VoIP phones vs. VoIP WiFi phones vs. 'regular' phones on VoIP router

Hi there,

(I realize this is a UK based group, and I'm a U.S. VoIP [Vonage]
customer, but I'm hoping for some general advice here.....thanks)

I'm trying to decide what to spend money one... a VoIP phone like the
VTech IP8100-2...
<http://www.vonage.com/device.php?type=IP8100>

....or a VoIP WiFi phones like the UTStarcom F1000 WiFi Phone...
<http://www.vonage.com/device.php?type=F1000>

....or just sticking with a 5.8 Ghz wireless phone on my current (or a
better?) VoIP analog conversion box, the Vonage-supplied Linksys VoIP
RT31P2 Router

<http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...ite=US&pagename=Linksys/Common/VisitorWrapper>

I'm currently a Vonage customer and have been for nearly a year. I'm
pleased with the service in general, however the voice quality has
never been as good as the old "regular" phone system was. Tech support
has always said that it should be just as good, but when I first got
Vonage and still had the regular phone, I could switch my phones back
and forth between the two systems and would always hear a low level
static on the VoIP line, but not on the regular phone. Also when I call
my home phone from my cell phone, call volume is always quite low and
hard to hear. Ultimately I stuck with Vonage and ditched the old system
anyway, primarily because of cost. But I miss the quality. (And yes the
voice quality/bandwidth is set to max).

So now I want to get a new phone; my analog wireless phones are on
their last legs anyway. But what do I buy? Will I get better quality
going to a true VoIP phone and dropping out the analog converter? If
so, then what about dropping out the box altogether and just getting a
couple of WiFi phones for the house... will I get better sound quality
going that route? Or do I really just need to accept inferior quality,
and spend a lot less money on a decent 5.8 Ghz cordless phone and stick
with my Linksys box? Or, is the Linksys box the problem, and need to be
replaced with something better?

Pretty general question here I know, but I've been looking into VoIP
phones and there aren't many. And they aren't cheap. I can get a decent
pair of 5.8 Ghz phones for about a hundred bucks; is the true VoIP
route any better?

Thanks all...
-joseph

 

I doubt it, very much.. You will also restrict your choices.

Again it's doubtful. Also, the standyby/battery time is supposedly very
short.

No you don't. I have an array of devices all connected together. VOIP calls,
because of the codec I choose to use, are better than "Ma Bell's" line
quality.

If it's locked to Vonage, a replacement could be (almost) any Sipura Unit. I
use the SPA2100 to interconnect a small PBX to my Asterisk Server, and two
SPA3000s, one to interconnect my PSTN line, the other a GSM Gateway.

 

Thanks Jono. I haven't heard of Sipura units, I'll look into that. I
wonder though if anyone else is seeing (er, hearing) the same low level
static that I do. Perhaps it's a problem with my actual box, and it
just needs to be replaced with another identical unit.

Glad to hear though that at least in your experience, sound quality is
equal or better to ma-bell. Are you UK or US based? And now I just have
to ask... what do you do with a GSM gateway? I'm assuming you're
running a business (or are just one serious geek home user... hehe)...
but now you've peaked my curiosity.

Thanks,
-Joseph

 

joseph wrote:
|| Thanks Jono. I haven't heard of Sipura units, I'll look into that. I
|| wonder though if anyone else is seeing (er, hearing) the same low level
|| static that I do. Perhaps it's a problem with my actual box, and it
|| just needs to be replaced with another identical unit.

If it's locked to your current provider, I wouldn't get an "identical unit".
Similar might be OK!

Have a look in the user forums at www.voxilla.com. There's one specifically
for Linksys/Sipura. (Sipura was recently bought by Linksys)

It would be worth having a look to see if anyone else has had a similar
problem with interference........you don't have a cellular phone anywhere
near the unit, or a TV, or a power supply unit, or......?.......well the
list could be quite long.

||
|| Glad to hear though that at least in your experience, sound quality is
|| equal or better to ma-bell. Are you UK or US based? And now I just have
|| to ask... what do you do with a GSM gateway? I'm assuming you're
|| running a business (or are just one serious geek home user... hehe)...
|| but now you've peaked my curiosity.
||

I'm in the UK and am a "serious geek home user"

The GSM gateway is actually a Dock-n-Talk http://www.phonelabs.com/prd05.asp
which in turn connects to a Sipura SPA-3000
http://www.sipura.com/products/spa3000.htm which in turn connect to an
Asterisk@Home server http://asteriskathome.sourceforge.net/

Any calls made from home to mobiles are routed automatically over the GSM
network. Bear in mind that in the UK, we are charged a premium to ring
mobile numbers - it's free for us to receive calls on our mobile, though.

|| Thanks,
|| -Joseph