Alternative home phone service

Post by **GORDON** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 3:02 pm

Used to have a POTS landline, then bundled in phone service with Time Warner, but now tired of their high prices so going to drop them too.

Was looking at a Verizon plan that let's you port your current number to a cellular number with Verizon, then gives you a device to plug into your home's POTS network so your existing phones still work. That would be $20/month with a 2 yer contract.

Then I heard Walmart had a competing system that was identical but only $10-15 a month, and I believe no contract.

BUT THEN I saw a commercial on TV yesterday for OOMA, with no fees and no contract, you just buy the hardware and plug it in to your router, and I looked it up a bit.

http://ooma.com/offer....d8GwAHw

And it had decent reviews, too.

http://www.amazon.com/ooma-Hu....10WG2H2

So the hardware costs $130 this month (sale), and after the first year you have $12/year in federal taxes, and that's all it costs.

Anyone ever heard of it/used it? I never heard of it before that TV commercial.

Edited By GORDON on 1386705754

Post by **TheCatt** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 3:18 pm

I've heard decent things about it. As I understand it, it just uses your existing broadband. Never used it, but if you sign up, let me know. I've got to find something next summer once our Time Warner bundle deal ends.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 4:33 pm

I've used Vonage for years. Like 8+ or so. Was on it for a few years, then did a bundle with local cable provider and couldn't wait till that contract was up so I could switch back to Vonage. I have two lines with them. A full service unlimited for $25/month and a lower end, full feature but limited minutes second line for around $15/month. They have always provided the hardware and you tap it into your existing phone lines so your current home phones work. It would work the same way your current cable bundled hardware works. No contract. Emails your voice mails to you. Call waiting/forwarding/voicemail/etc/etc. All the features.

If you sign up, let me know because we would get free months.

My ONLY complaint with them is faxing. But that's a VOIP thing, not a Vonage thing. Faxing over VOIP can be a headache. Sometimes it works on the first try. Other times, you have to try like 15 times for it to go. Might be able to do some network QOS stuff with your router or something to help, but I don't fax enough to figure it out and try it.

Post by **TPRJones** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 5:31 pm

1) Who in your house doesn't have a cell phone so that you need a phone for your house? Tangentially this makes me wonder, do they still wire new houses for phones? If so, why? If I ever get a new house I'll insist on any phone wires they want to install to be ethernet (or other modern equivalent, since that might not happen for a long time).

2) Faxing, Cake? Really, that's still a thing? Why not just use a carrier pigeon while you are at it?

Edited By TPRJones on 1386714768

Post by **TheCatt** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 5:45 pm

I remember in the late 90s shopping for an apartment. This was when dial-up and faxes were still a thing. I visited one complex that was very proud of having 4 phone lines per apartment. Not 4 connectors, 4 separate lines.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 9:47 pm

When I'm on site and need a hard copy of something, how should I get it? Whip out my portable printer and setup an ad hoc wifi network and print it from my phone? Which means I'm carrying around a printer. The government still likes faxes too. I still even get mail from the USPS.

Post by **GORDON** » Tue Dec 10, 2013 9:59 pm

Cakedaddy wrote:When I'm on site and need a hard copy of something, how should I get it? Whip out my portable printer and setup an ad hoc wifi network and print it from my phone? Which means I'm carrying around a printer. The government still likes faxes too. I still even get mail from the USPS.

Perhaps you can look around you, do you see any materials with which to construct a rudimentary <s>lathe</s> printer?

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 2:38 am

If you had a 3D printer, could you print a dot matrix printer?

Post by **TPRJones** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:11 am

Cakedaddy wrote:When I'm on site and need a hard copy of something...

And there is where you lost me. Why in the world would you ever need hard copy of something? I mean I guess if you are trying to work with the Amish or something...

I still even get mail from the USPS.

I don't. I quit getting mail entirely four years ago. I have a box at a nearby UPS store that I get packages at, but no mail for me anymore from anyone. So no junk mail, no annoying collection letters looking to get money out of me for some debt belonging to someone else with the same name, no offers to change my cable or phone provider, etc ad nausea. It's been a very nice four years, let me tell you.

