VoIP Telephone Products and Services in Australia

In late 2006, we decided to try Voice over IP (VoIP) after hearing so much about it. We purchased an IP Phone (Netcomm V85) and set up an account with Engin, a company which provides an IP Telephone service. With 10c untimed calls to local and national landlines, we were eager to test engin and voice quality over internet telephones.

At the time, we had ADSL internet access through Telstra Bigpond. With bigpond, we were paying premium dollar for a 1.5Mb connection. We decided to upgrade our network, so after a bit of research we decided to switch to TPG Internet which had ADSL 2 (24Mb broadband internet connection) available in our area and was almost half the price of Bigpond (and much, much faster). We also upgraded our modem router to a D-Link wireless for our ADSL 2 connection. The network upgrade was smooth, everything worked straight out of the box.

IP Phone or Telephone Adapter Box

We decided to purchase a dedicated internet phone instead of a VoIP adapter which allows analogue phones to be plugged in to a box which in turn is plugged in to the router. An IP phone plugs straight in to the router, is given an IP address and can be configured through a web browser. An IP telephone also provides better voice quality than an adapter.

Netcomm VoIP V85 SIP Desktop Telephone

We purchased a Netcomm V85 VoIP SIP Internet Telephone (SIP is a common internet phone protocol). With our engine registration details at hand, we began tried to connect the telephone to engin so we could make calles and receive calls through broadband over the internet.

With the IP Phone pluged in to the router we were able to access and configure the phone via a web browser. We entered all settings provided by engin and we were unsuccessful in making a connection to Engin.

After spending hours trying to trouble shoot the problem by calling Engin Support (staff at Engin provided great technical support) and consulting Netcomm's website (very poor support) we eventauly found the problem on the Whirlpool Forums.

Netcomm V85 Firmware Upgrade

Using a Netcomm V85 with Engin BYO Voiper VOIP service. In order to use the Netcomm V85 VOIP Desk Phone on Engin BYO Voiper VOIP service a firmware upgrade is required. The phone we have shipped with Firmware version 1.0. Firmware version 1.01 (Dec 2005) or later is required as a minimum to work Engin's VOIP service. We are unsure if this is required for other VoIP providers, but it is always a good idea to have the latest firmware installed on your IP phone.

To upgrade the Netcomm V85 firmware, enter the following details.

FTP Server IP: 202.44.167.165
ImageFile Name: V85.1.01.eng

It took us about 8 times for the firmware to upgrade successfully. So be patient and keep checking to see if the firmware version number and date change.

TIP: If something goes wrong, try reseting the Netcomm V85 phone to its factory setting.
To factory reset the V85, keep the handset in its place and idled. Then please press the following keys on the keypad. #*110*
If successful, the LED screen will display 'Starting...'

VoIP Phone Calls Timming Out

Finally, we got the ip phone working with Engin. Sort of. We were able to place calls and receive phone calls to our VoIP telephone.

People on the other end on both landline telephones and mobile telephones reported that the voice quality was excellent. We were pleased.

On our end, the voice quality was average with a metalic ring and echo similar to a low quality bit rate mp3. But this did not bother us to much as the voice was still clear enough and the cost savings offset the lower voice quality on our end.

Later, while calling friends long distance we noticed that each call would time out and disconnect after 5 to 6 minutes. This occured while we were still using Bigpond and our old modem and router. After a quick call to Engin's Support number we were told this is common with some routers where the router has trouble filter the packets for VoIP and eventually fails and the call is lost.

Engin gave us some router configuration options to eliminate this problem but we decided to upgrade the the network with new hardware and a faster internet connection. Again Engin exceeded my expectations with there customer support. They were willing to take their time while they I confirmed the setting in the phone and router were correct and were more than happy to answer my questions, no matter how trivial the questions were.

Three months later

Once the phone was setup and working, all was well. We did have a few problems where the phone lost the registration or connection to Engin when a router needed to be reset or after a blackout, but we quickly discovered that by unpowering the Netcomm V85 phone for a couple of minutes and then powering it up again, the telephone would connect to Engin and work fine.

We were pleased the the reliabilty of VoIP technology and the savings we acieved. We reduced a $200+ phone bill to around $40 per month including the service fee. Keep in mind that over 70% of our phone calls are to interstate landlines which we were paying STD rates with Telstra.

We were so pleased with the results that we decided to add a couple of extra lines and telephone handsets using VoIP through Engin. Though there are many companies out there offering VoIP services, some with great features and add on products, we decided to stay with Engin because of there great customer support, but more importantly because of their reliability - we had zero down time Engin.

Introducing the Linksys SPA941 IP Business Phone

For our second IP telephone, I decided to try a different phone. The Netcomm V85 worked well but was missing one important feature - it did not have an imput for a headset. The girls in the office have been asking for headsets so I decided to purchase and try the Linksys phone.

Linksys has two models available which met my requirements. The Linksys SPA941 and the Linksys SPA942 which offers an additional network port so you can connect in to your PC. The Linksys SPA941 met all my needs and was a whooping $2 cheaper than the Linksys SPA942 so I purchased the SPA941 because that was the only model in stock at Harris Technology in Hawthorn, Victoria. The Linksys SPA941 cost around $40 more than the Netcomm V85 but had a 2.5 mini jack for a headset which had to be purchased seperatly.

Of the topic, Linksys has a new model coming out soon, Linksys SPA962, which has a colour LCD display which looks very slick. I have no idea about the pricing at the moment. Also, Linksys has a model called Linksys One Manager Phone (PHM1200) with high-resolution, color, backlit display which costs almost twice the price of the SPA941 but would look great on my desk.

Linksys SPA941 IP Phone in Action

Setting up the Linksys SPA941 was a breeze. While this phone is feature rick with so many setting to tweak, I used the default settings and just entered in the details provided by Engin (SIP Proxy, userid, password, etc.) and the phone worked first go which was quite a surprise - I expected some problems similar to which I experienced with the Netcomm V85. So far very happy with the Linksys phone. Also Linksys is owned by Cisco Systems Inc, a company with a reputation for building quality network hardware.

The first test call was made to a friends mobile phone. The quality on both ends was excellent. The Linksys phone did not have have the metalic echo of the Netcomm phone. The sound and voice quality has equally high using the handset, speaker phone or the optional headset by Plantronics.

References

Netcomm V85 Datasheet on Whirlpool