VOIP in UK

[Paddy]

Anyone here use it?

I'm interested in using VOIP as it looks like it will be cheaper than my current BT line rental. Anyone have any experience with any of the providers?

Cheers

[The PIT]

Anyone here use it?

I'm interested in using VOIP as it looks like it will be cheaper than my current BT line rental. Anyone have any experience with any of the providers?

Cheers

I don't as I need a BT line for Broadband and since none my firends use it either it's pointless at the present time. One of these free not free services.

[Claymonkey]

Don't know much about UK VOIP but it seems to work pretty well. You do have the problem of having NO phone if there is a power outage though. Though DSL providers let you have service without the Landline these days.

[borat]

I don't as I need a BT line for Broadband and since none my firends use it either it's pointless at the present time. One of these free not free services.

Agreed on that, which annoys me. If everyone else was able to use it I would use it, because most of the people I call do not use it I dont use it.
It's catch 22, I'll use it when it becomes free, but it won't become free untill we all adopt it.

[Sasq]

pity, I pay $3 or so a month for my VOIP line, It has a real number, that anyone in the world can call me on, to other VOIP lines it's free, to land lines and mobiles, it is a tad cheaper then a real land line.

I don't have a normal line into my house, although my modem supports having one and it will auto switch.

[Paddy]

If I could get ADSL without having to pay for my BT line then i would definatly pay the £8 for VOIP. I currently pay ~£20 pcm (I think - BT option2), i could reduce that to £18 with VOIP but I am sure that it would work out much the same.

If VOIP is not a viable option at this time, then what do you use?

[borat]

It was always my understanding with this that its free if you do IP to IP but you must pay if it IP to mobile/landline. At the moment we have unlimited local/national calls through my phone line so never thought VOIP would be worth it if I had to pay per minute as the phone gets quite a bit of use.
How cheap is it to call landlines with VOIP?

[Paddy]

i thought local and national landline calls are also free with VOIP (vonage)

[borat]

Well if thats the case I may well go and buy a VOIP phone, will take another look into this, cheers for the heads up paddy!

[borat]

Look at this little bad boy:

http://www.vonage.co.uk/device.php?type=F1000

Its a 'wifi phone'. You can connect through wifi hotspots with it and use it to make VOIP calls - mobile phone style. Very neat.

I'm off to cyprus next month so I'm going to get a VOIP phone for the house and a USB VOIP phone for the laptop, and use it to keep in touch with home, hopefully for free using skype.

As for vonage, not sure I want to give up my BT landline untill I'm satisfied that it works as well as a landline, will use skype to test this over the coming weeks.

[borat]

Looks like i've got a little confused about this, I've got broadband in the house connected to a router and then networked throughout the house.
I just want a VOIP phone that plugs into the network and works as a phone without the need to connect to a PC. Is this possible yet?

[borat]

I've now found out why VOIP has not taken off,

I've discovered some ethernet VOIP phones like I want here:

http://www.voiptalk.org/products/VoIP+Phones

However, I want to use skype on my laptop while abroad, so is it possible to configure these things to use skype? I want to have an ethernet phone plugged into my broadband router which connects to the internet through cable. I then want to be able to dial to this from a skype window on my laptop in cyprus.

My confusion is as follows, can I dial to skype from another VOIP operator for free (or at all for that matter?), and will I be able to have a fixed number for an ethernet VOIP phone that I can always dial to as long as the phone and internet are working?

Mass market need VOIP to be as easy to use and widely compatible as possible, and even if it is possible I cant find any information out there that makes things clear. All I want is to plug an ethernet phone in, set it up once and then be able to use it as a normal phone untill I stop needing it to make phone calls.

[Paddy]

That's the theory, but you still need a BT line for the ADSL. BT's basic line rental is ~£12 PCM plus ~£8 for VOIP and you should get all local and national calls for free.
There are several other companies that are comparable at this point eg. BT option 2, the carephonewarehouse 'Just Talk' (I think that's what it's called).

But the main adavantage with VOIP is that international calls are cheap too. Vonage charges 2p/min to the US for example. If VOIP to VOIP calls are also free then it seems to be by far the cheapest option.

There will of course be an initial outlay for the hardware. You need a VOIP phone and an adaptor (looks like an ADSL microfilter) if you want to use it directly in a BT socket. I'd probably go for a wireless option as my WRT54G supports that.

What would be amazing, is if you could get a VOIP service to run from your mobile if in a wifi hotspot. That would result in free mobile calls too

[The PIT]

Last time I looked and read the reviews it's not free to normal land lines Mobiles or other providers. Yes international calls are cheaper but will you be doing this on a regular basis?

One University collegue used it while he was abroad to ring his wife at home. As soon as he got home he discontinued it as it wasn't worthwhile.

[Paddy]

Check here

£7.99 for unlimited local and national calls.

Paddy
xxx