I only went with voipgain because it seems to get good press here.
So are there an companies who charge what they actually advertise? Or am I better off just staying with BT?
The likes of sipgate seem no cheaper than BT, buy a call package then pay as you go for the likes of 0845 etc. So you've no idea what your bill will come too.
I'm really confused by it all tbh lol. Get my PAP2T set up and now the confusion carries on.
So, what are the reliable companies that charge the stated rates and don't charge the earth?
I always wonder at the agenda of posts that praise Betamax products - they seem to bring out a new brand name annually but it's the same old deal - and same old complaints, if you dig just a little bit via Google.
There are really techy people out there who get some satisfaction from replicating the POTS (plain old telephone system) but via the Internet, having purchases expensive bits & bobs in order to do so.
Don't bother. Just get one or another Skype subscription (I use their flat rate unlimited world tariff) and make your calls through an Android or Apple handset with an app. Incoming UK geographical numbers can be rented for a few quid a month too.
I always wonder at the agenda of posts that praise Betamax products - they seem to bring out a new brand name annually but it's the same old deal - and same old complaints, if you dig just a little bit via Google.
There are really techy people out there who get some satisfaction from replicating the POTS (plain old telephone system) but via the Internet, having purchases expensive bits & bobs in order to do so.
Don't bother. Just get one or another Skype subscription (I use their flat rate unlimited world tariff) and make your calls through an Android or Apple handset with an app. Incoming UK geographical numbers can be rented for a few quid a month too.
But not everyone has an android or iPhone handset. And getting one would be much more expensive that buying the likes of a PAP2T for £40ish.
I could do that as I have an iPhone but I want to save my mother cash, she coudn't work a smart phone if her life depended on it. She can barely use her basic flip nokia lol. Which means finding a reliable voip provider for use with the PAP2T.
I'm a bit baffled - "she needs a land line that can make outgoing calls as she has a lifeline pendant"... so with 2 systems in use, land-line + VOIP, she'll then need 2 lines? This would confuse even my mother!
I'm a bit baffled - "she needs a land line that can make outgoing calls as she has a lifeline pendant"... so with 2 systems in use, land-line + VOIP, she'll then need 2 lines? This would confuse even my mother!
It's simple, lifeline is plugged into BT line, which will be switched to BT basic, phone will be set up via voip using the PAP2T so there's the one phone.
Should the internet go off, there's still the BT line in case of emergency.
My mum has a Lifeline too. With the above arrangement, what happens with incoming calls?
PS first time there was a power cut, :Lifeline failed, check you battery back up!
I have an incoming number from sipgate. So the one phone handles incoming and outgoing.
You can do this by setting up a pbx account (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called, it's bookmarked on my PC). And connecting both the incoming and outgoing accounts.
Plus there's plenty of VoIP providers who provide both incoming and outgoing services.
I didn't even know the lifelines had a battery back up. Was never mentioned to me. Just checked and indeed it does. Will be sorted tomorrow. Thanks.
But not everyone has an android or iPhone handset. And getting one would be much more expensive that buying the likes of a PAP2T for £40ish.
I could do that as I have an iPhone but I want to save my mother cash, she coudn't work a smart phone if her life depended on it. She can barely use her basic flip nokia lol. Which means finding a reliable voip provider for use with the PAP2T.
I've flashed my PAP2-NA, to an SPA-1000 - it was quite easy
I now just press '#' to use my voipcheap on line 2 but from line 1
I then set-up the phone no. in the phones 'phone-book' deciding if its line 1 or line 2 based on the type of call....
I just moving to sipgate fully and hopefully dropping the land line completely...
I can do this simply because i'm using a wirelss broadband provider in my area
I emailed about the FUP, just replied saying thy have an FUP. Wouldn't actually tell me what it was.
I'm having an ongoing dispute with justvoip regarding their FUP and they're really annoying me. The only way I could get any response from them was by going through an international complaints commission.
Betamax companies (Dellmont Sarl) are a complete fraud when it comes to their Fair Use Policy. I'm still waiting to hear back from my response to their ridiculous claim below:
[FONT="]“Please accept our sincere apologies for our late reply. The information provided by the customer is incorrect. Customer claims he only used SIP devices to make his calls, but in fact he did use our calling software from his computer as well. The calls made from that computer were made from an different IP address than he used for his SIP calls. The IP range of that computer was used more often and exceeded our ‘Fair Use Policy’. Our system did not make any mistake in charging this customer. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Kind regards, Dellmont”
The above is complete nonsense as only my laptop had any kind of VOIP software installed and I uninstalled it ages ago after using it for about 2 short test calls. They 'claim' that I have been using it loads and it was from a different IP address. According to their Fair Use Policy it is as follows:
[/FONT]"Registered users get max 300 minutes per week of free calls, measured over the last 7 days and per unique IP address. "
OK so here's the best bit, they claim the calls were made from another IP address, then they would have been made through my account. Why in that case do none of these apparent calls made from software on a computer with a different IP address show in my call logs? I'm looking forward to their answer to that one! Also, all the calls would have been made from my home address which would have been the IP address assigned by my ISP. If by any chance my IP was then leased to someone else who happened to have the VOIP software then they wouldn't be using my account to make the calls.
