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Thinking of dropping my phone service and switching to VoiP

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
Anyone use any of the VoiP internet telephone services like Ooma, Vonage, etc?

The ONLY people who call on my house phone are people I don't want calling or my sister in law ... but I repeat myself. I'm paying AT&T about $72 a month basically to allow my alarm system to have the ability to call out should there be a need. Seems like a huge waste of money to me. Ends up saving me just over $68 per month for something I basically don't use.

Talked to my alarm guy, for about $129 he can run my alarm through the internet.

Looked at some different VoiP services and am seriously thinking about switching my phone service, probably to Ooma. Seems to be getting very good reviews, costs under $4/month in taxes and a one time cost of $109. I am only looking at their "basic" package, don't need voicemail to TEXT service or even simple things like voicemail. It will also work with all my existing phones and will allow me to answer a cell call on my existing phone handsets.
 
Melensdad said:
Anyone use any of the VoiP internet telephone services like Ooma, Vonage, etc?

The ONLY people who call on my house phone are people I don't want calling or my sister in law ... but I repeat myself. I'm paying AT&T about $72 a month basically to allow my alarm system to have the ability to call out should there be a need. Seems like a huge waste of money to me. Ends up saving me just over $68 per month for something I basically don't use.

Talked to my alarm guy, for about $129 he can run my alarm through the internet.

Looked at some different VoiP services and am seriously thinking about switching my phone service, probably to Ooma. Seems to be getting very good reviews, costs under $4/month in taxes and a one time cost of $109. I am only looking at their "basic" package, don't need voicemail to TEXT service or even simple things like voicemail. It will also work with all my existing phones and will allow me to answer a cell call on my existing phone handsets.
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My Niece has used Vonage for years now and she has never complained yet.

Me, I'm old fashioned and have a Jitterbug. :ermm:
 
My phone bill used to be 70 per month just for local calls. Once I had high speed internet over cable I went VOIP. Works fine. And cheaper for sure.
I was with Vonage and all worked okay but that was when they charged 24 dollars a month. Left Vonage for VOIPO. They have done a good job for me. You get all the extras, for a low price. Last time I paid 149 + taxes for 2 years of service, no charge for equipment. Total paid with taxes included was 181., so that comes out to 7.54 per month.

One big difference with VOIP is when electric is out you have no phone. Even with a whole house generator. At least that is how I is here. Guessing the cable internet gets it's power from the electric pole so when power it out I have no internet which would mean your alarm system might be impacted. As long as power is not off to often it probably would be worth the savings.

Note: All VOIP services will work with your current phones as far as I know.

A link to the voipo site in case you want to ck em out, it appears they still have the 2 years for $149 special going on.
http://voipo.com/
 
Well I decided to go with Ooma.

Vonage was not reviewed as well by the tech mags or its own users. I didn't want to go with a brand I had not heard of before.

Ooma cost me $109, regularly $149. Threw in free shipping. They also threw in free bluetooth/wifi module ($49). There is no month fee for the service, no annual fee for the service. The service is pretty basic, but its all we need.

The bluetooth/wifi module will automatically connect up to my cell phones when we come home so a cell call will THEORETICALLY ring through my house phones.

There are monthly (government imposed) taxes and fees, which are supposed to cost us about $4 per month. That should be our total monthly cost. My current AT&T bill, for just local service, is running $72. So I will save $68/month, $816 per year. Give or take.

Guy gave me a 60 full refund policy guarantee, so if it doesn't work I can ship it back. Should arrive next week. Hope it works. Tired of paying for stuff I don't use!
 
PBinWA said:
Went all cellular last month. Nothing but spam on the landline.
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I done the same about 6 years ago,maybe longer...why have a home land line when i have 4 mobile phones kicking around the house....i do not miss call centers spamming me daily.

Home phone is extinct.
 
Galvatron said:
I done the same about 6 years ago,maybe longer...why have a home land line when i have 4 mobile phones kicking around the house....i do not miss call centers spamming me daily.

Home phone is extinct.
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In my case I have a landline for my alarm.

BUT, I also have the ability to connect my cellphone to my home wireless phones. Since I live far enough in the country that I get ZERO cellular signal I have to have a cell booster in my house. But it is not strong enough to boost the signal on my phone outside the house.

SO, I leave my cellphone inside, it connects to my internal phones, which are then scattered about the property, 2 in the workshop/far garage, 1 at the pool, then 8 or 10 more scattered around the house.

If I carry the cellphone out to the pool I have ZERO reception. If I carry the cellphone to the workshop I have ZERO reception. So having the system I have actually makes sense for me. If I lived closer to a cell tower I would be a lot easier to cut the landline # completely, but I'd still have the alarm issue.
 
You could switch to T-Mobile and then you can route all your calls over wifi. Works great. But the coverage in general is not as good as Verizon.
 
T Mobile doesn't get signal here either.

Verizon gets decent signal; but I have AT&T. On a good day I get "2 bars" most days 1. and call dropping. Sprint is the same, signal is 1 and dropped calls. Verizon is the best for where I live, but even they drop calls.

