Can I Connect Landline Phone via PC wirelessly connected to the Internet?

various | Sat, 10/19/19 | daniel1212

[daniel1212]

Looking for a way to connect a landline phone via a computer that is wirelessly connected to the Internet (which I using now to post this), without physically plugging into a modem/router (since that is on a different floor). This would have to work with cordless phones.

I see magicJack EXPRESS Digital Phone Service , but cannot find clear documentation as to whether one can get phone service using this without plugging into a modem, vs. just plugging into a computer that is wirelessly connected to the Internet.

Likewise magicJackHome 2019 VOIP Phone Adapter Portable, or OBi200 1-Port VoIP Phone Adapter ,

And ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service

Explanation We use a landline via Comcast Voice ($65.00 a month total), and use Vtech cordless phones (via line splitters) along with a stationary one. But most often the call gets dropped after a bit on the receiving end (we can hear them, but they cannot hear us) for about 30 secs, so they usually hang up. This occurs despite rebooting the modem, changing lines and splitters (there are 3 devices running off one line, and 2 cordless).

However, while a Comcast modem is used for our Comcast Voice, I cancelled the Internet service itself to save about $40.00 a month. And instead we connect to the Internet via a separate Comcast modem downstairs (as one ministry). We do no own the building and so running a cable is not an option.

I have not called Comcast yet, who will most likely blame the extra devices plugged in, but for now I want to supplement this spotty landline with a VOIP service, and am looking for advice from those who have experience with this. If reliable, maybe we could just port our number and go with the VOIP.

Thanks. Grace and peace thru Jesus the Lord.

[daniel1212]

Truthfully, the vast majority of landline service is via VOIP now.

True, though Verizon still offers the copper, at great profit to them.

[Justa]

No need to use WiFi (crummy reception) or a computer for MajicJack. I’ve been using it for 3 years via:

-MajicJack (the cheap $39 micro one) plugged into a UPS (so I don’t lose phone when power goes out).

-MajicJack with phone wire going to my old landline wireless phone system’s base unit as Line In.

-MajicJack Rj-45 cable run to the house modem.

House modem and land line phone unit both connected to the UPS where MagicJack is plugged into.

House internet connection in garage has battery backup power supply.

Result: I have wireless phone 5.7Ghz system running thru MagicJack on a UPS which gives me 45 mins of service in a power outage. That’s enough time to hookup and start the generator. I put a range extender on the phone system and can use the land line wireless handsets inside and outside in the yard. Then hands-free with a head set. All thru the MagicJack. MagicJack service is just as good as old bundled landline phone service at a fraction of the cost. And the bundled phone service is VOIP anyways just like MagicJack. $29/month vs. $39/year.

[Mr. K]

Get magicJack - about $30 a year.

I got rid of my land line ($40 a month) and had my number transferred to my magicJack.

You can plug-in the magicJack to a usb port on the computer, and plug your land line into that... or you can just run the magicJack application on your PC and talk right through your computer (if it has speaker and mic). No need for the land line phone at all.

But there are many other things you can do:

The magicJack will take voice messages and email them to you.

You can automatically FORWARD the magicJack calls to another number- I forward all my calls to my cell phone.

So, I save $40 a month, and still keep the number I’ve had for 30 years, and all my calls come to my computer or my cell phone, no matter where I am. (I travel for work some times)

[daniel1212]

Also, MagicJack of five+ years ago did not sound crisp. It reduced the audio spectrum.

I think it is better now, but cust. service is another issue.

[daniel1212]

My modem has a setting to disconnect after 15 secs. Maybe check if yours has such a setting and it can be augmented or bypassed. Otherwise I have nothing else to help you with. Sorry.

Thanks.

[daniel1212]

Isn’t that the definition of VOIP?

You mean Comcast voice via cable? I suppose, but if so then I am looking for a wireless VOIP.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

I use Ooma for my old landline...

[daniel1212]

For VOIP you need high speed internet service. Then your phone connects to a box connected to your computer.

If it does not need to connect to the modem then that can work.

The delay you are getting on your phone is normal. 30 seconds is a little high. Ours is like 2-5 seconds. That’s not going to go away—latency is a fact in VOIP.

No, this is 30 seconds of silence on the other end after normal bilateral com.

