The present disclosure is generally directed to a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone apparatus and a communication system for carrying VoIP traffic. In a particular embodiment, the VoIP telephone apparatus includes an encoder and decoder module responsive to a handset of the VoIP telephone apparatus, a data processor responsive to the encoder and decoder module, a point to point over Ethernet (PPPoE) client software module responsive to the data processor; a memory to store PPPoE session information, and a PPPoE function key that is used to launch a PPPoE communication session.