VOIP - newbie

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UrbanMyth

122 posts

Master Geek

#177851 16-Aug-2015 13:49

Hi all,

I am about to venture into the world of VOIP, and drop our current landline phone. This is for a home user, and aside from the initial outlay, VOIP seems to be cheaper, and the way things are heading.

My network hardware currently consists of DrayTek Vigor DV130 Modem Router, which is connected to a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND (v2) Router running Gargoyle.
In the next few weeks, I intend to purchase a Gigaset A510IP VoIP IP Phone.

Once the phone is purchased, I intend to shift to VDSL (which is in our exchange) and get a 2Talk account.

What else do I need?

Do I need to do anything about security? I see there a few posts in this forum about security, and it is a little confusing.

Will my current and intended purchases all work in together?

Do I need to cancel my landline, or will this happen when I switch ISP's?

Your helpful advice much appreciated.

(incidentally, I did have a read of this first: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/sbiddle/6421)

sbiddle

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#1367419 16-Aug-2015 14:01

Any reason you're opting for the A510IP or have you got one cheaply 2nd hand? They were a good phone ~5 years ago, but are very basic. There are other IP DECT phones such as the Yealink's which are vastly superior.

UrbanMyth

122 posts

Master Geek

#1367420 16-Aug-2015 14:03

Primarily because they are available at the 2 online stores I have accounts with - ComputerLounge and Ascent.
And price - don't want to spend heaps for a cordless handset

edit: I see Ascent have this phone: Yealink SIP-W52P DECT IP Phone. Would this be a better option?

chevrolux

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#1367486 16-Aug-2015 15:10

Ascent will have the Yealink W52 which is a thousand times better than the gigaset. The gigasets software is just average as hell.

speed

293 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1367812 17-Aug-2015 10:48

To answer your query about disconnecting the old line, the answer to that is no, the existing copper pair (and any other services that are bundled on top of it) will be decommissioned when your local-number ports to the new provider.

2talk have more information available on porting at this URL:

https://www.2talk.co.nz/supportview.html?doc=numberporting

Hope this helps,

Pete

UrbanMyth

122 posts

Master Geek

#1370412 19-Aug-2015 17:43

Thanks all for the advice.

Just one further thing... is security of VOIP an issue for the average home user?

sbiddle

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#1370454 19-Aug-2015 19:01

UrbanMyth: Thanks all for the advice.

Just one further thing... is security of VOIP an issue for the average home user?

In what way?

UrbanMyth

122 posts

Master Geek

#1370458 19-Aug-2015 19:04

Well, if I understand this correctly, VOIP is sent down the line in packets, much the same way that ordinary data is.

Is it possible for someone to intercept a phone call being made via VOIP?

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sbiddle

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#1370476 19-Aug-2015 19:18

UrbanMyth: Well, if I understand this correctly, VOIP is sent down the line in packets, much the same way that ordinary data is.

Is it possible for someone to intercept a phone call being made via VOIP?

If somebody had access to sniff your traffic between your connection and the ISP BNG and you're not using SRTP and TLS - yes. But you'd have to consider who would and could have access to this.

UrbanMyth

122 posts

Master Geek

#1370479 19-Aug-2015 19:29

Hang on.. you've lost me...

BNG means what?

I know what TLS is, just looked up SRTP. So do I require extra hardware, or can my current router and intended phone take care of this?

chevrolux

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#1370527 19-Aug-2015 20:07

What Steve's trying to say is there are not a hell of a lot of people in a position who can 1) access the IX's and 2) actually sniff traffic across the switches so the point is relatively moot.

There would have to be a major MAJOR reason for someone to take interest in your voice traffic. Going to the effort of setting up TLS and SRTP on a home connection would be a waste of time.

UrbanMyth

122 posts

Master Geek

#1370545 19-Aug-2015 20:48

Ok, cheers. As mentioned in original post, I am a complete noob at VOIP and had noticed other forum posts mentioned security with VOIP so thought I should check

Thanks again :)