Best Internet Phone (VoIP) Services?

stardust3

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Mar 7, 2006
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That was already done as I have had VoIP through my cable company for a few years already

Wasn't sure, but just wanted to point it out.
This is an interesting thread and has me seriously considering this service. Seems like in the long run ooma is the way to go. One thing I can't figure out is how this company generates revenue. Even with the premier it stills seems like a heck of deal for the consumer.
 

Mike0616

SatelliteGuys Pro
I will not touch Majic Jack. Just going to their website gave me spyware. I can only imagine what will happen when I install their software.

If you install their software on your computer, you get even more. And, as a added bonus, the software is almost impossible to remove once you have installed. Being tethered to a computer, crap software, spyware installed, and lousy voice connection, who could ask for more? Its only saving grace that I could see was it was cheap enough I didn't mind smashing with a hammer before throwing in the garbage. :)
 

DodgerKing

SatelliteGuys Master
Nov 14, 2007
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Even though I have had my Ooma for about a month, I haven't used it much because I still had my TWC phone service. Wanted to keep the service until the porting went through so we don't have to give people temporary numbers.

Today the porting officially went through, called TWC canceled my phone service, and Ooma is working beautifully. Will now save $30/month on phone service

An additional bonus, when I called TWC to cancel, they of course tried everything to keep me with their phone service, but $0/month is much better than $30/month. While on the phone I told them I maybe canceling my internet soon as well and going to FiOS. The guy then took my current $50/month internet service and gave me $20 off per month for 12 months. So I will not be saving $53 total per month ($3 phone protection is no longer needed as well).

This Ooma is already paying for itself.
 

Stargazer

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Sep 7, 2003
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How does the phone number porting work? If I keep my current landline then I don't have to shut my phone service off in order to get the number ported over? What happens with your landline service once your number gets ported over?
 

DodgerKing

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Nov 14, 2007
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How does the phone number porting work? If I keep my current landline then I don't have to shut my phone service off in order to get the number ported over? What happens with your landline service once your number gets ported over?
With Ooma they take care of the porting for you. You just have to take care of canceling your service with your old provider. Once the porting goes through, then contact your phone provider and cancel the service

Even though the number was ported, my my landline through TWC is still active and I can still call from it (even though I am not paying). A tech is supposed to come out on Thursday and disconnect the phone from the cable box. Cable is different. They cannot simply shut it off from their office. That is what two different techs told me

When I had this same number ported from Verizon to TWC, TWC canceled my Verizon service for me along with the porting. Verizon simply shut off my phone from their office

Another things I discovered; even though I am not paying for TV, if I take the coax connected to my modem and plug it into my TV I will get my local channels
 

StevenD

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Nov 18, 2003
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I'm glad Ooma is working out for you. I've had it for a year now, and I have nothing but good to say about it...especially since I was paying $72/month for fairly basic phone service.
 

DodgerKing

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Nov 14, 2007
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I'm glad Ooma is working out for you. I've had it for a year now, and I have nothing but good to say about it...especially since I was paying $72/month for fairly basic phone service.
That is what I was paying for Verizon, and then I switched to TWC and thought $30/month for unlimited calling anywhere in the US and features I did not have with Verizon was a Godsend. Now $0/month (taxes is about $3/month) for the same features is even better
 

LonghornXP

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
I've been using PhonePower for the last 6 or so months at least. My experience has been great without one outage (that I was aware about at least) and the voice quality has been fantastic. When I first got the service my voice calls didn't always work (either bad quality or call drops) when I was downloading large files. I ended up calling PhonePower support so they could step me through setting up my router as they didn't have an online manual for my router yet. I called support and waited on hold for about 2-3 minutes and spoke with a rep who was extremely knowledgeable about setting up QoS settings etc. This was a rare treat in that they were extremely well trained and I told them my router brand and model and they asked me if I knew how to login to my routers configuration page. I told them yes and that I'm an advanced computer user and they took this to heart. He at that point starting telling me exactly what I needed to change and how to do it without using the simple "I know nothing about computers" script hand holding that other companies use no matter what. This greatly sped up the process and after the changes were made he asked me to reset the modem and router (unplug them) and he would call back. After 3 minutes he called back and asked me to download a large linux iso file with a download manager while I was on the phone. When everything worked great the call was ended and everybody was happy. This was just an amazing level of customer service I haven't had in quite some time and will be a major reason why I will be renewing with them after my original two years prepaid service is over.
 

