Voip & phone line providers

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PhilANZ

352 posts

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#171424 17-Apr-2015 14:03

I am now paying extra for no extra benefit because of the changes to Chorus charging. It seems I could solve this by having everything with one provider. So I asked my ISP / VOIP provider if they could do a phone line. The good news is yes. The bad news is they only do business lines. I've been with them from the day we went broadband - and the fact they offered VOIP was great when we closed our town office. But the extra Chorus charges make them expensive. So wondered if someone here can answer this question.

We need a standard phone line in case of power cuts - for health emergenices. Otherwise we'd just go naked broadband with VOIP for our two business numbers and home number. Does anyone know of an outfit which supplies all of this? As I say it's simply the extra charges we're now paying - we are happy with the service - just not the extra charge.

Thnaks

sbiddle

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#1286306 17-Apr-2015 14:09

The simple answer to your question is that pretty much every internet provider in NZ offers what you want - which is a clothed broadband connection with POTS.

n4

959 posts

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#1286310 17-Apr-2015 14:17

Invest in a UPS with a bigger battery and forego the POTS line?

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mdooher

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#1286327 17-Apr-2015 14:35

n4: Invest in a UPS with a bigger battery and forego the POTS line?

that and and/or a cellphone.

We have a UPS at home that runs our server, the POE switch, router VOIP phone and power to the gas califont for hot water :). If that goes flat (about 50min) incoming calls get diverted to cell and I get a cold shower

Matthew

PhilANZ

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1286470 17-Apr-2015 17:41

Wow - I hadn't thought of tackling the UPS side of things. We survived recent outages we had in the Hutt - lasted longer then normal. So maybe I should look at the obvious solution first.

As for most ISP's offereing home POTS / VOIP didn't seem to apply when I asked my ISP.

Thanks

sbiddle

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#1286582 17-Apr-2015 21:28

PhilANZ: Wow - I hadn't thought of tackling the UPS side of things. We survived recent outages we had in the Hutt - lasted longer then normal. So maybe I should look at the obvious solution first.

As for most ISP's offereing home POTS / VOIP didn't seem to apply when I asked my ISP.

Thanks

You didn't ask about VoIP - you asked about POTS and broadband. Are you wanting a single provider who will do POTS + Broadband + VoIP on top? Once again there are plenty who do this - I'm not going to name names because there are plenty of options both big and small.

coffeebaron

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#1286583 17-Apr-2015 21:35

What will you do when you move to fibre and copper is gone? Even Spark will soon use the phone port on ONT rather than copper. So you may as well make the move to all VoIP now.

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benchit

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#1286748 18-Apr-2015 11:30

Maybe I am missing the point here, but Naked DSL and a cellphone will do here?
Sure the slash of savings might be only $10 or something, but it counts for something, i.e. $10 x 12 months = $120 saved a year.

Slingshot, Orcon, Vodafone and others offer Naked Broadband.

That same cellphone if a smartphone, if I was you download a SIP app, and register VoIP on it.
*if your VoIP provider supports multiple registrations great, plus that you have on a SIP device at home for calls registered too.

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PhilANZ

352 posts

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#1286762 18-Apr-2015 11:57

Well I too forgot something. Living on a main Wellington fault line, I fully expect to suffer major disruption in my lifetime - I was in Wellington having an angiogram during the last earthquake - took us 2.5 hours to get home (usually 20 minutes). And that wasn't "the big one".

If the kidney my wife gave me has packed up by then I'll need a phone line that works - the alternative is a hike of several kms to the local hospital - assuming I can get across the river and am still up to it. Even then they couldn't treat me - but at least they'd be able to get in touch with Wellington Hospital. Both UPS and cell phones might work for an initial call - but mightn't last long enough for use when needed.

Of course if the kidney last another decade I'll be 70 by then so not too worried. If the big one doesn't come for a decade, then I'm not too worried either. But in the meantime it would be nice to have a backup plan so I don't die too soon.

nzgman

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#1288938 22-Apr-2015 09:09

Give Now NZ a call, they will do internet, pots lines and SIP lines and have very good service. They don't just use Chorus when something goes wrong they have there own tech so if anything goes wrong they are quicker at getting someone out to fix it.

Talk to Justin and let him know I put you onto him.

www.nownz.co.nz

Graham

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#1288993 22-Apr-2015 10:01

PhilANZ: Wow - I hadn't thought of tackling the UPS side of things. We survived recent outages we had in the Hutt - lasted longer then normal. So maybe I should look at the obvious solution first.

You should get a real UPS - not a Dick Smith toy one with a tiny battery that will fail after 12 months.

I strongly recommend the APC brand - they are expensive but very reliable and long-lasting.

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PhilANZ

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#1289021 22-Apr-2015 10:33

Thanks - I'll check out Now - wasn't on my radar.

As for the UPS it is an APC - but a small one. We only have the router, VOIP box and a phone plugged into it. It's fine for normal power cuts - we had one the other day of an hour and no problems. As for longer term - no UPS is going to provide power for long in a major disaster (which living on Wellington's main fault line and having medical issues is a factor).

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#1289221 22-Apr-2015 12:34

PhilANZ: ... As for the UPS it is an APC - but a small one. We only have the router, VOIP box and a phone plugged into it. It's fine for normal power cuts - we had one the other day of an hour and no problems. As for longer term - no UPS is going to provide power for long in a major disaster (which living on Wellington's main fault line and having medical issues is a factor).

I live on the same fault line.
My 1500VA APC kept going for 7 hours during a prolonged power outage last year - with fresh batteries, and powering a modem, router, phone, and a laptop.
You do need to buy new batteries every 2 or 3 years.

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