Need to be educated on VOIP

[JeffCharger]

We are finally going to have broadband available at our cottage and once we do, I am looking at the option of moving to VOIP to reduce the cost of our phone service.

I need to be educated on pros/cons. I have a few questions I would love some help with....
1) I'm in Ontario, Canada and while I'll have broadband, am I limited to specific providers that offer VOIP service in my area?
2) we all have cell phones too, so I'm not worried about the risk of not having service during power failures, internet down etc.
3) are the services setup so I could stop paying for the 4 months we're not there? (what happens to the phone # if I suspend it?)
4) what's the one-time equipment cost? (I just need one simple phone)
5) I don't really care about retaining my existing #, but it would be nice
6) what service providers are cheap? any suggestions?
7) can I still use a phone answering machine, or HS Phone?

Thanks

 

[RobWalker]

We are finally going to have broadband available at our cottage and once we do, I am looking at the option of moving to VOIP to reduce the cost of our phone service.

I need to be educated on pros/cons. I have a few questions I would love some help with....
1) I'm in Ontario, Canada and while I'll have broadband, am I limited to specific providers that offer VOIP service in my area?

No ... though the quality of the service will depend (in part) on the quality of the connection you have to the provider.

2) we all have cell phones too, so I'm not worried about the risk of not having service during power failures, internet down etc.
3) are the services setup so I could stop paying for the 4 months we're not there? (what happens to the phone # if I suspend it?)

I don't know of a provider that offers that option on an account.

4) what's the one-time equipment cost? (I just need one simple phone)

If you want to use an (existing) computer as the phone ... nothing. If you want to connect a physical phone you will need a box such as the Linksys PAP2 ... which can be had for around C$60

5) I don't really care about retaining my existing #, but it would be nice

Some providers offer this for some numbers ... YMMV. When I tried for a 613-838 number it wouldn't let me.

6) what service providers are cheap? any suggestions?

We are in Ottawa and are currently using VOIP from Acanac with a Linksys PAP over an Xplornet wireless connection. They had a deal a while ago where we got the number free for a year so the price was hard to beat. There is no long distance though, but we got a broader calling area than we had with our old Bell number since the VOIP number counts as a 'down-time' Ottawa number.

The quality is OK, though sometimes we hear significant echo at our end of the call. I don't know whether this is an issue with the provider, or setting up the equipment.

Getting voice mail sent via email is a nice-to-have feature, though I can't find a way of customizing the voice mail greeting which is a pain.

 

[politics123]

The real answer to this question depends on who you see calling. For example, if you see calling other people who have VoIP phones, you might want a company that interconnects for free to those individuals.

Skype is always an option, but I personally prefer companies that support open standards (eg: SIP)
Investigate GizmoProject.com and GrandCentral.com (They purport to be US only, but with a little creativity, you can still register, and for the time being, both services are free)

 

[nightwalker]

I've been using VOIP for several years now and haven't had any problems with it at all. I'm using the Vonage service and it's been as reliable as good ole ma bell ever was. When we go away to our summer cottage I take the Vonage adapter with me and plug it into the Broadband there and we have no interuption of service, our regular calls come right to us where ever it's plugged in. It's not a free service but it's more than reasonable in my opinion.

 

[Photon]

+1 for good Vonage experience. As nightwalker said, it works anywhere you have broadband. If you can replace your voice service at the 8-month house with Vonage, it will cost no additional to use it at the 4-month cottage.

You will need to keep broadband active at both places year round so you can monitor one from the other.

 

[felixrosbergen]

I have vonnage as well and not problems.

Just connect the phone to the Linksys PAP2 and the Linksys PAP2 to the router and the router to the cable moden.

It's surely cheaper than the VOIP package my cable provided keeps trying to sell me as a bundle. ($99 for all 3, but thats for the first x months only, then they nail you like they always do. I HATE MY CABLE PROVIDED (CHARTER).

I believe with Vonnagae you can pick which area code you want regardless of your location. So pick the area code where other can dial you as a local call to them. Even better with vonnage i do believe you can have up to 5 or so number all in different area codes (each is separate charge though). So if you have friends more of less location in 2 or 3 geographic areas then getting 2 or 3 numbers would be an option.

Since you can pick any area code the Emergency Functions (e.g. 911) cannot work reliably and you have to sign/ok a bunch of waivers for them to make sure you are aware of this. Personally I don't consider this a problem.

