After asking other freepers my VOIP solution is obi100

selfie | May 4 2014 | selfie

[dennisw]

About six months ago I asked freepers what they used for VOIP.  I got many answers including Ooma and Obi100/
I bought an obie100 that worked with google talk but google ended that ability

I finally landed on VOIP provider Vestalin which I think Obi100 comapny owns. Here is their pricing
http://www.vestalink.com/pricing/?plan=basic

I signed up for Vestalink 2 years/2000 minutes per month/$75paid in advance
So here is my 2 year phone bill

Obie100            $37               one time charge Can buy at Amazon, NewEgg and other places
Vestalink           $75               two years VOIP
Number Porting $10               one time charge.

TOTAL            $122         

So now I have two years VOIP lined up. Taxes and fees are included. I have no "land line" phone bills to think about or pay for 2 years
I have been using this for one month with no problems.

Two years from now I will renew for another 75$........ If they increase to $100 it is still worth it at $50 per year

You can go to Vestalink and get a free 30 trial. No credit card at least for me. They will give you a phone number in your area code that you can keep if you sign up or you port your existing number. Porting took 7 days from AA&T

[dennisw]

Obi also sells more advanced models than the obi100 that I got. Such as ports for two phones and built in faxing capability

[ClearCase_guy]

So, I need to ask the dumb questions: When you now make phone calls, do you sit at your computer? If someone calls you, does your computer ring? Or do you have a standard telephone unit, plugged into the wall in your kitchen, just like anyone else?

[mylife]

Thanks, I have been using Vonage for probably 10 years.

I generally works fine but has been all snockerd up for the last two months.

Bought a new Vonage box for 99c and the problem went away before I ever even installed it.

Frustrating.

[dennisw]

 

So, I need to ask the dumb questions: When you now make phone calls, do you sit at your computer? If someone calls you, does your computer ring? Or do you have a standard telephone unit, plugged into the wall in your kitchen, just like anyone else?

First you need a router. Obi plugs into it. Your computer is not involved.

You then plug whatever phones you like into obi100. You can plug a set of three cordless phones into obie.  You forget about your house telephone wiring. Though if you put your mind to it you could find a way to send obi telephone through it. I know I could if the outside telephone box (pistide wall of my house) had not been changed 6 months ago

[ClearCase_guy]

Thanks.

[dennisw]

Vonage is behind this Basic Talk device and service that a friend bought. Cost is $10 for device at Walmart. Porting is free. Then $10 a month for unlimited calls US and Canada. He needs to call Poland and has a separate service for that,,,,This long distance service worked through his old ATT line and now works with this $10 phone service

http://www.walmart.com/ip/BasicTalk-Home-Phone-Device/23739626

[ProtectOurFreedom]

We were SO FED UP with the crappy service from AT&T that we switched to the Comcast Triple Play about a year ago — HD TV, Phone, and 55 Mbps Internet. Haven’t had a single outage in that time — rock solid. AT&T DSL phone and Internet would go down every week, the nominal 1.5 Mbps Internet line would routinely collapse to 200 kbps, and they wouldn’t respond. I’ll NEVER go back to AT&T. We actually wound up saving quite a bit buying the triple play package compared to the old POTS + DSL from AT&T and Cable TV from Comcast.

I doubt that I could save anything by going back to three separate suppliers.

[Grams A]

I’ve had Vonage for a little over a year now and use it for my business line. Works fine thus far. Sorry you’re having problems. Really like their message system and a whole lot less expensive than a business line through AT&T. Ring Central maintains a listing of all in-bound and out-bound calls available via the Internet if I ever forget to write someone’s number down.

Considered getting a cell phone line to use for just business but I much prefer being able to talk on a regular phone equipped with a speaker so I can do other things when I’m on hold.

It does get frustrating though when the internet is down for any reason because then I do have to make outgoing calls on my personal cell.

[Procyon]

I've had my Obi100 for a couple of years but on May 15th Google is ending support for the XMPP communications protocol that Obitalk uses to link with Google Talk (hangout). The Obitalk website has links to recommended VOIP service providers who can continue the phone service for as low as 10 cents per day.

