A Zen VOIP Question

I'm considering moving from BT FTTC to Zen FTTP (CityFibre). I'd like to retain my landline, though mainly for incoming calls, so it would probably make more sense to use AAISP VOIP for that. Since the Fritz!Box already contains a DECT base station I'd probably opt for a Fritz!Fon C6 DECT phone.

I assume I'd then be able to use the C6 to make/receive calls via AAISP VOIP, is that correct?

If instead I were to choose Zen Digital Voice rather than AAISP VOIP, would I still be able to use other VOIP providers in addition to Zen?

Thanks

I have a Fritz Box happily talking to AAISP & SipGate VOIPs via ZEN FTTP, however the Fritz is sat behind a different router and I'm using the built in ATA not the DECT base station.

In reply to a post by Chris4c:

I'm considering moving from BT FTTC to Zen FTTP (CityFibre). I'd like to retain my landline, though mainly for incoming calls, so it would probably make more sense to use AAISP VOIP for that. Since the Fritz!Box already contains a DECT base station I'd probably opt for a Fritz!Fon C6 DECT phone.

I assume I'd then be able to use the C6 to make/receive calls via AAISP VOIP, is that correct?

If instead I were to choose Zen Digital Voice rather than AAISP VOIP, would I still be able to use other VOIP providers in addition to Zen?

Thanks

Short answer yes. I'm not using the zen service as at £6 per month, it's expensive if you only need inbound. I'm using A&A plus voipcheap for any outbound calls. Both on the supplied Fritz, behind my own router connecting to Zens service. Yearly cost around £16 for A&A telephone service and <£20 for calls ( last year was just £10)

I am a great fan of Fritz!boxes but not their phones. I use AAISP VOIP with 3 Gigaset HX phones connected to my F!B4060. No issues whatsoever.

In reply to a post by Kenneth:

I have a Fritz Box happily talking to AAISP & SipGate VOIPs via ZEN FTTP, however the Fritz is sat behind a different router and I'm using the built in ATA not the DECT base station.

In reply to a post by wiggsc00:

Short answer yes. I'm not using the zen service as at £6 per month, it's expensive if you only need inbound. I'm using A&A plus voipcheap for any outbound calls. Both on the supplied Fritz, behind my own router connecting to Zens service. Yearly cost around £16 for A&A telephone service and <£20 for calls ( last year was just £10)

Thanks for those responses, which sound encouraging.

Looking at my last few years of calls with BT I seem to have spent around £4.20pm (at A&A PAYG prices), so it may be worth spending the £6 with Zen to give me a bit more leeway.

I'm assuming that if you opt for Zen Digital Voice, then you are still free to use other VOIP providers?

In reply to a post by GoWest:

I am a great fan of Fritz!boxes but not their phones. I use AAISP VOIP with 3 Gigaset HX phones connected to my F!B4060. No issues whatsoever.

Thanks, that begs the question what don't you like about their phones?

Are your Gigaset phones connected to the DECT base station in the Fritz!box? I was hoping to do so thus avoiding an extra box.

I have looked at Gigaset and they seem to have a ridiculous number of different models, but as far as I can see I'd need an HX model. Though I'm not clear what the differences are between the different models beyond simply looking different. I'm also unclear whether a Gigaset phone would offer any less functionality than a Fritz!fon - or even if that really matters!

Plastic cases; poor charging stands and a tendency for the Li-ON battery to bulge after repeated recharging. They are also expensive compared to what Gigaset can offer - particularly, if they are sitting there just for occasional incoming calls.

I should add that setting up VOIP on a Fritz!box isn’t as simple as plugging in a DECT phone. The settings require a bit of research. It took me 3 months to work out how to enable the keys for tones.

In reply to a post by GoWest:

Plastic cases; poor charging stands and a tendency for the Li-ON battery to bulge after repeated recharging. They are also expensive compared to what Gigaset can offer - particularly, if they are sitting there just for occasional incoming calls.

Thanks, that's useful to know.

In reply to a post by GoWest:

I should add that setting up VOIP on a Fritz!box isn’t as simple as plugging in a DECT phone. The settings require a bit of research. It took me 3 months to work out how to enable the keys for tones.

Yes, I appreciate it need some setting up, but presumably it shouldn't be too difficult.

One further question. For Zen Digital Voice the pricing is shown here:

https://www.zen.co.uk/phone/digital-voice/

UK local & national calls (01, 02, 03 numbers):
- 20ppm (outside of bundle)

UK mobile:
- 20ppm (outside of bundle)

084, 087, 09 & 118 numbers:
- 11ppm charge plus service charge

Standard call setup fee:
- 20p per call


It's not entirely clear whether the 'Standard call setup fee' applies to all calls or only those outside of bundle. I imagine it's the latter, but does anybody know for sure?

Thanks

I've just switched over to Zen FTTP with DV in Jan this year. My main router is a Draytek Vigor 2865, and I currently use an old PAP2 two channel ATA, one VoIP line is my Zen DV service and the other is a Sipgate VoIP line I've had for about 20 years, both work well without issue. I have my old dual handset Doro DECT plugged in to the Zen DV port and a basic bog standard analogue phone set into the Sipgate port. A point to note is that if one has a block of IPs from Zen, incoming SIP traffic on the Zen DV is only routed to your primary router IP; it can be changed by contacting Zen apparently but I've not needed to. Another point to note if on a single IP with the Zen DV service is that the SIP signalling port (UDP 5060) and the RTP port ranges (UDP 20000-30000) should be opened to the Zen servers and forwarded to the internal IP of the ATAs. If this is not done outgoing calls can be made but there will be no incoming calls received. I've also had it working well with FreePBX.