VOIP/ADSL to replace ISDN - possibilities?

[use...@isbd.co.uk]

We currently have two lines into our house, a BT POTS line and a C&W
ISDN line. We used to use the ISDN for Internet access but ADSL came
to our little village in May this year so we now no longer need the
ISDN for that.

I did keep the ISDN going as backup for the ADSL but the ADSL is so
reliable we haven't needed it at all. Thus I'm thinking of getting
rid of the ISDN line and changing it back to a POTS line.

Although the ISDN line is a C&W one it's actually physically provided
by BT. What we'd *like* to do when we discontinue the ISDN is to keep
one of the MSN numbers which we advertise as the business line for our
small Ltd. company, I suspect that this may be well nigh imppossible
but still we can try I suppose.

More to the point as a question to this group, can one get anything
like MSN by using VOIP? It could well make sense to get a second
(cheap) ADSL account on the second line for backup anyway and we could
use it for VOIP. How expensive is it to get a number routed over VOIP
to a FAX machine for example?

--
Chris Green

[Phil Thompson]

On 30 Nov 2005 12:01:20 GMT, use...@isbd.co.uk wrote:

>More to the point as a question to this group, can one get anything
>like MSN by using VOIP? It could well make sense to get a second
>(cheap) ADSL account on the second line for backup anyway and we could
>use it for VOIP. How expensive is it to get a number routed over VOIP
>to a FAX machine for example?

uk.telecom.voip may be helpful.

You can run a number of VoIP calls at the same time over an ADSL
connection, at least two calls at once. You can have several accounts
(= numbers) active at the same time depending on the VoIP kit you hang
on the end. I have 3 numbers running here right now.

Fax to email is a better bet for receiving. VoIP isn't bombproof for
fax but I have used my fax machine over VoIP with both successes and
failures (depending on what / where I was sending or receiving
to/from).

You can get a free VoIP incoming geographic number from Sipgate.co.uk
or if you pay there are many options.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

[Martin²]

Ditch the ISDN line, you can have at least two VoIP 'lines' on your existing
ADSL connection.
The limiting factor to simultaneous VoIP connections is your uplink speed,
almost certainly 256kB/s.
For that reason you should have QoS (quality of service - gives priority to
VoIP traffic)
which you can get on VoIP equipped routers.
Draytek Vigor range is acknowledged as the best, reliable, but not cheap.
See models 2500 (1x VoIP), or 2600V (2x VoIP).
Alternatively there is Zyxel 2602 HW or HWL (2 VoIP, includes WiFi, very
good).
Or Fritz! Box (2 VoIP, from sipgate.co.uk)
Regards,
Martin