VOIP FAQ Quality High Speed Internet - Required! How do I use VOIP and what is it.
VOIP allows you to use regular telephones to make calls via the internet at a reduced cost vs a landline. You can use normal telephones and your exsisting wiring can be used if reconfigured to work with the SIP access device. How do I use my exsisiting phones and wiring?
You will need to make a few changes to your inside wiring. Professional installation is recommended but not required. The SIP UA device (Grandstream HT496) has two standard RJ 11 telephone connectors labled LINE 1 and LINE 2. You can take any standard phone and plug it into these connectors. In order to use your exsisitng inside wiring you must disconnect from your existing provider which is usuallly on the the outside of your building. Once isolated you can connect the SIP device to your inside wiring via one of the RJ-11 jacks in the home or directly to the wiring. IMPORTANT: Because you are dealing with lines that carry voltage, there's always a risk of causing a fire or damage to your phone lines and equipment. If you are not comfortable doing the work yourself, you should hire a professional electrician or telephone technician to do the job instead. - What is the cause of choppy calls and is there anything that can be done to fix this?
Choppy calls are usually caused by high latency or packet loss in the Internet Service Provider's (ISP) network.
High latency is when it takes too long for the data to be transmitted over your Internet connection,Packet loss is when information is lost over your Internet connection.
Either symptom can be caused by ISP problems, Internet congestion, or heavy bandwidth usage such as online gaming or file sharing. All of these issues are problems you'll need to resolve with your ISP.
You can also determine if there is a problem by using any number of Internet speed tests. Check both your upload and download speeds. We recommend at least 90Kb of both upload and download speeds. - What if I subscribe for service and its choppy or cuts off?
We highly recommend you verify your quality of connectivity before purchase. We DO NOT provide refunds for CPE equipment purchased and you will be responsible for all monthly charges as well as any disconnect fees. We do not provide the access to the network and the quality of the connection to your ISP is NOT our responsibility. We do provide an accessible test point at our office to ensure that your service is working and to isolate problems with your ISP. - Will VOIP service sound worse than my normal service?
If you have a quality ISP it will be digital service which is of greater quality than most POTS (Plain old telephone service) lines. - Why would I want VOIP service?
VOIP is much less expensive and more feature rich than traditional phone service. When combined with features the savings in usually around 80%. VOIP also is very flexible. You can use in anywhere there is quality connectivity to the internet as long as you understand the implications on E911 service. - I've heard there are issues with E911, what are they?
Metrostat provides E911 to VOIP subscribers for the service location given at signup. VOIP differs from normal phone service in that you can physically move the connection anywhere in the world. We require that you notify us upon a change of address and if you move from one rate center to another you will need to change exchanges so we can process E911 correctly. We don't offer service in every rate center. If you subscribe to VOIP, the service needs to stay at the service address in order for E911 to work properly. If you move the device without notification when you dial 911 it will provide the service address we were given. We don't recommend this but if you do travel with the device make sure you and others using the service understand that the E911 feature will be routed to the address information given to us at signing. - I have my own SIP device, will it work.
Metrostat VOIP support standard SIP devices. You are welcome to use the device of your choosing. Your account info will be provided to you. You will be responsbile for its configurattion. We do provide instructions for the Grandstream HT496.
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