Anyone get rid of their home phone?

[kwelz]

Yes. Some time ago. Am very close to dropping G&R's line as well and go with a Cell for it.




C4

I would suggest setting up a google voice account for this. I have a coupe for work and other purposes.

[chadbag]

Mine still worked the last power outage :P

Yes, the last little outage in your neighborhood. When we talk SHTF type thing, or a citywide power outage that last more than a few hours or a day, your phone substations etc will probably not last long as their own power will go out and then your line will go dead. Landlines aren't what they used to be either and go digital in most cases not far from your house (1-10 miles or so).

[chadbag]

Yes. Some time ago. Am very close to dropping G&R's line as well and go with a Cell for it.




C4

Depending on how much you get called etc that could be very expensive! After the 2008 election my cell bill exploded to hundreds per month as I had my office phone forwarded to my cell for when I was out of the office...

Anyway, for my office, I buy VOIP service (bulk wholesale supposedly) from Gafachi (gafachi.com). I installed a VOIP "PBX" on an extra Mac Mini I had (running VMWare for the PBX -- currently an Asterisk thing of some sort but will eventually be SIPX) and got a couple VOIP phones and a nice wireless headset that will interface with one of the phones. My 888 number is like 1.8 cents a minute on average (depending on the mix) and my dial out is also liek a penny a minute or two depending on my mix of calling. There is no minimum charge and a $2 a month fee for a toll free number. They also do local numbers in some areas.

Anyway, it greatly cut down on my phone expenses for my business.

[jmp45]

Resurrecting this thread to maybe get some advise on voip services.

Currently using tmobile@home for voip replacing our landline from way back. I still need a voip service for home office. Planning on closing our t-mobile account in the next month or two. Going to port our landline number over to some service also.

Any suggestions / preferences on voip services with hardware? Two I've been looking at are ...

Ooma
http://www.ooma.com/
Gets a fair amount of good reviews.

Obihai
http://www.obihai.com/
Using google voice in a obihai obi100 I noticed some latency and slight echo.

Thanks for any advise!

[VooDoo6Actual]

Long ago, many years.

[DeltaSierra]

Google Voice and a good internet connection makes most landlines redundant in my view.

Yup...

I would get a satellite phone before getting a landline.

That would make my communications nearly invulnerable - got internet, can make calls... got cell service, can make calls... got none of the above? Oh, I can still make calls...

[Honu]

Only with vonage
Which we are now dropping and just going to use the free vonage app
Which so far is working OK

Going to port our number to google to forward messages to and juat use the free vonage app to call back other countries and use our cell for all incoming and in US outgoing

We tried both the skype andmvonage app and seems the vonage app has a bit better quality even if it gors pay like the skype app its still way cheaper than regular vonage

Which I could tell you more about the ones you mentioned but nly used regular vonage for some ten years

Resurrecting this thread to maybe get some advise on voip services.

Currently using tmobile@home for voip replacing our landline from way back. I still need a voip service for home office. Planning on closing our t-mobile account in the next month or two. Going to port our landline number over to some service also.

Any suggestions / preferences on voip services with hardware? Two I've been looking at are ...

Ooma
http://www.ooma.com/
Gets a fair amount of good reviews.

Obihai
http://www.obihai.com/
Using google voice in a obihai obi100 I noticed some latency and slight echo.

Thanks for any advise!

[chadbag]

Resurrecting this thread to maybe get some advise on voip services.

Currently using tmobile@home for voip replacing our landline from way back. I still need a voip service for home office. Planning on closing our t-mobile account in the next month or two. Going to port our landline number over to some service also.

Any suggestions / preferences on voip services with hardware? Two I've been looking at are ...

Ooma
http://www.ooma.com/
Gets a fair amount of good reviews.

Obihai
http://www.obihai.com/
Using google voice in a obihai obi100 I noticed some latency and slight echo.

Thanks for any advise!

I have an OOMA in the house. Works fine. I rarely use it as we use the cell phones for everything at the personal level and I have an incoming VOIP system for the business but I sometimes use it to call out or call people back on and when we travel outside the house we take it with us and hook up in the hotel or resort and we take it to Japan when we visit the MIL and have a USA phone while there to call out with etc. I might use it more if I could get a good but inexpensive headset to interface with my POTS phone I have hooked to it...

My dad has been using OOMA as his only phone (his cell phone doesn't count -- he has some $1 /month plus minutes simple phone for emergencies and his alarm system notifications). He's had it for like 4 or 5 years IIRC. Has worked fine for him.

[jmp45]

Thanks Chad. I'm really leaning towards the Ooma. One of the key features of interest is when cable goes down the calls can be automatically forwarded to cells. We are on time warner and that happens a few times a year. Just want to make sure we make the right choice switching, there won't be going back once the number's ported.

[Magic_Salad0892]

No reason to have a home phone, I haven't had one since I moved away from home. Also no reason to own Stereo, DVD player, or a BluRay player, as my PlayStation serves those functions. Which cuts down on electricity.

No reason to even have cable, because I can watch anything on my PS3, or computer. Thereby saving even more money, and electricity.

Me, and the woman have more fun making food, than we do eating out pretty much ever. So that's out.

My phone bill is super cheap because I don't have a smart phone. And my phone holds it's charge for multiple days at a time which saves energy. As does my girlfriends. My phone calls texts, and saves pics. That's it. We have the cheapest phone plan Verizon offers. Just enough so I can use my phone for work, and a few personal calls. I don't use my phone much.

Our apartment is super cheap. Our cars are paid off, and we're on the same insurance plan.

But easily, the phone thing, and cutting down how many electronic devices I had in my house that all served the same function definetely cut down my monthly costs.

Oh and my quitting smoking (2 packs a day. ****.) again. I still drink a 20 oz. Red Bull a day. But I'll be cutting that out soon.