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The lonely tech post thread.

I did a few jobs like that (without the good pay). The most bonkers was a migration from 7 to 10 except the machines we were replacing the old ones with had 4gb rather then the 8gb the old ones had. I was told it was likely that it meant the third party could then quote for RAM upgrades in 6 months time.
 
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Got this from Zen today about the switchoff of landlines:

We wanted to let you know that the copper switch off is now very close. 2023 is the year that traditional telephone services will stop being sold across the country, in preparation for the end of 2025 when they will no longer be available to use.

In other words, if you’re not already using an alternative service by then, you’ll no longer be able to make and receive calls on your home phone.

... a solution already exists in the form of Digital Voice, our latest home phone service that is ‘switch off’ ready. Digital Voice enables you to make high-definition calls over your broadband connection without the need for a traditional phone line.

Instead of plugging your phone into your home’s master socket, you simply plug it into your router instead – that’s all there is to it.

When you choose Digital Voice, you’ll be able to replace or retain your existing telephone number, and it’s likely that you’ll save money on calls too.
Click to expand...

Sounds very nice, although I presume it means I'll need to have the computer on to make or receive phone calls. And (a reasonably regular occurrence at the end of a rural line) if the web is down and I don't have a POTS phone then I won't be able to let the ISP know about it.

Any advice?
 
No, you don't need to have a PC on. There's a box that plugs into the router and your phone goes to that. It's another thing taking up an ethernet port and I've finally had to buy a switch to have enough ports, plus yet another thing to find a plug for.

You won't be able to use the landline to complain about an outage, but how's your mobile coverage?
 
two sheds said:
Got this from Zen today about the switchoff of landlines:



Sounds very nice, although I presume it means I'll need to have the computer on to make or receive phone calls. And (a reasonably regular occurrence at the end of a rural line) if the web is down and I don't have a POTS phone then I won't be able to let the ISP know about it.

Any advice?
Click to expand...
No, from what they are saying, they are talking about some kind of box you plug in to your router. Their website isn't very helpful, but seems to imply that your handset (presumably DECT cordless, unless they're talking about a wired phone) can be used, which would imply that "some kind of box" means a VoIP unit that connects via Ethernet to your internet router, and by wifi or telecom plug to your phone.

I already use a box like this - a Gigaset N510, which is quite a flexible thing with a useful web interface, that allows me to connect to a VoIP provider of my choice (I use Sipgate). I guess the extra £6/month they are asking for goes towards the cost of providing that box.
 
Chz said:
No, you don't need to have a PC on. There's a box that plugs into the router and your phone goes to that. It's another thing taking up an ethernet port and I've finally had to buy a switch to have enough ports, plus yet another thing to find a plug for.
Click to expand...
Oooh that's a better idea, and I've got spare ethernet ports.

Chz said:
You won't be able to use the landline to complain about an outage, but how's your mobile coverage?
Click to expand...

No mobile coverage - I've only got a landline. Mind you when they switch off the landline I won't have a choice. I've got a POTS phone for emergencies I presume I'll still have to pay for line rental if I keep the possibility for that.
 
Chz said:
No, you don't need to have a PC on. There's a box that plugs into the router and your phone goes to that. It's another thing taking up an ethernet port and I've finally had to buy a switch to have enough ports, plus yet another thing to find a plug for.

You won't be able to use the landline to complain about an outage, but how's your mobile coverage?
Click to expand...
I bought a PoE switch for exactly the same reason, which has the significant advantage of reducing the need for piles of wall warts (at least for devices that work with PoE, which is some of them :hmm:)
 
existentialist said:
Looks like "Digital Voice" is a BT thing, so a bit more information here...

Digital Voice | Digital Home Phone | BT

Experience Digital Voice from BT. With Call Diversion & Call Protect, upgrade now to get crystal clear calling, plus a free digital home phone handset.
www.bt.com www.bt.com
Click to expand...
Interesting, ta

If you don’t have a mobile phone or are in an area with no mobile signal, please contact us on 0800 800 150.

