On 19/02/2024 13:55, Bob Eager wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:56:47 +0000, Theo wrote:
>
>> Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:
>>> T i m wrote:
>>>
>>> [snip]
>>>
>>>
>>>> Is there any particular benefit going to Voipfone (technical /
>>>> features)
>>>> over the cheaper alternatives suggested so far, or is it just what
>>>> you happened on at the time Graham?
>>>
>>> I first used Voipfone in 2010 to support some business clients. One
>>> client could only get internet via satellite but even with the latency
>>> of that connection the Voipfone service worked well. I found them
>>> knowledgeable and easy to deal with.
>>
>> Voipfone and Andrews & Arnold are the two most common mentioned here.
>> Very roughly:
>>
>> Voipfone:
>> £3.60 per number per month Pay per minute or bundled call packages (NNN
>> minutes per month or unlimited) PPM rates: Landlines: 1.2p/min, Mobiles:
>> 8.4p/min Virtual fax service available
>>
>>
>> A&A £1.44 per number per month Pay per minute only PPM rates: Landlines:
>> 1.5p/min, Mobiles: 4p/min SIP2SIM available (put your number on a SIM
>> card and use it on a 3G/4G mobile network with their tariff plus 2p
>> extra)
>>
>>
>> Support from both seems to be generally good.
>>
>> Did I miss anything?
>
> Worth mentioning that AAISP charge a full minute for the first minute or
> part thereof. Then they charge by the second, rounded up to the nearest
> 1p. So actually cheaper than it looks.

Not exactly . .
A&A do indeed charge by the second, but there is a minimum per call
charge of 2p+VAT (2.4p). So calls to landlines lasting less than 1.6
minutes or to mobiles lasting less than 36 seconds will cost 2.4p, and
then at the pro-rata per second rate thereafter.
--
Cheers,
Roger

On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 12:33:51 +0000, Roger Mills wrote:

> On 19/02/2024 13:55, Bob Eager wrote:
>> On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:56:47 +0000, Theo wrote:
>>
>>> Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> T i m wrote:
>>>>
>>>> [snip]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Is there any particular benefit going to Voipfone (technical /
>>>>> features)
>>>>> over the cheaper alternatives suggested so far, or is it just what
>>>>> you happened on at the time Graham?
>>>>
>>>> I first used Voipfone in 2010 to support some business clients. One
>>>> client could only get internet via satellite but even with the
>>>> latency of that connection the Voipfone service worked well. I found
>>>> them knowledgeable and easy to deal with.
>>>
>>> Voipfone and Andrews & Arnold are the two most common mentioned here.
>>> Very roughly:
>>>
>>> Voipfone:
>>> £3.60 per number per month Pay per minute or bundled call packages
>>> (NNN minutes per month or unlimited) PPM rates: Landlines: 1.2p/min,
>>> Mobiles: 8.4p/min Virtual fax service available
>>>
>>>
>>> A&A £1.44 per number per month Pay per minute only PPM rates:
>>> Landlines:
>>> 1.5p/min, Mobiles: 4p/min SIP2SIM available (put your number on a SIM
>>> card and use it on a 3G/4G mobile network with their tariff plus 2p
>>> extra)
>>>
>>>
>>> Support from both seems to be generally good.
>>>
>>> Did I miss anything?
>>
>> Worth mentioning that AAISP charge a full minute for the first minute
>> or part thereof. Then they charge by the second, rounded up to the
>> nearest 1p. So actually cheaper than it looks.
>
> Not exactly . .
> A&A do indeed charge by the second, but there is a minimum per call
> charge of 2p+VAT (2.4p). So calls to landlines lasting less than 1.6
> minutes or to mobiles lasting less than 36 seconds will cost 2.4p, and
> then at the pro-rata per second rate thereafter.

Well, very close.

On 19/02/2024 18:23, Bob Eager wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:50:44 +0000, Theo wrote:
>
>> T i m <eternal@spaced.me.uk> wrote:
>>> Sorry Bob, so AAISP is a third option here, a variant of A&A or the
>>> same thing as A&A? (I can research more later).
>>
>> "We are Andrews & Arnold Ltd, a limited company, registered in England &
>> Wales, company number 3342760. We also use trading names of AAISP and
>> A&A."
>>
>> https://www.aa.net.uk/
>
> Yes, I generally say AAISP because I'm lazy!

That's how one of their confirmation texts came up addressed as. ;-)

BT number being ported to them as I type and I have a Yealink Voipphone
and base on their way from eBay.

I can then take 6 DECT phones offline. 4 were connected to my LL v my
1x4 PSTN and the other two to Sipgate via my Fritzbox! Fon WAN router.

I believe I can also add the Sipgate accounts to the Yealink VOIP phone
so that should tidy all that up (and save some energy). ;-)

OOI, has anyone here used the W60B / W53H combo and can offer any tips /
gotchas please? (Assuming they are compatible with A&A etc)? I don't
think I'm really going to use it in earnest so it just needs to 'work' etc.

Thanks again to all those who replied so far.