[Boomer]

I’ve been using MagicJack as my home phone for about a decade. At first the connection quality wasn’t the best but it improved over time. It’s fine these days. I have always had a separate router to plug it into then 2 or 3 connected wireless home phones of which the main one plugged into the MagicJack.

You really can’t find a better deal than around $20 a year for home phone service if you’re already paying for high speed Internet anyway.

I think you can plug into a computer though and I think you can even send a MagicJack module overseas for someone else to use with their broadband Internet connection on their computer without any extra cost to speak. Then again if you have two computers you could just use Skype and see each other.

[Don W]

I’ve used a Magicjack on a wireless connection. It was in my laptop which was then going through a wi-fi 75 feet away.

This was several years ago, so if anything it would work better now.

[garyb]

The current Magic Jack device works directly into the router or it can connect to computer usb and from that connect into a telephone set (or “cordless” base station)

Once you have the MJ account you can get their app for cell phones for use over wifi (or LTE)

After you open the account MJ will send you an invoice for the additional fees for 911 service.

I use MJ at home connected into router and connected to a cordless phone.

MJ has a thirty day refund policy.
https://www.magicjack.com/magicJackHOME.html

Information: https://www.lifewire.com/magicapp-review-3955241

Or you could try google voice. “free” for domestic (US) calls, modest charge for international (you'll have to have a deposit)

Information: https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-google-voice-1616888

Google voice will work via the computer to attached headsets, or with Bluetooth headsets.

But, you would have to answer the call at the computer, which is not at all convenient, if you prefer the wireless phone mode.

GV app will with cell phones over wifi (or LTE) directly.

Best of luck.

[daniel1212]

Your VOIP line should never drop. This is because VOIP uses very little bandwidth. It sounds to me you are not set to full duplex on your Router or at Comcast. Make sure your Router is set to, 1) No Auto Negotiate 2) . Full Duplex 3) . Speed 100 It could be your Optioning too. Check your line Framing and Line coding. Generally is set to ESF and B8zs.

Thanks; a most substantial post.

Ask Comcast to check your Router settings (if you do not know how to do it) to see if you are set to the above settings or whatever thier line coding and framing should be set to.

The tech did it all when installing it a a year or so ago, and all worked fine until a few months ago. I changed nothing. I do have a line to a old dial up modem in my PC plugged in since that enables Phone Tray see to work, which shows and records who is calling while the PC is on, yet the drop outs occur while the PC is sleeping. Maybe its time to try leaving that modem disconnected.

Has Comcast check their path and run a test on your line? I am talking about an Extended test that checks Throughput, etc...?

No. I was trying to check out an alternative first, with maybe going VOIP all the way.

If they have done all the above, and it passes. Then Comcast needs to dispatch a technician to check your equipment.

Who would likely blame the extra lines, but which did not cause this problem when we had Verizon for years.

To answer the above thread question the answer is no.

If you have a wireless smart phone, you can turn it into a hot spot to get on the Internet.

No have.

I hope this helps you out.

Best answer yet. Thanks.

There are some really cheap wireless Internet providers only services out there. You will have to search for them on Google or Bing.

No in this populous city. Only for cell phones, otherwise its Verizon (yet no FIOS) and Comcast.

[daniel1212]

I have Ooma. I use the Telo base station with thier wifi adapter. Currently I have a couple of their handsets plus one old wired phone I scrounged up from my junk pile when I first hooked it up. It needs the router and modem on, but doesn't need a computer after the initial setup.

So does Ooma need to connect to a modem or can you just connect to PC that is wirelessly connected to the Internet?

On my list of things to do is to disconnect my house phone wiring from my dead AT&T landline and hook my Ooma to the inside phone wiring so I can use my other wired phones and fax.

After you disconnect from the outside. But will there be enough voltage for the ringers?

[daniel1212]

What kind of upstream/downsteam, ping times, and jitter do you have from the computer you wish to act as the “phone”? https://www.megapath.com/speedtestplus/

Thanks,

DOWNLOAD 28.42 Mbps UPLOAD 17.90 Mbps LATENCY 20 ms JITTER 8 ms Your broadband connection and line quality is Excellent

That is more data than https://www.speedtest.net:

Do you need fax capability?

Not yet.

