ATT DSLl & VOIP, confused

[spensib]

I live in the NYC area. The Local phone company is Verizon. I have ported phone service with ATT for local and LD. I have WorldNet dial-up. Direct TV with tivo.

I want to upgrade to ATT DSL and VOIP. I called ATT VOIP today and was so confused by what I was told. The ATT rep. told me that I could get ATT DSL and VIOP but that I would have to keep my original local phone service. This makes no sense. The whole idea of going to VOIP is to get rid of the Pots phone line and use the VIOP connection for the phone. The rep. said I would then have 2 phone lines. My pots line and the VOIP line.

Has anyone heard of this? Any ideas or comments?

 

[Neutron]

Most DSL providers require a local POTS number for service to work.

There are some "naked" DSL providers out there that don't require POTS to work.

Unfortunately most local providers will require a local POTS number for DSL. I think this is a major drawback to DSL in my opinion.

 

[jegrant]

If you do want to go back to Verizon, they do offer a "naked" DSL line that need not have a phone number attached. Search http://www.broadbandreports.com/ for more info.
(You could still get VOIP from AT&T or anyone else you desire.)

AFAIK, AT&T doesn't offer "naked" DSL exactly, but it is possible to reduce the costs of the POTS line in many areas to under $15 per month if you figure out how to order the absolute cheapest version of POTS.

 

[jhaifley]

Naked DSL vs POTS

When I looked around, it seemed like having naked DSL costs more then just having a trimmed down POTS line and DSL, especially with the really cheap deals that telco's are offering with a 1yr commitment. Usually to get the POTS the cheapest, you need metered service where you are charged by the minute for you local as well as long distance. Once advantage in this scenario is that you still have reliable emergency phone service if the power is out, or your internet is down. Just use it as a backup.