Struggling with Cancer Research

......, the fund raiser for it.  They are relentless. I surrendered before but they start that every year as I'm on their list.

First I agreeded to donate some stamps.  Then I looked up their calling history for the 1st time.  It's not good.  I'll keep my promise when they mail me something but I blocked their calls.  But they keep calling everyday with different numbers.

Times like this I am grateful that I cut the phoneline at last and used the internet and Android.  I can look at the caller id at any or all smartphones to see if I pickup the phone.  I think I can block all their numbers on the phone but it's easier at my SIP provider's website to block them so no phone will even ring.

Landline providers are providing similar service but mine is much cheaper and more features.

I'll miss the voice / talking caller id of my antique answering machine.  There are apps for that but they all don't work for VOIP.  It's not a great loss as I can see who's calling with my mobile phone not far from me, even when I'm not at home or far from the answering machine.

However, since you can assign individual ringtone to a number, I can just use a sound file reading that number.  It's a bit of hassle to generate a file for each, but you can make a file for each group, with ringtone like "family calling", "company calling".  And for kids, "dady calling... dady calling".

Then they are estate agents.  They all want to see how I'm doing in this new year.  But I don't want to hear from them for the next 30 years.

Android VOIP Landline updates

My totally free VOIP solution worked for a short while until PBX kicked me out of their service.  Sipdroid exists to sell PBX services.  If I pay, I would not be going through so much trouble to use Google Voice for free.

I upgraded to a Wifi firewall router in the hope that I can install Asterisk myself as a server to connect to GV and be independent on anybody else.  But the support is in disarray, in contrast to the impression one gets.  Firstly, they can't keep up with new chipsets and won't work with some.  Then I discovered that my router will probably not support the newer (and lower production cost) USB drives that do not need a power supply.  And they need FAT partition.  So I never tried to install anything to day.

As you know, instead of charging for the calls, they dropped the open x??p protocol and integrate GV into hangout.  I come to understand and predict their strategy.  If you charge the calls mobile users are not going to pay twice by using GV.  They never and still aren't interested in landlines.  They are only interested in their own bread and butter.  If you have been using GV, you are very motivated to use Android and Hangout when you consider switching.  The support of x??p protocol is to initially attract compatible standard users to start using and switch.  Now it became a distraction when people using it as free Voip calls, and supporting companies such as OBI.  

SIP VOIP is here to stay.  The service and equipments are there for many years.  It does not need great investment to run a service.  Great phones are very cheap compared to a smartphone, standalone skype phone and in the future, a standalone hangout phone.  Even the main cost for a great sip phone is on the screen and software.  Google and Microsoft will not be interested to go into carrier business, which will be on the mercy of cable and telecom infrastructure companies.

Skype's turns are interesting.  It came on at a time no servers can support that many phone calls, only p2p.  Now you have the clouds.  MS has it's offerings.  Google of course want to move everybody into the clouds. It's good if you don't need to pay extra, using the bandwidth you already brought, a smartphone or the computer.

I can see that Google can take over the whole of telephone and video phone business.  Android phones are already doing that, only needing to integrate with your phone number.  For a dedicated desktop phone? There is already the chrome book selling for $200 dollars, cheaper than the price of top end sip video phones.

I do have a chrome book.  Until then I use Callcentric.  It's great for people who don't use that much of their landline.  If you don't call, you can be just paying the 911 tax and may be some other tax.  I doubt even that you need a 911.  Now when you activate a cell phone you can enter a default address for emergency.  You are probably always closer to a cell phone than to your home phone at any time.  And old cell phones with old sim cards can still cal 911.  Now if you used 3 carriers before you have a lot of redundancy.  You just need to keep all of the antique phone charged.

I never had internet outage or cell phone outage.  So I won't hesitate to switch instead of believing that some old fashioned reliable wire connects me to the local telephone company.

However, Sandy wiped out Callcentric.  To provide the low cost service, they don't have geo redundancy.  If you are serious, you should port to Google so people can always reach your number if your connection to the internet is OK.  You can change SIP provider at an instant.  There's a lot more coming out of Sandy in case you are interested in emergency planning.  BTW Callcentric offers free porting.  You can save $25 and try the service for no investment.  Port cost $20 for google and a sim card + activation for porting to wireless first.  T-mobile has free sim activation kit on a day to day basis.

I was burnt by Sunrocket and so I'm not interested in Oma or Obi.  The Oma business model is doubtful.  Now it's clear that you can still call for free but will be stuck in equipments many years old.  Any the Oma is not for low volume callers and nowadays people are mostly on the cell, except for office.  With GV, the Obi is just an dumb telephone adaptor.  Why you still want to stick with your old analogue telephone?  (Fax?)  If you are locked into a service, you are not getting new techs.  Now the non-HD voice IP phones are dirt cheap.  It doesn't help your business image, and there's no other major reason to go into SIP.

I got hooked on HD voice when I tried once.  As they say, "you sound better than yourself".  Hearing yourself when speaking is different than hearing yourself from the other side of the phone (echo test service or HD voice mail).  It sounds so much better with HD.

My thinking has been correct, just I thought too much, both ways.  First I brought a Gigaset IP phone with DECT, which got me hooked up on HD voice.  The remembrance of a once tech giant adds to it.  The "basestation" need to plug in to the router (or modem) and you can put the handset anywhere.  DECT has a good range, and in no way can be worse than my super analogue cordless.  DECT was developed years ago but HD voice came out of it for sure.  May be they have enough bandwidth or they have updates.

