Vonage locked device and if it's connected to the net whilst in Vonage locked state, it can become virtually impossible (maybe totally) impossible to unlock.

PAP2 are sold as -UK, -EU, etc, but these will be the same PAP2-NA (same device the world over) just that it will be supplied with a UK plug fitting for -UK and a Euro plug for -EU etc.

The mains adapter that came with mine accepts incoming mains voltage between 100v and 240v and was supplied with a UK slot on plug and an EU slot on plug. I would think they are still using the same design.

The PAP2 has been updated slightly to a PAP2T, these can be bought from:-

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=3508

and

http://www.broadbandstuff.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=370

Broadband Buyer being where I got my PAP2 from.