In reply to a post by SGS2023:

BT advised today that when the PSTN network is switched off my current broadband of 1MB will not be sufficient for VOIP calls.

Sounds as if BT are completely cliueless. G.711 will use less than 100kb/s in each direction. I had VoIP running over a terrible ADSL connection (512kb/s uplink) for 10+ years and never had any issues with voice quality.

if you go down the 4G route, then I would suggest you use Three as they ate the only UK network that gives you a public IPv4 address. VoIP over CGNAT is riddled with problems, so I would not go near that

They basically said they would try to upgrade it to use VOIP service but were not sure it would work and left it at that

Thank you - we only have O2 and Vodafone coverage so will have to see if BT can get the VOIP service going - appreciate your advice on this

In reply to a post by SGS2023:

will have to see if BT can get the VOIP service going

That would be hilarious, Openreach at the forefront of going for All-IP telephony (albeit several years behind Detushe telekom who finished the migration at the end of 2020), no knowing whether it will work?

I thought so too! Current download speed is 1.12Mbps and upload is 0.61Mbps

Current download speed is 1.12Mbps and upload is 0.61Mbps

Are you actually talking to BT, or is BT Local Business targeting you? You don't have to touch your existing PSTN service until product withdrawal in 2025 and it's possible that there will be products in place to give you a working telephone even if FTTP hasn't arrived with you by then.

In reply to a post by SGS2023:

Hi All - quick question - I live in a rural location where my business runs from. BT advised today that when the PSTN network is switched off my current broadband of 1MB will not be sufficient for VOIP calls. There is no option for fibre of any sort due to my location. I can get a reasonable Vodafone mobile signal so do I get a 4G router and put a Vodafone unlimited data SIM in it. How do I connect a digital phone to it? Thankks for any advice.

If you had a dedicated line just for VOIP you can make quite a few calls on 1 meg of bandwidth. Mixing that with general internet would be impractical.

In reply to a post by therioman:

If you had a dedicated line just for VOIP you can make quite a few calls on 1 meg of bandwidth. Mixing that with general internet would be impractical.

Not necessarily, depends on what the rest of the users do on the internet at the same time.
Also, use a router that prioritiises RTP packets in the uplink diretion. There is a good list here https://www.voicehost.co.uk/help/compatible-router-l... AVM Fritzbox (with built in VoIP) also do packet prioritisation.
Downlink is down to the ISP (and the VoIP provider marking the packets correctly).

I would just get another phone number from a provider like A&A and try out VoIP in parallel to your analogue phone service and then decide what to do next.

In reply to a post by essex_man:

In reply to a post by therioman:

If you had a dedicated line just for VOIP you can make quite a few calls on 1 meg of bandwidth. Mixing that with general internet would be impractical.

Not necessarily, depends on what the rest of the users do on the internet at the same time.
Also, use a router that prioritiises RTP packets in the uplink diretion. There is a good list here https://www.voicehost.co.uk/help/compatible-router-l... AVM Fritzbox (with built in VoIP) also do packet prioritisation.
Downlink is down to the ISP (and the VoIP provider marking the packets correctly).

I would just get another phone number from a provider like A&A and try out VoIP in parallel to your analogue phone service and then decide what to do next.

Sure technically - but realistically in a planet where upstream is severely limited the number of competing things for that minimal bandwidth is still problematic. Prioritising that will make it even worse for other things so from a simplicity and reliability perspective I’d stick the VOIP on a different circuit so you can keep it robust.