Customers who need extra support may be offered a battery backup unit to make sure you can still make calls. The unit will keep you connected for a short time if there is a power cut. We advise that you limit your usage to essential calls only to preserve battery life during any outage. If you believe you will need a battery backup unit, please contact us.
Click to expand...

I've got a UPS and battery backup so that should do me if there's a power cut then.
 
Doing an audit at the moment. Would it really be so hard for Microsoft to give us some clear logs about users who have logged on to a device in Endpoint Manager?

Best I've found so far under device compliance, but it's not that clear and has no dates.
 
Chz said:
No, you don't need to have a PC on. There's a box that plugs into the router and your phone goes to that. It's another thing taking up an ethernet port and I've finally had to buy a switch to have enough ports, plus yet another thing to find a plug for.

You won't be able to use the landline to complain about an outage, but how's your mobile coverage?
Click to expand...

I'm so glad I don't currently have to support any old people with this. :D
 
Got in this morning to find a dozen tickets and a worried help desk asking if any issues with our shiny new barracuda last night. Did some testing and all ok, checked MS not reports of outages on dashboard so sent an email to barracuda and after three hours of them confirming I can raise tickets and them emailing contacts who'd left the business a decade or so ago alongside my manager to confirm my setup they said nothing to do with us check your setup.

So I did some Google searching turns out MS had an outage last night that caused exactly the problem and would explain the invalid recipient errors we saw. Quick email to baracudda to confirm (my line manager for some reason was now the point of contact so he sent it) and we got a "maybe" response back.


Support, who needs it?
 
Artaxerxes said:
Got in this morning to find a dozen tickets and a worried help desk asking if any issues with our shiny new barracuda last night. Did some testing and all ok, checked MS not reports of outages on dashboard so sent an email to barracuda and after three hours of them confirming I can raise tickets and them emailing contacts who'd left the business a decade or so ago alongside my manager to confirm my setup they said nothing to do with us check your setup.

So I did some Google searching turns out MS had an outage last night that caused exactly the problem and would explain the invalid recipient errors we saw. Quick email to baracudda to confirm (my line manager for some reason was now the point of contact so he sent it) and we got a "maybe" response back.


Support, who needs it?
Click to expand...

Supports a weird one right? I expect nothing and then sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised. For all the hate about Sage, I've found they are really good, but a pain in the arse to get yourself added as an authorised person they can talk to.
 
Sasaferrato said:
Try doing it over basic USB. USB 3 is luxury in comparison. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, no thanks. :D

I'd hoped to be able to do it over SATA, but I can't find an easy way to mount an NTFS disk in ESXi to do that. I figure by the time I've worked out if it's possible, I could have a fair bit of the data moved.
 
Went for a bare metal install of Server 22 in the end, because vSphere was pissing me off. I need to do more reading about running a single VM on a host and being able to maximise my resources, but the dam thing kept refusing to start and I want to watch a film tonight. I've got a number of disks I'm copying over, but it's a bit faster over SATA then it would have been on USB. I'm quite liking Server 22 out the box. I've had it running on lab type VMs for a while, but I don't actually do much real stuff with them. When first installed it appears to use slightly less resources then 10 as it's not loading stuff I just don't need.

Weirdness though. Task Manager has decided my CPU isn't doing anything. :D

1678043593995.png
 
I've just had an E-mail from Virgin to say that the phone line is going over to VOIP next month.

Does anyone have any experience with the companies that offer VOIP packages? Virgin's charges have crept up to the unreasonable level, so I'm thinking of switching my broadband to a cheaper company (yes, I know, speed, but how much do you really need?).
 
Sasaferrato said:
I've just had an E-mail from Virgin to say that the phone line is going over to VOIP next month.

Does anyone have any experience with the companies that offer VOIP packages? Virgin's charges have crept up to the unreasonable level, so I'm thinking of switching my broadband to a cheaper company (yes, I know, speed, but how much do you really need?).
Click to expand...

Have you ever negotiated the contract? I'd see what deals they are offering new customers and insist that you really are leaving if you don't get that. You might have to hold your nerve and say you'll be disconnected and you really have found someone cheaper, but you should get it.
 
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