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Getting Started with VoIP Devices

Posted by timothy on from the call-a-lot-emptor dept.

Kerbo writes "If you have been wondering what kind of devices you need to use a voice-over-ip (VoIP) provider or Asterisk PBX, the guys at Geek Gazette have been doing up some reviews of different devices. These allow you to use a standard phone with VOIP providers. The newest review is of the Sipura ATA-1001 ATA." Before you get too happy with the possibilities, though, note what an anonymous reader submitted: "Several VoIP providers have started adding 'regulatory recovery fees' to their users' bills, even though the entire industry is unregulated. The latest one to do this is Packet 8. The whole reason so many are moving to VoIP is to avoid these kinds of bogus fees; it's unfortunate these providers haven't figured this out yet."

10 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. I'd jump to VoIP in a second by Uptown+Joe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    but I can't keep my old phone number... I would love to lose the $50 plus a month fee.

    I have a Cox phone number now.

    1. Re:I'd jump to VoIP in a second by NanoGator · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "And tell me: do you like cox?"

      I don't know whether to laugh that you made a silly comment or grimace at the thought of what you might be offering him.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  2. VOIP not cheaper... by DogDude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... at least for us (a small business). Once you add in all of the per-line charges, the hardware, the setup fees, the broadband, and the fact that if you want to use DSL, you still have to buy at least one phone line from the phone company. Plus, of course, the reliability of broadband still isn't nearly at the level of hard telephone lines. After taking this into consideration, unfortunately, going through the local Ma Bell monopoly was still the cheapest and most reliable option for us (a business needing 3-5 phone lines).

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:VOIP not cheaper... by Blapto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For us (a small business) we use VoIP for telecommuting, I feel that's where the real strength is at the moment. Of course, if you're a larger business (100+ employees) in the middle of a city I think it becomes economical to get a dedicated line which should be very reliable.

  3. If I may interject by matth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The reason packet8 and some are charging the USF fees is because they may be regulated in the future, in which case they want to be covered.. I can't blame them.. good grief it's what 50 cents or $1.00... it's still a TON cheaper then POTS...

    1. Re:If I may interject by John+Seminal · · Score: 2, Insightful
      The reason packet8 and some are charging the USF fees is because they may be regulated in the future, in which case they want to be covered.. I can't blame them.. good grief it's what 50 cents or $1.00... it's still a TON cheaper then POTS...

      While $0.50 might not be much to you, and you may wish to donate, people like me want to get something in return for a fee paid. If there is no expense to the company in the future, will they refund that $0.50 they take every month? Why don't they wait to charge the fee when they have the expense?

      The other thing which makes me angry is when phone companies add charges, and give the charges names that appears to be a tax levied by government.

      --

      Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."

  4. Put the line in, but with the right amount by DumbSwede · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Instead of in anticipation of future regulation, why not just tack on a "regulation fee" line that is currently $0.00. Tack on a $0.00 tax line while you're at it.

    Then and if regulation or taxation occurs, these lines get filled in with an actual amount that is the correct amount. Not only that, but users would know right away that the government has added fees as they shows up in the bill.

    I'm betting all hell would bust loose when a $0.00 line suddenly clicks upward.

    Yeah it's cheaper, but that doesn't mean they can't write an honest bill.

    --
    Letter To Iran
  5. 911? by SpongeBobLinuxPants · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But you can't call 911 from some VOIP

    --
    hack a day
  6. VOIP is a momentary fad by KlomDark · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sure, it's cheaper right now, and needs to happen, just as a lever to get the telecom companies to quit holding back society and actually charge a reasonable fee for small-bandwidth voice communications.

    However, it's a trap, and a nasty trap for a lot of networking people. A lot of networking people are going to end up getting 'scapegoated' and losing their jobs before this is over.

    Why? The whole QOS thing. All VOIP packets get top-level QOS scheduling on the network, meaning VOIP data packets all get priority over all the other 'normal' data packets. Not a problem when VOIP is less than 10% of your network traffic.

    However, all the PHB types see is that VOIP is way cheaper than normal telco methods, and they are starting to want all the phone lines in the company switched over to VOIP to 'save money'.

    Problem is, once you get over a threshhold where there's a lot of VOIP traffic, the normal data packets take a huge backseat to the VOIP data. Suddenly you've got packet timeouts happening constantly with 'normal' data (Which the data networks were originally put in place to handle), and data transfer slows to a crawl. Packets are getting dropped all over the place. File transfers start taking 10 times longer than normal, if they don't just fail due to timeouts.

    Now the network guys are in all kinds of trouble because critical business functions, which rely on the 'normal' data packets, are not working, or are insanely slow.

    So, the network people get bitched out, and turn around with huge cost increases due to needing to massively increase the pipes between locations, and that still doesn't solve the problem in all cases. So you throw in extremely expensive high-performance routers to handle all the packet shuffling and scheduling. Pretty soon, you're back to costs HIGHER than it was to start out with with normal data networks and normal voice/telco connections.

    To avoid being burnt, either demand completely separate networks for VOIP and normal data. Or just stay away from VOIP. In the long run, you'll be better off. But in the short term, enjoy explaining this to PHB types who only see the short-term cost savings that they are being force-fed by the VOIP vendors.

    It's a scam, nothing is free.

    1. Re:VOIP is a momentary fad by jtn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Sorry, but if you're a responsible network administrator and do capacity planning and keep tabs on your network, this just doesn't happen. Incremental upgrades can be made ahead of a dangerous line, just as with any network upgrade. These issues should be presented prior to any organization's rollout of ANY service, not just VoIP. To not perform such duties of a responsible network engineer is gross negligence.

      In the event that such your PHB's ignore your capacity planning and advice, time to put that resume out for a more suitable employer, one not headed down the path to doom. You'll thank yourself in the long run.