How to get VOIP working well

Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 10:44 pm. 0 comments

Well so far I’ve worked out:

BROADBAND INTERNET
You need broadband with at least 128Kbps UPLINK speed, but to work well you really need 256.

Eg 512/128 is too SLOW.

1500/256 is OK.

1500/512 is GOOD.

YOU NEED A PHONE TO INTERNET ADAPTER, called an ATA.
Otherwise You’ll have to have your computer turned on all the time.
This plugs into your network hub, and then your normal phone, cordless phone, whatever you were using plugs into it.
You can spend lots of time looking for a good one, but the SPA3102 I use is pretty good, it plugs into the phone line as well so that if your internet is not working (eg in a blackout) you can still call out.

YOU NEED A VOIP PROVIDER
Engin is very popular, but like telstra, popular doesn’t mean best deal.
I tried 4 or 5 for a month, and now I use pennytell, 2c per minute calls, 13c per minute to mobiles.
On average my calls average out to about 4 minutes (you can download your call stats from pennytell) so this is cheaper than a 10c untimed call on average.

Out telstra bill was about $120 - $150 per month and now our pennytell is approx $35 per month.

Also you need to pick a good codec, this is a bit tricky, it’s a setting in your SPA3102. Make sure whoever you buy it from can help you set it up.

I’ve found G726-32 is good.

G711 may be better quality theoretically but breaks up too much when the line speed drops.
G723a. I think may be good too.
I read this somewhere…
“The most commonly used mode G726-32 , since this is half the rate of G.711, thus increasing the usable network capacity by 50%. It is primarily used on international trunks in the phone network. It also is the standard codec used in DECT wireless phone systems.”