Hi there,
Was wondering if anyone out there had gotten rid of their land line and started using Skype at all, and if theyhad what they were using for hardware etc.. ie dedicated computer or thier usual computer and a special Voip phopne thingy? etc? I'm a bit new at it all, but tired of paying my Telstra bill.
Has anyone ditched their land line in favour of Skype etc?
ltompsonny on 25/05/2008 - 20:56
Comments
what is naked DSL? We currently have cable internet with telstra.
It is internet via telephone cables, but no telephone signal/dialtone for regular phone. ISP will give only internet to that cables.
Since you already have cable internet, try testing voip phones on it. NDSL is still in its early stage.
udu - (easier to type), Voip is great when you get a provider that works for you. In my case MNF has been ideal. Only problem you might have is with Telstra cable/internet as they did block the voip ports from being used. You need to check with the voip provider that your broadband setup can be supported.
i havent taken the plunge to completely drop my voice line, because I cant get naked DSL, and also i live in an area where I can have power outages so the voip goes down without power. But as I have a Telstra wholesale ADSL 1 line I can and have taken Homeline budget at $19.95 a month. My last quarters bill was $62. Compared to last years at $155.00, my voip 3 month bill was a tad over $21, and I tend to make more calls.
Skype requires your computer to be on whereas Voip can run through dedicated hardware, so in my experience it gives better quality.
The best place for advice is www.whirlpool.net.au
Couple of my friends run voip via telstra cable (in sydney) and they never had problem using mynetfone/pennytel, so telstra may be lately not blocking i guess. You could test the voip - all free - by signing up free account with pennytel, install their softphone at computer and dial any toll free number using that from computer to check outgoing calls. If all okay, you can go next step of hardware (it is called ATA).
I've been using a combination of different VoIP providers and Skype (for video calls), but I still haven't taken the step of going naked — I still feel safe when I plug in the phone into the wall socket and I can hear the dial tone. Another inconvenience is that your existing phone number is not portable when you go naked ADSL.
Maybe I will take the plunge one day…
Another inconvenience is that your existing phone number is not portable when you go naked ADSL.
iiNet allows free number porting. Part of new application it allows an option to keep existing phone number under their voip DID (i think, telstra only).
Hmm. Thanks! Definitely not the case last time I checked with my current ADSL provider (Exetel). Things might have changed so I might need to enquire again.
Not to skype, but moved to voip (mynetfone from Jan last year, iiNet recently on NakedDSL) and pretty happy of not paying rental/bloated call fees.
Give a try to Mynetfone offers for whirlpool posted by ozpete/others many times here, free, and if happy think for cable internet or NDSL. Post here any specific details requirement.