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

imtiax to rocca

Premium Member

to rocca

Re: VoIP announcement soon?

Can you explain how we would make the 2nd call from a regular cordless phone?

JC_
Premium Member
join:2010-10-19
Nepean, ON

JC_

Premium Member

said by imtiax:

Can you explain how we would make the 2nd call from a regular cordless phone?

I know that on my phone I can press the talk/answer button after having placed the first call, this is using a landline although it should be the same.
crjw
join:2013-12-29
Toronto, ON

crjw to imtiax

Member

to imtiax
imtiax,
I can't speak for Start or for the VOIP service provided by Start.
Nor can I answer your question about regular cordless phones.

Here is some history as to why I was asking about concurrent calls:
I am running Asterisk PBX software at home.
I have four VOIP phones; each phone is connected to my home network via an Ethernet cable.
I got rid of all my analog phones several years ago; I don't miss them at all.
I used to be able to make separate concurrent outgoing calls from each phone.
One day, with out warning, my VOIP provider changed something so that if I try and make a 2nd call while there is already a call in progress, the 2nd call is blocked.
Specifically, my Asterisk system receives a SIP "403 Forbidden" response from my VOIP provider when the 2nd call is placed.

I am the first to admit that my needs (or wants) don't match the needs of the average home owner! What I really want is a SIP trunk with no voicemail service; unfortunately for me, that does not seem to be exactly what Start is trying to sell.

I would be interested to hear from anybody else who manages to get Asterisk working with Start.

-crjw

JC_
Premium Member
join:2010-10-19
Nepean, ON

JC_

Premium Member

said by crjw:

What I really want is a SIP trunk with no voicemail service; unfortunately for me, that does not seem to be exactly what Start is trying to sell.

You might be able to get something like that, try sending rocca a PM or maybe he'll respond here.

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

rocca to crjw

Premium Member

to crjw
What you're probably looking for is indeed different, ie you want is a SIP trunk with multiple concurrent calls - it's generally found as part of a business platform and you pay for the number of concurrent channels you want (plus applicable long-distance packages, etc - which are generally not flat-rate as usage can vary so much). Depending on customer needs something like a 3 concurrent system can handle an office of 10+ people but has a higher utilization rate per channel as a result which is why it costs more.

The service we're offering is a more general home phone line replacement type service and not really well suited for people running their own soft-switches.
rockfire
join:2011-01-28

rockfire

Member

Since voip is launching tommorrow, this will add further support staff requirements. Are we to expect longer wait times for support of internet/phone?.

Another tpia provider suffered by adding services without enough staff. I am not trying to stir anything, I just want "Start" to remain the "Start" that it is today!

jmck
formerly 'shaded'
join:2010-10-02
Ottawa, ON

jmck

Member

i kind of a doubt a huge amount of people will call in for this. regardless Start has always dealt with call flow really well, they're an old ISP but only recently jumped into the TPIA world and handled that extremely well.

that other TPIA you're talking about had staffing issues and large queue times long before VOIP was added.

VOIP or telephone services just aren't that big of a deal i think compared to internet.

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

rocca to rockfire

Premium Member

to rockfire
As jmck mentioned (and thanks for the positive comments) - we've launched a lot of products and been around almost 20 years while still being the 'Start' that we are today. While I don't expect we'll see a huge volume attributable to VoIP, we did also just finish hiring another 6 or 8 new employees in the past few weeks to prepare for both the product launch and the back to school rush next month.

jasmo34
join:2008-03-20
~ London ~

jasmo34

Member

An inevitable question or two, concerning your 'official VOIP support'. Obviously, we cannot expect Start to support the troubleshooting of the many varied routers customers may have. So...

Will Start's VOIP TroubleShooting involve removing the router from the loop, like internet troubleshooting usually does?

Will Internet Troubleshooting now require removing the ATA from the loop, as well as the router?

Will you offer VOIP troubleshooting if a customer is using an ATA not supplied by Start?

If a router IS involved, and you do acknowledge their existence... Will your procedures 'officially' recommend and only support Modem-to-ATA-to Router, or Modem-to-Router-to-ATA, or will you support both? Right now, I do not understand the advantages or pitfalls of either method.

