cheapest simplest voip with a phone?

I simply want to be able to make and receive calls using voip
using my current telephone handset, to and from pstn as well as
voip connections - in other words a simple replacement for my
current phone service. Other features are a bonus but not
essential. What is the cheapest and simplest hardware adaptor
that I should get?

I plan to have an account with a SIP-based provider that offers a
UK phone number. Any recommendations very welcome.

Syd
Norwich

Syd Hancock

Syd Hancock wrote:

> I simply want to be able to make and receive calls using voip
> using my current telephone handset, to and from pstn as well as
> voip connections - in other words a simple replacement for my
> current phone service. Other features are a bonus but not
> essential. What is the cheapest and simplest hardware adaptor
> that I should get?
>
> I plan to have an account with a SIP-based provider that offers
> a UK phone number. Any recommendations very welcome.


I should add that I have a router (netgear DG834) already so only
need an adaptor unless there are good reasons to change the
router as well.

Syd

"Syd Hancock" <> wrote in message
news:d6b0go$5ir$...
> Syd Hancock wrote:
>
>> I simply want to be able to make and receive calls using voip
>> using my current telephone handset, to and from pstn as well as
>> voip connections - in other words a simple replacement for my
>> current phone service. Other features are a bonus but not
>> essential. What is the cheapest and simplest hardware adaptor
>> that I should get?
>>
>> I plan to have an account with a SIP-based provider that offers
>> a UK phone number. Any recommendations very welcome.
>
>
> I should add that I have a router (netgear DG834) already so only
> need an adaptor unless there are good reasons to change the
> router as well.
>
> Syd

Sipgate (www.sipgate.co.uk) offer free geographic phone numbers, all calls
to other SIP users on several networks are free also, you only pay for
calls to the PSTN.

The system has had more than its fair share of problems recently, so you
may well find others warning you off them, but IMHO for a totally free
service it's very good and the call quality is excellent. There is a free
voicemail service also, this however is having the irritating problem of
lapsing into German every so often, but on the plus side I'm learning a
new language (well at least as far as knowing if I have a new message or
not <g>)

The adaptor I use is the Sipura SPA-2000 (www.sipura.com) but there are
others from the same and different manufacturers that all have their plus
and minus points. I'm very happy with my Sipura and would recommend it to
anyone, I wouldn't recommend the Grandstream products though.

If you need any more info, ask.

Ivor

On Mon, 16 May 2005 22:10:33 +0100, "Ivor Jones"
<> wrote:

> I'm very happy with my Sipura and would recommend it to
>anyone, I wouldn't recommend the Grandstream products though.
>
>If you need any more info, ask.

can you expand on the Grandstream non-recommendation ?

Phil

"Phil Thompson" <> wrote in message
news:...
> On Mon, 16 May 2005 22:10:33 +0100, "Ivor Jones"
> <> wrote:
>
>> I'm very happy with my Sipura and would recommend it to
>>anyone, I wouldn't recommend the Grandstream products though.
>>
>>If you need any more info, ask.
>
> can you expand on the Grandstream non-recommendation ?
>
> Phil

Firmware can be somewhat flaky and build quality isn't the best. The
Sipura range excels on build and the latest firmware on my SPA-2000 hasn't
got any bugs that I've found so far, and I'm the world expert at finding
things wrong with systems <g>

Ivor

On Mon, 16 May 2005 22:20:11 +0100, "Ivor Jones"
<> wrote:


> The
>Sipura range excels on build and the latest firmware on my SPA-2000 hasn't
>got any bugs that I've found so far, and I'm the world expert at finding
>things wrong with systems <g>
Couldn't agree more with what you are saying here Ivor I haven't
upgraded the firmware in my two and both are working perfectly it is
only Sipgate that hasn't been working ) regarding the firmware I am
a great believer in the old saying " If it ain't broken don't fix it"

Phil Thompson <> wrote:

> can you expand on the Grandstream non-recommendation ?

I started off with the Grandstream ATA-486. I used it in router
configuration and it worked "OK". I didn't have the lock-up/crash
problems that some people have reported, but the browser interface would
go to sleep after a day or so and could only be restarted by rebooting
the ATA (didn't seem to affect calls though...).

I now use a Sipura 1001 (perfect for what I need but YMMV) running in
client config (it can't be used as a router) and once I got over the
shock of how many pages of options there were I'm more than happy with
it. And it doesn't need a regular reboot to keep it going.

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You ask for the cheapest, that, AFAIK Linksys PAP2 ATA.
Anyone has tried it ?
Zyxel has some too, haven't found a vendor yet.
Regards,
Martin

Many thanks for the replies. Looks like Sipura is the way to go -
can't stand flaky hardware. life's too short.

Am I right in thinking that the only differenee between the 1001
and the 2000 is that the latter has two phone sockets?

Anyone any experience of using Gradwell? Any other
recommendations?

Thanks
Syd

Syd Hancock <> wrote:

> Am I right in thinking that the only differenee between the 1001
> and the 2000 is that the latter has two phone sockets?

Sort of. The 1001 copes with two incoming lines, but both use the same
phone. The 2000 copes with two incoming lines, but each line has its
own phone socket - it isn't able to route both lines to one socket.

> Anyone any experience of using Gradwell? Any other
> recommendations?

Gradwell's set-up is aimed primarily at business users, with lots of
features for extentions etc, but it is reliable. For an individual user
it costs £4/month +VAT (after the 3 month free trial), with no inclusive
minutes, which is a bit pricy compared to some of the others (Sipgate =
free, JustDialVoip = £1.99). On the plus side, it works and, unlike
some of the other VoIP providers around at the moment, I expect them to
stick around for a while...


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