I probably got the last one of the last lot.  It was a huge discount.  I can't anything like it for that price even now.  But sorry that I returned it.  The software is so crappy compared to any smartphone.  They can't be compared as a smartphone cost some $500.  Maybe it's a mistake.  I should have look into ways to integrate with the android phone book.  You can use a smartphone as an extension but do not use it to call. The one reason to keep it is that you don't need wifi for it to work.

I didn't know what I was thinking.  I brought a cordless DECT phone.  May be I was going to get an ATA and use the DECT for a start, and then as a backup without the need for wifi.  The selling point is that you can pair cell phones with it and use it at home, which is much more comfortable.  It's a Panasonic, same as my super analogue cordless, which like Siemens, is winding down it's gadget consumer electronics division.  I could have kept it but I didn't.  It was a special straight from factory.  If I return it I have to pay a heavy restocking charge.  But I managed to sell it at Amazon at zero lost because my phone is discounted.  However, the postage Amazon asked for is a bag, I upgraded for a box big enough to put the phone in.

Now my solution to Android SIP VOIP WIFI is almost completed when I had some time.  First you have to the check the wifi coverage and signal strength in your house and yard.  There are Android apps for that.

I upgraded my wifi router.  If you need a reason to upgrade, this is it.  While the spectrum congestion of cell phone and analogue cordless never came to me, the wifi spectrum is very congested.  You can beat your neighbours easily by upgrading to a dual band one.  But your phone have to support that.  The iWhatever's do.  I also turned the old router into a repeater for the far away rooms.  Wifi is a totally different animal from cell and DECT signals, which are not sensitive to the number of walls and what materials are in them.  It is only then I understand why the HDX transmission from VDU isn't always successful even though the test is fine.

It turns out to be well known that wifi is tricky for voice and the android audio latency is also well known.  But I think these may be non-matters.  But it doesn't hurt to do the best and the obvious.  You don't want to lose calls when all your kids are playing online games or streaming HDX movies.

First you need to activate quality of service (QoS) on your router to give priority to the SIP protocol.  And give priority to the phones you are using via MAC, which you can find it on info on your phone along with IMEI, etc.  Failing all that, put your phone on the DMZ zone, straight through the firewall without checking and processing.  If it depends on IP and port range, you may be limited to one phone.  But you can use other phones for caller ID, ring tones, etc.

I don't think it matters much but you can create a virtual AP without security encryption.  You should isolate it from other AP's so any hacking is limited to the phones and there's no much to loose in them.

For Csipsimple the SIP app, you can enter expert mode to improve the latency.  But I think it didn't work or there's no more margin to improve that way.  There's another app known to tackle the latency aggressively but they don't have the option anymore as I see it.

The critical issue is the echo at the dumb phone end.  Since my telephone company is still charging $30 for all the modern conveniences such as caller ID, call waiting, etc, I am sure there's still millions and millions of dumb phone around.

All mobile phones have good echo cancellation, they have to be, so that's a non-issue.  But the issue is created by the smart phone end.  The sensitive mic will pickup from the ear piece.  So the caller's voice come out from the earpiece, went into the mic, and back to the caller's earpiece.  If you are lucky, you can reduce the echo by reducing the volume on the earpiece and the sensitivity of the mic.  For Csipsimple you can adjust those during a call.  Some phones it can't be done unless you have trouble hearing the caller or the caller can't hear you properly.

The complete solution is really a ear plug.  Completely no echo.  You have your ear and head to absorb all the sound wave and there's nothing hard to carry the wave from the earpiece to the mic - just a flexible wire.

I also think that the echo is also the culprit for a large latency.  Echo cancellation is software.  And if the software is trying to cancel a long echo, the buffer has to be larger, hence more delay.

Now an earplug is really inconvenient.  How to get kids who are not old enough to use a cell phone to get use it it?  You just can't pick up the dam phone.

I was thinking to get the cheapest ATA at $15 so all my lovely analogue equipment are still usable as a backup.  No learning curve.  And that I can keep my talking caller ID answering machine.  To date no talking caller ID works for SIP in Android.  If I like to sound HD I would go to the Android or my computer.

While talking caller ID can't be replaced, because you don't need to get up to see who is calling, you can achieve the same with assigned ring tones.  You just need any numbers of Android phones to attach as extension to assign ring tones.  Android can also read the name from your phone book.  The phone you actually talk on can be dumb.

And for a little more, you have have a very good new non-HD IP phone.  They can be plugin before the router so one less failure point.  It's really just "pickup the phone".  There will be no echo issue, a totally different animal from a squar rigid glass and metal frame good for conducting sound wave.   However, they are huge and totally unsuitable for home.

And for some $40 you can get an HD phone.  But the screen may be too poor from an Android and that some are big.  I spotted one that is suitable and did a "best offer" on ebay.  The listing ended before the offer was considered.

I was thinking that a bluetooth headset will ease the inconvenience.  There's no wire so you just pick up the headset instead of the phone.  You can put the phone in some convenient place attached to the charger all the time.  You can even hide it if you have a cracked screen.

