Switching to Naked DSL

From New Zealand Connections

Naked DSL is an interesting service where one can opt not to have PSTN service provided over the copper cabling. For some it means considerable savings due to not utilising the voice service while for others it provides minimal savings. For some remote cases, there are no savings.

However switching to Naked DSL is possible and generally a painless process. With any change, there is the possibility that things can go wrong or for a temporary loss of service so it is worthwhile preparing. There has been a lot of discussion on the geekzone site regarding the process for this. It appears that many are unsure and a few have taken the opportunity to troll.

A list of naked DSL providers can be found on our Naked DSL Internet plan comparisons page

Providers such as Slingshot and WorldxChange provide complimentary VoIP services where one can potentially use as a replacement for PSTN services. You can use you existing number ported or you can have a new Auckland number. A few area's don't have number porting yeat, so you will get an Auckland number and have your old number ported when technically possible.

These providers require special consideration when converting, as you may be balancing the impact of either porting your number, or changing to naked DSL.

Before you start the process, it is worth seeing whether you want to move your number. Questions one may wish to ask themselves before opting for porting are:

• Do I give this number out?
• Do I get incoming calls?
• Does a lot of families and friends know this number, even if they don't call often?
• Do a lot of important companies (bank, internet provider, work place etc) know this number?
• Is it worth my time contacting each individual to advise them of my new number?
• Is changing my number going to inconvenience a lot of friends and family?
• Do I run a business with this number?
• Do I have business cards with this number?

If you would like to keep your number, it is important that your VoIP supports porting in. You may wish to check with your provider to see if they are capable of porting numbers in.

You may wish to transfer your number from your landline to a forwarding service such as Telecoms customer link. This is to ensure that your number is to kept intact. You may wish to connect your landline with a temporary number, however please be aware that your provider may charge a connection fee or apply a minimum term for the temporary connection.

Some providers may not have the capacity to provide a forwarding service such as customer link.

Under the example of Telecom, to switch, you may be charged a reconnection fee of $49.95 and $22.95 per month fee for the customer link service (although you may only require this service for a few days).

Keep in mind that once the number has been ported, there is no need for customer link. In addition, WorldxChange have recently announced that they are able to provide a porting solution which does not involve the charge of customer link. This means that they'll be able to order Customer link without the normal charges.

This means that you'll be able to port your number without fear of the Naked DSL going live first and you losing your number. When you allocate a temporary number to your line, you may experience interruptions in DSL service. Once you have the temporary number, order naked DSL on it.

People porting from existing VoIP connections generally do not need to worry about this process.

If you don't care about your existing number, simply order naked DSL on the line and sit back. Your landline number will be lost when the service takes over.

In all instances, when taking VoIP into account, most ISP's recommend that you have an adsl modem that supports QoS for best results. This is primarily because how VoIP works. VoIP shares bandwidth on your internet connection, so if you are downloading it heavily, you may experience disruptions in your voice service.

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