Phasing out home phones

[#1]

@HPsauce  -  Wishing you good luck with whatever route you choose to do 👍

[#2]

@HPsauce 

Don't drill any holes until you're absolutely sure OpenReach will use them!!!

Brian

[#3]

@bmc I'm used to drilling holes in my walls to feed outside lighting, aerial cables etc. so not a problem. There are also heating pipes and mains cables in that area so I'd rather do it myself to be sure I miss them.

Hopefully I can persuade the engineer to run a new 4-core cable from the "torpedo" connector below my roof to service both existing and new master sockets. The current ancient cable looks more like thin twin speaker flex than anything!

I'm still not 100% certain which way I'm going to go, but an extra FTTC line, broadband-only, is likely. From PlusNet if they can do it at a competitive price; otherwise they'll eventually lose my business after more than 16 years (with a short dalliance elsewhere a few years back). The current BT phone line will in fact probably stay for some time for reasons that aren't relevant to explain here.

Out of interest, will my existing Hub One router work with FTTC or do I need the Hub Two? I prefer the Hub One as I can split the 2.4 and 5Ghz bands by name. From what I've read it should work.

[#4]

@HPsauce Yep, it will work.

[#5]

I noticed @IMM mentioned a VOIP App on a smartphone for use with A&A, I think others have since.

Are there any (ideally free) that people recommend for an iPhone; the A&A support site mentions at least ten software phones.

[#6]

https://www.zoiper.com/ it's free for non-commercial use. Not used the iPhone version but have used the Android version for a while now.

Will work with A & A , in fact any SIP provider

[#7]

Thanks @MisterW I just tried it. Works fine on 4G but not when the phone is on WiFi, no audio!

The App then produces a pop-up suggesting enabling Push notifications, a chargeable feature.

Is this an issue than can be overcome with router settings - I have a Hub One?

I'm not too fussed really as I would only expect to use the App as backup or when "out and about".

Edit: Now working fine, audio good on WiFi, without changing anything!

[#8]

@HPsauce  did you setup port forwarding in your router's firewall, to point your A&A VoIP at your N300IP's LAN address ?

[#9]

Hi @Anonymous no I did nothing in the router and the N300IP worked fine.

Oddly the App is now working, I've got sound both ways (on a WiFi connection calling from my BT landline) and no warning messages. But I changed nothing! 🤔

Then I did another test and it was silent again!

[#10]

@HPsauce  perhaps you need to use a different SIP port number for each VoIP device on your LAN ?

otherwise you will have two VoIP devices (N300 and your mobile) behind your router's IPv4 NAT listening for an incoming connection from the same source

[#11]

@HPsauce  from here - https://support.aa.net.uk/VoIP_NAT 

"If you have two similar VoIP phones behind a router using NAT, you may have to change the port settings on one phone. The local SIP port (often 5060) and the local RTP port(s) can't be the same on the 2 phones - if they are the same, you'll get weirdness on incoming calls."

[#12]

@HPsauce  from here - https://support.aa.net.uk/VoIP_Phones_-_zoiper 

there is a link for Zoiper  Configuration instructions for Android and iOS

I don't know whether that is of any help ?

[#13]

Thanks @Anonymous I found those before installing/testing. 

I think I'll just accept the way it is as I don't need it working on WiFi.

[#14]

@HPsauce

Thanks @MisterW I just tried it. Works fine on 4G but not when the phone is on WiFi, no audio!

The App then produces a pop-up suggesting enabling Push notifications, a chargeable feature.

Is this an issue than can be overcome with router settings - I have a Hub One?

I'm not too fussed really as I would only expect to use the App as backup or when "out and about".

If you have both Zoiper & the N300 connected on the same A & A account from the same IP ( as it effectively will be on wifi ) then I suspect that is the problem. On a call , the A &  A servers will attept to negotiate an RTP path with the active phone and I suspect the NAT situation is causing confusion.

TBH myself and colleagues have used zoiper quite extensively but probably never in that siuation, like you say its mainly for when away from home.

[#15]

Thanks @MisterW definitely a "Doh!" moment here, brain wasn't engaged properly when testing yesterday. 😓

I just unplugged the LAN connection on my N300IP and it all worked fine.

Whatever settings I need to change to get both working together are irrelevant as I don't need that, but I now know that if my N300 or broadband are down I still have use of the VOIP number via my iPhone, either roaming or on someone else's WiFi. 😎

I have an old spare iPhone that gets used for various random tasks; I'll configure with Zoiper as a backup device.