Vonage or MagicJack?

[Slasher]

Getting tired of paying a monthly phone bill that we barely use. Is anyone currently using Vonage or MagicJack for their phone service? I have looked at both of them but not sure if they are any good.

I know we will be giving up 911 service and things like that but I just hate seeing that $45 bill for basic phone service and the majority of people that call are telemarketers.

[nightrunner]

Anything wrong with only having a cellphone? Thats how i have been for the last 5 years or so.

[RobertY]

]I have also considered something like that. But then I considered that both of them depend on you having high speed internet. So to me that states that when a phone call comes in it will take up bandwidth from my net and I would not like that.

The thing I am currently considering is Straight Talk now offers a home phone service for $15 a month that does not require an internet connection. Of course with it you still lose the 911 capabilities. Plus it is so new that I will wait to see if there are bugs and if so let them work it out.

[Spots]

Second vote for cell phone only. Me and my wife haven't had a house phone in years. Only time its not an option is if you live in an area like my parents place where there is almost no reception.

[Slasher]

The only issue I have with cell phone only is at that point then everyone has your cell number. It seems with a "home" phone that telemarketers and the like could call that number and that would keep them off my cell.

Please correct me if that is wrong.

[hipower]

Don't think that having a cell phone only will stop telemarketing calls. Somehow or another, these pesky critters got my cell number. Don't get many, but it does ocassionaly happen. And the "do not call" services aren't absolutely perfect either.

[Spots]

I very, very rarely get a telemarketer calling my cell number. I had the same number for 6 years, and its been posted online, on applications, and several other places, and I only get one call about every 6 months. They seem to focus on land lines more than cells with telemarketing calls. The only calls I get on my cell are friends and family, and the occasional business I have given it to that has permission to call me.

[hipower]

[quote name='Spots' timestamp='1354901706' post='856523']
I very, very rarely get a telemarketer calling my cell number. I had the same number for 6 years, and its been posted online, on applications, and several other places, and I only get one call about every 6 months. They seem to focus on land lines more than cells with telemarketing calls. The only calls I get on my cell are friends and family, and the occasional business I have given it to that has permission to call me.
[/quote]

That's great, but I do suspect that cell numbers are gotten from the same sources as our home phone numbers. That is, from lists sold by just about any business that seeks to get a little extra revenue from their datta records. Just my suspicions.

[MacGyver]

Vonage, Ring Central and all of the others out there are required to have 911 capability. You register a street address as a part of the service.

We used Vonage for several years, and have used Ring Central for the last couple of years. No real difference in the quality of service, Ring Central was just a lot less expensive. I think we pay around $14/month for the service that includes all the features and 1000 or so minutes of long distance.

The historical "reliability" of the POTS lines is probably moot for most people who have cell phones. If your internet goes out and takes your phone with it, most just switch to using their mobile. Plus, with the decimation of the telecommunications industry over the last decade, I wouldn't put that much stock in the POTS lines being available in emergencies anymore. All the investment is going into mobile.

[Guest ArmyVeteran37214]

Magic Jack and or Cell Phone.

[dralarms]

[quote name='Slasher' timestamp='1354899658' post='856509']
Getting tired of paying a monthly phone bill that we barely use. Is anyone currently using Vonage or MagicJack for their phone service? I have looked at both of them but not sure if they are any good.

I know we will be giving up 911 service and things like that but I just hate seeing that $45 bill for basic phone service and the majority of people that call are telemarketers.
[/quote]

If you have an alarm system, stay away from Vonage.

[LI0NSFAN]

We have majic jack and it works great. It ends up costing us less then $2/mo. It is our buisness phone and when we travel we take it with. As long as we have our laptop connected to wifi we have phone service. We actuall made a call on it in a McDonalds using the free wifi, so I don't think it will affect your internet.

[Slasher]

[quote name='MacGyver' timestamp='1354903247' post='856534']
Vonage, Ring Central and all of the others out there are required to have 911 capability. You register a street address as a part of the service.

We used Vonage for several years, and have used Ring Central for the last couple of years. No real difference in the quality of service, Ring Central was just a lot less expensive. I think we pay around $14/month for the service that includes all the features and 1000 or so minutes of long distance.

The historical "reliability" of the POTS lines is probably moot for most people who have cell phones. If your internet goes out and takes your phone with it, most just switch to using their mobile. Plus, with the decimation of the telecommunications industry over the last decade, I wouldn't put that much stock in the POTS lines being available in emergencies anymore. All the investment is going into mobile.
[/quote]

I got on the Ring Central site and it looked like all of their plans are either Office or Professional, pretty much business centric. Was I looking at the wrong site?

[Slasher]

[quote name='dralarms' timestamp='1354903869' post='856538']
If you have an alarm system, stay away from Vonage.
[/quote]
We us a cellular connection for the alarm.

Thanks for mentioning that.

[MacGyver]

[quote name='Slasher' timestamp='1354904447' post='856543']
I got on the Ring Central site and it looked like all of their plans are either Office or Professional, pretty much business centric. Was I looking at the wrong site?
[/quote]That's a good question. Maybe they've changed it since we signed up. Nonetheless, the "professional" option for $9.99/month with 300 minutes of long distance and a fax would suit me fine for home, too.

[dralarms]

[quote name='Slasher' timestamp='1354904521' post='856546']

We us a cellular connection for the alarm.

