Anyone had any experience with Engin or similar Australian VOIP companies?

August 19, 2006 — 1 Comment

I looked at my Telstra bill during the week, and I’m seriously considering dumping my Telstra landline…nearly half the bill is made up of Telstra charges: I pay extra to have my number not listed, I pay extra to have call number display…it’s stupid and given I’ve got a 2mb Cable connection I don’t need a landline for DSL.

Wondering if anyone out there has any experience or can recommend a decent Australian VOIP carrier?

I’ve taken a look at Engin, as much as I’d have to get a new number, at least I can get a Bunbury Area (0897) number and the rates look ok, I make a fair few calls to mobiles and 27 cents a minute isn’t bad..although annoyingly they aren’t included in the “free” calls you get as part of the monthly service fee.

For people outside of Australia, Skype really is not an option: I can’t get a local number and to be honest the call quality isn’t always that flash when you call landlines on it.

The fun part for me: all the phone points in the house a wired using Cat 5, so to change a phone point to a data point is as difficult as me changing plugs/ points in the service box, and chuck the VOIP adapter in there as well 🙂