Suggestions for a good VOIP service?

[blade]

Awhile back we switched from Bellsouth to Comcast for home phone service. The main reason was a promotional offer from Comcast that gave us free long distance and more features than what we were getting from Bellsouth for a lower price. Well the promotional period is now over and it's up to full price so I'm looking for a less expensive alternative.

My wife and I primarily use our cell phones; however, we have family and friends in other states and regularly use the free long distance to talk to them. I know we could use our cell phones for that, but the quality is so much better with the land line that we're not ready to give that up yet.

What I'm really looking for is something with free long distance and to be able to plug in a regular phone and have it function as if I was still with the old fashion telephone company.

[gplasky]

We've been using Vonage for about 3 years and are very happy with it. We actually dropped down to the 500 min/$15 a month pacakge. Didn't need the unlimited.

Gerry

[mdnttoker]

I'm a big fan of OOMA....love it, and $3 / month for basic services. $10/month for premier...

[rmiller]

I've been using Vonage (5 lines) for about 6 years now and its worked out pretty well.

However, I am building an Asterisk server (coupled with Flowroute) which will replace Vonage. Vonage is inexpensive and feature rich, but with Asterisk, I can customize it further and in the long run it's even cheaper. There's quite a bit involved though in setting it up.

[PiX64]

ITPvoip. i have had them for about 4 years, they have never increased price, have great features, great call quality, and are super cheap. 9.99 for the basic plan. my phone bill is 15.07 a month.

[95TBird]

+1 for OOMA We have had it for 2+ years & it has been rock solid!

[bcjenkins]

Checkout nettalk.com. Buy the adapter then $30/year after the first.

[brainbone]

I've been using VIA Talk. I like that I can use my own equipment with them (Asterisk). I'm looking into switching to Axvoice however, since my two lines, for two years, for $199 deal with VIAtalk is just about up.

[PGPfan]

After trying Vonage for a while (too expensive), then Ooma (cheaper, but then they started charging for "premium" features that should be included in the regular monthly fee), and then MagicJack (least expensive, but requires a PC on all the time you want phone service).

I finally settled on Obi for hardware, and GoogleTalk for the service. The hardware is inexpensive and usable with just about any service, and with GoogleTalk the phone service is entirely free through 2011. It works completely transparently - HIGHLY recommended!

-PGPfan

[scat]

Originally Posted by 95TBird

+1 for OOMA We have had it for 2+ years & it has been rock solid!

+1 for OOMA, when I lost my job and income had to make a decision, had to have phone servive for the job possibilities, invested in a OOMA device and now phone service is FREE and never looked back at a phone bill, best investment I ever made except for Sage of course.

I have been working now for over a year, thanks to God, and as a permanent employee since April 2011 and now have health insurance.

You should check it out.

Scat

[Owen Brent]

I am in Canada and Obitalk works for me too. Magic Jack worked for me too, but there are limitations to what numbers you can call. Gave up Magic Jack for the Obi 110. Easy to set up.

[ewelin]

I'm currently on vonage and have had their service for several years now. Only thing that drives me crazy is the ever increasing prices. When I first signed up we had the 15.99 plan and service charges etc brought it to a few pennies over $17. That same plan now costs almost $10 more with all of the fees and price increases. I personally don't feel it's worth it, so I'm looking to migrate to another service. Unfortunately we need to port our number as it's on all sorts of things and changing really just isn't an option at this point. Has anyone ported their number to these services and if so how has that worked out?

[david1234]

Originally Posted by ewelin

I'm currently on vonage and have had their service for several years now. Only thing that drives me crazy is the ever increasing prices. When I first signed up we had the 15.99 plan and service charges etc brought it to a few pennies over $17. That same plan now costs almost $10 more with all of the fees and price increases. I personally don't feel it's worth it, so I'm looking to migrate to another service. Unfortunately we need to port our number as it's on all sorts of things and changing really just isn't an option at this point. Has anyone ported their number to these services and if so how has that worked out?

I looked into Vonage, since it seemed to be the most mature, but the cost savings over the phone company was only $2 a month.

The small providers like ooma just feel like ponzi schemes to me; Pay once, and then it's free forever. what if new customters stop buying the box? At some point if the subscriber base stops increasing who is going to be funding the service?