Will you include any necessary 'basic' port-forwarding instructions or other router tweaks? Will these be printed and included with the Start-supplied ATA's, or will they be on the website?

Will you provide any info or recommendations on QOS settings?

I'm looking for a plug and play solution, but I know there may be some wiring changes, and or settings tweaks that will be required. I just hope it will all be well documented; then I can probably figure it out.

Perhaps you have all this documentation 'ready to go', for we customers to digest!

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

rocca

Premium Member

Sorry, I don't know what the exact line by line specifics for trouble-shooting are but we already provide basic/best-effort support with 3rd party supplied equipment now and that won't change.

Our ATA's are ATA's, not "routers with FXS ports" so there is no Modem-ATA-Router option with our supplied equipment since they don't have separate LAN/WAN ports.

As for QoS recommendations with VoIP - yes, I recommend it. As for the specific settings, that will vary for each of the bazillion routers and end-user specific requirements combinations out there.

Overall it's pretty simple - plug adapter into router, plug phone into that.

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

3 edits

Davesnothere to jasmo34

Premium Member

to jasmo34
said by jasmo34:

....Will your procedures 'officially' recommend and only support Modem-to-ATA-to-Router, or Modem-to-Router-to-ATA, or will you support both ?....

 
A basic ATA Hookup Primer for any who do not know the difference :

'Modem-to-ATA-to-Router' topology is only even POSSIBLE if you have an ATA which also contains its own router, such as the venerable trusty Linksys/Cisco SP-2102, although if you disable the router component of that and similar ATA's, it must be hooked up as 'Modem-to-Router-to-ATA', the same as my simpler, less expensive, and also venerable trusty PAP2T ATA of the same brand would have no other choice but to be.

ATA's which do NOT contain the extra router (such as mine, mentioned above) MUST be hooked up 'Modem-to-Router-to-ATA'.

There are pros and cons to each topology, but I cannot say much more (specific to START), especially as I have not looked up the exact specs of the ATA which they will be offering.

EDIT : I see that Mister Rocca has covered that last bit while I was writing this post.

jasmo34
join:2008-03-20
~ London ~

jasmo34

Member

said by rocca:

...so there is no Modem-ATA-Router option ... Overall it's pretty simple - plug adapter into router, plug phone into that.

Simple is good.

Can you tell I'm a glass-half-empty kind of guy? What CAN go wrong usually DOES go wrong, and I want to be ready.
said by DNH :

ATA's which do NOT contain the extra router (such as mine, mentioned above) MUST be hooked up 'Modem-to-Router-to-ATA'.

Well, there you go. I thought all ATA's could hook directly into the modem, and then have a router connected. In fact, I thought that was the preferred method for SOME OTHER VOIP suppliers.

I have much to learn Mr. Miyagi!

Thanx x 2.

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

1 edit

Davesnothere

Premium Member

 
Now let me summarize WHY any of this matters :

When TSI began their TekTalk offering, the ONLY model of ATA which they supported (and offered) was the more complex Linksys/Cisco SP-2102 of the first example in my earlier post (I'm not sure whether that is still a limitation there).

And, IIRC, they WANTED it hooked 'Modem-to-ATA-to Router' (I'm not sure whether they still do), in order to support it.

The main problem with 'Modem-to-ATA-to-Router' topology is that in addition to the setup and configuration (using ATA's which support it) being more complex to perform (given that you would be 'nesting' 2 routers one inside of the other), the internal router of those models of ATA's has to also be able to carry the FULL Internet traffic of ALL of the other devices of the subscriber, such as computers, and the problem in doing THAT is that most of such ATA's often flake out on speeds which today's accounts can deliver.

Again IIRC, the SP-2102 apparently maxxes at about 8Mbps to the LAN side.

Good luck getting speed tests to deliver what the subscriber expects of their Internet account, when things are hooked 'Modem-to-ATA-to-Router' !

BThunderW
join:2010-02-16
Cambridge, ON

BThunderW to MFido

Member

to MFido
Will SIP registration be limited from within Start network? I have a server in a DC that acts as my VOIP server (Asterisk) so that I can easily connect my laptop/mobile SIP extensions to it for free outgoing calls while providing me with a static IP and plenty of bandwidth.