Can anyone else make sense of their response? Nearly all the calls were being charged as exceeding FUP and all were made using phones connected to my PAP2 device.
They're making stuff up in my opinion, I insisted they provided evidence of these other calls being made from and charged to my account and to explain why such calls that caused my FUP to be exceeded don't appear in the itemisation on my account.
Just to be warned, I don't think yours is an isolated case.
I have been using fastvoip since early last year but they have just announced they have started to charge for calls to UK landlines which is why I used it but all the calls up until recently were free even after the 120 days had expired on my credit!
I'm going to switch to another one of the Betamax providers to see if they're any more reliable although I feel that Betamax/Dellmont Sarl as a whole has a tendency to rip people off so definitely watch your usage...
Replies
I only went with voipgain because it seems to get good press here.
So are there an companies who charge what they actually advertise? Or am I better off just staying with BT?
The likes of sipgate seem no cheaper than BT, buy a call package then pay as you go for the likes of 0845 etc. So you've no idea what your bill will come too.
I'm really confused by it all tbh lol. Get my PAP2T set up and now the confusion carries on.
So, what are the reliable companies that charge the stated rates and don't charge the earth?
There are really techy people out there who get some satisfaction from replicating the POTS (plain old telephone system) but via the Internet, having purchases expensive bits & bobs in order to do so.
Don't bother. Just get one or another Skype subscription (I use their flat rate unlimited world tariff) and make your calls through an Android or Apple handset with an app. Incoming UK geographical numbers can be rented for a few quid a month too.
But not everyone has an android or iPhone handset. And getting one would be much more expensive that buying the likes of a PAP2T for £40ish.
I could do that as I have an iPhone but I want to save my mother cash, she coudn't work a smart phone if her life depended on it. She can barely use her basic flip nokia lol. Which means finding a reliable voip provider for use with the PAP2T.
It's simple, lifeline is plugged into BT line, which will be switched to BT basic, phone will be set up via voip using the PAP2T so there's the one phone.
Should the internet go off, there's still the BT line in case of emergency.
PS first time there was a power cut, :Lifeline failed, check you battery back up!
I have an incoming number from sipgate. So the one phone handles incoming and outgoing.
You can do this by setting up a pbx account (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called, it's bookmarked on my PC). And connecting both the incoming and outgoing accounts.
Plus there's plenty of VoIP providers who provide both incoming and outgoing services.
I didn't even know the lifelines had a battery back up. Was never mentioned to me. Just checked and indeed it does. Will be sorted tomorrow. Thanks.
Has anyone done a BT number port to sipgate ?
The forms are a little confusing, I just wanted to check what forms others had got and what the entered where
Regards
I've flashed my PAP2-NA, to an SPA-1000 - it was quite easy
I now just press '#' to use my voipcheap on line 2 but from line 1
I then set-up the phone no. in the phones 'phone-book' deciding if its line 1 or line 2 based on the type of call....
I just moving to sipgate fully and hopefully dropping the land line completely...
I can do this simply because i'm using a wirelss broadband provider in my area
I'm having an ongoing dispute with justvoip regarding their FUP and they're really annoying me. The only way I could get any response from them was by going through an international complaints commission.
Betamax companies (Dellmont Sarl) are a complete fraud when it comes to their Fair Use Policy. I'm still waiting to hear back from my response to their ridiculous claim below:
[FONT="]“Please accept our sincere apologies for our late reply. The information provided by the customer is incorrect. Customer claims he only used SIP devices to make his calls, but in fact he did use our calling software from his computer as well. The calls made from that computer were made from an different IP address than he used for his SIP calls. The IP range of that computer was used more often and exceeded our ‘Fair Use Policy’. Our system did not make any mistake in charging this customer. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Kind regards, Dellmont”
The above is complete nonsense as only my laptop had any kind of VOIP software installed and I uninstalled it ages ago after using it for about 2 short test calls. They 'claim' that I have been using it loads and it was from a different IP address. According to their Fair Use Policy it is as follows:
[/FONT]"Registered users get max 300 minutes per week of free calls, measured over the last 7 days and per unique IP address. "
OK so here's the best bit, they claim the calls were made from another IP address, then they would have been made through my account. Why in that case do none of these apparent calls made from software on a computer with a different IP address show in my call logs? I'm looking forward to their answer to that one! Also, all the calls would have been made from my home address which would have been the IP address assigned by my ISP. If by any chance my IP was then leased to someone else who happened to have the VOIP software then they wouldn't be using my account to make the calls.
Can anyone else make sense of their response? Nearly all the calls were being charged as exceeding FUP and all were made using phones connected to my PAP2 device.
They're making stuff up in my opinion, I insisted they provided evidence of these other calls being made from and charged to my account and to explain why such calls that caused my FUP to be exceeded don't appear in the itemisation on my account.
Just to be warned, I don't think yours is an isolated case.
I have been using fastvoip since early last year but they have just announced they have started to charge for calls to UK landlines which is why I used it but all the calls up until recently were free even after the 120 days had expired on my credit!
I'm going to switch to another one of the Betamax providers to see if they're any more reliable although I feel that Betamax/Dellmont Sarl as a whole has a tendency to rip people off so definitely watch your usage...