We’re a little over 12 months away from the PSTN switch-off and, despite copper being old hat in many homes and businesses, I predict there will be chaos for those who attempt a VoIP transition without a plan.
The cautionary tale that follows is my own. After all, this is Real World Computing, and if this helps only one reader avoid the same pitfalls, then I’ll be delighted.
During the summer, I spotted that our broadband provider, Virgin Media Business (VMB), was offering a slightly faster speed for a slightly lower price. Our shop doesn’t require multi-gig synchronous phat-pipes like certain RWC contributors, because machines with smashed screens and wine dripping from USB sockets don’t go online. We’ve functioned adequately with VMB’s Zoom package, which gave around 350Mbits/sec, but the shiny offer of 440Mbits/sec for a tenner less per month was appealing. After all, our existing Hitron modem could cope with the speed, so the package tweak was more of a billing exercise, wasn’t it? Ha!
VMB’s sales team explained the upgrade would handle our PSTN switchover to VoIP and that this was a seamless process with no need to change our handsets. This is where I screwed up. I blindly accepted VMB’s reassurance without question. I was told that a VMB technician would need to install a new router and