Cheers, T i m

T i m wrote:
> On 19/02/2024 18:23, Bob Eager wrote:
>> On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:50:44 +0000, Theo wrote:
>>
>>> T i m <eternal@spaced.me.uk> wrote:
>>>> Sorry Bob, so AAISP is a third option here, a variant of A&A or the
>>>> same thing as A&A? (I can research more later).
>>>
>>> "We are Andrews & Arnold Ltd, a limited company, registered in England &
>>> Wales, company number 3342760.  We also use trading names of AAISP and
>>> A&A."
>>>
>>> https://www.aa.net.uk/
>>
>> Yes, I generally say AAISP because I'm lazy!
>
> That's how one of their confirmation texts came up addressed as. ;-)
>
> BT number being ported to them as I type and I have a Yealink Voipphone
> and base on their way from eBay.
>
> I can then take 6 DECT phones offline. 4 were connected to my LL v my
> 1x4 PSTN and the other two to Sipgate via my Fritzbox! Fon WAN router.
>
> I believe I can also add the Sipgate accounts to the Yealink VOIP phone
> so that should tidy all that up (and save some energy). ;-)
>
> OOI, has anyone here used the W60B / W53H combo and can offer any tips /
> gotchas please? (Assuming they are compatible with A&A etc)? I don't
> think I'm really going to use it in earnest so it just needs to 'work' etc.
>
> Thanks again to all those who replied so far.

My only experience with the Yealink W60B / W53H combo is with a system
provided by "BT Cloud Voice Express" where BT did not provide the
username/password to allow me to change anything.

I would think that A&A should be able to resolve any problems.

--
Graham J

On 08/03/2024 12:25, Graham J wrote:
<snip>

> My only experience with the Yealink W60B / W53H combo is with a system
> provided by "BT Cloud Voice Express" where BT did not provide the
> username/password to allow me to change anything.

I was actually the default 'administrator' to a local shops BT Cloud
Voice upgrade (so did have all the authentication etc) but can't
remember that the handsets were now.
>
> I would think that A&A should be able to resolve any problems.
>
Yeah, I have already 'tested' the online chat function and provided them
some info about the power consumption of the Yealink phone / base combo. ;-)

I'm assuming there should be configuration guides for different models,
especially given they offer the Yealink W60B + phone combos themselves.

I need to get back onto my Sipgate account and confirm the settings from
there as well.

I am slightly cautious re the gear I have ordered as I noticed some are
marked 'unlocked' so I'm guessing these could be provided 'locked' to
the likes of BT?

Cheers, T i m

T i m wrote:

[snip]

> I am slightly cautious re the gear I have ordered as I noticed some are
> marked 'unlocked' so I'm guessing these could be provided 'locked' to
> the likes of BT?

I suspect that "locked" means that a reset to factory default will
restore the mechanism whereby the base station downloads its
configuration from a BT server. If you were to discover the required
username / password and then successfully log in, any changes you made
would be lost following any automatic firmware upgrade.

--
Graham J

On 08/03/2024 15:28, Graham J wrote:
> T i m wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>> I am slightly cautious re the gear I have ordered as I noticed some
>> are marked 'unlocked' so I'm guessing these could be provided 'locked'
>> to the likes of BT?
>
> I suspect that "locked" means that a reset to factory default will
> restore the mechanism whereby the base station downloads its
> configuration from a BT server.

OK.

> If you were to discover the required
> username / password and then successfully log in, any changes you made
> would be lost following any automatic firmware upgrade.
>
I was wondering if these things were sometimes cheaper / subsidised when
branded / locked to a particular provider (like BB routers locked to Sky
/ 3 / whoever) .

Fingers crossed then. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On 08/03/2024 15:28, Graham J wrote:
> T i m wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>> I am slightly cautious re the gear I have ordered as I noticed some
>> are marked 'unlocked' so I'm guessing these could be provided 'locked'
>> to the likes of BT?
>
> I suspect that "locked" means that a reset to factory default will
> restore the mechanism whereby the base station downloads its
> configuration from a BT server.  If you were to discover the required
> username / password and then successfully log in, any changes you made
> would be lost following any automatic firmware upgrade.
>

Phone arrived today and I configured it onto my one of my Sipgate lines
and it seems to work both ways. ;-)

When I reboot the shows something about 'Update ... skipped' and looking
online, there is a later firmware version available.

It's currently running V 77.83.0.85 and it looks like there is a
77.85.0.25 available (W53P (W60B+W53H)).

https://support.yealink.com/en/portal/search?keyword=w60b%20firmware&type=software&order=score

I might check first with the eBay seller ...

Cheers, T i m

On 09/03/2024 22:35, T i m wrote:
<snip>

In case it's ever any use to anyone:

> It's currently running V 77.83.0.85 and it looks like there is a
> 77.85.0.25 available (W53P (W60B+W53H)).
>
> https://support.yealink.com/en/portal/search?keyword=w60b%20firmware&type=software&order=score
>
> I might check first with the eBay seller ...

And he came back pretty quickly to say 'yes, safe to upgrade and the
'unlocked' is simply indicating the units he supplies units aren't
locked (to a particular provider).

So I updated both the Yealink W60B base to FW 77.85.0.25

and the W53H handset to FW 88.85.0.20

As it's an EOL product (W53P) the chances are they will be the last.

I think the BT LL number port will be happening on 14/03/2024.

Cheers, T i m

On 10/03/2024 00:02, T i m wrote:
<snip>

> So I updated both the Yealink W60B base to FW 77.85.0.25
>
And have since found and upgraded the base to: FW 77.85.0.160

I like the way the handset tells you the base is being upgraded and not
to turn it off. ;-)

Cheers, T i m