Harley Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I wanted to bounce something off the experts today in the hope of getting some guidance Full fiber internet is available in my little town for the first time. The problem is that it brings a problem to the front that will hit all of the UK in the next four years ~ BT are switching off traditional landline phone exchanges. The problem is that my ISP provide a VOIP service that only works with their router. Can anyone suggest a cheap UK voip provider or some way of getting round this problem? I really don't want to have to stop using my Netgear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfie Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Good old BT. if you are not looking for a paid voip service then the simple Amazon echos would work. I’ve use them but it’s just for basic use so no message system and so on. like you we have just had the old cables installed so it’s something I need to look into as well when I move over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 I don't mind a paid service but one that is pretty cheap. I mean it is typical of BT really to just stop a service and provide absolutely no replacement. OR perhaps there are other ISP's that allow me to use the Netgear and an ATA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Depending on what setup they run you might be able to use a separate Voip hub. Usually the way it is set up if that your VOIP and internet come in over different VLAN's. You would need a managed switch between your router and ONT. Then send the internet VLAN to your router and the VOIP VLAN to your VOIP hub. But you need credentials etc to set it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 That sort of went woosh over my head. I think the only solution is to find another company for the voip, but I have no idea where to start. The problem is that voip seems to be largely a business thing in the UK and no one really seems geared up for what is about to happen with BT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I am supposed to have a VOIP service from my provider as well but it's not even connected. I just use mobile and the only people that called me on that VOIP phone were telemarketeers LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 Incidentally, Netduma, you should be listening to this. There could well be a lot of potential customers lost because people can only use their ISP routers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netduma Liam Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 1 hour ago, Harley said: Incidentally, Netduma, you should be listening to this. There could well be a lot of potential customers lost because people can only use their ISP routers. Who's offering the service? It'd be interesting to look into it a little further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 10 hours ago, Netduma Liam said: Who's offering the service? It'd be interesting to look into it a little further. It is Zen Internets Digital Voice. I spoke to them at length and much as though they would like it to work on something other than Fritzbox, it doesn't. Also I very much suspect that this may be based on BT's Digital Voice since BT seem to indicate ( but won't exactly admit that ) they have the same issue with their service. What I have had to do is order the fiber from Zen and the voice from a completely different company that works with a Cisco ATA, so that I can continue using the Netgear. Thing is I can imagine a lot of folks won't do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorny Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Same thing happened here in Australia years ago. All i ended up doing was plugging the ISP's router into one of the Netdumas Lan ports , turned the WIFI off on the ISP's router and the phone worked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 3 hours ago, Thorny said: Same thing happened here in Australia years ago. All i ended up doing was plugging the ISP's router into one of the Netdumas Lan ports , turned the WIFI off on the ISP's router and the phone worked fine. That's fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netduma Liam Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 18 hours ago, Harley said: It is Zen Internets Digital Voice. I spoke to them at length and much as though they would like it to work on something other than Fritzbox, it doesn't. Also I very much suspect that this may be based on BT's Digital Voice since BT seem to indicate ( but won't exactly admit that ) they have the same issue with their service. What I have had to do is order the fiber from Zen and the voice from a completely different company that works with a Cisco ATA, so that I can continue using the Netgear. Thing is I can imagine a lot of folks won't do that. Sure, but presumably you can just leave the phone connected to the router they provide you, then have all other devices on the network connected to the DumaOS router? Or am I misunderstanding something here? 13 hours ago, Thorny said: Same thing happened here in Australia years ago. All i ended up doing was plugging the ISP's router into one of the Netdumas Lan ports , turned the WIFI off on the ISP's router and the phone worked fine. Presumably you had a modem connected above the R1/R2 right? I guess it depends on whether Zen provide a router/modem combo or two separate devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 2 hours ago, Netduma Liam said: Sure, but presumably you can just leave the phone connected to the router they provide you, then have all other devices on the network connected to the DumaOS router? Or am I misunderstanding something here? Presumably you had a modem connected above the R1/R2 right? I guess it depends on whether Zen provide a router/modem combo or two separate devices. How is that configured? I mean you have two routers on one internet connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netduma Liam Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 10 minutes ago, Harley said: How is that configured? I mean you have two routers on one internet connection. Like this: Modem -> Zen Router -> VOIP phone system -> XR1000 -> Connected Devices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Netduma Liam said: Like this: Modem -> Zen Router -> VOIP phone system -> XR1000 -> Connected Devices I didn't know it was possible to do that. Too late now though, I have already bought an ATA and will arrange to use a different VOIP service. It's always a future option though. I guess the advantage is that the XR1000 gets to be first now! Netduma Fraser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netduma Liam Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 6 minutes ago, Harley said: I didn't know it was possible to do that. Too late now though, I have already bought an ATA and will arrange to use a different VOIP service. It's always a future option though. I guess the advantage is that the XR1000 gets to be first now! No worries, always best to have the XR at the top anyways. Newfie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 47 minutes ago, Netduma Liam said: No worries, always best to have the XR at the top anyways. I prefer that too. No point in making things too complicated! Netduma Fraser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 One thing I would worry about though is that I spent all day talking to Zen support ( and as far as support is concerned they are good ) and to other forums, and not once did anyone suggest using both routers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netduma Liam Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 6 hours ago, Harley said: One thing I would worry about though is that I spent all day talking to Zen support ( and as far as support is concerned they are good ) and to other forums, and not once did anyone suggest using both routers. That is bizarre, I suppose it's not in their best interest to suggest you use something other than their router and their service. In the same way, it's in my best interest to suggest that we find a way to involve the XR1000 in your setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Netduma Liam said: That is bizarre, I suppose it's not in their best interest to suggest you use something other than their router and their service. In the same way, it's in my best interest to suggest that we find a way to involve the XR1000 in your setup. Well no because the support staff were really unhappy that people could not use their own routers. They indicated to me that they get a lot of complaints about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfie Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 1 minute ago, Harley said: Well no because the support staff were really unhappy that people could not use their own routers. They indicated to me that they get a lot of complaints about it. Some router companies offer Voip, do you think we could talk Netduma into it 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 Apparently no other router works with Zen "Digital Voice" so it would be a real boost if Netduma did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netduma Liam Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 35 minutes ago, Harley said: Apparently no other router works with Zen "Digital Voice" so it would be a real boost if Netduma did! It'd require an additional port on the back of the router I'd assume, but other than that OpenWRT probably accommodates for it so I'll discuss the idea with the team. Newfie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfie Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 34 minutes ago, Harley said: Apparently no other router works with Zen "Digital Voice" so it would be a real boost if Netduma did! I’ve no idea how they all tend to work. Unifi have a service but it’s not available over here. I’m thinking I may just end up using a mobile rather than worrying about voip. I can use my echo devices to call most people Netduma Liam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted February 2, 2022 Author Share Posted February 2, 2022 16 minutes ago, Netduma Liam said: It'd require an additional port on the back of the router I'd assume, but other than that OpenWRT probably accommodates for it so I'll discuss the idea with the team. Mind you, with BT shutting down all the exchanges in the very near future, there is bound to be larger demand for voip. Not just with Zen, but all of them. Netduma Liam and Newfie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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