Which VOIP provider would you recommend with Plusnet full fibre.

[#1]

Although I left Plusnet some time ago, I'm thinking of returning to get full fibre. Currently with YouFibre but their internet based phone service has been unreliable. Which VOIP service do people use, what sort of costs are involved for fully inclusive calls, and what equipment would I need?

[#2]

@maranello 

First thing to consider is what your phone usage is like. Do you make a lot of outgoing calls? Is your mobile signal good or bad?

Equipment required all depends on who you go with. Any PN user would probably require an Anaolgue Telephone Adapter (ATA) unless they buy their own router with a built in phone port. For example FritzBox have routers that not only have a built in phone port but also have a DECT base station.

If phone usage isn't great have a look at A&A. They have a good FAQ pages on VOIP.

https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

Brian

[#3]

@maranello For the past 18 months I have been using 'Virtual Landline,' along with a Fritzbox 7530 router with no complaints at all.

‘Virtual Landline’s ‘unlimited’ all calls package currently costs £8.75pcm on a monthly rolling contract for national calls including mobile. You can also buy from them a pre-configured ATA for your chosen number. I’m not sure currently but 18 months ago when I ported my number porting was free! Worth checking out anyway.

My Fritzbox came from CEX so not brand new but in great condition. They’re currently selling them for £32. The CEX ones seem to be ex ZEN units but they can fairly simply be set back to the original firmware – i.e. removing the TR-069 firmware, however, they will work as supplied.

Incidentally if you use a Fritzbox router, or any router other Plusnet’s Hub2, for the cost of the postage Plusnet’s router is useful as a spare or for eliminating faults should you get any.

[#4]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Home Phone to Tech Help

[#5]

We’ve been using Voipfone for years. Reliable, cheap and were very helpful when we were setting up https://www.voipfone.co.uk/

[#6]

@maranello 

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@maranello wrote:

I'm thinking of returning to get full fibre. Currently with YouFibre but their internet based phone service has been unreliable. 

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I'd be interested to hear about your experience with YouFibre - It is the Altnet in my area.

Would it not be less expensive to stay with YouFibre for the internet connection, whilst moving the phone to another VOIP provider?

[#7]

@IMM 

YouFibre have been excellent for fibre internet, it is only the YouPhone service that has been troublesome. Their customer service has been good on the whole, although recently there have been longer waits on the phone line support. Their chat service is responsive. 

I have cosidered going to an alternate VOIP provider, just looking at options since the price increase on renewal will be quite steep.

[#8]

@maranello 

There are a few things to consider.

1) Porting the number - If it was YouFibre's number you might find it difficult to move although if it was originally a BT number it should be OK.

2) VoIP suppliers with decent support tend not to be huge companies. A UK based supplier is likely to do better on number porting.

3) If you split the phone service from the broadband supply, if it doesn't work it's more tricky to find where the issue is.

What's the problem with the YouFibre phone service?

If I were looking for a home VoIP supplier I would probably look at Voipfone. 

https://www.voipfone.co.uk/plans/residential

[#9]

I recently moved to A&A, had no issues: take a look at https://community.plus.net/t5/Home-Phone/Move-to-SOGEA-phone-to-A-amp-A-let-s-see-how-it-all-goes/td... for the story....

[#10]

@markhawkin 

Thanks, useful points.

1. number was ported to YouFibre from BT, so hopefully won't be a problem.

3 Very good point, hadnt considered this.

Youfibre phone service was problematic from the start. Engineer who came to set it up had a few problems with getting incoming calls working. Eventually it worked after changing the router, but periodically incomi calls stopped working again and the only indication was when someone who knew our mobile numbers told us they got 'number not in service' recorded message. Youfibre made some router setting changes, but problem still recurred. Then tried adding a Grandstream ATA box but this caused problems with our answerphone. .Recently changed both the ONT and router, fingers crossed this will cure the problem.

I had a look at the VOIPfone link, but couldn't find if I would need to get any kit to use my landline handset

[#11]

@maranello 

It's very likely that you would need to get equipment to use Voipfone (or any other supplier such as A&A). I think YouFibre's phone adaptor is part of their router and it's quite unlikely you would be able to reconfigure that to use a different phone service.

When I moved to VoIP I decided replacement landline phones were needed (the Panasonic DECT phones were so old that the numbers had rubbed off) and so I bought Gigaset DECT phones and a base station which avoids an extra ATA box.

It sounds like YouFibre's solution is good, the question is why it is unreliable and that's a matter their support should be answering.