What an earth is a voip box?

Question

I called this internet company because I wanted to join up and get connected to adsl 2 and they said I can get this deal where theres no line rental and that I would be paying ONLY internet, not line rental or home phone bills.

To do this I had to get a voip so I said ok...?. He didnt explain to me what exactly it was which wasnt good of him.

So why do I need to get one when I using ASL2. C ant I just use a double socket by connecting the phone line to my asl modem and home phone line?

Answer 1

Hey Maccaz -

Try going to http://voip-reviewer.com - they have great voip reviews.

Good luck :)

Answer 2

What the ISP is referring to is "Dry Loop DSL", or "Naked DSL".

DSL, or ADSL travels over the same copper wires as PSTN telephone service.  However, it is possible to have both, or just one or the other service on your one copper telephone cable.

Theoretically, you should be able to have DSL Internet service from any competing ISP that serves your area, while at the same time keeping regular telephone service.

At the same time, once you have activaed DSL Internet service from a competing ISP, you should have the option to change PSTN telephone carriers, or drop your existing PSTN phone service all together.

If you drop your PSTN telephone service, it is possible to subscribe to VoIP services just by using the dry-loop DSL Internet connection.

If you plan to do this, don't drop your PSTN landline telephone service until you have subscribe to a VoIP service and completely test them out and make sure you are happy with their service.  Once you are happy with them, then you can drop your PSTN telephone line.

I have in essence don this myself.  But, in my case I subscribe to Internet through my Cable TV company.  Once I had tested various VoIP services and was satisfied that I could get by on just VoIP as my phone service, I then "pulled the plug" on my local telephone company.

So, it pays to do your homework first.

No, you cannot just plug a telephone into your Internet modem and expect to make phone calls.

There are two basic ways to VoIP.

1.  Using your PC

2.  Using an ATA (analog telephone adapter)

Your PC, or ATA will convert your voice to data packets that travel over the Internet to its destination call location, or through a PSTN gateway.  So, in essence, this is what a VoIP Box does.  It enables you to send and receive voice calls over the Internet.

Answer 3

I am with you, I have no idea why a xDSL provider would offer VoIP since you have copper phone service.(POTS) carring the DSL to you.

Usually cable companies sell VoIP.... strange

Answer 4

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is what internet phobes use.

Here are a couple problems with this:

-Some comanies don't have local 911 emergency service (just ask them about this, they can tell you)

-If the power goes out, you loose phone service

-If your internet has a problem, your phone goes out

Maybe you don't really have a problem with those but they're things to think about...

You may want to read this too, it has a lot of information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VoIP