FWD - No Longer Free

[chicha]

I just got an e-mail today from FreeWorldDialup. They will begin charging a $30.00 annual membership fee during the month of August, 2008.

[chicha]

Does this change pertain to those that use FWD as a proxy? A friend of mine helped me to configure my Sipura 3102. I used FWD in the PSTN Line tab/Proxy and Reg. I have no idea of its purpose.

I use IPKall. Callcentric is my service provider. (Calls through IPKall are routed to my GizmoProject account.)

If this change will affect me, what FWD alternatives are there?

Here is the e-mail i received:


Subject: FWD moving to $30 annual membership fee
Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 8:30 AM


Dear FWD'er:

Free World Dialup is implementing a $30 USD annual membership fee during the month of August after 12 years as a free service.
A startup taking over a decade to reach conviction about a business model likely sets a record, but we believe $30 USD per year is the magic number. It is 10% of the cost for Vonage's unlimited usage plan. FWD provided the inspiration for the founding of Vonage in 2001, and Vonage's hybrid Internet-PSTN offer now generates nearly $1 billion in annual revenue. FWD's voluntary paid membership experiment last summer demonstrated the demand for a complete break from telephone network. FWD's future as a Communication ISP will include only those services that do not have a per minute charge. Rather than competing directly with the telco's or even Vonage, the mission of a Communication ISP is creating new opportunities and modes of communication. FWD will relaunch the website during August to focus on services, applications, and content available to people with VoIP SIP devices connected directly to the Internet.

See FWD CEO, Daniel Berninger's Communication ISP Manifesto.
If you wish to retain SIP registration and support FWD, please click through the paid membership banner at the top of the home page which links to the Acteva registration service.
Make sure you use the email associated with your FWD account (the one on which this message arrived.)

If you lost your FWD account info, you can use the password retrieval process or simply create a new account.

The first 1000 paid members get "founder" status, but FWD will retain existing free accounts through August 31, 2008. The new paid membership requirement allows for associating any number of accounts with the email address used for payment, so you can keep the free ride alive by finding a friend with paid membership.

I hope you will join in transforming FWD's nearly one million free accounts into paid memberships as we work to make the Communication ISP the next big thing in VoIP.

Best regards,

Jeff
Click here to unsubscribe.115 Broadhollow Road, Suite 225, Melville, NY 11747

[boatman]

This change doesn't matter much because there are plenty of other services still offering free use of their SIP proxy, including registering to their proxy for receiving calls and voice mail. If you don't want to pay the fee then you should switch to another VoIP proxy before your FWD service ends.

I used FWD in the PSTN Line tab/Proxy and Reg. I have no idea of its purpose.

If you save and attach the html code (please no screenshots) from your SPA3102's /admin/voice/advanced menu, then someone here can figure out how FWD is being used. No passwords are included in the html code, you can remove any phone numbers or personal details if you wish.

[chicha]

Originally Posted by boatman

This change doesn't matter much because there are plenty of other services still offering free use of their SIP proxy, including registering to their proxy for receiving calls and voice mail. If you don't want to pay the fee then you should switch to another VoIP proxy before your FWD service ends.


If you save and attach the html code (please no screenshots) from your SPA3102's /admin/voice/advanced menu, then someone here can figure out how FWD is being used. No passwords are included in the html code, you can remove any phone numbers or personal details if you wish.

In the Line 1 tab, I have under Proxy and Reg.: proxy01.sipphone.com.

In the PSTN line tab, I have under Proxy and Reg.: fwd.pulver.com. Can I just replace fwd.pulver.com with sipphone.com (with the sipphone subscriber information)?

I believe in the entire configuraton of the device, this is the only section containing any mention of FWD. Not positive, though.

[chicha]

I made the switch from fwd.pulver.com to proxy01.sipphone.com in the PSTN line tab's Proxy and Reg. field. It didn't work!

1) Using a Sipura 3102.

2) SIPPhone/GizmoProject is the registered VOIP provider on the device.

3) Use IPKall's DID number to receive calls.

4) Both the Line 1 tab and the PSTN line tab Proxy and Reg. fields contain proxy01.sipphone.com, the userID and password.

5) Previously, had no problem receiving calls through IPKall with FWD data in the PSTN line tab's Proxy and Reg. fields.

Edit: When I dial my IPKall number I get a recording "this application isn't supported". Logging into my sipphone.com account, I see that two calls were missed from 626-771-0198. I believe that's IPKall ringing my sippphone number. Why is it showing as missed (or not getting through)?

[hwittenb]

The PSTN line tab configuration is only used for bridging a call with your pstn line. You didn't mention that you even had a pstn line attached so if you are not using it you can remove the entries from the PSTN Line Tab proxy and userid.

By putting the same entries in both the Line 1 and PSTN Line tab you cause your GizmoProject account to try to register at both addresses (actually same ip address but different port numbers). Often when you do this only the last address to register is the actual registered address. Assuming it was the PSTN Line port that registered last then an incoming call from IPKall will go to that address and I believe that is why you experienced a failure. The Line 1 tab and the PSTN Line tab are in effect two separate adapters used for different purposes.

[hunok99]

Guys, I'm using several FWD accounts, therefore I'm looking for teh best alternative.
Callcentric was recomended to me. I set all my accounts, they all registering. The bigg issue is the forwarding the incoming call from the land line in EU through pstn account to my other spa's line 1 in US.
With FWD service I used do this with the PSTN CALLER DEFAULT DIAL PLAN.
The dial plan under pstn tab looked like this: (S0<:123456) and it worked just fine.
Again, simple aclls working fine, calling into the PSTN account from remote location is working fine.
Could be a spacial dial plan for callcentric??
Thanks a lot!
ps.: anyone has a better idea for another free provider with the right settings?

[hwittenb]

Originally Posted by hunok99

Guys, I'm using several FWD accounts, therefore I'm looking for teh best alternative.

Here are three that I have used and I would consider:

CallCentric offers good service, however if you do not wish to pay extra for a DID I believe you will need to call the other account using account_number@in.callcentric.com and do dialing by sip uri.

GizmoProject is another good provider for you to look at. They give you a digital account number and if you are registered with them you can dial the other account number and to reach the other phone.

Callwithus.com is another good provider. They say that you can dial (for free) another CallWithUs account by dialing the 9-digit username. Callwithus will allow you to setup three 9-digit usernames under a single account.

All three of the above can use an ata that you configure. GizmoProject pushes their softphone.

Edit: Of course there are many voip providers that you can reach, for free, thru SipBroker and you can also use one of the SipBroker pstn access numbers.

[boatman]

Originally Posted by hunok99

Again, simple calls working fine, calling into the PSTN account from remote location is working fine. Could be a special dial plan for callcentric? Thanks a lot! ps.: anyone has a better idea for another free provider with the right settings?

Two popular VoIP services that I've used are Voxalot.com, Gizmo5.com. Both of them will allow inbound calls from outside of their network. If you have a static IP address on the receiving end you could forget the proxy server and simply forward the calls directly to the receiving ATA.

[hunok99]

Thanks Howard!
Just changed the settings back to FWD and all works fine.
Never done sip uri before, this may be a stupid question, but do I have to insert acc_number@in.callcentric.com to the dial plan under pstn tab??