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Good yet cheap VOIP provider list?

mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Hi:

I'm considering yank my Charter VOIP service (which has good quality, but cost me $40 a month (included in TV and internet service package) and switch to MagicJack which is $40 for 1st year, $20 after that, however, since they haven't offer transferring your number, I need other options.

Does any one here has good yet cheap VOIP provider list which also provide reliable fax service (my dad needs it)?

I read on the net that if the VOIP provider use G.711 protocol, then it should work with fax. Is it the case? But someone says T.38 is better. However, is there any VOIP


I would like a plan (no contract if possible) around or lower than $15 (yeah, I'm cheap, we don't talk much and don't fax much) and can transfer my number.

I already have a SunRocket Gizmo VOIP router adapter.


Thanks.

 
I'm happy with Vonage. They have a 500-minute-per-month home plan for $15 or unlimited for $25. I don't know how well it does FAX. Vonage uses G.711, apparently.

I LOVE their Simul-Ring function. I don't know anybody else who offers it. It rings my home, office, and cell phone numbers simultaneously when a call comes into my Vonage line. No need to Call Forward, and I can change my cell phone number at will, since I only need to give out my Vonage number for folks to reach all my phones.

The phone number transfers went smoothly for the two lines I transferred a couple of years ago.
 
Originally posted by: RebateMonger
I'm happy with Vonage. They have a 500-minute-per-month home plan for $15 or unlimited for $25. I don't know how well it does FAX. Vonage uses G.711, apparently.

I LOVE their Simul-Ring function. I don't know anybody else who offers it. It rings my home, office, and cell phone numbers simultaneously when a call comes into my Vonage line. No need to Call Forward, and I can change my cell phone number at will, since I only need to give out my Vonage number for folks to reach all my phones.

The phone number transfers went smoothly for the two lines I transferred a couple of years ago.
Click to expand...

Second for vonage. Had it over a year now. I use the simultaneous ring feature that way I never miss a call if we're out of the house. We hardly ever give out our cell #'s now, just our home number. In our house, sometimes our cell phones don't work 100% of the time where the Vonage always work. I've never had a problem with it yet. Not the cheapest around but IMO, you get what you pay for.
 
I've had Vonage since 2002, and have been very happy w/ them.
There were several occasions where the quality of the voice was choppy, but I think that was due to my Internet connection.
Also love the simul-ring feature.
 
Originally posted by: Cooky
There were several occasions where the quality of the voice was choppy, but I think that was due to my Internet connection.
Click to expand...
For a while, around 11:00 pm on some evenings I'd have choppy conversations. I could see the Vonage modem lights flicker with the voice chop.

Finally I figured out it was my SBS 2003 Server doing backups. All of my Internet traffic passes through my SBS 2003/ISA 2004 server, including VOIP, and the backups were using up enough CPU time (Celeron D processor) to interfere with traffic flow. I rescheduled my backups for later in the night.
 
Thanks for all of you recommending Vonage. I know I will get what I pay for. 🙂

At first I found ViaTalk.com offering $199 plan for 2 years for 2 lines (1 number though) pretty intriguing, and it provides Simul-Ring too, seems too good to be true. And then I found this review http://www.recipedelights.com/voip.htm. If you cancel early beyond 14 days, the cancellation fee is half of what you pay. duh!

In this review, MagicJack is the cheapest, yet it has high marks. Only hope they can transfer my number now!

The cheaper option does have pitfalls.

Need more time to investigate.

*EDIT*

by the way. Do you have to pay extra for Vonage's fax? Or it's just for dedicated fax line?
 
I would still go with vonage, again, you get what you pay for. I've heard of all too many people that go with a super cheap option then later get all upset when things don't work right or the service just plain sucks, well sorry but that's what you get for $20/year, you can't expect something to actually work. For it to work, it has to have equipment, service, etc and all of that does cost $$$. Not saying this is about you, but just keep in mind, don't go with the cheapest option. I've personally tried 3 other VOIP providers and found that Vonage has the best features, best service for the all around best price for that service. Now as long as the telco's stop suing them, they'll be ok. VOIP I think is the communication of the future.
 
Wow! Don't know there is such device, Ooma seems a very interesting alternative. Especially for people who don't know how to use computer.

$249 at bestbuy, $245 at walmart. $199 at Amazon but out of stock.

I do suspect how the company can survive in the short term, let alone in the long run, by just selling the device but no monthly fee.

MagicJack is out of question at this time, since someone who bought it at BestBuy and wrote a review said MagicJack owns the phone numbers. So not only you can't port your current number, if one day you don't want their service, you can't port the phone number you sign up with them and switch to another company!
 
I found PhonePower, located in SoCAL, seems a good option to me. $199 for 2 years plus fee = around $253. after $30 rebate then it's $223.

However, since my cable service just expired, I wonder whether I should switch to verizon's FIOS, but I probably don't want TV service, and just watch OTA TV. That could save me some money.

 
Skypes been doing the job for me. I purchased the regular phone number through them and got one of these..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...7070&Tpk=dlink%20skype

to hook up to my regular phones. Works great, has voicemail, call forwarding, conferencing etc.. and so far has been really reliable for me. The phone number costs like 60 a year or so but the monthly service is only $3 a month.
 
I already have Skypeout, but I don't want to pay another $60 for a call in number. And it does not support fax. In fact, I want to cancel Skypeout.
 
I've had Vonage for 3yrs and I finally switched to ViaTalk because Vonage would never add any new features.

Vonage service was good, ViaTalk service has been good too.

Both worked fine over 3 different internet connections i've had.

ViaTalk is more feature rich and I do mean incredible features.

From setting incoming custom caller id, to blocking numbers to a busy signal or blocked message etc, etc.

The CEO of ViaTalk always visits the forums at broadbandreports.com and is always using clients for beta testing advance features. (volunteers)

If you really want to readup on a good VOIP to go with, I would recommend you go to broadbandreports.com and visit the VOIP forums.


Just know that whatever quality you get through VOIP can also be determined by the quailty of your internet connection.

 

Oh, I also can fax using ViaTalk without any issues, however I'm not paying extra for the fax services because it works fine for me over the regular line.

That could be because of the fax machine I use to, so don't count on it working for everyone.

 
I know of several people that used to be on viatalk and then cancelled. They all said the service was ok until the last 6-12 months or so and now service has really gone down. They ended up switching to vonage. Vonage may not have as many features but service seems to be top-notch. Depends what your priorities are I guess. I'm happy with them pesonally
 
I've been a Vonage user since 2004. I've never had an issue. I love the features and the price. Never tried to fax with it, but for day to day phone use, I love it.
 
Originally posted by: Griffinhart
I've been a Vonage user since 2004. I've never had an issue. I love the features and the price. Never tried to fax with it, but for day to day phone use, I love it.
Click to expand...

Faxing used to be hit or miss but in the past 12-16 months, never had a single issue, unless of course the other party had a problem with their phone lines which some of them are in Oklahoma or in the boondocks somewhere so it sometimes has to redial and then goes through the second time.
 
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