Home VoIP call quality tips: get the most from a digital phone

1. The router matters more than the phone

The single most common cause of bad home VoIP is a router that wasn't configured for voice traffic. Either the router is too basic (no QoS), or it's a perfectly fine router but it hasn't been told to prioritise voice traffic over background uploads. When we set up home VoIP we configure this as part of the install, it makes the difference between calls that sound great and calls that crackle.

2. Pick the right way to make calls

You have options:

• A physical VoIP handset, plugs directly into the router via Ethernet or works over WiFi. Sounds like a normal phone, behaves like a normal phone. You can buy one from us.
• Your existing analogue phone via an ATA adapter, works fine for most domestic handsets. Slightly more complicated to set up but cheap.
• A mobile-app softphone, answer the home number from a phone, anywhere. Works on iOS and Android.
• A desktop softphone, call from a Windows or Mac PC with a USB headset. Useful for anyone working from home.

Most home users end up with a mix, a physical handset by the front door for general use, plus the mobile app on phones for receiving calls anywhere.

3. Don't put the phone where the WiFi is worst

If you're using a cordless DECT or WiFi phone, position it where the signal is strongest, typically the same floor as the router and within line-of-sight of it. We've seen many "VoIP doesn't work for us" calls turn out to be "the phone's in a corner of the house where the WiFi barely reaches".

4. Check your upload speed, not just download

VoIP needs about 100 Kbps each way per simultaneous call. Most modern broadband easily handles it, but if your upload is below 1 Mbps and you're uploading something else at the same time, voice quality drops. On FTTC lines especially, watch upload during cloud backups or video calls.

5. Power matters, for the router

VoIP runs over your broadband router. If you lose mains power, the router goes down, the phones go with it. The old copper line worked in a power cut; VoIP doesn't, unless you've got a battery backup on the router. We can supply battery backup units as an optional extra, useful if your area has frequent outages or if anyone in the household needs reliable access to emergency calls.

6. If calls sound bad, three things to try first

1. Reboot the router. Solves most one-off issues.
2. Test with a different device. If the desk phone is bad but the mobile app sounds fine, it's the handset or its WiFi position. If both are bad, it's the connection.
3. Check what else is on the WiFi. A 4K stream or large upload can saturate older home networks; modern QoS handles it, older routers don't.

If none of that helps, give us a call. Most call-quality issues we troubleshoot remotely within a few minutes. See our home VoIP page.