VoIP Suggestions Wanted

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paul151

309 posts

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#305967 17-Jun-2023 14:01

Hi guys.

Spark are hiking their residential fibre plans again in August (boo) and I am looking to shift away from them to another vendor.

I am looking at Quic as a possible company to take over the broadband plan and static IP duties that I currently pay $130 per month for ($10 of which is for the current VoIP landline).

My wife still wants to have a landline (for now) so a few elderly friends can all her on it.

My current Spark plan is Max Fibre Plus with landline.

So I am trying to figure out how to best retain my current landline number and have a different VoIP provider that I can drop into what will also be my new ISP service? I'm looking for vendor suggestions here in NZ. The landline is really only going to be used for incoming local or national calls.

I'm not fussed on making outbound calls but curious to understand what packages there are for local and national calling at a sharp price should we ever want to pick up the phone and place a call.

I have a Chorus ONT (model 100) with a cord that comes out of the POT1 plug and into another box, that box in turn feeds dial tone to phone jacks around the house, a cordless analogue phone/base station is plugged into one of those phone jacks in the kitchen.

I use a Ubquiti Edgerouter Lite with the ONT for broadband.

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Networkn
32239 posts

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#3091107 17-Jun-2023 14:14

Voyager might be a good option as is Orcon, both of whom will offer you a bundle of Internet and VOIP Line.

If you want them separate (and I'd suggest skipping that if you want absolute simplicity), then Hero are good to deal with. I'd skip 2talk as they are cheap, but in my experience support isn't end-user-friendly, though I'll admit my last experience was 3+ years ago.

Hatch

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Hatch (affiliate link).

sqishy

470 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3091113 17-Jun-2023 14:46

Go Zoom and Zoom Phone is best. https://zoom.us/pricing/zoom-phone

SirHumphreyAppleby

2838 posts

Uber Geek

#3091151 17-Jun-2023 17:32

If you're mostly concerned with incoming calls, get a DDI from Hero. $2+GST per month.

speed

293 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3091153 17-Jun-2023 17:39

My personal recommendations after using many, but with no affiliation: mynxnet.com for the ISP (static IPv4 & IPv6, flat-rate) and hero.co.nz for the ITSP.

Failing that, anyone but the incumbents.

You're welcome :)

martyyn

1960 posts

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#3091478 18-Jun-2023 15:07

I just moved our business landline to Hero, with the mobile and broadband to Skinny. It required a minimal amount of planning and timing but it couldn't have been easier.

old3eyes

9112 posts

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#3091507 18-Jun-2023 16:20

Since we moved to Tauranga and I can't get any phone service via the ONT thru out the house due to no cabling I use a 2Talk line at $11 / month. via an PBX SIP trunk. Works good . Was about the same price as Sparks landline.

Regards,

Old3eyes

huckster

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#3092316 19-Jun-2023 22:26

Similar thinking myself - looking to first move VoIP to Hero from Spark keeping Broadband with Spark for now.

In such cases do I need to let Spark know first - would like to retain the number.

halper86

545 posts

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#3092319 19-Jun-2023 22:39

I have a $11.50/m VoIP line from Hero and it has been solid and reliable for the last couple of years. I see the odd network status update but they rarely affect me and my circumstances, YMMV.

huckster

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#3092503 20-Jun-2023 14:09

huckster:

Similar thinking myself - looking to first move VoIP to Hero from Spark keeping Broadband with Spark for now.

In such cases do I need to let Spark know first - would like to retain the number.

Have messaged and now phoned Spark about the above. They can't seem to do this. If the number goes they kill the whole plan. Alternatively, if I first switch to naked with Spark, I will lose the number/there is no guarantee I can get it moved elsewhere as it will be back in the pool.

bj99

169 posts

Master Geek

#3092506 20-Jun-2023 14:15

huckster:

Have messaged and now phoned Spark about the above. They can't seem to do this. If the number goes they kill the whole plan. Alternatively, if I first switch to naked with Spark, I will lose the number/there is no guarantee I can get it moved elsewhere as it will be back in the pool.

Port the number first then change the Spark plan. Definitely don't cancel or change your plan before porting is completed.

SirHumphreyAppleby

2838 posts

Uber Geek

#3092507 20-Jun-2023 14:16

huckster:

Have messaged and now phoned Spark about the above. They can't seem to do this. If the number goes they kill the whole plan. Alternatively, if I first switch to naked with Spark, I will lose the number/there is no guarantee I can get it moved elsewhere as it will be back in the pool.

It shouldn't be that hard. I don't bundle services, saving me a whole lot of headaches like this. The phone may be part of the plan, but to kill the whole thing due to a simple number port is ridiculous.

