VOIP Hardware

[#1]

Plusnet are switching my connection to FFTP tomorrow, and, like many others on this forum, I will be getting an A&A VOIP service to replace the analogue landline we had with plusnet, while keeping the same phone number.

Could other users who have gone through this process advise what hardware I should get?

We have two phones at the moment (one upstairs and one downstairs) and these are both wired. The A&A website shows a Yealink model phone which seems to be priced at £120, which they say will be provided "pre-configured". They also offer additional handsets, which are presumably cordless. Is this the option to go for or are there cheaper models available which will work just as well? Is it difficult to configure the phone?

I'm also not clear exactly how the A&A service connects to the plusnet broadband. The new plusnet Hub Two router, just received, has a green socket on the back labelled Phone. Does the A&A device plug into this socket or does it use an RJ45 ethernet cable? Or does it have to connect by Wifi?

Grateful for advice.

[#2]

This has been covered in detail in many threads on this board.  Take a look or do a search to see all of the options shared by many contributors.

[#3]

@simonc2 

I would suggest you go for the simple option and buy the Yealink hardware they suggest.

It will plug into the Plusnet Hub 2 via an Ethernet cable. You don't use the "phone socket" (for reasons too complex to go into).

I think this is the product A&A offer.

https://support.yealink.com/en/portal/docDetail?documentCode=bdbf10bba31cce88

It's a DECT base station and phone.

To have a second phone buy another handset from A & A.

Get A & A to start the number port on the day the Plusnet fibre is installed.

Frankly the whole landline phone situation is a dreadful mess. I blame Ofcom.... 

[#4]

@markhawkin 

Many thanks for that fantastically helpful reply which answers all my questions. i think I'll do as you suggest and go the easy route and get the phone from A&A.

@Townman 

I did do a search of the forum - searching for voip phone hardware brought up loads of threads on the process of migrating to A&A but nothing useful on the actual phones people had used. I tried again today and put DECT into the search, which had better results but the relevant threads were more than a year old.

[#5]

@simonc2 

Almost any phone can be used with the purchase of an Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA), Some routers have built in one's (eg FritzBox 7530) which can be used on PN.

A home's internal phone extensions can also be used with a bit of work.

Brian

[#6]

@simonc2  Could other users who have gone through this process advise what hardware I should get?

For what it’s worth I use a Fritzbox 7530 router which does it all. It’s a much better router that the Hub2, although I do have one of those all neatly put away in its box just to humour Plusnet in case of a line fault.

The Fritzbox has a built in ATA so more or less any telephone can be used. It also has a built in DECT base for up to 6 handsets and it just works. You can pick them up for £30 -£40 from eBay, CEX etc.

As for VOIP it’s true that A&A are excellent but in my view a little expensive and they don’t have an inclusive calls package. I use Virtual Landline, using their unlimited and inclusive calls package for £8.75 pcm for UK landline and mobiles on a rolling monthly basis is great. Porting was free when I ported from Plusnet a couple of years ago, I think it still is for domestic 01,02 numbers as long as you stay for a minimum of 6 months, you’d need to check.

[#7]

@Batfrog 

That's a really interesting option. The possibility of being able to plug in an old analogue phone is very tempting, as is the option of buying cheap DECT handsets without needing the Yealink base station.

[#8]

@simonc2 

I bought a FritzBox 7530 for £35 on CEX. The AX version has WiFi 6 but costs more. Just make sure you get a UK version.

The router works fine on PN and, as it is currently the router of choice for Zen Internet, there are Help pages on their site.

Brian

[#9]

@bmc Just make sure you get a UK version.

All the ones I’ve seen on CEX, eBay etc are ex ZEN. There is a fairly simple procedure to restore them to the original firmware removing the ZEN customising TR069 and VOIP ? I’m not sure if ZEN customise the VOIP section?

CEX offer a 5 year warranty ( well, sort of), in any event buying from CEX you can return to any CEX shop for a refund.

[#10]

@simonc2 

For connecting existing analogue phones for VoIP, have a look at ATA adaptors such as this - Grandstream HT802 v2 

To get an idea of what is involved with configuring that for A&A VoIP, here are A&A's instructions for that series.

For a wider view of what devices have A&A help instructions, start here.

Personally, I've been using a Gigaset N300 for VoIP since 2013, and it is still working fine.

I buy replacement Gigaset DECT handsets (used but like new on eBay) for about £25 every so often,

and have a handset in every room.

If you do buy Gigaset handsets on eBay, try to choose handsets that use AA rechargeable batteries, as those with AAA batteries seem to wear out the charging cycles quickly and you end up replacing batteries more often than you'd expect.

To check whether a particular Gigaset handset will match with a specific Gigaset wireless base, use this checker.

As my Gigaset N300 is now end of life but still available, consider newer N510IP or N530IP .

.

[#11]

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@simonc2 wrote:

@markhawkin 

Many thanks for that fantastically helpful reply which answers all my questions. i think I'll do as you suggest and go the easy route and get the phone from A&A.

@Townman 

I did do a search of the forum - searching for voip phone hardware brought up loads of threads on the process of migrating to A&A but nothing useful on the actual phones people had used. I tried again today and put DECT into the search, which had better results but the relevant threads were more than a year old.

---

A lot of the comments come late on in a random 'how do I keep my phone' type thread.

I have done exactly as you want - A&A VOIP, but stayed wired not DECT.

I bought a couple of Yealink T41S ('office' wired desk phones) from eBay for around £30.  This is a model A&A support so I could just copy their setup process.

All fairly painless, one is on FTTP and one on ADSL.

Useful for me as I can allocate my second number to it in the future (ex the ADSL line), has a useful display and call logging.

I also tried a Grandstream 802 ATA, that was hard work configuring from scratch even with the A&A instructions and I would not recommend doing that to anyone except as a 'learning exercise'.  It may well be worth getting the A&A preset one if going that route.