Thanks for mentioning that.
[/quote]

Then get the magic jack, I use one for alarm uploads. Works fine. Nice and clear.

[analog_kidd]

[quote name='Slasher' timestamp='1354901099' post='856517']
The only issue I have with cell phone only is at that point then everyone has your cell number. It seems with a "home" phone that telemarketers and the like could call that number and that would keep them off my cell.

Please correct me if that is wrong.
[/quote]

I've mentioned this several times on this site, but a Google Voice number will work for you here. The number is free, and is yours for life (or until they discontinue the service). They way it works is, you set up the account and enter any phone numbers you like. When anyone calls the Google number, all of the phones you entered in the account ring at once. Whichever one you pick up is the one the call gets routed to.

Then give out the Google Voice number to business, or people that might sell it to tellemarketers. If any of them get out of hand, you can block their number. You can also set up times that it will forward to your phones. So, make the latest a call will be forwarded at like 6:00 and you'll never hear from telemarketers after that time.

You can also set up groups, like family or friends that always get routed to your phones, no mater the time. You can also set up groups of numbers that always go to voice mail,

You can also use it to place long distance calls for the price of a local call. If you call the Google number from any of your phones, it recognizes that, and gives you a menu of options. One of them is to place a long distance call. You enter the number and Google places the call on your behalf. But, all you've done is make a local call.

[vontar]

I have have had both the USB only Magic Jack and I now have the one with USB or Ethernet jack magic jack. I have to say, Magic Jack worked for me just like the commercial. I am very happy with. When they came out with the Ethernet one that you just plug in to your router and the PC was not required to me on it really improved it.

I have left home with my Magic Jack and used it out on the road a few times, no issues.\

I believe the ethernet model is like 70 bucks and it included the first year of service.


Voice over IP is not going to work on Satellite internet just in case you have that. I don't know the mininal internet speed required, I have Cable internet so speed isn't an issue for me.

As for
[quote]I know we will be giving up 911 service[/quote]

When I setup my magic jack it had me put in information for 911, my street address and such so that they could contact the correct 911 system (I believe).

However internet goes out, phones will go out. Unlike normal phones that normally operate several hours after a power failure. Edited December 8, 2012 by vontar

[DaveS]

I had Magic Jack right after it first came out. It crashed and destroyed our PC. NEVER AGAIN!

Dave S

[NRA]

VOIP phonepower.com [url="http://www.phonepower.com/greatdeal.aspx"]http://www.phonepower.com/greatdeal.aspx[/url]

[Guest brighac]

I used the magic jack usb version when it first came out, I ended up not renewing it after the first year since I was only getting telemarketer calls on it. now just cell phone only. I actually still have the USB magicjack and would be willing to send it to you, try it and if you like it you can have it...

[runco]

We wanted to get away froma land line years ago, but because where we live, the only way to have high speed internet at a reasonable price was through one provider, a phone company. We were able to drop all of the features for the home land line, we no longer have caller id, call block, mo maintenance, no rental, etcs. and turned off the capability to call long distance. I think our basic charge is ~$18 mo, however with our high speed internet, and that we have bumped it up 2X since we got 7+ years ago to very high speeds, I think we pay close to $35 + the land line. Love to drop the land line, but we can't. We use our cell phones 99% of the time, and our land line rarely rings, maybe a few times a week. Since we do have small children, and they could call 911 in an emergency, it is comforting to know that we have land line phone in a permanent place, becuase the cell phones can be anywhere at anytime.

[vontar]

[quote name='Runco' timestamp='1354966857' post='856830']
We wanted to get away froma land line years ago, but because where we live, the only way to have high speed internet at a reasonable price was through one provider, a phone company. We were able to drop all of the features for the home land line, we no longer have caller id, call block, mo maintenance, no rental, etcs. and turned off the capability to call long distance. I think our basic charge is ~$18 mo, however with our high speed internet, and that we have bumped it up 2X since we got 7+ years ago to very high speeds, I think we pay close to $35 + the land line. Love to drop the land line, but we can't. We use our cell phones 99% of the time, and our land line rarely rings, maybe a few times a week. Since we do have small children, and they could call 911 in an emergency, it is comforting to know that we have land line phone in a permanent place, becuase the cell phones can be anywhere at anytime.
[/quote]

If the phone company is AT&T, you might be able. Over 8 years ago I worked for BellSouth DSL support and I know in some markets they did what they called DSL service with no POTS (Plain old Telephone System). This could also be called Naked DSL. I know it is possible if the carry will do it. I know back then they offered in in FL. I know I kept saying I would take DSL if I could get it with out POTS but since I couldn't I have been with Comcast for years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_DSL

[Ranger305]

Have a look at phonepower.com. If you pay by the year, the second year is free. Ends up being less that $10/month for the first 2 years. After that, it is still less than $15. I've had them for nearly 4 years with no problems. You can port your existing number too.

[NRA]

[quote name='Ranger305' timestamp='1355070717' post='857236']
Have a look at phonepower.com. If you pay by the year, the second year is free. Ends up being less that $10/month for the first 2 years. After that, it is still less than $15. I've had them for nearly 4 years with no problems. You can port your existing number too.
[/quote]

Yup been with em 5 years now and recently set up another 2 year contract