HELLO & WELCOME

[parthiban]

Hi,

I'm a residential user and currently have a VoIP line from Vonage as a second phone line in addition to my normal landline. At the moment this set up means I have 2 sets of cordless phones dotted around the house.

To potentially tidy this up and simplify things, I am looking at purchasing an IP Dect system (most likely the Gigaset N300IP with appropriate handsets) but I've learned that I cannot use this with Vonage as with them I have to stick to using their adapter and they will not provide the relevant settings.

Can anyone recommend a suitable provider I can switch my service to who can provide a similar unlimited calls package at a reasonable price? Ideally I would like calls to be included within the UK as well as Canada and the USA. I'd also like to port over my existing Vonage number if possible.

So far the only one I've come across that might be able to do all of the above is VoipTalk - is this company recommended?

Additionally I have cable broadband from Virgin Media, will this cause any issues? I read a reference to it somewhere online referring to fixed IPs - I currently have had no issues with the Vonage adapter but I don't know whether that works differently to having an IP phone plugged directly into my router.

Any help would be much appreciated!

[WelshPaul]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

Can anyone recommend a suitable provider I can switch my service to who can provide a similar unlimited calls package at a reasonable price? Ideally I would like calls to be included within the UK as well as Canada and the USA. I'd also like to port over my existing Vonage number if possible.

So far the only one I've come across that might be able to do all of the above is VoipTalk - is this company recommended?

I was going to recommend you try VoipTalk, I have used them several times in the past when I needed some cheap bundled minutes. I had no issues with them at all and will use them again when the need arises.

Remember there is no minimum term contract with VoipTalk either so if you encounter any issues or they are simply "not for you" then your free to leave at any time. (Unlike Vonage)

Additionally I have cable broadband from Virgin Media, will this cause any issues?

No issues at all. I have Virgin Media Cable BB also. ;)

I read a reference to it somewhere online referring to fixed IPs - I currently have had no issues with the Vonage adapter but I don't know whether that works differently to having an IP phone plugged directly into my router.

You do not need a fixed IP address at all, most domestic ISP's don't even offer fixed "static" IP's.

As for porting your number well VoipTalk are a member of "ITSPA" so you can be rest assured your number has a level of protection once with them. One thing I will mention is Vonage servers are all US based, not good... If you can, choose a VoIP provider as near to you as possible. (This will give you a much better service)

I suspect Vonage will make things difficult for you when trying to leave, from previous reviews they usually hit you with charges and make porting your number away difficult. :?

[parthiban]

Many thanks for your reply, that sounds like it'll be a good solution then. I spoke to Vonage earlier about potentially leaving if I can't bypass the adapter so they've scheduled a level 3 technician (whatever that is!) to call me this evening to discuss further.

I can't imagine the situation will change though, so fingers crossed they won't cause any issues regarding porting the number. Isn't Vonage also a member of ITSPA? Or does being on US servers make that membership essentially useless as they aren't bound by it?

[WelshPaul]

Vonage are a member of ITSPA so they will allow you to port your number. I have never used Vonage myself as they don't allow people to use their own equipment, their servers are based in the US and going by reviews on the net they are as hard to drop as 3 mobile!

Apparently (again from what I have read on the net) Vonage will try and convince you to stay and when that fails they add additional disconnection charges to your account. I think you also have to send back any hardware they supplied you with too. As for having servers over in the US, this usually gives higher ping times, poorer trace routes etc...

Let us know how your port goes if you decide to leave Vonage.

EDIT: Oh, one more post and your account will have full member privileges.

[parthiban]

And here's my third post!

Vonage didn't call me last night, probably because they realised it was going to be a waste of time! VoipTalk have said they might be able to port it but aren't sure, and have asked me to provide the number so they can check. I've told them it's a Vonage number, will there be differences between numbers that they can port some and not others?

To be fair I've not had any issues with Vonage otherwise, and if they'd just provide the SIP details I'd probably stick with them! Fingers crossed they won't cause too much trouble, they've already confirmed to me over the phone that I'm not in any kind of contract and can cancel at any time - whether that actually happens in reality is obviously a completely different story!

[GoofyCyborg]

You got no chance of Vonage providing you any SIP details!

As for porting your number they are probably just playing it safe, they are both ITSPA members and no doubt get their phone numbers from the same back end provider.

[parthiban]

You got no chance of Vonage providing you any SIP details!

Yep they've confirmed there is absolutely no way of doing it so that won't work.

VOIPTalk have confirmed that they can port the number, and there will be a charge of £19.99+VAT to do so. I'm not bothered about this, however what I am not happy about is that there will be an ongoing charge of £2.99+VAT per month to keep this ported number.

Is that what all the providers do?

[GoofyCyborg]

As far as I know all voip providers charge an admin fee when porting a number in, some charge a small fee to port out. Only sipgate offer a free geographical number all others charge a monthly fee.

However if you take a monthly package/bundle like Vonage offer they usually include a free geographical number with your tariff. If you take up one of Voiptalk's monthly tariffs such as their unlimited calls plan then you should not get charged a seperate monthly fee for the geographical number itself. However should you choose to go with their basic pay as you go plan then they will hit you with a monthly fee as you indicate above for the geographical number.

[parthiban]

So the £2.99 is basically for any number and has no specific relevance to the fact I've ported my number? Yes I'm planning to go with the unlimited package so it won't apply in that case, thanks I wish they'd clarified that!

[GoofyCyborg]

I'm not 100% sure on this but I think you setup a pay go account and then transfer your number over and once complete change the tariff to whichever one you want.

When you port over you will probably find they add the £2.99 charge for the number as well as the porting fee as the tariff at the time does not include a geographical number. Once you change tariffs the monthly fee for the number ends and you pay a monthly fee based on what tariff you subscribe too.

If you sign up to a tariff lets say the unlimited calls tariff prior to porting in they will assign you a free geographical number from the start and then when you port your existing number over you will have two geographical numbers assigned to your account so again you will get charged £2.99 for one of those as the other will be included in the cost of your tariff. If this happens you will have to contact support and request they remove the unwanted number and you should no longer get charged an additional £2.99 for the remaining ported in geographical number.