VOIP, Discussion, questions and answers

anon_ymous

methinks Ill be using 0800 buster for mobiles and rebtel for voip calls to pakistan mobile, unless of course I can find a cheaper service

Still looking for cheap VOIP calls to 0845 numbers!

Oh and Ill be connecting the phone through a WRT45G router

vishy01234

vishy01234 wrote: »

A bit of feedback on Voipcheap. I have seen that they have been given a recommendation of sorts on an article about cheap Voip calls on this site.

Please AVOID VoipCheap. They have no customer services number, do not reply to emails (2 weeks later and I am still waiting for a reply), and have been charging me for merely attempting to make a call and deducting from my credit!!

Yes, that's right, I have been charged for just the attempt to make a call. A connection fee is one thing, but to charge for mereley dialling a number and not being connected is a joke. They don't mention this anywhere on their site or tarriff breakdown.

Call quality is poor and people keep on complaining when I have used their service about the call being choppy. I use other Voip services like Skype and Gradwell and have a 50mb Virgin high speed fibre optic internet connection so it has nothing to do with the quality of my internet connection. They scam ten pounds off you, and then charge a dubious 20% or so VAT on top making it £12!!

Avoid Voipcheap. Please please please avoid Voipcheap. They are scam artists in my opinion.

An update for everyone on Voipcheap - they still have not got back to me. They've basically stolen credit from my account and I'm disgusted.

fayraz

Hi,

I want to enter the world of VOIP but after reading the last 5 pages of this thread I'm a bit lost.

I want to keep my Virgin landline for incoming calls but want to use VOIP for outgoing calls. I have also been reading some people have different VOIP providers for different call rate this would be good if I can implement it.

paulofessex

fayraz wrote: »

Hi,

I want to enter the world of VOIP but after reading the last 5 pages of this thread I'm a bit lost.

I want to keep my Virgin landline for incoming calls but want to use VOIP for outgoing calls. I have also been reading some people have different VOIP providers for different call rate this would be good if I can implement it.

Just wanted to say that we have/had Virgin and use Skype. We have a Dual phone which simply plugs into router and phone line. You can change the setting so all outgoing calls go via Skype. One benefit of the dual phone is, you can in efffect have x2 phone lines, so two people can use the phone at the same time, set to different ringtones so you can tell if Virgin or Skype call.

We trailed Skype for approx. 2 years and as a result we no longer have a Virgin media phone line we are only using Skype and as we have the Europe subscription all we pay on a monthly basis for all calls in & out is £3.39 so we are saving approx. £240 per year

The initial outlay may be a suprise to you i.e. you will need an online number and a little SkypeOut credit just in case you need to call those 0845 numbers (0800 numbers are free on Skype) however if you look at Skypes subscription packages they offer 50% off the number.

Or you could try using a USB phone (click here) initialy to see how you get on before commiting to a Dual Phone which cost approx. £70-£80

Remember also Skype has no '999' access, however if like us we have 4-5 mobiles within the family.

Edited: Just wanted to add that the last time we purchased credit of £10 was in August 2008 and we still have £3.00 left

Edited: Have a look at Skypes Unlimited Packages (fair use policy applies)

fayraz

paulofessex wrote: »

Just wanted to say that we have/had Virgin and use Skype. We have a Dual phone which simply plugs into router and phone line. You can change the setting so all outgoing calls go via Skype. One benefit of the dual phone is, you can in efffect have x2 phone lines, so two people can use the phone at the same time, set to different ringtones so you can tell if Virgin or Skype call.

We trailed Skype for approx. 2 years and as a result we no longer have a Virgin media phone line we are only using Skype and as we have the Europe subscription all we pay on a monthly basis for all calls in & out is £3.39 so we are saving approx. £240 per year

The initial outlay may be a suprise to you i.e. you will need an online number and a little SkypeOut credit just in case you need to call those 0845 numbers (0800 numbers are free on Skype) however if you look at Skypes subscription packages they offer 50% off the number.

Or you could try using a USB phone (click here) initialy to see how you get on before commiting to a Dual Phone which cost approx. £70-£80

Remember also Skype has no '999' access, however if like us we have 4-5 mobiles within the family.

Edited: Just wanted to add that the last time we purchased credit of £10 was in August 2008 and we still have £3.00 left

Edited: Have a look at Skypes Unlimited Packages (fair use policy applies)

Are you using something like this for your home phone - http://www.cordless-phones.uk.com/skype-phones/cordless-skype-phones/rtx-dualphone-3088-skype

I like the idea of this phone as you can use your landline and Skype so if anyone rings either the phone will ring and you can also set which line you want to use for outgoing calls.

The Virgin phone line only costs £2 per month extra because I have their broadband so thats why I thought I may aswell keep it.

paulofessex

fayraz wrote: »

Are you using something like this for your home phone - http://www.cordless-phones.uk.com/skype-phones/cordless-skype-phones/rtx-dualphone-3088-skype

I like the idea of this phone as you can use your landline and Skype so if anyone rings either the phone will ring and you can also set which line you want to use for outgoing calls.

The Virgin phone line only costs £2 per month extra because I have their broadband so thats why I thought I may aswell keep it.

That is exactly the phone/s we have. We also have the addititonal handset. Infact that was the same company we purchased it from. Don't forget to have a look at the user guide (pdf) on that page before you purchase just to see how easy it is.

fayraz

paulofessex wrote: »

That is exactly the phone/s we have. We also have the addititonal handset. Infact that was the same company we purchased it from. Don't forget to have a look at the user guide (pdf) on that page before you purchase just to see how easy it is.

How do you rate the phone?

After reading the info on it I am under the impression I can set SkypeOut for all my outgoing calls but I can still receive calls from my Virgin line.

When you dial a number do you always have to enter the area code aswell or can you just dial the number using Skype?

paulofessex

The phone has great sound quality, battery lasts hours and hours, needs to as other half on it for 1-2 hours at a time.

Yes, go through the setting and change it so all outgoing calls dial via SkypeOut. Yes you do need to input the area code, although once a number you call is in your contact list it will of course dial automatically the same as a mobile etc.

A quicker way of inputting all your phone contacts onto the phone is to download Skype onto your PC, sign into your account and you can then add all your contact numbers using the keyboard.

While l remember, if you do purchase a Skype online number make sure you change the setting on the phone to 'accept calls from anyone' otherwise if a person calling you is not one of your contacts the caller will get the engaged tone all the time.

fayraz

paulofessex wrote: »

The phone has great sound quality, battery lasts hours and hours, needs to as other half on it for 1-2 hours at a time.

Yes, go through the setting and change it so all outgoing calls dial via SkypeOut. Yes you do need to input the area code, although once a number you call is in your contact list it will of course dial automatically the same as a mobile etc.

A quicker way of inputting all your phone contacts onto the phone is to download Skype onto your PC, sign into your account and you can then add all your contact numbers using the keyboard.

While l remember, if you do purchase a Skype online number make sure you change the setting on the phone to 'accept calls from anyone' otherwise if a person calling you is not one of your contacts the caller will get the engaged tone all the time.

Thanks for the info.

buglawton

Did anyone already mention the "Skype to Go" solution? I am using this with Skype Unlimited World that is £8/month. Call an 0208 number first using an ordinary DECT home phone then dial the international number. At weekends the 0208 part is a free call, weekdays with BT/18185 it is just a one off connection fee eg 9p. So no need for additional VOIP hardware.

For incoming calls, I just use the usual BT number.