Office with poor internet
Discussion
We're taking some more office space in a converted barn in the countryside.
Full 5G signal but slow internet speeds, we are not bothered about having to get Starlink for example as we use it for internet access and Teams calls. However I'm told by our telecoms provider that we'll probably struggle to get VOIP in there as we won't be able to get a static IP with Starlink without spending a fortune.
Absolute worst case scenario is a forward to an office mobile as we make more outgoing calls than incoming and tend to use our mobiles but it'll be a slight pain for receptionist not to be able to answer and put callers through. It's open plan about 1,500 sq ft so an office mobile isn't a total deal breaker as much as a PITA.
Does anyone know of any other options? For reference it looks like the max D/L speed is 20mbps, office will have max 6 people working at any one time, and only ever 1 big screen Teams call going on at any one time.
Any advice please?
Full 5G signal but slow internet speeds, we are not bothered about having to get Starlink for example as we use it for internet access and Teams calls. However I'm told by our telecoms provider that we'll probably struggle to get VOIP in there as we won't be able to get a static IP with Starlink without spending a fortune.
Absolute worst case scenario is a forward to an office mobile as we make more outgoing calls than incoming and tend to use our mobiles but it'll be a slight pain for receptionist not to be able to answer and put callers through. It's open plan about 1,500 sq ft so an office mobile isn't a total deal breaker as much as a PITA.
Does anyone know of any other options? For reference it looks like the max D/L speed is 20mbps, office will have max 6 people working at any one time, and only ever 1 big screen Teams call going on at any one time.
Any advice please?
Consider a hybrid system.
Look at all the 5G options one may be significantly better that others.
Take on a adsl connection and have your router to balance the line between both connections with voip primarily via adsl.
This could also be done with any of the three providers, it depends if you need the network live at all times & the bandwidth required.
Though starlink and most 5G options use carrier grade nat which should not be an issue, what did the networking guys say was the challenge?
Look at all the 5G options one may be significantly better that others.
Take on a adsl connection and have your router to balance the line between both connections with voip primarily via adsl.
This could also be done with any of the three providers, it depends if you need the network live at all times & the bandwidth required.
Though starlink and most 5G options use carrier grade nat which should not be an issue, what did the networking guys say was the challenge?
This Reddit is three years old & everyone post that it works fine:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/rwajmj/...
Maybe find a different telecom provider? Most ISPs don't provide fixed IPs & millions are finding it makes no difference.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/rwajmj/...
Maybe find a different telecom provider? Most ISPs don't provide fixed IPs & millions are finding it makes no difference.
Apparently it's that Starlink changes IP quite often and therefore calls would be dropped. I'm a complete technophobe when it comes to this sort of thing but at the same time I do know that they had to update the phone system when we changed broadband supplier in the past. No reason to doubt him but again no reason to take what he says as gospel.
Happy to hear there are others of you using VOIP over Starlink, I'll do some more research.
Thanks guys.
Happy to hear there are others of you using VOIP over Starlink, I'll do some more research.
Thanks guys.
If you're already using Microsoft 365 and Teams I'd just add Teams Phone with a calling plan.
What Microsoft 365 package(s) do you have and how many users? What sort of desk phones? Do you have a CRM that you would want to integrate, i.e. automatically recognise a number calling you and open the record in CRM.
You can port existing numbers and/or get new geographic ones.
What Microsoft 365 package(s) do you have and how many users? What sort of desk phones? Do you have a CRM that you would want to integrate, i.e. automatically recognise a number calling you and open the record in CRM.
You can port existing numbers and/or get new geographic ones.
We use Teams about once a day for external meetings, the rest of the office don't really use it.
At the moment we have 8x Yealink T57W and a cordless Yealink. We purchased a number ages ago which just forwards to whatever number we were given when we set the office up.
I think the issue we have is that we want to be able to transfer calls between offices and have the same number ring through in both locations.
At the moment we have 8x Yealink T57W and a cordless Yealink. We purchased a number ages ago which just forwards to whatever number we were given when we set the office up.
I think the issue we have is that we want to be able to transfer calls between offices and have the same number ring through in both locations.
Whereabouts are your offices located? You should get a couple of quotes from companies that can do the end to end solution of connectivity, networking and VoIP. Ensure they give you a proposal and contract with SLAs around availability and break/fix.
What Microsoft 365 subscriptions do you have?
What Microsoft 365 subscriptions do you have?
Who does the telecoms or rather who does the isp management, your internal networking and the voip - are they the same provider?
it seems strange that they aren't considering something like tailscale and others providers in this area to create a vpn link between your location, irrespective of cgnat use.
I suspect there is a reason but it like to understand what the challenges are.
Call handling is really your side to manage but if theres a receptionist in the main location surely she can simply send calls to the remote location and in not answered they'll go to voicemail you could also have a group extension that calls all the phones in the remote location to be picked up any free staff.
It doesn't seem significantly challenging.
it seems strange that they aren't considering something like tailscale and others providers in this area to create a vpn link between your location, irrespective of cgnat use.
I suspect there is a reason but it like to understand what the challenges are.
Call handling is really your side to manage but if theres a receptionist in the main location surely she can simply send calls to the remote location and in not answered they'll go to voicemail you could also have a group extension that calls all the phones in the remote location to be picked up any free staff.
It doesn't seem significantly challenging.
In terms of MS365 we have (probably naughtily) a couple of Home Licenses which are shared with up to 5 people each. Including all the Office Apps/Outlook/Teams.
Our Exchange is hosted by IONOS - if I had the patience and the knowhow then having a corporate 365 subscription would probably be handy and something I'd do as we've had it from the days of 2 of us working in a small office about 10 years ago.
I'm meeting our current supplier on site at 2pm so I'll know his thoughts then but happy to bring in other suppliers to quote and give their ideas.
Looking to start moving some of the stuff across within 4 weeks so I need this element sorting satisfactorily first; I do have an EE 5G router that'll get us going to begin with if needed.
Our Exchange is hosted by IONOS - if I had the patience and the knowhow then having a corporate 365 subscription would probably be handy and something I'd do as we've had it from the days of 2 of us working in a small office about 10 years ago.
I'm meeting our current supplier on site at 2pm so I'll know his thoughts then but happy to bring in other suppliers to quote and give their ideas.
Looking to start moving some of the stuff across within 4 weeks so I need this element sorting satisfactorily first; I do have an EE 5G router that'll get us going to begin with if needed.
Used to run a small office out in the countryside off 4G with no problems, using VOIP.
Might be worth checking what the signal strength is.
Because we were in an old stone building if I just had the router indoors, it was quite unreliable.
Bought a router with aerial inputs and an outdoor aerial from these guys ( https://www.solwise.co.uk ),
mounted the aerial on a cheap mount from Screwfix and was then a rock solid connection.
Current shed runs off the landlords Starlink, generally no problems, phones run on wifi fine (no mobile signal) and can do Teams etc... no problem. Occasionally seems to go down if it is raining very, very hard.
Might be worth checking what the signal strength is.
Because we were in an old stone building if I just had the router indoors, it was quite unreliable.
Bought a router with aerial inputs and an outdoor aerial from these guys ( https://www.solwise.co.uk ),
mounted the aerial on a cheap mount from Screwfix and was then a rock solid connection.
Current shed runs off the landlords Starlink, generally no problems, phones run on wifi fine (no mobile signal) and can do Teams etc... no problem. Occasionally seems to go down if it is raining very, very hard.
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