[tlug] Transition to Hikari

[Stefan Angrick <stefan.a@example.com>]

We have recently been informed by our provider (au) that they will
terminate ADSL in our area, so we finally decided to upgrade to Hikari
and are now going through the pains of talking to clueless service
agents who have given us some contradicting information, so I was
hoping for some good old TLUG advice on how to best handle the
transition.

To give some background first: We're currently on a contract with NTT
for landline and one with au for ADSL/VoIP. We have a splitter connected
to our phone line with cables for "phone" and "modem", both of which go
into the same ADSL modem from which one cable connects to our
phone/fax. We use this phone with both the landline (NTT) number and
the VoIP (au) number, the latter of which is especially useful as it
allows for cheap international calling and free calls between mobile
and home. However, the service agent tells us that when transferring to
Hikari we (a) need to get a new VoIP number, (b) we'll lose the free
calls between mobile and home, and (c) we will need to get a second
phone if we intend on keeping the landline number as well.

1. Since au apparently decided to make their new plan less attractive,
we're also considering alternative ISPs, but Flet's NTT and Yahoo BB
seem more expensive. What is your recommended ISP at the moment?
2. Does it make sense to keep NTT's landline connection? From what I
remember landlines have their own power and continue working during
blackouts, which would be a definite plus.
3. If that's the case, is there a way to use both lines/numbers on a
single phone? (i.e. VoIP coming from the Hikari modem and landline
coming from NTT's wall socket)
4. Finally, since I noticed that some providers charge extra for
enabling WiFi on their modem/router combos, I was wondering whether
you are aware of any restrictions in terms of what hardware can be
hooked up to their modems, e.g. routers etc.

Thank you for your help!

-- 
Stefan Angrick <stefan.a@example.com>