Hello peeps, I've got Telewest broadband and thought it was time to ditch
the line rental and go for voip. I've signed up with sipgate for a free
local number and have tested it with a soft phone and it seems to be ok.
Reading on here though a few people have question marks with sipgate. The
answer phone is a bit naff and there's no divert. Vonage is a possible
alternative though I doubt I would make £9.99 a month worth of calls they do
seem to be a more professional outfit. They have no minimum contract but
does that mean the Linksys router is yours or theirs if you cancel after a
month?
Basic questions I know but I'm just trying to get my head around this at the
moment.
"Shane Carpenter" <news@shanes_replace_nospam_with_org.nospam> wrote in
message news:DKeDe.162031$Vo6.104419@fe3.news.blueyonder.c o.uk...
.. They [vonage] have no minimum contract but
> does that mean the Linksys router is yours or theirs if you cancel after a
> month?
Just trawled through their T&C's and noticed a fee of £23.99 to disconnect,
seems fair if you leave within 12 months but after that it's a bit of a con.
Does anyone have any ideas when number portability will be a possibility?
would be nice to take my old number across.
"Shane Carpenter" <news@shanes_replace_nospam_with_org.nospam> wrote in
message news:DKeDe.162031$Vo6.104419@fe3.news.blueyonder.c o.uk...
> Hello peeps, I've got Telewest broadband and thought it was time to
> ditch
> the line rental and go for voip. I've signed up with sipgate for a free
> local number and have tested it with a soft phone and it seems to be ok.
> Reading on here though a few people have question marks with sipgate.
> The
> answer phone is a bit naff and there's no divert. Vonage is a possible
> alternative though I doubt I would make £9.99 a month worth of calls
> they do
> seem to be a more professional outfit. They have no minimum contract but
> does that mean the Linksys router is yours or theirs if you cancel after
> a
> month?
>
> Basic questions I know but I'm just trying to get my head around this at
> the
> moment.
>
> Thanks, Shane
I know some people on here will tell you I'm biased, but from my own
personal experience Sipgate is fine for personal use. I would hesitate
about recommending it for business at the moment, but it's fine with me. I
don't really need divert, although I agree it is useful for some. I have
it on my Telewest line but I can count on the fingers of one hand the
number of times I've used it.
I'd be wary at the moment of ditching a landline completely, there may be
occasions when you'll need it, if there's a power failure for example, and
don't forget 999 calls aren't possible on most systems, although I believe
Vonage do have the facility.
I would try a normal phone with an ATA rather than a softphone to get the
best quality, softphones tend to be a bit naff if you're doing anything
else on a PC, plus of course you need to have it on all the time. I have 2
Sipgate lines routed into a small PABX along with the landline so all of
them can be accessed from any phone in the house. Overkill to some maybe
but it works for me..!
Email me directly with your Sipgate ID if you want to do any tests
anytime.
--
Ivor
(replace 'invalid' with 'com' in sending address to reply direct)
Shane Carpenter wrote:
> Hello peeps, I've got Telewest broadband and thought it was time to ditch
> the line rental and go for voip. I've signed up with sipgate for a free
> local number and have tested it with a soft phone and it seems to be ok.
> Reading on here though a few people have question marks with sipgate. The
> answer phone is a bit naff and there's no divert. Vonage is a possible
> alternative though I doubt I would make £9.99 a month worth of calls they do
> seem to be a more professional outfit. They have no minimum contract but
> does that mean the Linksys router is yours or theirs if you cancel after a
> month?
>
> Basic questions I know but I'm just trying to get my head around this at the
> moment.
>
> Thanks, Shane
Another service to try is www.voipfone.co.uk a few people have said it's
a bit more reliable than sipgate. they don't give you a free geo number
though. I've recently registered with them myself and seems ok so far.
> Hello peeps, I've got Telewest broadband and thought it was time to ditch
> the line rental and go for voip. I've signed up with sipgate for a free
> local number and have tested it with a soft phone and it seems to be ok.
