Lucian
ULTIMATE Member
Hi folks,
So it's been a couple of months now that I have ported my main mobile number into A&A's VoIP system and wanted to share my experience so far.
First and foremost, I am talking here about my main _MOBILE_ number, not fixed number or anything else. This is the number family call me on, the number I get SMS on (including 2FA codes) etc, so it's a big deal.
I've jumped at this technological solution because I wanted to be free for a while to jump from mobile deal to mobile deal, while not being too stressed about porting my number to different operators every couple of months.
So, how has it been?
Pros:
1 - Porting in was painless, just needed that code from my previous operator.
2 - A&A have been brilliant on the one time I needed assistance, which is why I went with them - wouldn't trust my number with anyone else.
3 - The ability to have multiple VoIP apps installed all over (phone, PC, physical phone) and talk on any of them is brilliant, I found I much prefer talking over the "phone" using the headset and microphone on my PC, same ones I use with teleconferencing software (zoom, teams etc) as I am alas seated in front of a PC for good part of the day.
4 - A&A allow me to record all my calls and have them emailed to me - this is a great feature and got me out of trouble with the missus a few times (of course I wasn't listening!).
This feature is also great if you want to go over recordings with other people from which you want to retrieve forgotten information. The call recordings are very small and encoded mp3.
5 - SMSs come as emails, so they're stored nicely in my inbox.
Cons:
1 - A&A only have a single payg tariff, so you pay for every minute that you talk, however this is not as much of a problem as I do not make many or long outgoing calls and when I do I usually use the "minutes" included on whatever "hot deal" I am using at the moment, although the "strange new" number might confuse certain people.
2 - As I said SMS come in as emails, this can mean notifications for new texts depend on your email app, so something to watch out for; not a problem for me.
3 - I left the biggest problem at the end, the VoIP apps - I had quite a few problems with them.
Some will have trouble connecting due to network restrictions, NAT, double NAT and so on. I have found I had problems with VoIP on EE and not as many on Three. Some apps would work, but absolutely shatter battery life as they run continuously in the background.. And some other ones do indeed implement some sort of notifications to save your battery, but this means they are actually taking over client role and login to your VoIP account from their servers - a bit of a privacy and security concern.
In the end I have opted to just forward the calls from the A&A VoIP to whatever is the number I am using in the phone at the moment and this works without problems, however I am paying for the time I am talking on the phone like this, so hey.. small problem.
This month's bill from A&A is about £3.5 and I am paying Lyca £0.45/m, so a grand total of about £4. I'll cancel Lyca when their promo expires and jump on whatever else will be "hot" at that moment.
So, is it worth it to do what I do, financially? No. I could have just paid Lebara £5 for a great offering and not bother with any of this.
Is it worth doing this for the extra control and flexibility that you get by using a VoIP account? Well, yes it is!
However, it is also fun and I have to admit, I will not go back to a traditional operator very soon.
In the future I would love to play with my own PBX at home (or cloud) and somehow find a way to use proper VoIP apps in a more battery friendly way without sacrificing privacy or security, maybe via UnifiedPush or other free software solutions.
Hope you enjoyed reading about my experience and feel free to comment below.
So it's been a couple of months now that I have ported my main mobile number into A&A's VoIP system and wanted to share my experience so far.
First and foremost, I am talking here about my main _MOBILE_ number, not fixed number or anything else. This is the number family call me on, the number I get SMS on (including 2FA codes) etc, so it's a big deal.
I've jumped at this technological solution because I wanted to be free for a while to jump from mobile deal to mobile deal, while not being too stressed about porting my number to different operators every couple of months.
So, how has it been?
Pros:
1 - Porting in was painless, just needed that code from my previous operator.
2 - A&A have been brilliant on the one time I needed assistance, which is why I went with them - wouldn't trust my number with anyone else.
3 - The ability to have multiple VoIP apps installed all over (phone, PC, physical phone) and talk on any of them is brilliant, I found I much prefer talking over the "phone" using the headset and microphone on my PC, same ones I use with teleconferencing software (zoom, teams etc) as I am alas seated in front of a PC for good part of the day.
4 - A&A allow me to record all my calls and have them emailed to me - this is a great feature and got me out of trouble with the missus a few times (of course I wasn't listening!).
This feature is also great if you want to go over recordings with other people from which you want to retrieve forgotten information. The call recordings are very small and encoded mp3.
5 - SMSs come as emails, so they're stored nicely in my inbox.
Cons:
1 - A&A only have a single payg tariff, so you pay for every minute that you talk, however this is not as much of a problem as I do not make many or long outgoing calls and when I do I usually use the "minutes" included on whatever "hot deal" I am using at the moment, although the "strange new" number might confuse certain people.
2 - As I said SMS come in as emails, this can mean notifications for new texts depend on your email app, so something to watch out for; not a problem for me.
3 - I left the biggest problem at the end, the VoIP apps - I had quite a few problems with them.
Some will have trouble connecting due to network restrictions, NAT, double NAT and so on. I have found I had problems with VoIP on EE and not as many on Three. Some apps would work, but absolutely shatter battery life as they run continuously in the background.. And some other ones do indeed implement some sort of notifications to save your battery, but this means they are actually taking over client role and login to your VoIP account from their servers - a bit of a privacy and security concern.
In the end I have opted to just forward the calls from the A&A VoIP to whatever is the number I am using in the phone at the moment and this works without problems, however I am paying for the time I am talking on the phone like this, so hey.. small problem.
This month's bill from A&A is about £3.5 and I am paying Lyca £0.45/m, so a grand total of about £4. I'll cancel Lyca when their promo expires and jump on whatever else will be "hot" at that moment.
So, is it worth it to do what I do, financially? No. I could have just paid Lebara £5 for a great offering and not bother with any of this.
Is it worth doing this for the extra control and flexibility that you get by using a VoIP account? Well, yes it is!
However, it is also fun and I have to admit, I will not go back to a traditional operator very soon.
In the future I would love to play with my own PBX at home (or cloud) and somehow find a way to use proper VoIP apps in a more battery friendly way without sacrificing privacy or security, maybe via UnifiedPush or other free software solutions.
Hope you enjoyed reading about my experience and feel free to comment below.