I've been thinking about going with a handset that will connect with bluetooth to 2 different cell phones along with a landline connection. That way I can ease my way into cutting the cord, and just using my cell service for everything, and the handset would ring for both mine and my wifes phones.

My biggest concern with most of the VOIP and cell providers is the 911 service. With a 5 year old at home, I'm not willing to risk 911 service with some of the smaller providers. And in our area, a landline without service doesn't just allow 911 calls through.

[mdnttoker]

Originally Posted by david1234

I looked into Vonage, since it seemed to be the most mature, but the cost savings over the phone company was only $2 a month.

The small providers like ooma just feel like ponzi schemes to me; Pay once, and then it's free forever. what if new customters stop buying the box? At some point if the subscriber base stops increasing who is going to be funding the service?

I've been thinking about going with a handset that will connect with bluetooth to 2 different cell phones along with a landline connection. That way I can ease my way into cutting the cord, and just using my cell service for everything, and the handset would ring for both mine and my wifes phones.

My biggest concern with most of the VOIP and cell providers is the 911 service. With a 5 year old at home, I'm not willing to risk 911 service with some of the smaller providers. And in our area, a landline without service doesn't just allow 911 calls through.

I had the same concerns with OOMA at first, but they must be having enough people sign up for the $10 / month service to stay afloat...had it for over a year, and its great.

e911 support, phone # porting, great voice quality, independent of computer...

[blade]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I know someone who uses Vonage and he seems really happy with it so I'm going to definitely look into it.

I've also seen suggestions for OOMA on the Anandtech forums, but at first glance it looks like the hardware to get started is going to cost around $250. Seems a little high for the upfront hardware cost compared to Vonage.

I haven't checked out any of the other suggestions yet, but I will. You guys have given me a lot of options to look into.

Being able to port my existing number is fairly important, but not critical. I've just had the same number for over 20 years and would like to keep it if it's practical.

[baudfather]

I was on Vonage here in Canada for a while, but service was inconsistent on a few occasions, and their tech support was horrid (at least for Canada), then they started increasing their prices. I have been with Primus for over 5 years and their service is excellent - no latency issues, excellent call quality and reliability. 2 lines (one for fax, actually works) for less than $20/month.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by blade

What I'm really looking for is something with free long distance and to be able to plug in a regular phone and have it function as if I was still with the old fashion telephone company.

OK... I hear everyone talking about their provider for VOIP...

Here are the instructions for Nationwide (US) long distance... FOR FREE!

http://sipsorcery.wordpress.com/2009...-app-tutorial/

I have been using the Google Voice/Sip Sorcery mashup since they took away the SIP server from Grand Central...

As far as calling overseas... I charge my GV account and use the rates as listed here...

https://www.google.com/voice/rates

A simple SIP/ATA adapter (heck... I got mine on EBay for $10...) and your off and running!

The only thing missing is E911... although that can be had as well, but a nominal fee. I have 911 mapped in my dial plan to call the local Police Department...

[wrems]

Originally Posted by Jason

A simple SIP/ATA adapter (heck... I got mine on EBay for $10...) and your off and running!

What adapter do you have? Do you recommend any other adapters? This looks interesting

[Jason]

Originally Posted by wrems

What adapter do you have? Do you recommend any other adapters? This looks interesting

I have an old Linksys RTP300 that works great... It was a re-purposed Vonage version that I unlocked and now works great!

[pdessart]

Originally Posted by PGPfan

After trying Vonage for a while (too expensive) [...] I finally settled on Obi for hardware, and GoogleTalk for the service.

I, too have had Vonage (fine except for the cost) and now have the Obi/GoogleTalk combo plus BroadVoice.

I find that GoogleTalk occasionally suffers greatly degraded service (dropouts, poor line quality, etc.). You get what you pay for...

I've had BroadVoice for ~6 years now and can't recommend them highly enough. Their BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) service unbundles the ATA or SIP Phone so you can choose your own hardware (and the Obi works very well) at a very low $6/mo. entry price.

Among the features I really like is their support for Multi-Presence. This allows you to have the same number ring on multiple devices (e.g. home & vacation house or ATA and softclient while traveling). I plan on implementing Asterisk later this year, and will be able to have what amounts to 8 lines (8 simultaneous incoming and/or outgoing calls) at no extra cost (this does not even require Multi-Presence).

Peter