[CALUG] ver eye zone d s l

[Rajiv Gunja]

Yes, you can do without a land line. You can use VoIP via DSL, but that kind
of defeats the purpose to get rid of landline, though you can have basic
service.

There are many options out there other than Magic Jack. The only difference
being e911. Some of them support it, others don't.

I am in Columbia/Ellicott City border and I get (via cable) up 15 Mbps down
and 4 Mbps up. (in bits per second)

Choices:
1. Magic Jack
2. Skype
3. Obihai
4. SIP phone
5. Ooma

Each of them has its own quirks.
 - Magic Jack requires that you have a PC running all the time.

 - Skype requires that you buy a Skype desktop phone (approx $100) Their
rates are $6 per month for number and unlimited calling within US and
Canada. No e911. Needs an adapter to work with normal phones.

 - Obihai ($50 @ Amazon.com) uses Google Voice for all calling and call
receiving. GV is free for all numbers within US, so if you are calling
within US, you are covered. Their international rates are better than
Skype's. No e911. Works with normal phones out of the box.

 - SIP phone requires you to run a server at home and get a service from 3rd
party, which is too much hassle.

 - Ooma initial cost is steep ($200 to $300), but once you have bought the
unit, calls within US are free. Of course you get a bill for about $2 to $4
per month or per year I am not sure, it is something to do with taxes.

If your end goal is to save money in the long run, I would suggest you
explore Obihai, Skype and Ooma.
Obihai is available on Amazon. Ooma is available in Costco and online.

I have Skype for out going calls only, so I pay about $3 per month. I use
Skype (android app) on my mobile/tablet too. If I am at home, I receive my
incoming calls (google voice number) either on my computer or on my tablet.
If I am out, I get my calls on my mobile.

I work from home 3 days a week, so paying for my cable internet is not an
extra for me.

Verizon offers FIOS without phone service. If you can get FIOS where you
live, it will be ideal, as FIOS is way better with respect to speed and
channel selection than Comcast Cable.

Good Luck.

-GGR
--
Rajiv G Gunja
Blog: http://ossrocks.blogspot.com


On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 23:45, Walt Smith <waltechmail at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> hi,
>
> I know there's been discussion in the past on "higher"
> Internet speeds slightly beyond dialup- which I still
> have.  So, I'm asking for an update.  I don't perceive
> I really need beyond 750k-1 meg (I doubt anyone would
> ever get the one meg) bits.
>
> I was wondering what the consensus was on attempting to
> get something like DSL  ( only dsl ) and using something
> like "magicJack" for viop phone service ?  ( asking a magic question
> 3 times, cajoling, begging, threatening to disconnect etc... )
>
> I know that for some time, the advertised price ( approx $19.95 )
> for dsl is when you already have an analog line.  So the ~$19
> is above the ~$25-$30 a person is paying for analog.  ( as Ver eye zone
> obviously wants to keep a cudtomer in lock ).
>
> So, is it possible to get JUST dsl? and if so, does you-know-who
> block the service ports ( or other technical blocking )
> for something like magicJack ?
>
> thx,
>
> W..........
>
> Celebrating over 13,000 emails in my Yahoo Inbox !
>
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>
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