A bluetooth headset may or may not have the same echo problem.  The usual ones are tiny that hangs on your ear.  There are some with a stick to put the mic closer to your mouth.  I would think a conventional headphone with a stick mic will have absolutely no echo problem.  But, how can a kid answer the phone or make a call?

It dawned on me that I needed a handset (as opposed to a headset).   I remembered handsets that looked like my dad's phone's handset.  Dad will be happy to use it.  I found a low cost handset that doesn't resemble my dad's phone.  But the design is basically the same, with earpiece on the ear, the mic by the mouth and something soud absorbing in the middle.

Bluetooth or not isn't the point.  One more piece of wire isn't critical and BT isn't espensive.  But usually nowadays you can do voice command on the handset (or headset for that matter).  How about "call dady" ?   Or "momy called".  The handset has only about one 4 way rocker switch to work with.  Can't be simpler than that.

I should have found one that docks and charges.  Now this one charges with USB.  But that's not a problem.  Even the smallest kid have a USB charger by her bed.  She use it for playing games on ipad, android and whatever.  She knows to keep all her electronics fully charged or she cannot play.

I don't know if BT can carry HD voice.  There are BT that certified for that.  In any case the cheap handset will be useful for many things, if only as a backup.

Now I don't have anything specific for SIP only.  If they doesn't work as intended I have nothing to return.  Let see how it goes.

No monthly fee landline replacement with Google Voice and Android wifi soft phone

Now I have a working system paying nothing.

I opted for a soft phone in Android.  Although it's a mobile phone, but it is classified as a soft phone.  A dual core will be fine but a single core isn't much far behind in benchmarks.

You need to check your wifi reception around your house.  Actually my 900MHz analog cordless is superior in range.  There are no problems inside the house and around the yard.  On the same floor with the router upstairs, the front rooms have interference from across the street.  The signal drops a lot downstairs.  I used to think wifi signal has a large range.  But no, my old wireless router was just sufficient to browse the web in most places indoors.  I never did much on wireless other than browsing.  With my new router, with careful placement of it, I manage to get 3Mbps in most indoors areas.  That figure is from speedtest.net.  I think that's megabytes.  That's the minimum speed provided by some ISP and typically for DSL.  My ISP is 30Mbps and I can get almost that when I'm close to the router.

One of the soft phone said it requires over 1 Mbps to work properly.  Double that is safe as link speed fluctuates a lot and depends on how your neighbors operate their routers.  I use my Android phone with wifi apps to walk around and check the signal and link speed.

For the soft phone I use sipdroid.  It setup Google Voice during install without problems.  For now pbxes.org allows HD voice codec for free.  If you are not talking to another soft phone, or a sip phone, it doesn't mean a thing.  But that's the cool factor.  It sound pretty good if you try the echo test number *43 or the 909... number for PSTN. 

Using a dedicated Google Voice account is recommended because you have to give out your password.  Also, sipdroid acts as if it's talking on the computer via Google talk/chat all the time.  So you must not use it.  Don't login to gmail, but if you have to, logout of Google talk/chat there.  At the Google Voice account, you have to set forward to Google talk/chat, and that's forwarding to your softphone.  You can ring other numbers too as well.  Your softphone will ring first on your mobile before your carrier does.

Sipdroid is pretty much integrated with Android.  But ...  the native dialer won't work with sipdroid without a sim card or perhaps a valid carrier plan.  But any other dialer will work.  You can put the icon of your new dialer in place of the native dialer if you have to.  There are dialer widgets that you can put on the home screen.  Remember that it is supposed to be a landline replacement that kids can use.

The native/Google contacts work.  The call history works.  Sipdroid is transparent if you set it as default if there is wifi.

Now for a change, the Google Voice app is able to send and receive text via wifi only.  The GV app can run any time without interfering with Google Talk/Chat, which is connected to your softphone.  But make sure to set the app not to make any calls.  Confusing enough?

Those talking to you will certainly hear echo of themselves if they are on PSTN.  It's a characteristic getting across different networks, the PSTN and the internet or other networks.  Cell phones have echo cancellation I think.  On the PSTN side, I think echo canceling is done on the carrier network.

Your caller's echo is due to sound from the earpiece coupled into the mic on YOUR phone.  In the echo test number, you can hear the 2nd echo of yourself.  To reduce that set the mic gain to low in sipdroid.  If the echo is still bad, set the earpiece gain to low.  For some phones, if the sound level is too low, you can set the earpiece gain to high.

There's no doubt about it, the voice quality is good, sounds like a landline and better if both ends are soft phones or sip phones.  Using Google Voice, there is a delay that may or may not be noticeable.  The only issue is calling some call centres when you have to use DTMF tones.  You have to slide it out in Sipdroid, not as convenient and responsive as physical buttons.

Can't do fax at home.  Have to find an online account.

There are reasons not to use Google Voice.  When you call somebody, you will be connected to the pbxes server probably in Germany.  They will forward the call to a Google talk/chat server probably in US.  From there your call goes into the PSTN.  If you don't use Google Voice, your call will not bounce across continents.

Before I sorted 0ut my wifi problems, I almost wanted to get service from a VOIP/SIP provider.  The reason I returned my SIP phone is because I have no confidence to find myself a good provider.  If you pay $20 a month there's no problem.  A reasonable provider seems to be callcentric.  First, their website is update - copyright 2013.  They seems to be the real deal full service provider with 911.  You can pay as you go.  The monthly fees are like $1 and the setup fee is free or at most a few dollars.  Calls are a bit expensive at less than 2 cent a minute.  But then if you don't use the phone much you pay almost nothing.  You can try out their services with very little upfront payment.  They also promise to refund any unused prepaid credits.  But they are for geeks who know what is DID and understand why you have separate packages for calling out and receiving calls.  There's a little bit of catch as they will port your home number for $25.

