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Internet options - working from home with VOIP Phone
Posted on 10/15/15 at 3:18 pm
Posted on 10/15/15 at 3:18 pm
Looking for advice. My office is allowing me to work from home, my manager is actually insisting I work from home, which is fine by me.
I have my home office setup now and am using my home internet. I live out in the country and my only option is DSL thru Windstream. I have their fastest connection which is 12mb down and less than 1mb up.
Everything else works fine, I can VPN into the office and all, but the phone is the issue. I can receive calls fine, but because I have less than 1mb upload (speedtests usually yield between 0.5 and 0.7 upload) the person on the other end of the call only catches some of my words, so I'm basically using my cell or home phone for all phone calls. Windstream has nothing to offer me to get a faster upload speed.
Any advice? I had satellite internet years ago and it was awful, I'm sure it's better now, but not something I want to consider.
I'm really just looking for something to power my work computer and I can use soft phone software to use my phone and I'm fine with that. I'm on ATT with my cell, but I don't think a 4G dongle will work, as I need something I an use 8-10 hours a day off and on for phone calls.
I have my home office setup now and am using my home internet. I live out in the country and my only option is DSL thru Windstream. I have their fastest connection which is 12mb down and less than 1mb up.
Everything else works fine, I can VPN into the office and all, but the phone is the issue. I can receive calls fine, but because I have less than 1mb upload (speedtests usually yield between 0.5 and 0.7 upload) the person on the other end of the call only catches some of my words, so I'm basically using my cell or home phone for all phone calls. Windstream has nothing to offer me to get a faster upload speed.
Any advice? I had satellite internet years ago and it was awful, I'm sure it's better now, but not something I want to consider.
I'm really just looking for something to power my work computer and I can use soft phone software to use my phone and I'm fine with that. I'm on ATT with my cell, but I don't think a 4G dongle will work, as I need something I an use 8-10 hours a day off and on for phone calls.
2
Posted on 10/15/15 at 3:47 pm to kywildcatfanone
Is VOIP a requirement or do you not want to use your cell phone? I've been working from home for the past few years. My job isn't phone-based, but I had AT&T U-Verse VOIP for conference calls, then switched to Magic Jack. Once I switched from an iPhone 4s to a Nexus 6, the call quality on that (both ways) was actually superior to the DECT phones I was using for VOIP. I canceled VOIP service entirely and just use my cell.
An upload of 1mbps shouldn't be an issue on VOIP. Even the most bandwidth-hungry VOIP codecs have bitrates of less than a tenth of that. But if the connection is unreliable (packet loss, high jitter/latency), that would be a problem.
Yeah, you wouldn't want satellite for VOIP anyway. The latency on a lot of satellite services is close to a full second.
An upload of 1mbps shouldn't be an issue on VOIP. Even the most bandwidth-hungry VOIP codecs have bitrates of less than a tenth of that. But if the connection is unreliable (packet loss, high jitter/latency), that would be a problem.
quote:
I had satellite internet years ago and it was awful, I'm sure it's better now, but not something I want to consider.
Yeah, you wouldn't want satellite for VOIP anyway. The latency on a lot of satellite services is close to a full second.
Posted on 10/15/15 at 4:06 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
Is VOIP a requirement or do you not want to use your cell phone?
Thanks for the reply.
We just purchased a new phone system, and they want all employees to use it, so I have both a phone and softphone software at home. It's nice for extension dialing to the office, and conference calls and such with coworkers.
My cell is personal, and I do use it for work, but would like to use my work phone for work related calls if possible. I'm on an old plan with ATT, as I still have my unlimited data, so calls to land lines cost me minutes, and the last couple of months I have gone over my minutes using my cell for work.
I'm not really sure what makes the most sense. I'm told the upload speed of my connection is why folks can't hear me well, or it cuts out constantly and Windstream can't tell me if they have a plan to upgrade where I live anytime soon, and cable isn't an option.
I do a lot of webinars, and can use an 800 number for the calls, so I can use my home phone in that scenario, but I would prefer to use my office phone, as it does connect me to coworkers more easily.
Posted on 10/15/15 at 4:45 pm to kywildcatfanone
I have an old plan with minutes, too, but luckily I've never gone over. It sounds like you need a more stable connection, so why wouldn't a 4G dongle work? Expensive for what you get, but maybe the company will pay for it?
Posted on 10/15/15 at 5:02 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
so why wouldn't a 4G dongle work? Expensive for what you get, but maybe the company will pay for it?
I was concerned about having my computer on that connection for 8 hours a day M-F, would assume there are limitations on data, as I would be using it for both calls and my normal work internet usage. I manage online product development, so all of my work is internet based.
Can you pay $50 a month or so and get a 4G dongle and have unlimited bandwidth?
Posted on 10/15/15 at 6:25 pm to ILikeLSUToo
AT&T is telling me this might work. LINK
I'm now trying to determine how much bandwidth using this 8 or so hours a day to read email, do web work with some downloading and uploading, and make and receive office phone calls, maybe 3 hours per day of talk time. They sell it looks like up to 8Gb per month, but I have no idea how to guess at how much data an 8 hour work day consumes up and down.
I'm now trying to determine how much bandwidth using this 8 or so hours a day to read email, do web work with some downloading and uploading, and make and receive office phone calls, maybe 3 hours per day of talk time. They sell it looks like up to 8Gb per month, but I have no idea how to guess at how much data an 8 hour work day consumes up and down.
Posted on 10/15/15 at 6:41 pm to kywildcatfanone
Yeah, the talk time would be no problem at all, but you'd have to determine your own data usage for other things. Being confined to the company's phone system limits your options. Otherwise, there's always the burner phone route (cheap pay-as-you-go phone with separate number, would be cheaper per month than a dongle+data).
Posted on 10/18/15 at 8:08 am to kywildcatfanone
With what you've shared I can almost garuntee that your Internet connection is your problem. Generally, we suggest to our customers to stay away from DSL if they plan on using VoIP in any significant manner. The asynchronous nature of DSL is kryptonite for call quality. Especially with only 1mb of upload, you don't realize how much bandwidth all the programs you have running are using. I would suggest at the very least seeing if windstream can bump your upload speed up but you are still working with a DSL connection. Look into other options in your area for a more synchronous connection from your cable provider or local utility company maybe. The difference in price of that connection will likely be less than any data overages on your cell plan or a burner phone.
Posted on 10/18/15 at 12:01 pm to The Next
quote:
Look into other options in your area for a more synchronous connection from your cable provider or local utility company maybe.
quote:
I live out in the country and my only option is DSL thru Windstream.
Posted on 10/18/15 at 10:07 pm to The Next
I doubt your internet connection is the problem.
What kind of device are you using for the calls?
What kind of device are you using for the calls?
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