Landline phone with own router on FTTP

[bruce_miranda]

Just got FTTP and everything is working fine off the VF router. Phone lines are plugged into the VF router, VF router's WiFi is switched off. 3rd party Mesh has been switched to Bridge mode and plugged into the VF's ethernet port.

However I am shocked at how feature poor the VF router is. e.g. There are no Parental controls at all. I know I can get rid of the VF router and plug my own Mesh router into the Openreach ONT, but what about the Landline. 

Are there any 3rd party routers in the market that have a telephone socket at the back to allow the home phone to be plugged in? 

[MACH1]

You may be the expert I am desperately looking for!     In the last 24 hours I have done a crash course in digital telephony.  I had come to the conclusion that what I needed was an HT801 which should (potentially) enable me to keep my existing rather nice Netgear router.

I am fairly IT savvy, but certainly no expert, and I feel a bit uneasy because the Grandstream HT801 is NOT designed as a 'consumer device' and so is not particularly friendly to configure.  I understand I need to ask Vodafone for the VOIP settings for our broadband account - but they may be reluctant to give them.

Can you tell me exactly what settings I need to ask them for?  From my experience yesterday, I have no doubt they will give me the runaround unless I ask for precisely the correct information.    Assuming that I CAN extract the information, could you offer me any advice on how to configure the HT801?  I have downloaded the manual, and there seem to be a very large number of parameters that can be set, so I think I really need a bit of guidance.

[chesterweirdo]

So you need a few things. The best way is via live chat I found. You need to get your pppoe username and password. This will allow you to setup your own router by plugging into the box open reach attach to the wall.

it is also worth asking for a static Ip as it makes life easier. They are free but do seem a bit harder to get them to do it. Just keep asking. None of this is to do with voice however. 

you then also need to ask for the following. They sent me a text with them all on. 

Username / Password
SIP proxy
SIP registrar
SIP URl

once you have those details and a 801 you have everything you need to set it up. 

the config is slightly complicated. In this thread there are lots of screen shot. I will try and get mine later. 

[MACH1]

Many thanks.  I'll have another go with the Vodafone support chat tomorrow to see if I can get the details suggested.

[MACH1]

The new Vodafone router arrived, so I have now confirmed the line IS working. Just need to get my Netgear online before I commit to buying the Grandstream.

[MACH1]

Would you be prepared to share some screenshots of the configuration setup of the Grandstream HT801?     I was pointed in the direction of a very long posting which apparently had the necessary information, and I have reproduced it on my unit using the account details I got from Vodafone, but without success.    I am OK with copying configuration details, but I do not understand what the various parameters mean (with a few exceptions) so I cannot see where I am going wrong.   Any advice would be gratefully received.

[chesterweirdo]

Hi yep I will try and get some screen shots. 
one thing that is often missed is do you have on the first page the dns servers set to Vodafone. They have to use that else it does not resolve. 

[MACH1]

I presume you mean the "resvoip.vodafone.co.uk" etc?         I have tried copying some of the screen shots some other forum members have uploaded, but so far without any success.   One thing I HAVE noticed is that (at least some of) the configuration screens on my HT801 are considerably longer than the screenshots!  I had previously assumed that anything below the information on the screenshots ws just left at default values.

I do not understand the significance of most of the configuration boxes - so I am hoping to be able to copy some entries from another user who has successfully set up their own Grandstream unit, just substituting my own account details.   Regards.

[Ripshod]

A tip:

Sometimes, once you have the correct settings you have to reboot the ATA to get them working. 

[chesterweirdo]

So when you login to the 801 go to basic settings. I have mine set as a static on my network. The main thing I found was you have to use Vodaphone DNS servers regardless of what you use on your own router. So I have it set as 90.255.255.90 and 90.255.255.255 These are the only DNS servers that will return the correct record. The IP address, subnet and Default router will all have to be set yourself.

Advanced Settings I do not think I touched. So then its FXS Port is the page to configure
I set the 
Primary SIP Server as resvoip.vodafone.co.uk
Outbound Proxy as xbn.Z3.bbvoice.vodafone.co.uk
SIP UserID and Authenticate ID as the SIP username from Vodafone
Authenticate Password again from Vodafone
I also gave it a name
DNS mode has to be on SRV
Use NAT IP I set to be my static IP that Vodafone gave me
SIP User-Agent set as Vox 3.0

I think most of the other settings I left alone but I did spend some time looking at others and comparing.

As a side not be careful as the web interface times out so if you spend a long time making a amendments make sure you save it

[MACH1]

Hi.  Many thanks, I think you MAY have found why I am still having problems.  Where exactly do you configure for the Vodafone DNS servers?   I have been very wary about making any changes from the default aside from those users have specifically recommended, as have no doubt that 'fiddling with things I do not understand' is an inherently BAD idea!😊  The DNS server part is the only bit of the information above that does not look familiar, so hopefully that is where the problem resides.