I might still do, for 911 for less than $2 a month.  I'm sure you can still call 911 on the go phone with an expired sim card.  I'm not so sure on the Android.  Some people dial 911 as their first call on their new phone.  It's true, that's the only way you can be sure.  But emergency services is very much against that.  The position reported from my always online Android is not bad at all, mostly fall in the right lot.  But there were exceptions that I didn't look into.  I will.

Even with sip providers, you can still port your number to Google Voice (via wireless first).  For outbound calls they can put any verified phone numbers as the ID.  People can just call your GV number and get forwarded to your DID number.  Since GV is a redirection service, the calls are not bounced across servers as in Google talk/chat.

One more thing, pbxes.org is totally for geeks.  Of course people who manage pbx are IT people for a company.  And don't mess with the settings too much.  If you messed up, HD voice won't be free any more as per their plans.  However you can still delete the account and reinstall sipdroid.  They don't ban the same email after you delete your account.  I don't know if I can keep their free account for long.  Their emails to warn of deleting your accounts are a bit threatening.  I like to pay them reasonable charges but they don't provide sip services, just pbx.

One step further will be having your own PBX.   From there your call goes straight to Google talk server, which will be the same as talking on your computer using gmail.  That's way too complicated but it's all because Google has strategic reasons not to become a free sip provider.

The most popular Asterisk pbx server is actually available on jumbo versions of DD-WRT, that are preinstalled or can be installed on many wireless routers.  The one time cost are adding up fast if I actually buy a new router.  However, I might just do that because the whole house need better wifi coverage.  The old router can be used as a repeater.  Also, I was amazed how many things can be installed on a router nowadays.  A printer server - you may want that in large offices as the router has a large antenna while wifi printers don't.  File server of course.  In relation to that bittorrent clients.  VPN of course but so far I see no openvpn.  For files I must need file encryption like truecrypt of better still the Linux version that do not have pre selected fix sizes "folders" for all your secrets.

But most of it can be installed on Android stick computers too with minimal power consumption.  I don't see why not as you can even install Linux over Android.  But then may be I'm the only one who want Asterisk on an Android stick - until Google Voice shows it's next move.

Android phone Jiayu G3 and VOIP app review

My Jiayu G3 android 4 phone has arrived.  At 1280x720, it has more pixels than the iPhone 5.  At the front, it uses Gorilla glass as in the iPhone 5.  It's constructed from light weight alloy (aluminum?) just as the iPhone 5.  The back cover is plastic but well protected by the metal frame.  Somebody called it QHD that is wrong.  QHD is 960x540.  This is the same as 720p TV.  While 1080p HD may be called full HD or HDX (Vudu).  Somebody called it retina display.  The G3 has more pixels but half an inch wider than the iPhone 5.  Whether it's retina, you can do the math.  I don't care.  I'm not losing any pixels if I watch Vudu in HD.

What made it so popular is the price.  At well under US $200 (no contract), it is an entry level phone used by students.

The external appeal carries on to the camera at 8MP, and the very decent front camera.  Both are high end specs like the Samsung Galaxy III.  The cams look good but I can't try them without a micro SD card, up to 32 GB.

What make the price low is the lack of 4G, which doesn't make a lot of sense outside of US and Europe without substantial 4G coverage, and for incompatible standards.  It's 3G so there is decent data speed.

It's dual core, but the bench mark is at the low end of current Android phones. I got call during game playing without lagging.  I could have chosen cheaper single core CPU but dual core gives me more assurance for a home phone.  The advantage of dual core may not show up in the benchmark.

It's a pretty good toy - watching movies better than the iPhone 5, the same camera resolution (though quality depends on other factors), and a very decent video phone.  It's a pretty game console with a much better screen than the Nintendo's.  It's weak at 3D graphics compared to high end Android phones because of the cheaper GPU.  But then the phone is for a landline, not a game machine.

Now for the VOIP software.  I only tested those apps that work with Google Voice.  If you are new, you want to create a new Google account so you have nothing to fear if you give out your password to 3rd-parties.  Then you create a Google Voice account and get a phone number.  You can port your wireless number to it.  For landline you need to port it to wireless first.  You need at least a working phone number to associate with a Google Voice account.  (But you don't need this associated account once you are verified.)

You should create a GV account first before you install the VOIP apps.  You have to login using a browser and set forwarding to Google Chat only.  And then you need to logout, otherwise incoming calls are routed to your PC.

The apps I tested are Sipdroid, GroveIP lite, and Talkatone.  All 3 will ask you for the GV account name and password.  Sipdroid ask you if you want to create a PBX account first.  You need to say yes to work with GV.

Sipdroid is most integrated into the Android OS.  It's hard to stop it from running.  Any attempt to call will reactivate it again.

I use the 1st echo test number to test the voice quality.