> Reading on here though a few people have question marks with sipgate. The
> answer phone is a bit naff and there's no divert. Vonage is a possible
> alternative though I doubt I would make £9.99 a month worth of calls they do
> seem to be a more professional outfit. They have no minimum contract but
> does that mean the Linksys router is yours or theirs if you cancel after a
> month?
My TW line goes at the end of this month, so after that I'll be VoIP
only. Although I have a Sipgate number it will be a Gradwell number
that replaces the TW line. I have no doubt that if they stick at it
Sipgate will become a good, reliable service, but I wouldn't put all
my eggs in their basket just yet. My Gradwell line costs me £4.70 a
month, with no inclusive minutes, but that's less than half the cost
of the TW line and all the extras, such as Caller ID, Anonymous Call
Rejection and Call Forwarding are inclusive (unlike TW). There's no
"999" access though, so you'll need to keep a mobile handy for that.
And it's a good, reliable service now, not X months down the line...
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> Don't Telewest add a tenner to your broadband bill if you dump the phone
> line ? They certainly used to.
No, they add £3 to your TV bill if you have their TV service. Broadband
now costs the same whether you have their phone service or not (unless
you're signed up for one of their "bundles").
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I have tried voifone, and it seems much better indeed than sipgate.
Sipgate never answered my support mails, and I keep getting billed for dead
calls (no tone, no voice). Voipfone seems to be offering a lot more
functionality also, and a more professional voicemail prompt!
So bye-bye Sipgate...
"dcuk" <dcuk@a.b> wrote in message
news:1IfDe.73588$G8.11907@text.news.blueyonder.co. uk...
> Shane Carpenter wrote:
>> Hello peeps, I've got Telewest broadband and thought it was time to ditch
>> the line rental and go for voip. I've signed up with sipgate for a free
>> local number and have tested it with a soft phone and it seems to be ok.
>> Reading on here though a few people have question marks with sipgate. The
>> answer phone is a bit naff and there's no divert. Vonage is a possible
>> alternative though I doubt I would make £9.99 a month worth of calls they
>> do
>> seem to be a more professional outfit. They have no minimum contract but
>> does that mean the Linksys router is yours or theirs if you cancel after
>> a
>> month?
>>
>> Basic questions I know but I'm just trying to get my head around this at
>> the
>> moment.
>>
>> Thanks, Shane
>
> Another service to try is www.voipfone.co.uk a few people have said it's a
> bit more reliable than sipgate. they don't give you a free geo number
> though. I've recently registered with them myself and seems ok so far.
Thus spaketh themgt:
> Shane Carpenter wrote:
>> Hello peeps, I've got Telewest broadband and thought it was time to
>> ditch the line rental and go for voip.
>
> Don't Telewest add a tenner to your broadband bill if you dump the
> phone line ? They certainly used to.
> On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 01:57:18 +0100,
> spam-egg-chips-n-spam@spamsoff.co.uk (Dave Gill) wrote:
> >No, they add £3 to your TV bill if you have their TV service. Broadband
> >now costs the same whether you have their phone service or not (unless
> >you're signed up for one of their "bundles").
> Wrong Dave it is £ 3.00 pr bill if you do not pay by DD and £ 1.00 on
> the cost of a TV package .
Wrong Dexter, in my case at least. I'll be paying £13.50 instead of
£10.50 for the Essential package. I pay by DD anyway, so that doesn't
make any difference. (The Supreme package without the phone it will
cost you £20 - £4.50 on top of the usual £15.50.)
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> Hell Dave I did not know they had upped the top TV package by three
> pounds you must be a TV addict if you are willing to pay that amount
> of money when you can get free view for nothing
No, but I know someone who is. ;-)
> There are only two channels we watch out of those available on free
> view " news 24 and Sky travel" the TV box from TW only came because
> it came free with the phone .
See above... ;-)
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Is sipgate good enough? 
Linear Mode
