Complete beginner - probably some simple VoIP help needed

Hi everyone,

Excuse the probably basic question but a total novice here. I have recently taken up the Zen 100 Full Fibre service and, as we already have a copper phone service from BT, want to get rid of that and run it all over the new FTTP connection.

I would like to use the ZEN Digital Voice service. The set-up I want is, basically, 3 cordless phones around the house. I am expecting that I need to connect some kind of base station into the FON socket on the Fritz router... with one (cordless) phone linked that... and the other 2 cordless phones distributed around the house - I assume within good WiFi signal. This is a very noddy explanation of my understanding so I could be wrong.

I am just struggling to find the right equipment/handsets to look for. The terminology is pretty confusing and my understanding was that if I plug (a base unit?) into the FON socket... then all the other devices would just register and pick it up...but in looking for Digital/IP/etc phones I seem to get a plethora of options.

Some simple advice would be a huge help... even if only advice on the terms to use when searching for (e.g. on amazon) handset options!

Thanks for your patience and help

What you're after is a DECT cordless base unit that will plug into the Zen supplied router telephony port. This will use DECT wireless protocol (rather than WiFI) to communicate with the cordless handsets.

Some good makes to explore are Gigaset, Yealink and Grandstream.

As Pheasant suggests, get something like a Gigaset N300A IP ( or GO box as sometimes known). That will plug in to the port, and connect to up to 6 corless handsets.

You can then add further pure VoIP if you wish.

Many thanks Pheasant Really helpful - I will start looking now.

The only other thing on my mind is range and 'thick' walls. Is the DECT protocol any more effective that Wi-Fi through barriers etc... in terms of maintaining a signal.

Thanks MHC - I'll be off to do some research! Very helpful.

If Zen will provide all of the details servers, passwords, &c then you could use an N300A IP directly by adding te details in. You can then site it in te best location.

DECT is at 1.88 - 1.90 GHz, slightly lower than 2.4GHz WiFi and will suffer less from walls. Mine is mounted high in the stair well and gives good coverage through 30cm brick, plus double plaster board, plus 30cm brick and block ...

Walls (and thick old stone ones) unfortunately will always present issue for radio signals. However DECT tends to cope quite well in my experience. You may wish to experiment with placement of the base to get optimal reception.

There are also multi-base / repeater DECT systems, but they are really aimed more for commercial use rather than residential. They tend to be a lot more expensive and difficult to setup.

Bases like the N300A quoted above by MHC provide pretty good bang for the buck at around £50. The N300A has been around for a long time and is very stable and still has a decent feature set.

Bundles with 2 or 3 handsets will usually be cheaper than buying components singly. Have a look at ligo for Gigaset gear. They are good.

The other thing with the N300A IP - is that it is capable of connecting to your Zen VoIP service using its analogue port (connected to the Zen router FXS analogue port).

However in future you may wish to use another (independant) VoIP provider(s) and an IP capable base like the N300A allow you to do that by connecting using its Ethernet port to your network (leveraging your broadband connection for connection over the internet to that VoIP provider).

The N300A IP has its own complete VoIP capability - completely independent of your ISP router (and their voice service). This means you could even host and run both simultaneously - a VOIP service with Zen and another VoIP service (or two or three) with other VoIP providers.

[personally I like to keep my voice / email / web hosting and broadband all completely independent so I can cherry pick, chop and change contracts/providers without affecting any other stuff.]

Edited by Pheasant (Fri 26-Nov-21 17:50:00)

The Zen supplied Fritz!BOX router has an inbuilt DECT base, you could use that together with their own-brand handsets https://en.avm.de/products/fritzfon/ or compatible ones - I believe the Gigaset compatibility checker includes a number of third-party devices including some Fritz!BOX routers.

Unless you have a huge house coverage should be OK as the frequencies used by DECT have better propagation than those for WiFi.

Wow, thanks everyone for all the replies. I've got a bit of research to do but at least now it's from an informed position. Thanks for all the tips on good units to look at, and the re-assurance that (maybe) the DECT protocol might improve coverage across the house. I'll also definitely look into the Fritz option....

thanks everyone egain