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
I only recently got interested in making the switch after reading a thread about it on FR. My wife and I got to exploring that option and within a week, she'd switched us over.
I'm missing a few of my favorite shows, but I'll do without them, given the $60 a month we're saving. And, there aren't ANY commercials!
No, not in the boonies, but I’m looking to move out just far enough to get broadband internet. I imagine eventually they are going to do something with those old analog tv frequencies to extend that reach even further.
I bought an OBi 100 It works with Google voice as well as others. It doesn’t need a computer to operate, but you can use your google voice account to block calls etc.
I wanted to use my land line number on it, and I had to jump through hoops to get that done, but it wasn’t all that bad. Basically, I had to transfer my land line number to a track phone, and then from the track phone to google voice.
It costs nothing per month. It doesn’t do 911 though. I
In DFW there’s AT&T in addition to Time Warner.
This is better, although $5 more a month, since it doesn’t require Internet:
Straight Talk Wireless Home Phone
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straight-Talk-Wireless-Home-Phone/22084643
If you have wireless Internet, MagicJack and the one you’re talking about won’t work.
I am considering doing the same. I have AT & T and I rarely use the phone to make calls especially long or international calls. Yet AT & T are charging me like 60 bucks a month and I’m sick of it. Like I said the reason I continue to use the landline is for an emergency incase my cell phone does not work or did not recharge the battery. Good enough getting screwed by cable now the phone ompanies are doing the same.
Straight Talk Wireless Home Phone
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straight-Talk-Wireless-Home-Phone/22084643
Very interesting device. It is a kind of a cell phone, runs off cell phone networks. But has a stationary base that you plug your home phones into. Portable too if want like a cell phone for when you visit grandma for a month
Indeed. We are out in the country, so our Internet is satellite and won’t run Magicjack or the one mentioned above. It was our only option, really. Free nationwide long-distance is included.
True, although cell phones don’t work for us here in rural Vermont, or in our summer house in Maine, either. No cell phone towers within reach.
My experience is similar.
Sounds like a bandwidth problem. In the nine years I’ve been using it, the only time I had difficulty was the 18 months I spent in an apartment with bad internet.
Even then the problem wasn’t lack of overlap. Just an occasional garbling.
Just make sure you buy your own cable modem. Here in San Antonio, Time Warner started charging internet-only customers $6 a month for their cable modem. I decided it was ridiculous to pay TW $6/month for an eight-year-old modem, so I bought my own and took theirs back.
I’ll stick with Metro PCS - I got a $30.00 a month promo plan a year ago and bought an LG Spirit smart phone that rivals an iPhone 5 for $159 after rebate. Unlimited calls, unlimited texts, 500MB Data per month which I rarely use as I’m always in WiFi range.
No contracts, no waiting to upgrade.No hidden charges.
If I want a new phone, I buy the one I want. You can even use iPhone’s now with Metro.
BTW, call quality and reliability is way better than ATT
Tracfone is good for basic telephone (cell) service, and it is pay-as-you-go, except for the service fee.
I make/get few calls, so $300/year for a landline was expensive. With Tracfone, my monthly cost averages about $6.00.
I purchase a 3-month service and 60 minute card for $20 at the Tracfone website. It then gives me the option of purchasing a year of service for about $50. Thus, for about $75 (with tax) I get 15 months of service and 60 minutes. Minutes do not expire. When I first signed up I purchased the 1 year of service and 600 minutes for $100. I still have left over minutes from that.
Note that the Walmart Straight-talk mentioned in many posts is a product of Tracfone, IIRC. Also NET10 is a Tracfone company, too.
They did this with us last December, and the Verizon FIOS guy told us this had happened to a relative of his.
FTWC!
HSN has periodic deals which include a 1-year/1400 min. card along with a new(what they call)"smartphone"(features are very limited so it's not really a full smartphone).
Here was their weekend offer(which appears to still be available)for $79.95.
Also, if you are a first time HSN customer you can sign up on their website to get an additional $20 off(coupon code 135235)....so $59.99 for the(triple minutes for life)phone and a 1-year/1400 min. card...and no contracts to deal with.
Maybe not the best deal out there(pay-as-you-go)...but not bad for mobile phone service.
You can keep your old phone number, minutes can be transferred from old to new phone(if you want to upgrade later on), service area(3G)is better than t-Mobile(2G...at least in my area)as Tracfone uses multiple carriers.
The original Magic Jack went thru the computer.
I got one called NetTalk, which goes thru only the router. Mine is network line, but they now have a wireless one. About $30 per hear, unlimited domestic calling.
We have cell phones but wanted to keep our landline, and same number. NetTalk helped transfer (”port”) the old number to the internet phone device.
That's standard practice for all the big telecommunications companies today. You can't get cell phone, internet, or TV services from any of the big players without signing a one to two year contract. If you cancel your service before the contract runs out, they bill you for the balance.
We may do that. When we had HughesNet satellite service we bought the dish and the modem rather than lease from them. It was cheaper in the long run.
The downside is, when your modem becomes obsolete, you'll have to purchase a newer model. They also won't cover your modem for repairs if it goes on the fritz.
We're no longer using Time Warner's cable modems, but we still use their internet modem, which is how we get our TV feed now. Don't know if I could replace that one with my own.
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