Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

1carminestocky

I would be very interested if the UW VOIP 'thingy' can actually be connected to a wifi-enabled laptop. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

Senior_Paper_Monitor

My theory is that if the lap-top is connected to broadband by wi-fi (generally much easeir to do when travelling than locate an ethernet plug), then the Linksys (UW) internet phone adaptor router is attached to the lap-top (with a crossover cable - peer to peer network - rather than a patch cable) then it should 'work as advertised'.

It might be necessary to set the lap top to act as an internet server in this case but that shouldn't be beyond the 'wit of man'.

There is a 'back up plan' involving a mini-hub behind the lap-top using standard patch cabling - but hopefully not necessary.

Can't find a crossover cable to test it at the moment - will pick one up over the weekend if necessary, run some tests and post results one way or another on here by Tuesday (ish).

Let me stress this is to be of assistance (and I want to find out - would be well useful to me) rather than promote anything!

Cardew

Senior_Paper_Monitor wrote: »

"Skype has a real place (primarily in the personal market)"

"Is Skype acceptable for general (in particular, personal) use ? Yes (and I have clearly said so)"

"Is Skype to Skype free ? Is Skype to/from Landline reasonably priced ? Yes (and I have never said otherwise or commented on its pricing or UW's)"

Exactly what is it you are argueing with me about about (with the possible exception of whether Skype meets the generally accepted industry term of VOIP - and your referred article confirms it is at least 'different' to ther VOIP technologies)?

What really makes a mockery of this thread as an exchange of useful information is the apparent need for exponents at the opposite ends of the 'UW is good v. UW is bad' argument to immediately leap on anything that they see as supporting the other faction (often, as in this case, without apparently reading the actual comment to see what it really says) and trying to rubbish it by whatever distortion they can manage.

I will clarify this one more time (and then retire to do something far more useful):

There are small technical differences between Skype and what we can call 'most other VOIP applications' - these really do not effect the layman user one jot and he/she has no need to understand them.

I believe that for the majority of personal users Skype is an excellent and low cost (although not necessarily the case at the Skype-pro and Sype-In end of the spectrum incidentally, particularly if used as a full telephony solution).

.

Thanks for a balanced post.

The dispute about VOIP was originally when a UW ID in this thread claimed that the UW adapter(for phones abroad etc) did NOT use VOIP.

In fact this exact quote is on loads of UW ID's websites:

Not to be confused with so called "VOIP" services which rely on software installed on your computer, the Utility Warehouse service operates in exactly the same way as a normal phone line with a normal phone which rings in exactly the same way as your current phone line.

The objection of the AUWF is that the UW VOIP phone has been promoted on here as if it is the only free/cheap way to/from phone abroad.

It has merely been pointed out, as you acknowledge, that Skype will give free calls PC to PC, or very cheap to landline(with excellent quality).

Personally I find the video link by far the best facility. It is really nice for my USA relatives to have the whole family sitting together and talking to my family.

1carminestocky

How do you actually pay for the chargeable Skype calls?

Senior_Paper_Monitor

OK Cardew - let's declare peace on that point.

It was actually the incorrect claim by the UW rep(s) about "not being VOIP" - and the subsequent guessing game - that drew me into the thread to try and give a layman's level technical answer and explain the difference between the products.

For the friends and family bit I have absolutely no problem with Skype - and have certainly never claimed that UW is the 'one and only answer'. For real business use I still view Skype as a partial solution only for specific circumstances.

Equally, the UW (and similar solutions) for travelling (rather than specific location such as a second home) are limited in their flexibility (unless I can get the lap-top solution to work) and depend on having the full UW package to become cost effective. The only real solution is divert to standard mobile but that is an expensive one - as my average £800 per month bill in my previous existence demonstrated!

Personally I save an absolute fortune on the UW package (because we have two lines running calls primarily to / 0870 numbers for much of the day every day (nearly 2000 minutes of free calls to thos last month) and if I can get the laptop solution working I should have a fully portable office enabling us to travel for business or pleasure to a great extent without extra cost and/or disruption to our two man business. Great for me, but not what everyone needs by any means.




In answer to 1CarmineStocky - you pay in advance to a 'Skype credit account' with automated credit/debit card top-up (heavy users be warned that they often limit the amount acceptable due perceived high risk of CC fraud, but if you hit your limit - which we regularly did - you can buy top-up cards at many supermarkets including Sainsburys). I believe (from memory when we were planning to use Skype heavily) that standing order and company account options may also be available in certain circumstances.

Cardew

Senior_Paper_Monitor wrote: »

In answer to 1CarmineStocky - you pay in advance to a 'Skype credit account' with automated credit/debit card top-up (heavy users be warned that they often limit the amount acceptable due perceived high risk of CC fraud, but if you hit your limit - which we regularly did - you can buy top-up cards at many supermarkets including Sainsburys). I believe (from memory when we were planning to use Skype heavily) that standing order and company account options may also be available in certain circumstances.

I actually don't use the automated credit card top up(for any firm!!). I pay in advance on a 'as and when needed' basis - £10 lasts forever.

You can get a monthly subscription for unlimited calls worldwide(over 40 countries) for £6.95 a month. However you would need to be talking to a landline for around 400 mins every month to make that worthwhile.

As said above I use the free Skype to Skype video calls most of the time. Incidentally it works perfectly on a laptop anywhere the internet is available. I had a video link with someone on a cruise ship a little while ago.

The latest free upgrade allows you to share your computer screen on the video link. Some friends of ours in New Zealand were looking at all the photos I took when they were across here - being played as a slide show on my PC.

Ypaymore

Senior_Paper_Monitor wrote: »

Personally I save an absolute fortune on the UW package (because we have two lines running calls primarily to / 0870 numbers for much of the day every day (nearly 2000 minutes of free calls to thos last month) and if I can get the laptop solution working I should have a fully portable office enabling us to travel for business or pleasure to a great extent without extra cost and/or disruption to our two man business. Great for me, but not what everyone needs by any means.

Does the following not apply, or are distributors exempt from the small print conditions.

"If we have reason to believe a customer is using our unlimited “Free Global Calls” offer partly or wholly for business purposes, for accessing the internet or for other data services, we reserve the right to withdraw this benefit from the customer without notice. A fair use policy applies to free calls made to 0845 and 0870 number ranges; if these limits are exceeded then we reserve the right to charge for all 0845 and 0870 calls at our standard published tariff."

1carminestocky

janninew

A quick question for UW customers.

Is anybody having any trouble getting their bill this month? I have received an e-mail saying my bill is ready, so have gone to the UW web-site and asked to be sent a copy to my e-mail address. I do this every month and it normally takes around 5 mins at the most to be sent to me, I did this last night and have still not received it!

Anybody else having problems?

Thanks!

Janninew

NigeWick

janninew wrote: »

Is anybody having any trouble getting their bill this month?

Mine doesn't come until about the 20th, so I am not having any trouble. I think the e-mail was a "belt and braces" effort in case Royal Mail went on strike again.

I am an independent distributor with Utility Warehouse and the views I express may not be shared by the company.