I'd try to get hold of someone from Spark on these forums. Spark do offer a dual number option, so perhaps adding a second number to the account before porting the first one away will be an option. Unfortunately, only they can answer that.

speed

293 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3092612 20-Jun-2023 15:01

It might be ridiculous, but it has been their S.O.P for many many years and it speaks volumes about their inflexibility and their general approach. IMO the best thing you can do is to learn from the experience and make sure to never give them your custom ever again (queue the Spark fanbois stepping in for defence).

If you port that number then make sure you have an alternative form of internet access on that date (eg hotspot) to tide you over while you resolve it.

One old-school trick is to have them port the number to another service they offer called 'Customer Link', which keeps both the number and the broadband with Spark (but no longer bundeled). Then after that you can change brandband provider safely and finally port the number away at the end. But you have to be willing to pay Customer Link fees for the in-between period.

paul151

309 posts

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#3092781 20-Jun-2023 20:41

This is an interesting and developing thread. Thanks everyone for your contributions thus far.

The latest from my end is that I have signed up to Hero and asked for my Spark landline to be ported to them on Thursday morning this week. I then read the chatter in here about how that may quite possibly kill my Spark Max Fibre Plus with Landline account in the process.

Tonight I have signed up to Quic and requested a 'Sprinter' service from Thursday morning also, but assigned to the second port on my Chorus ONT.

So the plan is if the Spark services do die when the VoIP landline number is ported away on Thursday I should be in a position to swap some ethernet over on the ONT to another active port, configure the EdgeRouter and then be up and running again with new static IP etc. What could go wrong? (he says fingers crossed).

I'll report back with outcomes in a few days time. Wish me luck, and best wishes to mt fellow GZ buddies also going through similar stuff.

Quic "Sprinter" UFB - Ref (free setup): R338237EFDIUJ

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huckster

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#3092797 20-Jun-2023 21:14

Do keep us informed! :-)

paul151

309 posts

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#3094354 24-Jun-2023 13:12

huckster:

Do keep us informed! :-)

The move of my VoIP to Hero went well. The port was set for 9am on Thursday and on the Wednesday afternoon I had an email from them saying they had set up the provisioning of my number on their systems so I could setup my iOS application in advance of the cut over. After downloading the app and adding my phone number and password that was set to go the night before the port.

At 9.14am on the Thursday I had been advised by email the port was complete. Testing the landline number and the iOS app sprang to life and I confirmed I could take incoming calls. Good stuff. Thereafter I needed to top up my Hero account as the port incurred a one off $10 porting charge and there was the $3.60 monthly VoIP cost as well, so my initial $20 that I added when I created my account was getting low.

So all good there.

At the same time as the port was going on I had requested @quic begin their service on the second port of my ONT. The day prior (Wednesday) I had an email from them confirming the details of what was happening (ONT port and time of service start). I also got a text from Chorus to say my new service would start at 9am on port 2 of the ONT.

That occurred and I could swap the Ethernet over from my (soon to end Spark) service on port 1 to port 2 on the ONT. I then spent about 15-25 mins making sure I had the EdgeRouter Lite configured correctly and the static IP I had requested was assigned. That went OK too. I learned a little about best ways to remove and add PPPoE and VLAN in the router but all went OK after the second attempt.

Some speed tests show close to what is requested for the 900/400 plan I am on, so I was happy with that also.

The only pain has been getting hold of Spark to cancel my old plan (with landline) and static IP add-ons. I waited around 25 mins on the phone to talk to someone and then gave up. I ended up using Facebook messenger to chat to a bot then was put into a queue to talk to a human. That chat was sporadic and ended up spanning 24 hours to get things sorted. The time between my question and a Spark CSO reply could be upwards of 4-5 hours. It was very slow to hold the back/forward of my conversation with the (changing) service reps I dealt with, to finally get to the point where they would cancel my plan.

One niggle I encountered was that Spark felt the number port had not happened but I knew it had, I called Hero and they confirmed all was well, I went back to Spark and said "please just end the plan". In the end they did but it took about 3-4 'yes I'm sure, please just end the plan' over 12 hours to get it done.

I am still not sure what I am going to be billed in my final bill next month from Spark but expect to pay for roughly 22 of the 30 days I had to give notice for. Spark billed us so we always ended up paying mid-month we paid for a calendar month, so always two weeks in arrears and two weeks in advance.

So in sum, moving over to a new ISP and a new VoIP vendor has been mostly smooth asides the necessary setup of accounts with each and some router config on the day of the ISP cut over. No big deal.

Getting off the Spark plan and 'talking' to a person online was really painfully slow and drawn out. The irony of a telco being hard to get hold of was not lost on me but equally not unexpected given how automated and understaffed it appears their customer facing online/phone presence is. It's a far cry from the hey day of the 80s and 90s for them.

Happy to answer any questions, hope this info helps anyone pondering a similar shift.

Quic "Sprinter" UFB - Ref (free setup): R338237EFDIUJ

Agency BBS | fsxNet | Agency News | Total FM

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