Post by **GORDON** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:31 am

TPRJones wrote:
Cakedaddy wrote:When I'm on site and need a hard copy of something...
And there is where you lost me. Why in the world would you ever need hard copy of something? I mean I guess if you are trying to work with the Amish or something...

You have been in acedemia for a while. In the real world business sometimes expect paperwork.

Post by **TheCatt** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:38 am

How do you stop getting mail? Do you tell the USPS "No thanks"?

Post by **TPRJones** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:07 am

No, I couldn't find a way to do that so I just stopped emptying the mailbox. I presume it got saved up for awhile somewhere, but now everything gets bounced back to the sender. I have a physical address, and a shipping address, but no mailing address.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:17 pm

Eh, all that junk mail is easily disposable. And Netflix still has too many films not on instant view.

Post by **GORDON** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:38 pm

I've never been upset when a flick I wanted to stream on Netflix was only available by mail order.

Because then I have it torrented within 15 minutes anyway.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:51 pm

It's not worth tracking down some of the more obscure documentaries I've got coming up.

Post by **GORDON** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 7:27 pm

TPRJones wrote:1) Who in your house doesn't have a cell phone so that you need a phone for your house? Tangentially this makes me wonder, do they still wire new houses for phones? If so, why? If I ever get a new house I'll insist on any phone wires they want to install to be ethernet (or other modern equivalent, since that might not happen for a long time).

The existing wiring is already in place (I upgraded the POTS to commercial equipment when I moved in, heh) and it is nice to be able to have a phone in each area of the house so you aren't scrambling to find a single cell phone if you don't happen to have it in your pocket. 5 bedrooms and 6 other rooms spread over 3 floors, here. Thinking about finishing the attic to have 4 floors. I like having phones spread out.

++++++

Post by **GORDON** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 7:28 pm

GORDON wrote:BUT THEN I saw a commercial on TV yesterday for OOMA, with no fees and no contract, you just buy the hardware and plug it in to your router, and I looked it up a bit.

http://ooma.com/offer....d8GwAHw

And it had decent reviews, too.

http://www.amazon.com/ooma-Hu....10WG2H2

So the hardware costs $130 this month (sale), and after the first year you have $12/year in federal taxes, and that's all it costs.

Anyone ever heard of it/used it? I never heard of it before that TV commercial.

The wife didn't want to spend another $130 this month (xmas), so we are putting it off. The other day I saw the price on amazon dropped to $99. I was going to talk to her and buy it. Sale ended before I had a chance and it is sitting at $130 again.

Post by **GORDON** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:47 pm

So is anyone doing this VOIP stuff? I am curious about how hard it hits my upsteam bandwidth. Currently I do NOT have the wife's PC throttled at the router, and when she starts uploading pictures to facebook or walgreens it makes my League of Legends ping unplayable. I am curious if a VOIP conversation would do the same thing, because I think I can't throttle the VOIP bandwidth. I believe I read they want your WAN hooked into the phone BEFORE your router, which I don't like in principle.

Most VOIP users aren't serious gamers so it is hard to find a question like that in a FAQ.

Post by **TheCatt** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:12 pm

When we had VOIP, we could set the quality we wanted in terms of kbps. That was with Vonage.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:21 pm

I have Vonage behind my router. Voice traffic is very very low. Even with quality set really high. Like Catt said. It's measured in kbps. Low overhead. However, it IS important traffic. Putting it in front of your router makes sure it has higher priority over other stuff. Your wife on the phone will not affect your game. Your wife uploading pictures WILL affect your phone call. Some routers let your set VoIP traffic to a higher priority. Normally called QOS (quality of service). Look for that in your config somewhere, if you are so inclined. Keep in mind, it's not a security risk having your VoIP router in front of your wireless router. The only thing plugged into it is your phone. They can't hack your network through your cordless phone. And the voice traffic isn't any less secure with this setup either, because it was never secure behind your router either.

My VoIP routers are behind my router because I didn't read their instructions when plugging it in. I just plugged it into my switch like any other lan device. And then never changed it.