[kwlug-disc] OT: Dumb VoIP questions

[William Park]

On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 12:45:16PM -0400, Paul Nijjar wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 07:09:09AM -0700, William Park wrote:
> > >Dumb Question 1: How does VoIP work over Rogers? Do they throttle or
> > 
> > >do other badness to third party VoIP traffic?
> > 
> > I had Rogers Home Phone and currently have Teksavvy Tektalk.  Both
> > are VoIP.  We haven't noticed anything strange.
> 
> I am sure that Rogers Home Phone will work fine on the Rogers network.
> The question is whether 3rd party VoIP will work. 
> 
> I assume you switched ISPs to Teksavvy when you signed up for Tektalk?

The wire is still cable.  I switched internet service from Rogers to
Teksavvy first.  So, at that time, home phone was Rogers and internet
was Teksavvy.  Later, when I had enough of Rogers' billing mess, I
switched home phone to Teksavvy as well.  As far as quality, Teksavvy is
not as good as Rogers home phone, but it's good enough, especially at
$10/month.  

> 
> > >Dumb Question 2: I have a POTS line and a VoIP line, using voip.ms . I
> > >set the Caller ID of the VoIP line to the POTS line. Do I need to sign
> > >up for E911 service on the VoIP line now? I signed up using the VoIP
> > >number, but when I tested the connection by dialing 1-555-555-0911 I
> > >was told that the test failed because the number (which was the Caller
> > >ID number) was not in the database. So I am confused. 
> > 
> > 
> > I don't have POTS line.  With cable, Rogers specifically charged me for
> > 911 service, and Tektalk includes 911 with the package.  But, I don't
> > now how to test 911 without actually calling 911. :-)
> 
> Yeah. I don't know whether this 1-555-555-0911 is a voip.ms thing only
> or what. The Internet seems to associate that number only with voip.ms
> .  

Regarding 911... Teksavvy took pain to point out that their 911
(presumably same for all VoIP) is different from the normal 911.  With
normal 911, you are routed to nearest 911 centre, and they know the
address the call is coming from.  With VoIP, you are routed to national
call centre, and you have to give them your location.  They have your
address (namely, the 911 address you filled out when you signed up), but
they will ask you to confirm it.

-- 
William