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imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

1 edit

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido

Re: VoIP announcement soon?

Ordered VOIP World on Aug 1.

My ATA is supposed to be delivered today (Aug 6).

Excited.

Still waiting for confirmation of my number being ported.

Shikomu
join:2007-11-16
Ontario

Shikomu to rocca

Member

to rocca
said by rocca:

Our service comes with caller ID, call display, call forwarding and voicemail (email and/or phone voicemail box) currently.

My biggest request will be Caller Blocking as I use this a lot. Thanks

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by Shikomu:

My biggest request will be [selective] Caller Blocking as I use this a lot. Thanks

 
That would also be MY primary make-or-break feature/function for any type of phone service in today's jungle of telemarketers and scammers.

In that regard, Bell still has a long way to go, even if their price alone was to become competitive.
rudeboy24
join:2002-10-14
Welland, ON

rudeboy24 to adit7

Member

to adit7
What I mean is that the ports could have been opened using the UPnP exploit to gain access even if the ports where not forwarded to the ATA.
On any new router the first thing I do is Disable UPnP if it's enabled.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
I got a call from Rogers today offering me the same home phone I'm paying them $39.99 right now for $15 /m with free modem rental for a year with no contract, because they see I am quitting by porting my number to Start on Friday.

Told them no. Hopefully they don't cause problems for the port

Tired of them jacking up prices by $3-$4 every year.

Few years ago I was paying $19.99/m for home phone, then it went up to 24, 28, 32, 36, 39.99 now.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
So the offer would be good for a year ?

THEN what ?!

Sounds like you made the correct choice.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

1 edit

imtiax

Premium Member

They said to call them 1 month before the 1 year ends and see what offers they have available.

The main reason I'm switching to Start is because of the money I will save by not having to buy phone cards any more.

Start's $30 plan has unlimited calling to the countries I call call with phone cards.

d4m1r
join:2011-08-25

d4m1r to MFido

Member

to MFido
Glad to see this has finally launched and thanks for answering my PMs Rocca but a little warning to anyone who does a lot of international calling like me (especially to Europe).....

I don't know who is the underlying carrier is for Start VoIP but there long distance charges are not very competitive in comparison to most known/popular VoIP offerings on here unfortunately I would switch immediately in the future if they were more competitive in their international calling options however...
Tristan
join:2006-09-10
Nepean, ON

Tristan to MFido

Member

to MFido
Rogers offers their very best pricing only when you are leaving. Same with other incumbents. If they truly valued their customers (instead of their money), they'd be offering everyone their very best pricing. Retention discounts are predatory, often requiring additional begging down the road to maintain for subsequent years. Rather than grovel to the incumbents or trying to play hardball with them to get better deals, it's just easier to switch to a VSP that gives you their best prices all the time.

The reasons for me switching to Start are many:
- lower prices
- better service
- desire to reward great companies
- to consolidate like-services
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax

Premium Member

Yep. I was originally going to move my internet to Start as well but, I'm going to keep my internet with Rogers because they offer existing customers 50% off internet when they submit a cancellation request as can be seen in this thread »forums.redflagdeals.com/ ··· 19437415

So you can get the HF 60 plan for as little as $35/m + $25 for unlimited b/w which comes to $60+Tax.
imtiax

1 edit

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
Received my ATA today.

Not a fan of the packaging material.

Had to open it in my balcony because the stuff that insulates the package falls out and makes quite mess.

Here are some pictures of what I mean.

»i.imgur.com/D7rQUu0.jpg
»i.imgur.com/YcNbxZj.jpg
»i.imgur.com/EWgwCQq.jpg

I would have preferred bubble wrap or something else being used as insulation.

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

Hmm, sorry about that. I'll check on it, we stopped using that packaging a while ago because it tears easily and doesn't do well in water. We normally use the poly bags now, not sure if someone in our provisioning team found a couple old bags and sent them out.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax

Premium Member

Okay and my ATA was also configured improperly.

I called Tech support and they fixed it.

Who ever set up my ATA did

416XXXXXXX1

when it should be
1416XXXXXXX

The tech said he also got a few other calls about people having their ATA shipped with the same mistake.

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

Sorry about that, were we able to get it fixed up for you?

Thanks for the feedback, I'll point our service desk manager over to this thread. I also confirmed we're not using those paper bags any more so must have just been one or two left and provisioner figured to use them up.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax

Premium Member

Yes I think his name was Darren.

Not 100% sure.

But he used a remote control software to log in to my ATA and fix the issue.

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

Excellent, sorry the ride was a bit bumpy but glad we got you there. We're definitely getting better as we get a few days of practical deployment behind us.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

4 edits

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
I'm unable to make calls to countries other than US/Canada, when I try to call it says
it's not covered by my plan even though it's listed under the 65 countries I should be able to make calls to.

And sometimes it says

"You do not have sufficient balance to place this call, please call support"

I called support but they don't know what's wrong.

rocca
Start.ca
Premium Member
join:2008-11-16
London, ON

rocca

Premium Member

It doesn't look like your porting is complete yet and as such doesn't allow calling the international numbers. It's something we're working on to allow this before porting is done.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

1 edit

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
Suggestion:

Can you add a tool on your website that let's us see the usage of our local calls and L.D. calls.

Similar to how you have a usage tool for internet.