You have to have Internet service for this to work. I have Comcast Internet. I plug the Obi100 into one of the Ethernet jacks on my Netgear WiFi router. Then I plug my cordless phone's base station into the Obi100.

You don't need a computer for this to work but it is easier to access some of the Obitalk features using your browser to reach its configuration screen.

You don't need a third-party VOIP service provider for an Obi phone to connect with another Obi phone over the Internet but that's a pretty limited reach.

[minnesota_bound]

I still have a regular landline from ATT that I will disconnect soon that costs $43 per month. If I were to keep it I would switch to a voip setup. Thanks to those that post their voip plans for regular phones. It will be interesting to find out how it works.

For my cellphone plan I have the “T-Mobile $30 plan” with 100 minutes + 5gb 4g data (unlimited 3g afterward) + bring your own phone. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 for T-Mobile at Amazon for $385. Google plan name to locate.

Since I have so few minutes I ended up installing Skype. For quality it sounds like the person is in the same room. http://www.skype.com

It uses the data and since a phone call is 1 to 3mb per minute, you have a thousand+ minutes to use. It costs either $2.99 per month or $30 a year and change after a 15% discount for 1 year in advance. You pay so you can call anyone without using your minutes. 1gb is 1 thousand mb.

It is free otherwise for Skype to Skype calls.

[mylife]

I just got this device for 99c on Amazon but have not set it up.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vonage-Box-VoIP-Phone-Adapter/23739646?action=product_interest&action_type=image&placement_id=irs_top&strategy=PWVAV&visitor_id=76152815556&category=0%3A3944%3A546952%3A1070964%3A3977%3A164222&client_guid=32c3d204-c7e9-42f3-8475-f7161b24dc96&config_id=2&parent_item_id=23739626&guid=e3cdf679-ae43-477d-9687-b32beb7f7e35&bucket_id=irsbucket000&findingMethod=p13n

I thought my old linksys device was the problem but now everything works fine.
When it goobers up again I guess I will install the new device.

I like the pricing on your service.
I am paying $35 a month.

Just cut my cable and am using XBMC on GBox MX2. This give me more content than I had before ad saves me $67 a mo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfA-yYe3Nnc

[mylife]

The problems have cleared up.
Overall I have been happy with vonage.

[dennisw]

Why not try your linksys or 99 cent thing with Vestalink. http://www.vestalink.com/pricing/?plan=basic You get free 30 day trial no credit card asked for

IOW you can prolly use one of them instead of the obi100 that I use

[dennisw]

“I still have a regular landline from ATT that I will disconnect soon that costs $43 per month.”

My ATT copper landline deal was $33/month. Once it got past $30 I started to look for an alternative

[mylife]

Good idea.

I’m scaling back on ridiculous utilities

[dennisw]

I had the same dilemma. Was using google voice w my obi. So now I use my obi100 with Vestalink http://www.vestalink.com/pricing/?plan=basic

$75 for two years

For those who are confused—— obi100 is merely a piece of hardware. VOIP hardware-—electronics

You still need a VOIP provider to route your phone calls over the internet. I was using google voice for this but now use Vestalink

Vonage gives you one stop shopping but for a higher price, They supply the VOIP hardware
+
the call routing over the internet

Walmart Basic Talk is 10$ a month is the same one stop shopping and does about the same as Vonage at $10 a month/ Vonage has more features I believe

[Fear The People]

There are a bunch here too: Call From Computer

[dennisw]

“I’m scaling back on ridiculous utilities”

Same here. Comcast jacked up my TV + internet but going VOIP reduced my monthly phone bill from $33 to about $3 a month. So I am ahead of the game!!!

Next step is to cut out Comcast and go to zero cable TV and get DSL internet for a while. Maybe a year or two with no cable TV and then I’ll want it again and get back on Comacst with some kind of deal

[mylife]

Get a TV antenna and a Gbox midnight MX2.
Say goodbye to cable and dish