VOIP, Discussion, questions and answers

abaxas

Hi all,

I've finally got my asterisk server up and running so am in need of a provider for outgoing calls.

Looking at this thread voipgain appears to offer the best deal, however what I'd like to know (if anyone actually knows!) is who provides. not necessarily the cheapest UK mobile calls, but the cheapest cost on connection. Most of my bill is stupid 17p connection charges and I want to get rid of those.

Any ideas? Or should I just sign up to voipgain, stick in some credit and have a play?

BarGin

I like the look of the free calls offered by VoipGain but can anyone tell me what the catch is please? Do I have to top up so much a month? I can't see any info regarding this on their site.

buglawton

Why does Betamax constantly release clone products under different names, the latest being Voipgain.
Well, you wanted to know the catch, and is is that they want an upfront payment to obtain any 'free' minutes, then the service will very likely go titsup on you while you cannot get a refund.

See user comments at the bottom of this page:
http://voipguides.blogspot.com/2009/11/voipgancom-voip-gain-betamax-voip.html

bluedove

Why does Betamax constantly release clone products under different names, the latest being Voipgain.
Well, you wanted to know the catch, and is is that they want an upfront payment to obtain any 'free' minutes, then the service will very likely go titsup on you while you cannot get a refund.

See user comments at the bottom of this page:
http://voipguides.blogspot.com/2009/...amax-voip.html

That blog and the comments on it are at least two years old hence not representing an upto date information of betamax products.
I have been using voipgain since July 2010 and have never had problems with them, i top up £10 every 4-5 months, and get free calls to UK Australia, Japan and most EU countries. China and US land and mobile lines are also free.

However to get free calls you must have credit on your account, for chargeable destinations you pay €0.03 connection fee.

DISCLAIMER: i do not work for or have any affiliation with betamax, i'm only a happy customer whom they have saved loads of money for both international and local calls

BarGin

bluedove wrote: »

That blog and the comments on it are at least two years old hence not representing an upto date information of betamax products.
I have been using voipgain since July 2010 and have never had problems with them, i top up £10 every 4-5 months, and get free calls to UK Australia, Japan and most EU countries. China and US land and mobile lines are also free.

However to get free calls you must have credit on your account, for chargeable destinations you pay €0.03 connection fee.

DISCLAIMER: i do not work for or have any affiliation with betamax, i'm only a happy customer whom they have saved loads of money for both international and local calls

Sounds good. Thank you. I'm only interested in making calls to UK landlines. Is the call quality good and how long do the free calls last for a €10 top up? I assume I could use the value of the topup to pay for calls to 08?? numbers?

bluedove

Sounds good. Thank you. I'm only interested in making calls to UK landlines. Is the call quality good and how long do the free calls last for a €10 top up? I assume I could use the value of the topup to pay for calls to 08?? numbers?

The call quality depends on your broadband bandwidth/network speed and hardware setup, i am on virgin 10mb cable broadband and use this cordless handset.
The quality is very good and clear without any lag or noise, i us my topup to call the odd 08 numbers which i cant find in saynoto0870, Voipgain apply FUP "fair use policy" on the free calls, i have only been charged once when i made heavy international calls within a month, i got charged about €2 for about 6.5 hrs call to US and Japan.

BarGin

bluedove wrote: »

The call quality depends on your broadband bandwidth/network speed and hardware setup, i am on virgin 10mb cable broadband and use this cordless handset.
The quality is very good and clear without any lag or noise, i us my topup to call the odd 08 numbers which i cant find in saynoto0870, Voipgain apply FUP "fair use policy" on the free calls, i have only been charged once when i made heavy international calls within a month, i got charged about €2 for about 6.5 hrs call to US and Japan.

Thanks for that useful info. Is the handset you suggest standalone wireless or does it need a base station?

bluedove

Thanks for that useful info. Is the handset you suggest standalone wireless or does it need a base station?

It comes with a base station see here, the black box with a small blue square is the base station that connects to your broadband router, the other bit is the charging stand for the handset which can be plugged into any socket around the house to charge

BarGin

bluedove wrote: »

It comes with a base station see here, the black box with a small blue square is the base station that connects to your broadband router, the other bit is the charging stand for the handset which can be plugged into any socket around the house to charge

Thanks for that. I'll start by using the iPhone app and see how I get on. I like the idea of that handset handling both fixed line and voip calls in one unit.

bluedove

I like the idea of that handset handling both fixed line and voip calls in one unit.

That was one of the reasons why i bought the phone, to have the ability to revert to a normal line if voip didnt work out.
Here is a brief guide i wrote a while ago about the pros and cons of using voip service.