So users can keep track of their usage and not go over the 3000 minutes/m.
sssscary
join:2007-10-23
Brockville, ON

sssscary to rocca

Member

to rocca
Hi, is there a way to set it up so you don't have to dial the area code for calls in your area code? (Like vonage has)

smogers
@108.170.167.x

smogers

Anon

said by sssscary:

Hi, is there a way to set it up so you don't have to dial the area code for calls in your area code? (Like vonage has)

You know areas how have multiple area codes cover each other in ontario now so this wouldn't make sense.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
Is there anyone else here with VOIP from Start experiencing OUTGOING calls dropping 30-45 seconds into the call?

When the call drops all I hear is

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· cXUbvoK8
on the Start line.

I tested out going calls around 6 times and each time the same thing happened.

Incoming calls work fine.

Start is looking into it for me, but I just wanted to know if I was the only person or not.
sssscary
join:2007-10-23
Brockville, ON

1 edit

sssscary to smogers

Member

to smogers
It makes sense to me. If I dial a number without an area code, just add my area code to the number. This is how it works with vonage. Anyway, I have almost figured out how to set the dialing plan rule to do this. If you dial only 7 digits, add the area code. from manual:
=1617>[2-9]xxxxxx - allows dialing to local area code (617) numbers by dialing
7 numbers and 1617 area code will be added automatically

smogers
@108.170.167.x

smogers

Anon

said by sssscary:

It makes sense to me. If I dial a number without an area code, just add my area code to the number. This is how it works with vonage. Anyway, I have almost figured out how to set the dialing plan rule to do this. If you dial only 7 digits, add the area code. from manual:
=1617>[2-9]xxxxxx - allows dialing to local area code (617) numbers by dialing
7 numbers and 1617 area code will be added automatically

Just dial the 3 numbers. Don't let your lazyness win.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere to smogers

Premium Member

to smogers
said by smogers :

said by sssscary:

Hi, is there a way to set it up so you don't have to dial the area code for calls in your area code? (Like vonage has)

You know, areas have multiple area codes cover each other in Ontario now, so this wouldn't make sense.

 
Not only might it not make sense, it might not even be technologically POSSIBLE in regions where multiple area codes are overlaid.

And in the case of (613), there is now an overlay area code (343).

BTW, why did you use 617 as a example, when you are in 613 ?

No matter, 617 likely has an overlay too.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
I'd just like to report that all my issues with Start VOIP have been resolved.

I had 3 issues with them.

1. Can't receive incomming calls due to porting issues.
2. Can't make international calls that are included in the World plan.
3. All out going calls dropping after 30-40 seconds.

#1 and #2 were fixed by Start's back end.

#3 was caused by my Rogers Home Gateway modem, (Hitron CGN3).

I was given the option to use a proxy VOIP Server or buy my own router.

I decided to buy the ASUS N900 RT-N66U from CanadaComputers
because the WiFi was pretty poor in my home anyways. The new router is awesome and the VOIP works flawlessly now.

Was a bumpy ride, but hopefully it's all smooth sailing from here on out.
sssscary
join:2007-10-23
Brockville, ON

sssscary to MFido

Member

to MFido
My ATA was missing the 1 at the start of the SIP account when it arrived, so it wouldnt register. It was fine once I added it.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax

Premium Member

Mine had the same issue.

When I called the tech told me that one of the staff are setting them up wrong and their looking into it.

Start Kyle
join:2014-07-16
Canada

Start Kyle to sssscary

Member

to sssscary
said by sssscary:

It makes sense to me. If I dial a number without an area code, just add my area code to the number. This is how it works with vonage. Anyway, I have almost figured out how to set the dialing plan rule to do this. If you dial only 7 digits, add the area code. from manual:
=1617>[2-9]xxxxxx - allows dialing to local area code (617) numbers by dialing
7 numbers and 1617 area code will be added automatically

This is an interesting concept, but harder than you would think to implement. Thing is that there are -only- 999 digits to set.

For example, what about the (289) area code?
There are phone numbers that read (289) - 207 - XXXX, and there is also phone numbers that read (519) - 289 - XXXX.

Say you're in the (289) area code, and you dial 207 - 5537. Your phone adapter can make international calls - 207 is the area code for Maine, so you're really making a call to 207 - 553 - 7XXX.

Then let's assume that you want to call (519) - 289 - XXXX. Now luckily there is no (289) - 519 - 289X combination, so your call would require all 10 digits.

There also needs to be consideration for extensions. What about, if you have a 289 area code number that has an extension of 1234? Say, 289 - 401 - 5687 - ex1234.
You would dial 400 - 5687, then wait for the phone menu to prompt you for the extension (hopefully). Some phone systems do not prompt you to enter an extension though, so you would dial 401 - 568 - 7123 and be connected to Rhode Island.

You can see how this causes a ton of confusion and would make entering the correct number a nightmare. Some customers also take a long time between pressing each digit, so some people would make calls to random numbers within their area code all the time.

I'm glad you've found a workaround that works for you though. It's not something I would recommend to most people, as pressing the extra 3 digits takes less than a second.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by Start Kyle:

....I'm glad you've found a workaround that works for you though....

 
The thing is, Kyle, that the workaround does NOT work, and your initial observations are more correct.

Please review my initial response to that post, and to which there was no followup, even though the poster has made another post since my reply.

It was just a 'wish-list' thing.

I am in the same area code as sssscary, which is not 617 either.

And since we DO have an overlay here in 613, such a dial plan (even corrected for 613 rather than 617) would not also allow 7-digit dialing to 343 (our overlaid AC).

I sincerely doubt that we will ever see 7-digit dialing again.

I also have doubts that it works properly anymore for Vonage customers in area codes where there are overlays.

And I am not complaining - just stating what I believe to be facts.