Suggestions for a good VOIP service?

[that_kid]

I've had 2 Vonage lines ever since they came out. I have to agree with everyone on the increase in price but I can say the service has been solid for years (a little bumpy back in 2003). I just wish I could terminate my main number into my asterisk box directly. It works great witht he softphone account but not my main account.

[TBS]

+1 for OOMA I've had it for 2+ years & it has been rock solid! I have the basic now, but premier was real nice when I had a situation where I needed multiple phone lines.

[zoltran]

voip.ms is a very good offering. (http://voip.ms/)
It's definitely ala'carte .. No packages or bundled minutes etc..
We average about $3-10/month. No LD charges for anywhere in North America.

We use a linksys adapter. about $60

[davephan]

I borrowed by brother in law's Magic Jack for a couple of weeks. Magic Jack has to run on a computer that is on 24 x 7. I have several computers that are on 24 x 7, so this isn't a problem. Magic Jack has annoying advertising pop-ups on the computer. So when someone else uses the Magic Jack phone, then another person using the computer is annoyed by the pop up ads. You can reduce the problem with an application that automatically closes the popup ad, but it still flashes on the screen. Many people on the forums complain about the annoying pop up ads. The Magic Jack voice quality is frequently poor, with very low audio level, even though I have 20 meg broadband connection. I recommend avoiding Magic Jack.

Vontage is way too expensive, almost the same as the cost from the local phone company.

OOMA has a very steep front-end cost.

I'm thinking about trying Nettalk. Nettalk does not require a computer. The adapter and first year cost $70. The subsequent years cost $30 per year. Nettalk claims it is unlimited service, but they lie. The small print limits the usage to 5,000 minute per month, which is over 83 hours. We could never use that much per month, but it is very annoying that Nettalk claims it is unlimited when it is not. A month averages 43,800 minutes, which is not equal to 5,000 minutes. Aside from that untruthful claim, I'm still thinking about trying Nettalk if they have decent quality and reliable service. Most, but not all of the Nettalk Newegg reviews are good.


Dave

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by davephan

I'm still thinking about trying Nettalk if they have decent quality and reliable service.

I've had Nettalk service for about two years. When I bought it, they offered the TK6000 adapter, which was the precursor to the Nettalk Duo that they currently sell. Since they were still starting up, they offered free lifetime (meaning the lifetime of the TK6000 device, or the company, whichever comes first) local and long-distance calling for US and Canada. My original plan was to discontinue my AT&T landline, and replace it with Nettalk, with the result being no monthly/yearly phone bills.

Two years later, I still have my landline, along with the Nettalk service. Nettalk seems reliable enough, it's just the voice quality leaves something to be desired. I find rebooting the device prior to making an outbound call (dial *61) helps with the call quality. My TK6000 is connected directly to one of the ports on my Netgear FVS336G router, and then is connected to the second-line on my home telephone wiring. My router is connected directly to the Motorola cable modem, with Brighthouse Networks 6m download/512k upload service. I've played with some of the QOS router features in the past, I need to make one last attempt at QOS to see if I can get the call quality up. I don't expect it will make a difference though, since the call quality seems to be the same even when there is not much other internet activity happening in my house.

I don't know how similar the electronics in the TK6000 device is to the Nettalk Duo device. Maybe they made some changes, and upped the quality.

[mistergq]

Another recommendation for vonage. I have the limited Vonage plan and have never gone over the minutes.

[stevech]

I tried three VoIP via Internet providers, each for several months. None was sufficiently reliable, by a long shot.

I now have TimeWarner's digital phone in a bundle with HD TV and Internet cable modem. The phone has been equivalent to my now-dumped AT&T POTS/landline. But in the bundle, it's less than half the cost of AT&T. More cost than Internet VoIP, but it works and people in this house can't tell the difference. That's a must.

[wayner]

I have also had Vonage for years. I don't know how you can say it is way too expensive since the service starts at $15/month in the US and $20 in Canada.

[david1234]

Originally Posted by wayner

I have also had Vonage for years. I don't know how you can say it is way too expensive since the service starts at $15/month in the US and $20 in Canada.

The basic plan isn't too expensive, it's just that I can't quite replace the phone company at a price that makes it worth doing. When you add taxes, it only save 2 or 3 dollars a month for similar service.

[mistergq]

Originally Posted by david1234

The basic plan isn't too expensive, it's just that I can't quite replace the phone company at a price that makes it worth doing. When you add taxes, it only save 2 or 3 dollars a month for similar service.

