Does anyone use one of the various VOIP phone services? What are your thoughts. I ditched my landline ($75 a month for not a whole lot was getting tiresome) but would like an alternative to my cell (poor service in the house)
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Does anyone use one of the various VOIP phone services? What are your thoughts. I ditched my landline ($75 a month for not a whole lot was getting tiresome) but would like an alternative to my cell (poor service in the house)
You have to have Internet access, which means a phone line(DSL) or Cable TV. Also the band width has to be wide enough or your calls will sound like two cans and a string. Some VOIP providers have low monthly rates because they only use a narrow band width for your call ( two cans and a string).
Have you looked into improving your cell service by an extender or external antenna?
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...9133b2dbf6en02
just an idea. It uses an antenna outside and one in the house.
http://www.bestbuy.ca/multimedia/Pro...10368091_1.jpg
Yes, but its about 5x times the xost
what the "Xost" of DSL/CABLE or the one time purchase of the extender?Quote:
Originally Posted by blasted_saber
Over one year the extender costs you about $36 a month or two that is $18. Most of these things last about four or more years.
I have a Wireless router that is ten years old. I only paid about $60 for it.
Our phone bill landlines is around $20... what "plan" did you have for $75? Of course I have no call waiting call display.... voice mail. . Or anything.. just a good ol phone line...
I used to have Vonage. Since about 2006. It's a great service. It winds up being about $25 per month taxes in.
I switched a few years ago to Ooma, and its great. Taxes in i'm around $12 a month.
It's a fairly easy process to terminate the Bell cables where they come into the house, and then plug the Telecom router into an existing jack to liven up the entire house.
Bell will never again get a single cent of my money.
There are many options, some like Magic Jack and OOma other small ones. The ones you can just plug into a router allow you to take it with you as long as there is an internet connection are kind of nice if you have internet at the cottage or want to take it with you on a business trip. I have a friend I call occasionally and usually have to ask where he is at, still a local call but he might be in Hong Kong or he might be at home.
There are a few I would outright avoid that have nasty contracts and terms.... I shouldn't say which one but there is one I see advertised on the TV all the time I have heard nothing good about.
I started using Tech Savvy as an experiment for the last couple months before giving Belll the boot and other than a slight loss of quality and it not working when the internet is out (Rogers has been doing work on our street) it has been OK.
https://teksavvy.com/en/residential/phone/tektalk
For $15 a month (or less for the basic) I can live with the phone that sounds like what I grew up with at home.
Features of TekTalk Premium
Use an existing number or a new one
Caller ID
Advanced Voicemail
Visual Call Waiting
Three-Way Calling
Call Forwarding
SimRing
Caller ID Block
Call Return
Selective Call Blocking
Call Privacy
Do Not Disturb
Reminder Call
Screening List
Basic 911
Free calls between TekTalk customers
TekTalk Portal to manage the service
100 Minutes of N. American Long Distance*
*2.9¢/minute after 100 minutes
Bell. Lite package + 0.40/minute long distance.Quote:
Originally Posted by topher
Why not go no package and just basic phone line.. use a 1010100 or something for .10 a minute long distance..
I already have DSL with more then enough bandwidth to handle VOIP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowwalker
VOIP is $60 for the first year and $40 annually after that. Bell cannot compete with thatQuote:
Originally Posted by topher
I use voip.ms and know many other people who do. It works similar to a prepaid phone plan. No monthly fee and your minutes are deducted from the prepaid amount. Top up as necessary. I have been using it for a year now and have had no issues. Sound quality is the same as landline, no delay. Costs a bit to get set up but once you have the required hardware it is cheap. I put $40 on my account last august and still have over $20 remaining.
We were recently able to upgrade our internet service to 4G wireless (neither DSL or cable are available), so my wife is giving Vonage a try. We have a free trial, and if all goes well, as it appears to be so far, we will be giving Bell the boot as well. Vonage isn't the cheapest voip, but from everyone we've talked to, seems to be the most reliable with the best customer service.
Been using Ooma for almost two years. Sound quality is as good as our old land line. We get call waiting, call display, voice mail, free 24/7 calling across Canada, two lines out, call forwarding to our cell phone if the Internet goes down, all for less than $4 a month. I get a laugh every the Bell retention department calls to try to lure us back. Was paying $48 a month with them for less service. It's a no brainer.
We have it at work and have had many issues with it. IT department is always getting complaints about the system being down the last two years since we've had it. Yes it is cheaper but I could do without the breakdowns.Quote:
Originally Posted by blasted_saber
We've had zero issues with ours. Maybe we got lucky.
my bell home phone is 25 bucks plus 250 long distance minutes, call display, and call waiting
that is one of the cheapest rates I know of....maybe I should be giving them a callQuote:
Originally Posted by warningshot
Just remember...no power no phone with VOIP.... with a Bell land line, you will always have a working phone. 30yrs a lineman for DND working as a Army Bell Tech. NOTE: We do not have a home phone, only cells for the wife and kids. We had an outage two days ago in Barrhaven and all those with Roger or VOIP type phones did not have service during this time.
Yes and that is another issue while at work after a power outage due to a storm. We never had the problem as you said with a Bell land line.Quote:
Originally Posted by line052
That's the second time in a week that I hear someone in Muskoka that pay that much. I was use to only pay 10$ for basic service with Cogeco but I live in town.Quote:
Originally Posted by blasted_saber
Skype is an easy one to use for any computer or cell.
A guy from work just told me he now use OOMA, he was used to pay 50$/month with Rogers.
He bought the box for 100$ at best buy and 3.98$/month (911#+tax) for unlimited call nationwide.
Also, if you get the OOMA apps on your cell phone you can use it to call thru Wifi or data with your existing OOMA plan.
http://ca.ooma.com/products/basic