Steve Mehs

SatelliteGuys Pro
Oct 22, 2010
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Marilla, NY
How does the phone number porting work? If I keep my current landline then I don't have to shut my phone service off in order to get the number ported over? What happens with your landline service once your number gets ported over?


After never have doing it before, I’ve done number porting twice in the past year, ported the landline number from Verizon to Time Warner and ported the cell phone number from AT&T Mobility to Sprint. Very simple process. Both times were two very happy occasions severing all ties with AT&T and Verizon gave me a warm and fuzzy. Anyhow, in both instances I never spoke to anyone at the old service provider to cancel my service, the way it was explained to me is when you give a new service provider permission to port your number over, that request is taken as an act of cancelation and no further actions are necessary. Too bad though. I would have loved to call up both companies and just let them have it, rip them apart and gut them in gruesome display of glory and use many many four letter words as I tell them what I truly think of them. But unfortunately, both Time Warner and Sprint saved me the fun.
 

DodgerKing

SatelliteGuys Master
Nov 14, 2007
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SoCal
After never have doing it before, I’ve done number porting twice in the past year, ported the landline number from Verizon to Time Warner and ported the cell phone number from AT&T Mobility to Sprint. Very simple process. Both times were two very happy occasions severing all ties with AT&T and Verizon gave me a warm and fuzzy. Anyhow, in both instances I never spoke to anyone at the old service provider to cancel my service, the way it was explained to me is when you give a new service provider permission to port your number over, that request is taken as an act of cancelation and no further actions are necessary. Too bad though. I would have loved to call up both companies and just let them have it, rip them apart and gut them in gruesome display of glory and use many many four letter words as I tell them what I truly think of them. But unfortunately, both Time Warner and Sprint saved me the fun.
That is true and that is what happened when I ported form Verizon to TWC. This time I actually had to call TWC to cancel and set up a time for a tech to come to my house and switch out the modem
 

Skyhi

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Sep 29, 2007
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Dodger,

Any particular reason you went with Ooma over Nettalk? I'm considering both, but leaning towards nettalk because of price.
 

NotMe546

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 4, 2008
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I just noticed the May Consumer Reports has ooma ranked as the #1 voip provider.
I remember Consumer Reports saying 8 o'clock coffee was the worst and at the time 7 eleven was selling millions of cups.
Ooma up front cost (Est. $225).:eek: WOW

"Ooma differs from other VoIP services in that it charges only for the initial hardware. The original Ooma Core set (*Est. $225) includes an adapter for one extension. Each additional extension requires an extra adapter (*Est. $70). A newer Ooma Telo model (*Est. $235) promises better call quality and works with Ooma handsets (*Est. $50) instead of adapters. There are no monthly fees for the basic service, except for taxes and fees (about $3.50 per month). Domestic calls are free, so unless you make mostly international calls or need lots of extensions, reviews say this is the most cost-effective VoIP solution. The free service includes basic features such as voice mail and caller ID, plus a virtual second line, so two people can make calls at the same time. Some fancier options, such as three-way calling and voice mail forwarding, require a Premier subscription (*Est. $10 per month). Most reviews praise the call quality, but technical support gets mixed reviews. If you make lots of international calls, consider Vonage (*Est. $10 to $35 per month), which offers free calls to 60 countries with its $35-per-month plan."

For that kind of money I'll stick with Vonage. No up front cost. No $10 charge for what Ooma calls fancier options. I get all of that for $12.50 a month before taxes. Also if they go belly up tomorrow ( which how many VOIP have) I'm not out anything. Lets not for get the cost of the all the extension.:eek:
Just my humble opinion.
 

DodgerKing

SatelliteGuys Master
Nov 14, 2007
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SoCal
The cost is of the Ooma Telo only. You do not need the handsets or extra adapters. That link you provided is a little misleading. I plugged a phone line into the back of the box and into one of my wall outlets and it powers all of the phones in the house. All of the phones do everything (calls, Caller ID, ex). Paying $200 for the product to save $35/month for less than comparable phone service with my cable company will pay for itself in less than a year. I basically pay nothing for service that does more than any other provider can give and for something I never use
 

Stargazer

Supporting Founder
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Sep 7, 2003
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Western WV
With Nettalk you just pay one price for a year's service and that's it, no extra taxes or fees each month and no computer needed. That is why I went with it.
 

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