Landline Alternatives

[Dartgod]

I really want to get rid of our landline altogether, but cell service in my house isn't always reliable. I need to have something in place for emergencies. However, I'm currently paying over $40 per month for my phone service with UVerse.

So I'm looking into alternatives such as Magic Jack, Vonage or Ooma.

Anyone have any experience with any of these? I'd like to keep my existing number, so Magic Jack is likely out.

I don't know a soul who has used any of these, so I'm really clueless and want to make sure I'm not dropping any coin on something I'll regret.

Thanks in advance...

EDIT: I see now that it is possible to move your existing number to Magic Jack. I'm most interested in this one now if that's the case.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

So this is good enough, right?

I hate you.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by srvy

I will add most these VOIP dont have 911 unless you go thru a 3rd party at about 3 bucks a month. OBITalk does not but they link you to a few sites that provide the service. I use my OBITALK with google voice works great. I get about what u get bandwidth wise with Uverse. I have not had one issue my kids are on xbox or netflix wife on laptop im on tablet. Lots stuff craming up the internet yet haven't had the issues some are bringing up.

Keep in mind that Netflix is mostly download traffic, while a VoIP call is two ways.

If you have a connection like Dartgod's, those two should work fine together. However, if you add in something like torrent peering (which uses upstream and downstream bandwidth both) your phone is going to have issues.

[Stewie]

I've had MagicJack Plus for over a year and it's been great. I ported my old number. There's a $10/year fee for that.

My Internet speeds are 10 download/1.5 upload.

[nstygma]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Well, on a small pipe, you can run into fragmentation issues at layer 2. Technically to run VoIP well over a smaller connection, you have to split the frames up and interleave them into the other data so that stuff goes out in a predictable manner.

how does a residential user do this?

[cookster50]

Ooma for me.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Stewie

I've had MagicJack Plus for over a year and it's been great. I ported my old number. There's a $10/year fee for that.

My Internet speeds are 10 download/1.5 upload.

What about E911 services? Anything special you need to do there, other than register your address with them?

[digger]

ooma $4.35 a month
911 check
number port check

Cons: $150.00 for the base.