Overall AT&T is the best for me due to coverage, international travel, etc. The cell booster in the house gives me cell calls in the house and the house phones connect to the cell phones so that spreads the access to calls.
 
When fiber came available...we went fiber for all of our com...services.....love it!!!

phone,tv,internet...cost us less than 1/2 what it did before....love it!!
 
ki0ho said:
When fiber came available...we went fiber for all of our com...services.....love it!!!

phone,tv,internet...cost us less than 1/2 what it did before....love it!!
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We can't even get ISDN or cable TV where I live :ermm:

We have 3 choices for internet:
plain old telephone dial up
wide area wi-fi offered by only 1 company (what I have, but it requires line-of-sight to a tower -limited availability)
satellite (2 options: Dish Network or HughesNet)​

We have 2 choices for TV:
Satellite (2 options: Dish Network or DirectTV)
Over The Airwaves from Chicago with somewhat limited reception​

We have 1 choice for Landline phones:
AT&T​
 
Switching my landline telephone to VoiP internet based phone. Got the Ooma Telo Air telephone system in yesterday.

Ooma => #1 Ranked Free Internet Phone Service | Ooma VoIP Phone
They do have a deal if anyone else wants to buy it, if I 'refer' you you get the hardware for $99 and I get a $20 bill credit. ​

Ooma claims to be voted the #1 ranked system for 4 years in a row. Cost was $109 for all the hardware, its a one time fee. There is a small monthly fee (about $4 and varies by state as some state's impose more/less in taxes) which is actally all TAXES imposed for telecom service. Currently I pay over $72 a month to AT&T, which is freaking outrageous considering how little I actually use a landline phone! So I figure I'll save over $850 a year.

Set up was fairly easy.
Would have been easier if I had realized I put the instructions in my pocket. Looked all over the house twice for the instructions. Found them in my shirt pocket after going up and down the stairs a few times, searched the kitchen, dinette, bedrooms, etc. I must be really old?​

Anyway, once I actually sat down with it, it was pretty simple. You log onto the computer and register your Ooma, fill in a few basics like your address, credit card, blah blah blah.

For 9-1-1 emergency service you switch ot the Ooma service, which probably links to your local 9-1-1- service through an intermediary? Not really sure, but appears that way.

You get a new phone # with Ooma. Actually you get 2. I dunno why. I don't care either. You also get the option of keeping your old phone number, but that costs $39. I took that option, its much easier than trying to remember all the people & businesses that use that number and notifying them. Downside of "porting" your old number to Ooma is that it can take 3 to 4 weeks to move your phone number. So now I have 2 Ooma phone numbers and 1 AT&T phone number. My plan is to simply not use the Ooma until I get notified by Ooma that the "porting" of my AT&T number is going into effect (they notify you 1 day in advance) and then I'll simply plug the Ooma into my phone jacks and let it work as it should.

In testing, so far, Ooma seems to be great. But granted the testing has been very limited.

I'm curious how well it will work in a storm, or how well it will work while streaming a Netflix or AmazonPrime movie. Ooma claims that it prioritizes the data (somehow) so that the phone gets higher priority of bandwidth? Or something like that. Not really sure, don't really care, just curious. We tend to PAUSE movies when we get phone calls so probably not an issue anyway.

Looking forward to saving money. Hated payinig AT&T a shade over $72.00 for basic service that I virtually never used. But didn't want to totally eliminate a LANDLINE telephone either. So now I will pay about $4 a month for the same thing that I probably still won't use.

BUT ONE THING THAT SEEMS TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER with the Ooma is its ability to connect my Cellular Phone to my home phones. Under the old system when getting a cellphone call my cellphone connected to 1/2 of the cordless phones in our house. Under Ooma, if a cell call comes in, IN THEORY, it will connnect up to ALL the cordless phones in the house, the cordless phone out at the pool, and the 2 cordless phones in my remote garage/workshop. I say "in theory" because I have not tested that feature yet, but it seems very straight forward and seems to work with any brand/type of cordless phone.
 
BY THE WAY, we are officially switched over to Ooma.

AT&T is gone.

My old phone number is switched to Ooma, all my extensions work, even at the pool and the far garage. Not sure if my cellphone rings over through ALL the home phones, but I think it should. FAX machine even works.

Best part is that the call quality seems to be excellent!

Better than AT&T, and roughly $68.00 per month less expensive (now about $4, down from just over $72)
 
The first several days of Ooma have been flawless.

My bill for current service with AT&T arrived, called them and now have formally cancelled my service for my landline (still have cellphones from them). My final bill is due to arrive in October, it will be for only a few days of service and then I am done with an unnecessary expense.
 
Melensdad said:
The first several days of Ooma have been flawless.

My bill for current service with AT&T arrived, called them and now have formally cancelled my service for my landline (still have cellphones from them). My final bill is due to arrive in October, it will be for only a few days of service and then I am done with an unnecessary expense.
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My hard line service is also my Wireless Internet Service Provider. I wonder if I switch to a service like Ooma, and drop my hard line service what will happen to my wisp?
 
deand1 said:
My hard line service is also my Wireless Internet Service Provider. I wonder if I switch to a service like Ooma, and drop my hard line service what will happen to my wisp?
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I dunno.

