What Do I Need To Use Wanatel?

In order to use Wanatel service, you will only need the following:

  • A high speed Internet connection, such as ADSL, Fiber, Diginet, Wireless
  • A SIP device, such as a soft phone, IP phone, IPPBX, VoIP gateway

Can people call me via Wanatel?

Yes, you can receive incoming calls from ordinary phones on your VoIP number linked to your Wanatel SIP account number.

Do you offer VoIP termination in addition to origination?

Yes, please contact us for more in depth technical details.

Who can I call with Wanatel ?

You can call most ordinary phone numbers anywhere in the world that you could dial from your existing telephone service, including mobile phones. In addition, you can call other Wanatel members on their Wanatel VoIP numbers for free.

Can I use your service from everywhere in the world?

Yes, to connect to us from outside South Africa, please send us your public IP address to authenticate on our network.

Can I port a number from another provider?

Yes with no downtime! It takes 10 -15 working days.

Contact us on porting@wanatel.net to get started.

Why do I need special VoIP hardware to use the Wanatel service?

You could use any SIP enabled VoIP phone or router, or even download a software phone to use our service.

Wanatel has a range of recommended hardware that we have tested extensively and works well with our network, and we recommend you make use of this hardware for best performance and support.

Do you offer hosting or co-location of VoIP gateways such as Asterisk?

Yes, Cloud and Hosted PBX, Dedicated VoIP server Hosting, Cloud call centre solutions.

Please contact us for more information.

Connectivity / Line services

What Broadband ADSL line speed do I need to use Wanatel?

Any Broadband ADSL line speed from 192 Kbps to 1024 Kbps will work with the Wanatel service, but as a rule, the faster your access, the better. The slower your access, the more you are likely to encounter issues such as choppy speech or drop-outs in the conversation.

You will also find that using your Internet connection simultaneously with a phone call could cause break-ups in the call, for this reason we recommend the use of a dedicated Internet connection, or professional QoS (Quality of Service) on your network and connection.

If you are experiencing intermittent problems, we advise that you check your Internet connection line speed. And test the latency (by pinging) sip.wanatel.net

How much bandwidth do I require to make a call?

Each call using the codec G729 requires 31.2kbps.

VoIP Services

Callback: How does it work?

  1.  The person on the road (initiator) uses their mobile device to dial a unique call back number. This is a free call for the initiator.
  2.  Once the connection is made the call will be disconnected and the initiator will be called back and prompted by an automated system to enter the number they wish to be connected to.
  3. The destination number is entered by the initiator followed by the “#”.
  4. If the number is a valid destination the call will be connected.

VoIP Calls quality

Are you battling with your ADSL line stability ?

Make sure you have a filter on it. A DSL filter or micro filter is an analogue low-pass filter installed between analogue devices (such as telephones or analogue modems) and a Telkom line. This micro filter prevents interference between such devices and a digital subscriber line (DSL) service operating on the same line. This will prevent DSL dropping (which causes dropped calls), it also helps to reduce noise on the line (which causes packet loss, latency and jitter).

VoIP Billing

How long can I keep un-used credit in my account?

Unused credit will expire after 6 months of inactivity. However, if you make a call or purchase additional credits during this 6-month period, all your unused credit will become valid for a further 6 months.

If you are an active user your credit will never expire.

What is the billing increment for origination and termination usage?

We have 2 billing increment options:

  • 60/30 system (30 second increments with a minimum 60 second charge per call)
  • 1/1 system (1 second increments from the first second charge per call)

What protocols do you currently support?
We currently offer the SIP protocol.
What codecs do you currently support?
G729, GSM – we recommend and encourage the use of G729 for good call quality.

Do you propose Postpaid/Prepaid account?

All accounts are Prepaid.

How do I check my prepaid credit balance?

To view your remaining call credit you should sign in to Customer Login. Your balance will be listed in the block.

DID Number

Did you know you also can setup failover for your DID number?

If you are unavailable on the SIP phone that someone is trying to call you on, it will automatically try to reach you on an alternative number, like your cellphone or landline number. This is a great failover solution if when your Internet connection is offline, you will still be reachable for all inbound calls.

To activate this option contact us now, support@wanatel.net.

SIP Account

How many concurrent outgoing calls can I make with a Wanatel SIP account?

Unlimited. Yes you read correctly. No limit on the number of outgoing calls.