PSTN Test Numbers

USA

• 1-909-390-0003 - Ontario, California - Echo Test - No Ring, Immediate Echo

Fax

• Send faxes to FaxToy.net: 1-888-877-1655 or 1-503-200-1300

UK

• 44-785-584-1311 - Voicemail on UK mobile. If you pay more than $0.10 to call this, see Avi Marcus

Israel

• 972-72-264-1749 (temporary)- FreeSWITCH echo test via 012 on UK server, by Avi Marcus
• 972-72-264-1751 (temporary)- FreeSWITCH standard MOH via 012 on a UK server, by Avi Marcus

iNum

• +883-510-000-000-091 - Blueface Echo test

SIP URI Test

• sip:904@mouselike.org - Mouselike Sound Test - echo and others.
• sip:echo@iptel.org or sip:3246@iptel.org for Iptel's echo test
• sip:hangup$HANGUP_CAUSE@conference.freeswitch.org - trigger a hangup of your choice, e.g. USER_BUSY
• sip:lenny@sip.itslenny.com:5060 - "transfer your telemarketer calls to lenny to take care of !!!!" - it's random voice that talks during quiet times. 

The best voice quality is Sipdroid.  The worse is Talkatone.   It should be noted that the voice quality depends on things like traffic, routing and server.  But at least I'm trying them one after the other.

GrooveIP only supports G.711, which is the standard PSTN (landline quality) codec.  The excuse is that Google Voice supports that codec only.  This is not very true as we shall see.  Sipdroid supports the grand daddy of wideband codecs - G.722, the oldest HD voice standard.  There are other codecs that is designed for packet loss.

Delay and echo is a problem in VOIP calls.  The delay is obvious if you compare your old landline and Sipdroid via the echo test number.  It's like the other end starts to hear "one thousand", right after you finished saying "one thousand".  The delay is much shorter with landlines.  I don't think it's crippling.  I hope so.  And I think that this delay isn't noticeable when you actually don't hear yourself when not in the echo test.  The delay is about the same with GrooveIP and Talkatone.

The advantage of Sipdroid is that it displays the codec inuse, the % packet lost and the delay.  The delay is 80 to 110 ms so far.  Round trip or not I don't know.  This may not meet landline standards, but I think it's regarded as a problem in VOIP if the delay is greater than 200 ms.

If somebody dial your GV number via PSTN (analog), the G711 codec will be used by Google Chat to forward the call.  There's no advantage to use better codecs.  If you dial out from Sipdroid, Google Chat will settle for G.722, which then downgrade to G.711 if the number you called is PSTN.  The echo test service is obviously supporting G.722 because I get much better quality with Sipdroid than with my PSTN landline.

There are other important settings if you need Sipdroid to work well.  Typically, the PSTN side will hear echoes of themselves.  You don't hear your own echoes because smartphones have echo cancellation at the endpoint.  The PSTN echo is due to their voice from the earpiece coupled to the mic on your Android phone.  This can easily be reduced.  Fire up Sipdroid and use the setting menu.

For some phones the receiving volume is weak even on highest setting.  In this case you need to set the earpiece gain to high.  If you two echoes in the echo test, the first one is the wanted echo for the test, the 2nd is the unwanted, annoying echo.  You set the mic gain to low to reduce the unwanted echo.  Usually you won't be able to hear the unwanted echo after that.  Or, the unwanted echo is hardly noticeable unless you listen hard for it.  You can set the earpiece gain to low to further reduce any echoes, provided the ear piece volume is still sufficient.

The speaker phone won't work for any apps.  I think it may work if both are decent Android phones with echo cancellation.  But I can sacrifice this.  Most of the applicationis, I can use skype, conference calls, and bluetooth headsets instead.

GV is reliable so far.  May be the phone rang sooner than cell phones.  Voice transcript to email takes less than a minute I think to reach my phone.

Now the remaining is porting.  By law you can port your landline to wireless.  Even the cheapest prepaid should accept your request.  They can delay but cannot screwup.  My good old favorite is the Go phone prepaid.  Then you can port from wireless to Google Voice.

BTW, Google announced that Google Chat calling is free for US and CA in 2013.  This does not mean that GV is free too.  There is still no announcement on the GV blog.

The road to an Android landline

There is the prequel of got burned by Sunrocket, got a very cheap all in one cordless that doesn't work with caller ID from my "digital" phone company.  I tried and returned a very good SIP DECT phone.  And returning the latest Panasonic cordless for a restocking fee.  (Can't sell it on eBay or Amazon)  I'm still using my 900MHz cordless and talking CID answering machine.  That's a long story.  But the talk of getting crowded in the 900MHz spectrum and interference is bull shit.  It never happened and now may be I'm the only one in that band.  Well, that depends on where you live as well.

I had done some research.  It's doable but not straightforward.  You may not get high quality voice all the time.  But I have no doubt that my wife and kids can use it like the good old phone.  Indeed I think that will be easier as tablets are so popular.

The latest cordless are cool.  They can be used as a bluetooth headset for cell phones.  Basically you can take mobile phone calls using the phone at home.  But why?  The cell phone is capable of better voice, infinitely better user interface.  If you want comfort, you can always use a bluetooth headset.  And then the adapter.  ATA means analogue telephone adapter.  Not cool.  The DECT cordless specifications includes SIP VOIP and codecs.  But you need to get a SIP DECT phone.  DECT phones alone will be designed for your "analog" landline.