In my area, which is only an hour from Chicago, we are actually very rural and we can't get cable, high speed phone connection, etc. My internet is actually a line-of-sight radio transmission. My telephone WAS old fashioned copper wires.
 
Melensdad said:
I dunno.

In my area, which is only an hour from Chicago, we are actually very rural and we can't get cable, high speed phone connection, etc. My internet is actually a line-of-sight radio transmission. My telephone WAS old fashioned copper wires.
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Bob, I'm in exactly the same situation and circumstances as you were except that our AT&T monthly bill is $117 because we have an international calling package so we can talk to the kids and grand kids. It just breaks my little Scottish heart to pay that much for a service I seldom use but my wife insists that we keep it. Really, the only reason that we still have it is that during a power outage I can plug in an old corded phone and still be able to communicate. Our cell phones work but it all depends on where you are in the house and we never get more than one bar anywhere. I love living in the country but it does have its drawbacks. It seems that you have just solved one of them. Congratulations.
 
EastTexFrank said:
Bob, I'm in exactly the same situation and circumstances as you were except that our AT&T monthly bill is $117 because we have an international calling package so we can talk to the kids and grand kids. It just breaks my little Scottish heart to pay that much for a service I seldom use but my wife insists that we keep it. Really, the only reason that we still have it is that during a power outage I can plug in an old corded phone and still be able to communicate. Our cell phones work but it all depends on where you are in the house and we never get more than one bar anywhere. I love living in the country but it does have its drawbacks. It seems that you have just solved one of them. Congratulations.
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Power outage solved by generator, we have internet ... and therefore telephones ... when the power is out because of the generator back-up.

Ooma has international calling, I am not sure, but I think the cost is something like 1.4 cents a minute?
 
Melensdad said:
Power outage solved by generator, we have internet ... and therefore telephones ... when the power is out because of the generator back-up.

Ooma has international calling, I am not sure, but I think the cost is something like 1.4 cents a minute?
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Yea, I still haven't got my whole house backup generator installed. I've had lots of unexpected and expected expenses this year, with more to come, so I put it off until next year. I'll have to look in to Ooma though. At 1.4 cents a minute for international calls I'd only spend about a dollar to talk to my daughter-in-law. :biggrin: The lady does like to chat but at least I can still keep up with all that is going on and save well over a grand a year. Not bad!!!!
 
Well a couple weeks into using the Ooma telephone service and I have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised by how good the call quality is using VOIP over a wi-fi internal network and a wide area wi-fi ISP. Honestly the quality is just as good as AT&T's copper wires.

I did have 1 call that had some dropping. But all other calls have been pretty much perfect.

That is not to say there are ZERO GLITCHES.

ISSUE #1 -- My Printer/Copier/Fax machine seems to think that there is an income FAX all the time. I solved that by unplugging it from the phone. I've lived here 20+ years, only got 1 or 2 INCOMING FAX transmissions that entire time. On the rare occasion when I do FAX outbound, which is 3 or 4 times a year, I can just plug it in.

ISSUE #2 -- When my cellphone rings it seems to ring on every handset we have, but I can only seem to answer a call on the Panasonic brand handsets in our house? Not sure why. Going to have to play around and see if there is something I need to reset.
 
Another update or two ...

Regarding ISSUE #2 above, I was able to resolve that problem completely by stopping my iPhone from connecting to the cordless phones. Instead it now only connects to the Ooma.

BUT we are now experiencing some dropped calls. Not many. But I figured it out. If there is ANY other device connected to the internet when there is a phone call in progress, the phone call will have issues. So if the phone rings then Netflix must be paused, computers must be closed.
 
Melensdad said:
Another update or two ...

Regarding ISSUE #2 above, I was able to resolve that problem completely by stopping my iPhone from connecting to the cordless phones. Instead it now only connects to the Ooma.

BUT we are now experiencing some dropped calls. Not many. But I figured it out. If there is ANY other device connected to the internet when there is a phone call in progress, the phone call will have issues. So if the phone rings then Netflix must be paused, computers must be closed.
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That is strange. I've had VOIP 6 years or more and never had that issue. You might check with other Ooma users to see if others are having this issue.

I do not answer my cell over my voip or ever connect even though it is a feature I could use.
 
I am pretty sure that our call dropping problem is related to the slow internet connection we have at the house.

I do love the cell phone connectivity through all the house phones!!!
 
Less than 6 months after switching to OOMA's VoiP service we are switching back to a traditional AT&T landline phone service. The most basic service I can find. Cost will be about $30/month. No caller ID, no voicemail, etc.

Honestly OOMA is great ... when you have a good internet connection. The call quality is fantastic ... the service is cheap and has optional call blocking (think spam filters for your phone).

I am only making the change because I cannot get good enough internet service out where I live. Some days our service is great, some days its horrible. Our service seems to be better in the fall/winter and worse in the summer, lately its been pretty spotty internet service. But it is the best I can get so its what I have. Can't get anything better, and I have tried everything available out here.

So I still give OOMA's service 2-thumbs up.
 
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