In reply to a post by Jabes:

Thinking of moving my home phone to VOIP before I move house (which is on another exchange) to keep phone number...

How is being on VOIP working out for people here? I was looking at the Gigaset DECT handsets

Any recommendations of providers or hardware gratefully received!

I use the following setup and can highly recommend it:

Gigaset s850a-go

Incoming SIP - aaisp.net.uk (£1.20 per month), call recording/voicemail/forwarding to sip or landline/mobile etc. They are excellent pricing for outgoing calls is only thing i can complain about.

For outgoing calls i use voipcheap.co.uk - £12 every 90 days plus you get £10 credit all 01, 03 numbers are free of charge for 90 days then you use your £10 credit up then if you top up you get the best price. You can set this up in gigaset so it uses different service for outgoing so you dont need to worry about it.

Also worth noting you can port the phone number from bt - be aware this process takes forever not aaisp's fault but just because of the way porting works.

Edited by deleted (Mon 13-Nov-17 09:11:33)

In reply to a post by chrisbond:

Also worth noting you can port the phone number from bt - be aware this process takes forever not aaisp's fault but just because of the way porting works.

Really? My number port from Post Office (bt wholesale based) to yay.com took just a few days without any dramas.

Edited by deleted (Mon 13-Nov-17 10:48:35)

I think if you port your landline number to VOIP you will loose any broadband associated with it. I stopped my broadband before I did a port as I wanted to be sure that the port would work.

Correct, porting your landline no to a voip service stops your landline completely so you would lose any associated broadband with it. I believe its not an issue for the OP though, as he's taking out a data only FTTPoD service at his new address.

Also I've found that only BT's systems recognize my yay VOIP number so if I ever wanted to migrate my voip number back to a copper landline, going back to BT would be my only option initially. I suspect this is due to the fact that the number was originally issued by BT.

In reply to a post by Jabes:

Thinking of moving my home phone to VOIP before I move house (which is on another exchange) to keep phone number...

How is being on VOIP working out for people here? I was looking at the Gigaset DECT handsets

Any recommendations of providers or hardware gratefully received!

Been there and done everything you want to achieve. Your world is your oyster on this one but there are several caveats that need considering.
1) If your broadband connection is less than 10 down and 1 up, call quality at times will be poor
2) To port a number into VoIP the POTS number must be live and that you can produce a most recent bill to prove the number is allocated to you.
3) Porting is not instant, it can take several days, or longer, for it to happen
4) If you are in contract with that number, then there are extra high costs to absorb
5) Once the number is ported over to VoIP, then the landline and any associated services. such as alarms and broadband, will no longer work.

The Gigaset range of VoIP products is extensive and requires strong recommendations to help you choose which to go for.

It is not always possible to port a number out of your chosen provider so with that in mind I ran with www.callmaster.co.uk who gave me a very personalised service to set everything up. It is a credit account for calls together with a monthly standing charge.

You are probably aware that VoIP to VoIP calls are free and more often or not both need to be using the same hosting provider for free calls.

You can have more than one VoIP provider configured into a Gigaset set up and I have done just that by adding a PAYG account with Draytel to effectively give me another exchange line number. There is no standing charge for this facility..

Of course for VoIP to work you need a broadband service but the voice element of that line can be featureless, It is highly recommended to have a very basic phone connected to this line to have a phone service during power cuts and when VoIP is down.

The service is perfect for my needs and is considerably cheaper than routing calls through a regular landline provider.. Some features of VoIP are cumbersome to use with Giaaset products. Using a dedicated desktop VoIP phone opens up new horizons especially if your pocket is deep enough to own a snom D375.

You are welcome to PM me for any further advice and assistance.

David.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

Correct, porting your landline no to a voip service stops your landline completely so you would lose any associated broadband with it. I believe its not an issue for the OP though, as he's taking out a data only FTTPoD service at his new address.

I thought you could arrange for a new number allocation when you port out? My plan was:
1. Port to a VOIP provider and start using VOIP at current location at my leisure (well, I have two months)
2. Move to new house and plug in and go!

In reply to a post by Jabes:

I thought you could arrange for a new number allocation when you port out? My plan was:
1. Port to a VOIP provider and start using VOIP at current location at my leisure (well, I have two months)
2. Move to new house and plug in and go!

When you port a landline number to a VOIP provider, your landline service ceases...a bit like when porting a mobile number between networks. I suggest you do what i did: sign up to a VOIP provider of your choice and use their service for X weeks using a temporary number they have supplied you with. Only put the request in to port your landline number once you are 100% satisfied with the VOIP provider. Once your number transfer is complete, your landline ceases and you are free to take your new VOIP number wherever you want.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

When you port a landline number to a VOIP provider, your landline service ceases...a bit like when porting a mobile number between networks. I suggest you do what i did: sign up to a VOIP provider of your choice and use their service for X weeks using a temporary number they have supplied you with. Only put the request in to port your landline number once you are 100% satisfied with the VOIP provider. Once your number transfer is complete, your landline ceases and you are free to take your new VOIP number wherever you want.

Problem is that in my current house I rather need my landline for broadband. In my new house I'll get FTTP of course, but I can't transfer the line there as it is on a different exchange...

Have a word with your potential VOIP provider - It *may* be possible but it's a risky process.

See this blog article from Adrian Kennard from AAISP

http://www.revk.uk/2016/04/number-porting-broadband-...

and then here (from a month or so later)

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/05/aaisp-...

and this from their Telecom prices page:

Porting a BT number on a PSTN line and renumbering to allow broadband to continue is £42.00. Do contact us for more information

If your broadband is out of contract and, depending how much longer you'll be in the house, it may be worth finding a deal on a new line and getting broadband on that to then free you to cease the line with the number you want to keep (daft I know!)

Edit - I've just seen that you're moving in January so this may not be economic, even with someone like Pulse 8. Try giving AAISP a call and see what they say

Edited by ferretuk (Mon 13-Nov-17 22:56:28)

In my case BT just appeared to think I wanted to terminate the service. They did send a letter, no offer to continue, which did surprise me a little thought I would have declined.

The line still had a dial tone, and by dialing 17070 I was able to find out the new number that had been assigned to it.