Google is confusing.  It has to be.  If it wants to be a carrier, it could get anti-trust treatment.  Of course other carriers are dealing with it carefully, like blocking Google Wallets.  The project with Dish to provide wireless data says it all.  Interestingly, the Google apps don't work very well on iPhones.  Now they have the hardware (Moto), the software powering more than half of the smartphones, whose owners are paying for the 4G network.  And they are carriers too!

All Androids are capable of wideband voices for over a year now, somebody said.  Android 4 and above is safe.  But I would think earlier models are OK if you need to hack it a bit.

Somebody said Google Voice only supports G.711, the narrowband codec fit for POTS.  That's surprising as I checked that Google Talk supports many wideband codecs.  Somebody else said that GV shouldn't matter if you do not use it "directly".  I sort of know that GV isn't an application, but some redirecting service that shouldn't negotiate the codec directly.

The bottom line is that I hear rather good quality.  The sipdroid reports that it is using G.722, the grandfather of wideband codecs.  It doesn't make a lot of sense as I was talking to my old phone on the old line.  That's the problem of echo, background noises, input and output levels.  Some apps just don't work.  But they can be overcame.  Somebody says G.722 isn't suitable for mobile data or Wifi because of packet loss.  Other codecs will be better.  But my Wifi is at home totally under my control.

Also, the Wifi range is roughly 100ft indoors while DECT is at least double or more.  I don't think that matters too much for my house.  Extenders can't cost much more than routers.  And you can always bring out the darn cell phone or the sim card when you are going to the extremes of your estate someday.  Also, the router should support the newer n standard and with more than 1 antenna.

First, the phone.  I decided against a tablet because that would not be suitable for kids' hands.  Games will always be played.  On the other hand a big phone will be good, with length and weight more similar to the old phone.  The longer distance between earpiece and mic might just be improving the echo problems.

A resolution of 720 HD will be preferred.  That's the highest resolution you can get now.  So my younger kids with nobody to call will not bother me to get a cell phone because they want to play games.  A decent front and back camera wouldn't hurt as they will be used for video phones.

Android 4.0 and above will be easier to maintain/update and likely wideband voice capable.  I would think dual core will be safe to run all the apps, codecs and play games at the same time.  Also I think Skype needed the power for peer to peer.

A Chinese made phone fit the bill.  It's 3G only without 4G.  But I don't need any G.  It cost about $200 if you are brave enough.  I was willing to risk it on DHgate but my bank didn't seem too eager.  I know paypal dropped them in August and never accepted the others.  Any my bank sort of intercepted the online transaction in the form of a security check.  I confirmed but they seemed to decline the payment anyway.  I ended up with several orders of the same thing.

Those guys have a different mentality and I don't blame everything on them.  It's like you made a honorable decision, and you cannot cancel in a few days' time.  What?  I didn't even paid!  Some companies over here asked for 50% restocking fee.  You are lucky if they accept returns.  Android Nazi's.

It's interesting what they are selling on their own sites inside China.  Of course the biggest promotions are on the famous Brands like Moto and Samsung and of course iWhatever.  Of course they cost more than from here.  They also classify phones into political incorrect catagories - Men's phone, Women's phone and Student's phone.  You will be humbled when you check your own model.  What do you think their idea on the under $100 Virgin's prepaid Android?  For Virgins?

The score for now.  1 returned SIP/DECT.  1 pair of link to cell Cordless on sale.  4 orders of the same 1280x720 4.5" Android.  One unconfirmed payment possibly declined.  I was willing to pay $50 extra for the same thing but now probably will not make it for Christmas.

Let you know how it goes.

The compelling reason to replace your POTS landline

HD Voice.

For low volume users, cost isn't the compelling reason.  Look what happened to Sunrocket, when I was a user too.  If you charge lower than the minimum Vonage charges per month, obviously it's hard to survive.  If you don't talk much, there's no reason to move over to Vonage paying about the same.

There's a lot of SIP VOIP providers, but the market is a mess.  I'm not doing it again after Sunrocket.

Wireless carriers are now offering you cheap landline replacement by giving you a huge cell phone that you cannot take outside.  It's cheaper but the quality is not as good as POTS.  You have to buy the adapter that's a sort of "contract" or activation charge.

I recently got and returned a SIP phone.  I love my voice for the first time with the echo test.  I don't trust any providers and can't work with Google Voice like my POTS landland.  So I returned it.

Many users have experienced HD voice via SIP or other forms of VOIP such as Google Talk, Skype and other chat clients.  Now wireless carriers are starting to provide it.

It's the cool factor.  You may have a silly 5.8 GHz cordless in every room.  But it's not cool.  You can't get HD out of the phone line.  But you can from the Internet (also wireless data, same thing.)

It's compelling when someone call you, and your gadget don't have any wideband codec to respond.

And you can get it all free.  Two compelling reasons.  No configuration.  Three ...

Landline replacement means many things to many people.   Replace it with wireless means you are getting rid of the landline altogether.  There's a lot of reason to keep a landline.  If you have a family and small kids who have no cell phones yet.  Even for a couple it's worthwhile to have a landline.  Basically the call is for whoever is in the house, as oppose to an individual.  It's free, so why not.

My landline replacement and enhancement means moving over to VOIP.  By replacement I mean small kids can pick up the "phone" and dial anyone (including 911) with a phone number.  The outgoing caller ID will be what you expect as a landline.  Of course anyone can call you with your phone number anytime.  Even if you ditch the landline altogether, it's good if you can automatically have HD voice at home using the same cell phone.