Keep in mind that with VOIP the number is out when the cable is out end unless you have a UPS for the cable modem/router/PAP2 the phone will be out when the power is out as well. This seems to be the last argument of the traditional telehpne provides (e.g. scrary add about 'will your phone work when it needs to during an emergency').

 

[dwalder]

Depending on your layout....you may want to look into asterisk. Asterisk is usually run on a Linux based system and if you do your configuration correctly, you could have telephones at your winter house, summer house and office all at the same time. Let me know if you want more information on this system. I will tell you that it is somewhat technical however....not really a plug and play like Vonage or other simmilar services.

-Dave

 

[Just Another Joe]

Great question! I'm in the same boat as you Jeff, and have just begun investigating providers, particularly Vonage. Some of what I have found out may be of interest to you.

As others have said, the Vonage device (whichever one you choose) can be taken with you from your cottage, anywhere you go. So, rather than cancel the service for the four months you're not there, you can continue to use the service wherever you go.

The device allows you to connect any standard telephone device, such as a cordless phone base station. So yes, you can connect an answering machine.

Existing numbers can be transfered to Vonage in some parts of Canada. Go to their site to check your number.

While you're at the site, notice that right now the various VoIP adapters have instant rebates, so one will cost you as little as $10, or even free.

On the subject of adapters, it seems that Vonage changes their offerings frequently. They have many former devices listed in the help section, which do not appear in the product section. Does anyone know if they can still be used, and where they can be purchased? I am specifically interested in the D-Link VWR, because it includes a wireless/wired four-port router. I presently have a D-Link DI-604 router (four-port) which I am happy with, but I need more ports. So if I could get a D-Link VWR rather than some other VoIP adapter, it would save me having to buy a switch.

Also, there is both DSL and cable broadband available where I live. Does VoIP work better with a particular flavour of broadband, or equally with all?

 

[nsisman]

Jeff,

Check out www.Unitz.ca as well.

I think they service a lot of the north country as they are based in Sudbury ON

Keep me posted as I would like to get cheap voip for long distance.

I tried Skype but my experience with Skype hasn't been too successful !

 

[kurelgyer]

I have used Vonage for 4 years and love it. I live in North Carolina and was able to walk my mom in Michigan through setting it up also. Neither of us has had a problem.

Something fairly new I've tried is Magic Jack. Check it out at magicjack.com. It's CHEAP and you can plug a regular house phone into it, or use your computer mic and speakers. It's $39 for the first year of service and the hardware (looks like a USB thumb drive). The service includes unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada. Each year after is only $19/year for this service. I haven't used it much yet, but it works and the call quality has been as good as a POTS or Vonage phone. Magic Jack must be connected to the USB port on a computer connected to broadband. Of course you can only make and receive calls when the computer is turned on. Because of this dependency it will not replace Vonage for me. But if you're a person that only has a cell phone, this is a great product to save cell minutes at home, for local and long distance.

Hope I don't sound like too much of a salesman for Magic Jack (I'm not). I just think it's a neat product!

 

[eufreka]

Depending on your layout....you may want to look into asterisk. Asterisk is usually run on a Linux based system and if you do your configuration correctly, you could have telephones at your winter house, summer house and office all at the same time. Let me know if you want more information on this system. I will tell you that it is somewhat technical however....not really a plug and play like Vonage or other simmilar services.

-Dave

I would second this suggestion. The initial setup may be more, but once done, it would be seamless and feature-rich.

You could even use wireless IP phones that you carry back and forth between homes, and they would still work with voicemail, etc.

Take a look at Trixbox and/or PBX in a Flash.

 

[JohnWPB]

Wow! some great info! That magicJack looks awesome! I just ordered one, and will see how well it works soon. I have recently started a business, and a couple of my associates are in Canada. This should make the calls to them from Florida painless! My cell carrier rapes me for the "International" charges. (Yet I can call Puerto-Rico for free! Go figure!)

 

[mustangcoupe]

..... Magic Jack must be connected to the USB port on a computer connected to broadband. Of course you can only make and receive calls when the computer is turned on. Because of this dependency it will not replace Vonage for me.

I wonder if it would work if you plugged it into a router with a USB connection ex. WRT350N, or a wrt54g loaded with dd-wrt.... Do you need to load any softwre on the computer? hmmmm...

 

[JeffCharger]

gee, this has given me lots to explore and learn from. I am intrigued by the MajicJack - $20 per year? Wow.

Thanks to all for posting their suggestions.