Woosh phone

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paradoxsm

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#4960 14-Sep-2005 00:58

It's looking good. (finally)
I have been advised that it's launching this week. (though excuse me if i'm wrong sorry)
it'll only be launching in certain parts (slected areas of auckland) and the numbering range will be
(09) 940 XXXX

Scouring the website (spidering) contains the following links...

Contains a graphis to the middle right which sayd "woosh phone and internet"
http://www.woosh.com/ContentClient/...

The product page (which will not load yet, just redirects)
http://www.woosh.com/ContentClient/Phone/PhoneOverview.aspx

plus this off the herald

12.09.05 11.40am
Broadband provider Woosh Wireless said today it has signed an interconnection agreement with Telecom, paving the way for a roll out of phone services.

paradoxsm

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#20207 16-Sep-2005 19:37

Well it's been launched and I have a unit and a very easy number ;-)

National calls are carried over the Telecom Network, quite surprising, though it looks like there are no caps on national calls, and you cannot change your National calls provider (Tolls, STD if you must)
Sadly, Woosh have gone with the ripoff system of "rounding calls up to the nearest minute" meaning mobiles are quite pricey at 90c for 1:15 :-(
As well as no national call caps though 25 minutes of chat will only be $2:50

NOTE!!: IF YOU ARE ON THE OLD EVERYDAY PLAN YOU WILL HAVE TO CHANGE
The phone plans are not just a top-up of $20-$25 but a whole new plan encompassing both.
You can keep "roaming for life" if you have it however.

I'll post futher info when I have it all setup

You need to install the firmware to the lastest which is supplied on the CD

the above weblinks now fuction and go to their correct pages :-)

The unit is like a "trunk unit" which you plug your regular phone into.
Made by "Inno Media" and has a giant upside down Vodafone (') logo on it!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!

http://www.innomedia.com

johnr

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#20208 16-Sep-2005 19:56

I will be watching this close and can't wait for your feed back

paradoxsm

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#20213 16-Sep-2005 22:04

I was supplied was a faulty base unit (gateway) which woosh promptly replaced by way of overnight courier. since then it's works quite reliably.

The only hassle was reflashing my modem (which was a real pest and crashed when following instructions on CD) and so easy when I just browsed the CD for the drivers and flashing utility. Once it was flashed with the new firmware and I connected once plugging it into the gateway worked first time.

I must hack-up these new drivers but Lost that critical registry file (drat)

(NOTE!!!!! the software saves your username & password (kinda encrypted) in the registry which you can promply delete after logging on once and saving the login info to the Ipwireless modem.)

Time to try the softphone...

(EDIT: I have edited out the confusing post in the middle of my frustration and placed in something more readable)

Lipex666

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#20214 16-Sep-2005 22:39

The best thing I found with the WOOSH modem is dont use USB

I brought the elcheapo Di*** router and works a treat, installed first time and had no issues since - well unless it rains then I loos woosh

Have you got a router

Windows and USB modems - dont go there - even on fast xp machines 1 GB ram all sorts of issues with USB modems.

"The only way to learn some- thing is to do it"

paradoxsm

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#20221 17-Sep-2005 00:35

Okay the softphone works and is quite clear though it's a pig to get going.

username is just [username] witn no @woosh.co.nz on the end.
phone number is 6499400000 <---not real though close
password is your usual password

Calls are clear though there is a bit of stuttering due to probably latency or packet loss.
It uses the G.729 CODEC for voice transport (ACELP) so voice quality is as good as CDMA (ERVC) (a bit better) though not as nice as Vodafone 3G. (AMR)
the voice delay is around 200 Milliseconds, the sound is very close to that of the CISCO phone system that Moneyshop, WINZ and a few other companies use (Clients I liase as part of my job, not "service providers" to me!!!!!)

National calls are carried over the Telecom Network, quite surprising, though it looks like there are no caps on national calls, and you cannot change your National calls provider (Tolls, STD if you must)

It's a bit better than expected, if only I could have that gateway working.

oh... and my headset supplied has a stuffed microphone... great :-(

paradoxsm

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#20222 17-Sep-2005 01:04

I stripped open the gateway box which I also scarily realized I actually did not own at this point though it was too late, oopsy. (what's the $99 for then?)

It's very off-the-shelf, no real customised components, a couple of PLCC packges (HUGE, low pin density) and oooh, a couple of PGA packages. (not a BGA to be seen!)

a flash chip, about 4 megs of RAM, 2 ADSP's for the actual phone line outputs, a small ringer inverter circuit up on a little platform board, bog standard cheap-n-nasty 5mm LEDS a 10 pin hard drive style connector for reprogramming Flash, two tactile swiches for probably test functions so it looks like these things are almost uni project level!!

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paradoxsm

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#20302 20-Sep-2005 18:58

The replacement gateway box arrived today and all is finally good!!!!!
It logged on and connected in about 1 minute.