Never buy any VOIP adapters, even if they work with Google Voice.  You don't get wideband voice by using the same old analog phone. 

I don't know why SIP phones are so expensive.  Cordless SIP phones are more expensive.  It doesn't make much sense with a SIP adapter, and then plug in your super DECT phones or spread spectrum cordless phones.  The adapter output is analog, and behavior exactly like the good old landline.  I got a cordless gigaset which integrates SIP with DECT.  That make more sense and I got it at a huge discount.  I got HD voice on it.  But the UI is too poor compared with, say, an android.

What make more sense is Wifi SIP phone.  But why are they so expensive?  Business people still in business can pay more?

It dawned on me that every Android phone is a Wifi SIP phone.  I checked and there is native support on it.  But like a SIP phone, you must pay a SIP provider.  When you receive a call to your GV number, Google don't convert the protocol to SIP and redirect to your phone.  It's trivial.  You can't even dial out without paying the wireless carrier, but you can use Google talk on any computer connected to the internet.  It doesn't make sense and may be I'm wrong on the last bit.

So Google is doing most of the work, the most being giving you a number that people can reach you.  But Google don't provide the last mile.  The work that Obi did is trivial.  It's like login for you in a computer, receive the GV call, and convert the protocol to SIP to send to your IP.

There are actually a lot of apps on the Android that do the same thing.  Either free hoping you pay for the premium SIP services, ad supported, or one off like the Obi.  So if one server is down and out of business, you have some backup.  And you can always fall back to Skype.  Now Skype added outgoing caller ID, but to get a number you need to subscribe, and I don't know if they can port your number now.  I have a single core Android that don't work well for Skype.  But SIP is simpler and works well without peer to peer.  Though why people don't make a standalone Google talk phone without the video?

An OBi cost $40.  A new Android is as low as around $80 for prepaid Sprint (Virgin).  Paying $40 extra for a Wifi phone is a no brainer.  I don't know how the basic Android performs with HD codec.  But for sure I will buy a dual-core expecting some kids will be playing on it or watching youtube, making sure calls will not be dropped.  The Walmart landline replacement cost $99 and you HAVE to pay $15 each month.  Verizon has the same thing which is basically the same hardware I think.

I have mentioned that connected to the internet GPS are quite accurate for E911 if you are in a single family house.  I will further say that to nominate a household on the street to keep the landline.  My phone line is basically the same internet fibres as the cable company provides everything.  And after the Sunrocket incident, I'm fairly sure they punished me by giving me an internet adapter at the box, rather than giving me back the old line, which has more degree of separation with the internet fibers.

VoIP killer applications

Home phone away from home
You can bring your "home" phone anywhere that has Internet connection! It's worthwhile to pack it with you - the phone is about palm size and the base sits on your palm. Sometimes it's important to give the impression of being at home, eg, taking sick leave to go on vacation! Or you can tell you friends that you are on vacation as it happens, rather than returning their calls after vacation. You can retrieve your voice mails with no extra cost anywhere in the world, rather than going through all of them when you come back.

But I won't bet on it 100%. There would be little difference within US. But Internet traffic between countries or regions may have bottlenecks affecting voice quality or reliability. But if you are on vacation, who cares.

It can't replace cell phones outdoors, but the charges are high for international roaming. For example, a US caller calling your US cell number can get through if you are in London, but someone has to pay for the international long distance charges. Usually people bring their GSM phone, or an extra GSM phone when they go abroad, then buy local prepaid SIM cards. So you have a number that your folks back home do not know, unless you tell them. They can still reach you, but international call charges apply. But for VoIP, there is no difference where your phone is, anywhere in the world.

Telemarketer killer

I can tell you that the no-call list don't work, only making telemarketer more aggressive. Dish network used offshore telemarketers to get around no call list? Firemen and policemen funds seem to be exempted. Debt collectors of course can call you until the end of time. Credit card affiliates can call you to sell credit protection plans and others.

Banging the phone and zippers don't work because the telemarketers are well prepared. It's part of the job and their life depends on it, scarifying the ear drum is not a big deal. It only make them more aggressive as if to revenge.

Having a landline is a liability. At worst, the marketing calls outnumbered useful calls 10 to 1 ! Most people use cell phone. I keep a landline mainly for international calls, and I don't use cell that much too.

Without caller ID subscription, it's suicide! CID alone doesn't do much. First of all, the phone still rings all the time. Second, you have to go up to the phone to see the ID. A CID announcing phone saves you some walk around.

Typically VoIP call features are inclusive, making it much cheaper than traditional phones. CID is always free. The other marketer killer features are call blocking. You can block all incoming calls without an ID, in this case you phone don't even ring! You can also block individual numbers. Call waiting ID allows you to see who's waiting before deciding to take the call.

Since most international calls do not have CID, I need a 2nd number with a distinctive ring tone for international callers. I also give this as a VIP number to friends and families. This number is free too. (You have only one number for outgoing calls, that is, your outgoing CID is your home number .)

After fighting with the telemarketers for a while, I know their tactics. First, they call with blocked ID's. Then they call with some misleading company CID, but you can recognize who's behind it after Googling it. If you block these numbers then they will have totally non-sense names or numbers like 12345678, or a combination of legit area codes and random numbers, like 602-00-0000. Then, the bad news, not a day after I heard on the news that they can spoof the CID, I got many calls from cell phone numbers that I don't recognize. Nobody left a message so I knew they are spoofing telemarketers. I don't take calls not on my electronic phone book. Then they give up.

