Posted on 09/09/2013 12:52:54 PM PDT by dennisw
http://www.walmart.com/ip/BasicTalk-Home-Phone-Device/23739626
I am going to dumping my old copper land line. I have looked at magic jack. This new one from Walmart looks good or better
Buy the device for $10. It connects to your router.
$10 per month for phone service in the USA
Love the Roku! Get Amazon Prime immediately! It’s only $79 a year and you will not BELIEVE the number of free TV series and movies available for your Roku. Unreal.
Are you using straight talk with an android phone? Or a cell phone?
Check out OBI100 voip box ($39.99, easy setup) and voip.ms service ($0.0105/min to 48 states, precharge & pay as you go, $10 one time to port, $1.50/mo for e911).
Not a problem since most people have cell phones.
I’ve had the Ooma for a couple years now, with no problems. IIRC, there’s a one-year warranty.
We have the premium service, for an extra $100/year. That gives us unlimited long-distance (N.America), and more extra features than I know what to do with. One handy feature: you can check your voice mail from your e-mail. This allows you to sort through the messages and play them back (or not) in any order you chose.
Ooma uses some special software, which makes it superior to cheaper competitors. For instance, it prioritizes the phone data, so you get perfect call quality, even if you’re streaming a HD movie at the same time.
I paid over $200 for my Ooma, and figure it paid for itself in about 4 months. (Mainly because of the savings on long distance calls.)
Regarding power outages, Ooma lets you designate a number that calls get forwarded to if power or even Internet service is disrupted. It's automatic -- I said to forward my calls to my cell.
So it's like I have a landline without having to pay for one. Excellent sound quality too.
Highly recommended.
I use MagicJack Plus. I am extremely happy with it and it’s way cheaper than the $10 a month plan you found.
Cell phone. $45 mo. for unlimited cell AND internet has been saving me a ton of money.
Just a thought — GoogleVoice to ‘answer’ and forward the home phone to a cell (TMobile unlimited plan).
That way the phone number we have had since dinosaurs roamed the earth still ‘rings’ my wife and there is no geographical limitation (free to travel).
That’s is exactly what I did. Cancelled all cable but the internet.
That sounds like a good plan — though I have had no experience with GoogleVoice. Any GoogleVoice experts out there?
my wife and I tried the Walmart phone, I think it’s called Straight Talk.. Each phone is with a different carrier, so it depends on the phone you pick.
I really did not care for it, and we both took ours back after 20 days or so... the reception was spotty, the customer service was horrible, and the phones were older technology. The Data (internet ) connectivity was spotty and bad for both of us ( mine was Sprint, her’s was a bit better with AT&T )
... so why get a smart phone, if it’s hard to get on the internet?
after that, we just both bought iPhones, with AT&T.. while we pay an extra $100 a month, more than the Straight Talk deal, for our Data, Text and cell phone calls, we are very happy with them... In the end, you get what you pay for...
as for landline subsitutes, my friend uses Vonage.. I have to tell you, that I really do not like speaking to him on that darn thing...
the main problem? His phone does not allow for overlapping conversation, so you almost have to do the old walkie-talkie thing and say “over” when you finish saying something. That is terrible in my opinion.
on land lines, you can have a real conversation, that has overlapping in it...
A Roku and Netflix are your friends here if you don’t already have a PC you can devote to internet media duty.
I too, love my Vonage. For an extra $10.00 p/mo I have a dedicated fax line with them.
Can’t get Time Warner in my neighborhood. Comcast has a monopoly in Texas. I can drop the cable from Comcast and keep the internet....FOR THE SAME PRICE! I’m not sure there is another internet service available in my area.
If you're on DSL via a phone copper wire you can use an old hard wired handset. Other than that, the disposable cell phone is for emergencies. While the phone company is still distributing service, set all calls to forward to the cell phone. Of course, you should have a solar charging facility to keep the cell phone battery up and running.
Are you in the boonies? When we used to live beyond the reach of the cable providers, we got our internet over satellite and only received broadcast TV via a rooftop antenna. This was years ago, before live streaming became popular.
No so. I live in the DFW metro area and use Time Warner. Lots of folks do. They're huge out here. Not sure if they service your area, though.
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