In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Think about this for moment, you can buy a router with a built in ATA for a few pounds more ....

And then you end up with a consumer grade router with an ATA, when you could have a professional router and a separate ATA

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

.... or simply use a dedicated VoIP desktop phone.

And then you end up with a phone, rather than a line.

As long as you know what you are getting and are happy with it, then no problem.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Think about this for moment, you can buy a router with a built in ATA for a few pounds more ....

And then you end up with a consumer grade router with an ATA, when you could have a professional router and a separate ATA

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

.... or simply use a dedicated VoIP desktop phone.

And then you end up with a phone, rather than a line.

As long as you know what you are getting and are happy with it, then no problem.

The OP was going to buy the ATA - For the same outlay you could have a reasonable router (with ongoing firmware upgrades) and a built-in ATA.

With respect, buying a VoIP desktop phone (for the same price of the ATA) would obviously require having an account with a hosting provider like Voipfone where the option of porting in a number or obtaining a new number for that source is available.

The combination of a professional grade router and a separate ATA doesn't come cheap and in my book is not a good technical mix in any case.

It is true that a router supplied by an ISP may be locked to their DV offering but that is not always the case. If you purchase a router, then what it says on the tin of advertised features is what you have to play with.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

The OP was going to buy the ATA - For the same outlay you could have a reasonable router (with ongoing firmware upgrades) and a built-in ATA.

With respect, buying a VoIP desktop phone (for the same price of the ATA) would obviously require having an account with a hosting provider like Voipfone where the option of porting in a number or obtaining a new number for that source is available.

The combination of a professional grade router and a separate ATA doesn't come cheap and in my book is not a good technical mix in any case.

It is true that a router supplied by an ISP may be locked to their DV offering but that is not always the case. If you purchase a router, then what it says on the tin of advertised features is what you have to play with.

Well, if you really want a consumer grade router, go for it. Or if you want a phone rather than a line, go for a VoIP phone. Or if you want a professional grade router which is not trading off routing vs wireless vs phone,get a professional router and separate wireless adapter and ATA as required.

I am on my 10th router since about 1996, dictated by equipment failure 2x, support for other premises 2x change of technology 5x. If I had used VoIP for all that time, I could probably have managed with 2 ATAs. So I would be better off by not setting up voice on a router 8x simply by not committing to using a VoIP adapter on the router

Edited by DFScale (Sat 06-Sep-25 19:50:22)

I have spotted this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146745640790?_skw=grandst...

Don't need the extra port but for the price and UK plug and the firmware is the same for the 1 port or 2 port version.

In reply to a post by Banger:

Anyone setup VOIP using the Linksys adaptor like this one, https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQN4V6B1/?coliid=I19B9...

Do they work well are they easy to setup? Any advice appreciated.

Avoid those Linksys ATA’s at all costs! They are not made by Linksys, they are cheap Chinese clones with iffy firmware installed.

Yes I sort of gathered they are not favoured. Am looking at some kind of Grandstream.

These days I would avoid Linksys/Cisco VoIP devices as all SPAxxx series ATAs and phones no longer receive firmware updates and have a number of known vulnerabilities. The only Cisco ATAs currently supported are the ATA191 and ATA192, even with these you can only obtain firmware updates from Cisco if you have a valid support contract, so a Grandstream device is a better option.

In reply to a post by tdw42:

The only Cisco ATAs currently supported are the ATA191 and ATA192, even with these you can only obtain firmware updates from Cisco if you have a valid support contract, so a Grandstream device is a better option.

They require a login, not a contract. Anybody can make a Cisco account.

Interesting discussion. I have had an SPA112 for a couple of years and it works but I have had difficulties with it. For whatever reason, it frequently doesn't transmit the DTMF tones when you press a button so you end up not being able to navigate the menu at the remote end that so many organisations have these days.

I raised this with VOIP provider some time ago and after some tweaks it appears to work OK for a while, but the problem has recently stated happening again. I was advised by their tech that the problem is the ATA and that VOIP handsets like the Yealink would avoid the problem altogether. Of course, these are quite expensive. To test this, I tried a soft phone application on the PC and it worked perfectly fine, so the problem does seem to be the ATA.

I am in a bit of a dilemma myself as I would like to provide a reliable solution for my elderly parent and am undecided whether to go down the "Digital Voice" route or a proper VOIP provision.

In any any case, that was my experience with the Cisco SPA112. Back when I purchased the SPA112, I had also asked about the Linksys ATA boxes and the advice at the time was to avoid. From the previous comments on here I see that advice has not changed.....