O Canada! > Canadian > TekSavvy > [TekTalk] Looking at Techtalk

[TekTalk] Looking at Techtalk

I've been using tektalk since launch, using the $14.95 package.
im using my own pap2t ata over teksavvy 15mbit (now 24mbit) cable.

Pros - pretty stable
- portal is relatively easy to use
- voicemails forwarded to email is very useful
- a small ups powering the cable modem, router, ata, & wireless base station recently got us thru a 2+ hour power outage

Cons - from time to time voice quality blips/stretches/echos, but it may be due to the fact i haven't bothered setting up QOS on my router, also might be due to the fact that my wireless base station is plugged in right near the electrical panel along a cement wall in the corner of the basement.
- 3 ring voicemail pickup - several reach outs to teksavvy and they havent been able to change to more rings for me, although others appear to have success.
- stuttering dial tone - message waiting indicator - again several reach outs to teksavvy and they havent been able to fix, ive tried numerous changes in the ata with no success.

reply to Shoeman1975
I signed up with them recently, so far it has been good. Ported in my Bell number without any issues. Only minor issue was the web portal access provided at signup had incorrect profile causing voice mail ring settings and other non critical settings to be not accessible. Also the message waiting indicator function seems to function on and off for some reason.

Otherwise quality and service has been good so far.

reply to discoblues

Wouldn't happen to still have the agent's name would you? If so cold you PM it please.
--
MS MVP Windows Expert-Consumer 2010-2011

Thanks for that. Emailed them this morning, so just have to wait for the update.

P.S. Wouldn't happen to have heard anything about the delay before getting a dial tone would you? I asked in the direcr forum a while ago and was told not at the time, but they were looking into it. I did find elsewhere how to do it, but it takes having an unlocked ATA, and I got mine from TS and got the vendor locked version (not a problem really other than this one thing).
--
MS MVP Windows Expert-Consumer 2010-2011

I don't have any delay before getting a dial tone; I am using my own unlocked PAP2t ATA so it might be just an ATA setting that needs to be updated.

reply to stormy13
That's a problem with the ATA's dial plan. It's literally a two second fix if your provider knows what they're doing.

reply to Teknowiz

reply to Teknowiz
edit... to to add info.

reply to Shoeman1975
Pros
Cheap

Tek Talk Portal is nice.

Cons
Long time for calls to be connected after you dial them.

Loses connectivity about once every two weeks. Sometimes clears up on its own. Sometimes needs to be unplugged and rebooted.

Have to turn off torrents to keep from sounding garbled. You need about 50k of upstream untouched.

Nowhere near as reliable as a real phone. I regret switching. Unless you are really broke don't switch to this inferior product.

reply to Shoeman1975
Can someone tell me if the modem absolutely needs to be connected to a router???

Or can I have a dedicated cable line go right to the modem like I currently have with Rogers...

Thanks

If the modem supports DHCP and assigns an IP to the ATA, it should work fine.

Thank you. I have the Netgear WNDR3700 router. I know I can connect the modem to it, but since I need one PC actually wired to the router, it is not convenient to have the phone modem connected to the router. So I am curious to know if I can just plug a coax cable directly into the modem, as i currently do with rogers.

Thanks for the help!

reply to Shoeman1975
Good info in this thread... a couple of questions:

Is it best to go with the Linksys 2102 VoIP Gateway Phone Adapter? Or some other alternative?

Does the phone adapter plug into the router? And does the Adapter then plug into the normal phone jack?

We are on Teksavvy 24/1 internet and Rogers Home phone.

Cheers!
--
-Tim

reply to Shoeman1975
The tektalk service is different then rogers phone service. You need to plug the ata into an ethernet port on your router (it's not like rogers where it plugs into your coax cable line).

Rogers:
cable service (coax) ----- internet modem --(ethernet)--- router
|
----------------------Phone device ----- to all phones

Tektalk w/cable internet:
cable service (coax) ---- internet modem
| (ethernet)
router
|(ethernet)
Phone device ----- to all phones

edit:

 
Tektalk w/cable internet:
cable service (coax) ------------- internet modem
                                         | (ethernet)
                                      router
                                        |(ethernet)
                                  Phone device ----- to all phones
 

Thanks anon1! When you say phone device ---- to all phones - that is where it plugs into the wall jack (like the rogers home phone modem does) correct?
--
-Tim

reply to yyzUnderdog