Traveling service provider

If you ping pong between East and West coast for example, you will be using your cell phone for business, as most call plans are national in scope. VoIP is effectively a national plan, with the same charges no matter where you bring your phone, but cheaper. In addition, all US carriers do not support a second line (a second phone number) on a single phone. For VoIP, not only that you can have as many numbers as you like on a single line, you can pick any area code you want. This allows you to create the impression of local presence. It's either free or a few dollars for each additional number. However, your outgoing caller ID will always be your primary "home" number.

Traveling call center

Usually all your cell phone call log appears online in your account. I can't say that about landlines. But VoIP does it a lot better. First, extended CID means that you have a name on top of a number. Second, you can work your contact list online, rather than on your tiny cell phone. Third, you can listen to and organize voice mails online (though the voice quality is not as good as cell or your own recorder). With a laptop traveling, you can deal with a large number of new and old callers. With simple browser add-ons, you can, for example, highlight a phone number or numbers on your log, and lookup customer information from a database. Or you can lookup the database with a single click on a button, using the first X phone numbers on the log as the key. The call details appear pretty quick online, pretty much as quick as the demo on TV about how fast the credit card transitions will appear online.

Intercom

It isn't relevant to VoIP technology but did I say I buy into VoIP because of the low cost equipment? I brought VoIP because I can have a decent cordless phone for cheap. Nowadays the intercom functions are pretty good. Press one button to initiate call and then scroll through the list to call the dining room, bedrooom 1 to 4, toilet 1 or 2, or everybody. It can hardly be simpler than a dedicated intercom.

VoIP doesn't cost you anything

You need broadband Internet connections for VoIP telephony. For Cable Internet it's about $50, whether you want their bundled digital telephone (non-VoIP) or not. For DSL it's $20 for a decent speed Internet connection, but you have to pay $30 for the phone. So it's roughly $50 whatever you want. However, basic cable is a lot faster than basic DSL, reflecting the stated prices of $40 to $20.

Why would you want VoIP? For cable phone for example, the caller ID feature cost you extra $6, a few dollar monthly fees for long distance and international calls if you want economical calls, and of course the high call charge as compared to, well, Skype, which is almost free. So it's worthwhile to get VoIP for $10 with all the call features you can think of (except voicemail $3), including a 2nd phone number (same line). The basic $10 package includes some 200 minutes local and anywhere calls. Additional calls are comparable to Skype Out, an order of magnitude compared to conventional call rates.

So even for low volume users, VoIP cost you nothing to saving you a lot of money. For high volume, it's a must have, since traditional carriers like AT&T offers VoIP to business users. Skype doesn't do it for me. VoIP is one telephone number for everything. For Skype you need an ID for free PC to PC calls. You pay to call a traditional phone number (Skype Out), and it cost you to keep a Skype In phone number for grandma to call you. The critical deficiency for Skype is that it's a P2P technology, relying your PC to do all the work. Your PC not only process the voice, but routing other's calls as well. You must have an always on PC to replace the landline, or a standalone Skype phone will not be cheap. Skype do not have 911 support.

Is VoIP E911 reliable? You need your cable/DSL modem and router working, DC adapters for them working, and have electricity. Although modems and routers look like toys nowadays with cheap plastic casings, they seem to work forever 24/7. I think I can trust my life on them if I need 911. Think about it, how many cordless phone users have a wired phone connected for backup? I don't think cordless phones are any more reliable than modems and routers. I have a wired phone, but not really for backup, but use it as a telephone ringer for the spare phone socket. Also, it's just as easy to cut your telephone line as your electricity. The chance of noticing that your electricity is gone is a lot higher, when you are watching TV for example. And there are emergency systems that turn backup lights on when electricity is off. There's also the cell phone that everybody have that cannot be cut that way. Indeed there are alarm systems that make use of cellular systems rather than landlines.

As for equipment cost, again it cost you nothing to save you a lot. If you wait for promotions, the adapter allowing you to use your old phones bundles free. You can also use all of your existing phone sockets too, if you must. So if the VoIP company goes out of business (some may), you will not lost anything. Even better, you may get a free cordless phone that will not fight with WiFi. As for me, I refused to pay the overly expensive cordless phones nowadays, which drove me to discover my VoIP provider - Sunrocket. My cordless VoIP phone cost $40, which is about the price in the rest of the world, and the price I am willing to pay, after using the cordless VoIP phones in the rest of the world for a while, especially in the Far East. Mine is slightly not as slack and not as feature rich as those in the Far East, but well, they all think Americans should pay more for everything.

The voice quality of VoIP depends, but certainly between traditional landline and cell phones. If you talk a little, it doesn't make any difference to you. If you talk a lot, the amount of money saved will make you forget about the difference if any. Skype to Skype calls can be better than landline I would think. It's a big plus skipping over the telephone network, which has been evolving over many years but has to work with many old phones and systems. Skype voice processing can be an overkill because it has the PC to do all the work. One of the problems I have is international VoIP to VoIP calls. Sometimes it work perfectly, sometimes not at all, sometimes with clear echoes. But I think it's a temporary problem, otherwise no business will use it.