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

rocca to Davesnothere

Premium Member

to Davesnothere
said by Davesnothere:

and the problem in doing THAT is that most of such ATA's often flake out on speeds which today's accounts can deliver

Indeed - while it used to be nice that the ATA had 'first access' to the connection, the little adapters just can't keep up routing demands of higher end connections, and by higher end - as you mentioned - even 10Mbps makes many of them fall over.
rocca

rocca to BThunderW

Premium Member

to BThunderW
No, we're not blocking registration to within our network.

BThunderW
join:2010-02-16
Cambridge, ON

BThunderW

Member

Awesome, count me in for sign up assuming I can port my number
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
First thing tomorrow morning I'm going to be placing my order.

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

rocca

Premium Member

Long distance rates are now able to be looked up at »www.start.ca/services/phone
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax

Premium Member

Will there be a tool on the site to see if a persons phone number is eligible for transfer or not?
Sort of like »voip.ms/portability.php

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

rocca

Premium Member

Yes, but not by tomorrow. There aren't many areas that we can't port though.

JC_
Premium Member
join:2010-10-19
Nepean, ON

JC_

Premium Member

said by rocca:

Yes, but not by tomorrow. There aren't many areas that we can't port though.

Will the reps be able to check when we call in to order?

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

rocca

Premium Member

Porting has to be initiated with a form since we need a signed LOA, currently it's a manual form but by early next week it will be a form you can generate online. It might even be ready by end of day, working hard to get it completed.

We cover almost every city in Ontario though (and many across Canada), so if you're wondering about Nepean, then yes we cover that or if there is another smaller area you'd like to check in the mean-time just PM me the # and I'd be happy to take a look. Sorry we weren't able to get that porting lookup today, but didn't want to delay the launch for the sake of the manual porting form. That part will be silky smooth by next-week.
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

3 edits

imtiax to MFido

Premium Member

to MFido
On the phone placing my order now.

Edit: Just placed my order.

Edit 2: Just sent rocca a message to confirm some stuff about the porting process.

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

rocca

Premium Member

Replied to PM.
MichelR
join:2011-07-03
Trois-Rivieres, QC

MichelR to imtiax

Member

to imtiax
said by imtiax:

On the phone placing my order now.

Edit: Just placed my order.

Edit 2: Just sent rocca a message to confirm some stuff about the porting process.

We're on the edge of our seats!
imtiax
Premium Member
join:2014-05-24
Toronto, ON

imtiax

Premium Member

There were some mistakes made when creating my accounts since the staff signing me up was new to this as well.

But after a few messages to Rocca it all got sorted out.

Now I'm just waiting for them to mail me the adapter and it should be all good to go.

I'm pretty happy to see the fast response times from Start support.

Best part is, when I call their support, I get connected to a real person in under a minute, unlike Rogers who I have to wait at least 10 - 15 minutes to get a hold of someone, and then get stuck with endless transfers from rep to rep to fix simple issues.

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

rocca

Premium Member

Sorry about the confusion on the initial port, you may have been caller #1. Our agents are getting comfortable with the new processes and it'll be smooth as glass in a day or two. Thanks for your patience and have a great weekend.
MichelR
join:2011-07-03
Trois-Rivieres, QC

MichelR to imtiax

Member

to imtiax
It's almost freaky how quickly we get to talk to a human being. The few other places I had to contact in the past couple of months, I almost got lost in all the options. And then the dreaded music.
Tristan
join:2006-09-10
Nepean, ON

Tristan to MFido

Member

to MFido
Called in to Start today while at work. Time on hold: Less than 1 minute.

Gentleman I spoke with was able to answer some of the basics. I told him which ATA model Start is shipping customers. Process was relatively smooth, and fast.

Sign-up was pretty painless. Had to use the form, which I found fairly easy.

Now the waiting game. I don't expect much of a problem.

Expect to pay in advance for the ATA if you need one, by credit card.

I really like how fast I'm able to reach a real, live human, and the speed at which the request was completed. As usual, thank you Start and Rocca.

I hope more calling features will be introduced over time. The features are pretty small in quantity, and concierge treatments (which don't yet exist with Start) are kinda expected in this day and age - incoming caller blocking is more essential to our family than voicemail. We absolutely would like to block the Weedman and other local businesses.