VoIP in the house to PSTN connection

[stuartjr]

VoIP is as it says "Voice over Internet Protocol" - this is subtly different from "Voice over the Internet". Issues such as Quality of Service (QoS) can arise when the voice packets are heading off in an uncontrolled manner over unknown routers out there in cyberspace.

I am hoping to run VoIP around the house using VoIP phones (not PCs), but using a gateway (eg. HandyTone 488) to translate the IP packets and route the voice call down the PSTN (BT) line, as for all their faults I trust BT's QoS (and I am happy that the voice link is relatively secure).

I was interested to note Mucca_D's comment in the FAQ thread about BT's 21CN programme, as I would be happy to dispense with the gateway if the IP packets can be routed off at the local exchange and run via the BT backbone, with 'normal' internet packets scurrying off to the internet. Presumably this would allow multiple telephone numbers (or more correctly addresses) on the one connection, and I guess with ADSL would still retain 'lifeline' connectivity on the voiceband in the event of power down.

Anybody got any comments, or have you done similar to the above and have any tips?

Thanks,

Stu.