How much is your landline telephone bill? how many minutes do you have of included long distance?

[david1234]

Originally Posted by mistergq

How much is your landline telephone bill? how many minutes do you have of included long distance?

There really isn't a comparable Vonage plan to compare to it. Unlimited local calling without long distance. We have an extended-regional (wrong term, but anything in the area code is allowed) plan instead.

For long distance we use our cell phone; why pay twice for long distance service.

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by david1234

There really isn't a comparable Vonage plan to compare to it.

I agree that vonage, at ~$25 mo., isn't tempting. Viatalk, and others, often run 2yr for ~$200 or less, working out to ~$8 mo., and at the end of the 2 years, some will offer you the same deal again to keep your business (viatalk did for me -- 2 lines, 2yrs, $199). Under $10 per month for unlimited local and long distance is attractive, as long as your net connection, your equipment, and the voip provider, can keep the call quality acceptable.

[aflat]

I used Vonage for about 5 years, it worked well, and only had 2 real outages, and those were in the first year. I have since switched to OOMA, and I pay about $4 a month and get almost the same service. I could up it to $14 and get the exact same service(unlimited local and long, voicemail delivereed via email, 3 way call, etc) but I don't use all of that enough to justify it.

The price for Vonage just got to be too much. I had the $25 plan, but after taxes, and whatever fees they tacked on, I was paying $31. OOMA is about $4. They even have a link on their site that tells you your bill now. I bought my box at Walmart, for $200, I think that's still the price. At the current rate, my ROI is about 8 months, or less.

[davephan]

What is the difference between the OOMA Telo, Hub, and Scout? I am thinking about trying OOMA. I only want to use my existing telephone sets.

Dave

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by davephan

What is the difference between the OOMA Telo, Hub, and Scout? I am thinking about trying OOMA. I only want to use my existing telephone sets.

Dave

I bought a Telo a few months back and love it so far. I am using a phone system with it. (base unit and 3 cordless handsets) If the Ooma handsets weren't so expensive I probably would have used those instead since they have dedicated buttons for some of the Ooma features. On my handsets I am missing some of the dedicated Ooma features but can get to them with #xxxx codes.

Basically the Telo is newer hardware with extra features over the Ooma hub and scout. I believe you need 1 hub and then a scout for each location you want a line, so the Telo is MUCH better in that respect since you can use their handsets, or your own with no additional hardware.

Here's a comparison chart from their website between the Telo and hub.

[toricred]

I'very been using Ooma for some time now and it works great, but I didn't know about the #xxxx codes. Where are those published as I would love to use them?

[davephan]

How many numbers can be blocked with OOMA Premier? Can the numbers be blocked with wildcards? Can the blocking be done by phone number or by the display name or the display name with wildcards?

I think if the junk calls can be effectively blocked with OOMA, then I think it might be would be worth $10 a month for the blocking.


Dave

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by toricred

I'very been using Ooma for some time now and it works great, but I didn't know about the #xxxx codes. Where are those published as I would love to use them?

I've never really found a good single place for them. All the ones I've found are on their website in some of the FAQ's and the forums.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by davephan

How many numbers can be blocked with OOMA Premier? Can the numbers be blocked with wildcards? Can the blocking be done by phone number or by the display name or the display name with wildcards?

I think if the junk calls can be effectively blocked with OOMA, then I think it might be would be worth $10 a month for the blocking.


Dave

There are options in the online my.ooma dashboard for call blocking. There are various options for things like a caller id coming back as blocked, or just blank. You can create and add to your own blacklists as well as allowing the Ooma to use an online database of known telemarketers/scammers.
I don't recall offhand if you can use wildcards (i.e. block a whole exchange, etc). I know I've seen it mentioned in the Ooma forums, but don't recall offhand if they were allowed or people were asking for them or more options for them.

I don't get a lot of telemarketers, I'm on the national do not call list and it works fairly well. It would be much better if we could make the law "as intented" and not allow a whole list of exemptions (political, non-profits, etc).

I will say that when I set up a 2nd # when I signed up for the premier plan that it took less than two days for that # to start ringing off the hook with telemarketers. As soon as I saw that I put the # on the do not call list. (it slipped my mind completely until the phone started ringing constantly) Now about a month later those calls have fallen to a trickle.

[brainbone]

The national do not call list works for some, but I resorted to a custom filter on my asterisk/freepbx box for handling "Heather from credit card services", and a few others.