Call quality is good with not too much lag either (better than mobile) and voice quality is somewhere between 027 (crap) and Vodafone 3g (superb) it's a bit robotic sounding but crisp and clear.

The voice codec handles packet loss well, it kinda mutes off and keeps comfort noise (shhhhhh sound) going so you don't notice the loss as much.

Downers:
It can be very stuttery at times meaning loss of words etc though my guess is this is partially due to school holidays and the early nature of the service. I'll keep this updated as I use the service more and more however now it's working so far i'm happy with it and love being able to use my favourite cordless phone.

You cannot use it for Sky, Faxes, Internet, or Monitored alarms so if this is what's needed then you will need to use T'com for now.

I'm seriously looking at this for an in vehicle soultion but this'll have to be experimented with.

chiefie

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#20304 20-Sep-2005 20:01

sounds like a big custard phone to me... might keep my distance from Woosh from now on...

*head turns to V3G and TelstraClear*

If only i can carry my Telecom's number over to cable phone without changing the number...

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paradoxsm

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#20306 20-Sep-2005 20:35

not for the no-techy or fainthearted or easily stressed. for a VoIP it works well. I just hope it does not fail... do not rely on in a 111 call or long duration call.,, probably why caps are not offered at this stage.. it think it's geared towards a second cheap phone for business.

big custard refers to the box "gateway" suuplied, it's very off-the-shelf.
the rest of the system works well,, mainly let down by the sometimes poor performance of woosh though in recent months it's been much better, it was shocking in the early days,

NOTE::: some aspects of what is above is now a bit different now the gateway I have now is not a dud,

paradoxsm

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#20313 20-Sep-2005 23:54

Well after some teething problems, (due to a faulty gateway box) it works very well. I had no dropouts or lag and it held up on a a 40 minute call with no problems at all!

Thumbs up so far for the actual usage, just wich it was simpler to set up.

chiefie

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#20316 21-Sep-2005 09:08

So does it have a dedicate number for normal landline to call? is the number portable from Telecom or it is a whole new set of number?

Does it require a pc as it conduit? or the gateway works it all out by itself? And you said... don't rely on it for 111 and long distance calls? hmmm will it support the free el cheapo Chi-Tel/Kiaora calling cards?

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paradoxsm

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#20318 21-Sep-2005 10:12

So does it have a dedicate number for normal landline to call?
Dedicated numbering range, YES 09 940 XXXX

is the number portable from Telecom or it is a whole new set of number?
No but Woosh can redivert your t'com number forever to the new woosh number

Does it require a pc as it conduit?
Nope. is only used to access the net via the gateway box

or the gateway works it all out by itself?
Gateway emulates a PC softphone connection through the normal Woosh modem and provides a hardware interface for a normal phone so no PC is needed once it's setup, it's just like a mini 2 line phone exchange.

And you said... don't rely on it for 111 and long distance calls?
if the reception wades or something like that you'll lose the 111 call which is kinda important.

hmmm will it support the free el cheapo Chi-Tel/Kiaora calling cards?
YES!!!! they work. (Tested with kia-ora 0867 Kia Ora, Yabba uding 0800 talkaw number and "go-talk" old platform 0800 174300)

the quality is better than expected, I was expecting nasty dropouts and latency delays. it's on par with the CISCO phone system and I believe it's the same Voice carrier CODEC.

Ged38

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#21566 16-Oct-2005 07:27

Does the latency of the network improve when they introduce woosh phoning (ie when they bring it to Wellington will the latency here improve so that things like gaming and skype are more possible?

I'd probably use woosh phoning, but skype is still good for connected friends overseas. If both worked I could get rid of my Telecom phone for good, but at the moment skype has too much of a delay through woosh for calls.

Thanks

Andy_Walker

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#21571 16-Oct-2005 08:32

I have not even noticed the delay on my Woosh line. It does work very well. No one I have spoken with over it has any idea I am not talking over a standard Telecom line, especially as my number has not changed.

I have also been using Skype over my Woosh connection & get a delay of about 1 second. The quality of Skype calls is not as good as the Woosh phone but whenever I've used Skype I've also been sharing my bandwidth thru a router with 2 other PC users. If I had the bandwidth to myself I'm sure the quality would improve.

Woosh voice traffic always gets priorty so your phone line never suffers.

I did have Woosh earlier in the year & although it had worked well for 10 months all of a sudden the connection was rubbish. I had to keep reconnecting & often it could not even find the base station. Whenever the tech guy came around it worked fine, then later it would play up. I got sick of it & went back to ADSL. The network in my area seems to have improved since I last used Woosh back in April/May. I'm now getting results of up to 340 kbps on the ihug broadband speed test.

Your area may be different so why not take advantage of their 30 day trail and see if what you get where you are is acceptable.