[Enlightened1]

Looks like you are on a POTS line (Plain Old Telephone System) or copper line and not a VOIP. VOIP at the lowest I have seen are 1.5 meg (T1). If you go below that then you are Cooper.

In other words the phones we grew up with in 1970s and 1980s and not broadband.

Those speeds are too slow for broadband.

[Enlightened1]

Ask Comcast what is the speed of your circuit?

If they tell you 64kbs or below you are on cooper or possibly a shared T1 or what they call a DS1 line. If that is the case, then ask them to run an extended test to your CSU/DSU equipment and then to the D-Marc. The test should be at least 25 minutes.

You ever see a light bulb about to go out? It fades and then comes back up every now and then? You may have a repeater or another card along Comcast path that is going bad, and that is why you are getting dropped.

[Enlightened1]

"The tech did it all when installing it a a year or so ago, and all worked fine until a few months ago. I changed nothing. I do have a line to a old dial up modem in my PC plugged in since that enables Phone Tray see to work, which shows and records who is calling while the PC is on, yet the drop outs occur while the PC is sleeping. Maybe its time to try leaving that modem disconnected."

 

I believe you and something is slowly dying, and it needs to be replaced.  They may not capture it on the tests.  You have to keep driving it, and do not give up.  If they keep telling you everthing is good, then request a field tech to help you out. 

They can do a test call at your home so they can see what you are talking about.

[daniel1212]

The magicjack plugs into a power source and then connects to a modem by Ethernet wire and your house phone system.

But FReeper Wuli does not describe magicjack needing to plug into a modem , but says (1) a high speed DSL line, (2) DSL modem with wireless, (3) Internet service to his PC via wireless connection to the DSL Modem, (4) Magic Jack Box connected to his PC via a USB cable, (5) phone jack to Magic Jack. Works fine. and and You can plug-in the magicJack to a usb port on the computer, and plug your land line into that

Likewise Mr. K: You can plug-in the magicJack to a usb port on the computer, and plug your land line into that.

Thus my questions, and it seems that as long as my PC is connected to the Internet (via wireless from a modem downstairs) then MJ should work.

[fireman15]

We use OBi202 2-Port VoIP Phone Adapters for our landlines. They gives you two separate lines. We have a dedicated line for our burglar alarm and have two other land lines so that our friends still using standard telephones can call either our Seattle based number or our Tacoma based number without long distance charges.

We also have an OBiwifi adapter that plugs into the back of the OBi202 so that we can use them with wifi when we are on the road. It used to be when you used two or more OBi202 devices with the same numbers at seperate locations that they would interfere with each other and cause weird problems, but Google and OBi fixed that years ago.

The only good reason to use a device like the Magic Jack that needs to be plugged into a computer that I can think of would be if you are a fan of their service or are trying to avoid using anything Google for security, privacy, or you just don't like them.

Google Voice is still free after all of these years... The voice quality is as good or better than any plain old phone line that I have used. I don't really understand how phone companies can stay in business when Google is giving away what they charge about $50 a month for.

My dad was over last night. I switched his two business lines that he has had for around 60 years to Google Voice years ago. He was complaining about his home landline costing almost twice what their unlimited cell phones cost. I asked him why we shouldn't just port that number to Google and then either just forward it to one of their cell phones or set it up on another Obi device. It would literally pay for itself in two months. But my dad wants the security of the phone line in case there is an earthquake or a big storm or something else that takes the cell system and Comcast down. Which I can understand, but it does cost a lot for that little bit of extra security.

[KarlInOhio]

So does Ooma need to connect to a modem or can you just connect to PC that is wirelessly connected to the Internet?

It connects to the router, either wired or wifi if you have the wifi adapter. There might be a way to connect through the PC, but I don't know why you would want to.

After you disconnect from the outside. But will there be enough voltage for the ringers?

You don't want two voltage sources on the same line, which is why the phone company's line has to be physically disconnected. I don't know if the line is live (they might have to keep it live for 911 even if the rest of the sevice is off), but I don't want to risk it being turned on when the Ooma is on.

The Ooma box powers my analog phone and its ringer. I don't know if it can give the full 90 volts needed for a physical bell like parent's old phones had, but it has no problems driving the attached analog phone with an electronic ringer. I have a couple more phones plus a printer/fax I want to connect again.