VOIP?

[random]

With Starlink coming some time this year, I'm looking into VOIP service. Plenty of reviews online - but I wanted to see if any of you have any experiences with VOIP, good, bad, otherwise.

My current Hughes service is VOIP, obviously, but I don't know yet if I'll want to keep it or go with something different when I switch the internet.

 

[Nicfin36]

I use cell phone only now.

 

[random]

I would have to get a dedicated cell tower installed for my property. I'm at least 1/2 mile from any sort of service.

 

[Roadworthy]

Cell phone service works here but when the signal drops I lose the connection. I do have internet and use a Magic Jack for VoIP for a simulated land line. There may be brief dead spots in the conversation but at least it doesn't drop the connection like my cell phone. In its defense, my internet service is relatively slow at 3KBpS and faster service may provide less dead spots.

 

[ctfjr]

I work from home and have my IP phone from my (former) office. We use a secure vpn connection for both transferring files/data and the voip. The quality is excellent. Its all Cisco gear. The phone even has a camera and screen so we can see each other at the office (or wherever anyone is working)

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Generally speaking, with VOIP, when you lose the internet you lose the phone......
I'm on cable for all 3 (TV, net, phone)...though phone will work for maybe 5-10 minutes after net or tv is 'down'.
Nice thing is when all 3 are down, I can go outside and play !

 

[ken erickson]

I have ATT Uverse for my internet service plus phone service which is VOIP. For the most part I can not tell the difference compared to when I had just a dedicated phone line. The one thing they warn you about is that 911 services might not be able to pin point the location that the call comes from.

As a disclaimer I would do away with the VOIP phone service part of the Uverse plan if I was able to get cell service in the house.

I was typing as Greensvillejay was posting and that part is true also. At least with my ATT Uverse I have found that the internet service is very stable and have had only one or two outages. One was when the power company was upgrading from overhead to buried and promptly cut into the buried Att line one house up from mine. It took about 4 days for that to get resolved.

 

[Nicfin36]

I would have to get a dedicated cell tower installed for my property. I'm at least 1/2 mile from any sort of service.

My cell service is awful, and add insult to injury, I am in the city limits. I guess I am just in a bad spot, but it has been this way since I moved here 15 years ago. Anyway, I use Wifi calling on my phone. So, I am essentially talking through the internet, but I don't pay for an extra service. That might be an option you want to explore.

 

[random]

I expect with Starlink I'll have more stable service than currently with Hughes. But even Hughes is better than the hard-wired Centurylink service I used to have. I switched to Hughes because the DSL/phone was so unstable.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I've had Starlink since October and I have nothing to say except rave reviews.
With a much much lower latency than Hughes net I don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

[random]

I'm sure it would work, was kinda hoping people had some more specific experiences to share though. I have no idea what to choose - looks like Vonage is the oldest, but there seem to be plenty of new ones around that may be just as good, for less. I'm guessing any of them should work with Starlink.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

I'm sure it would work, was kinda hoping people had some more specific experiences to share though. I have no idea what to choose - looks like Vonage is the oldest, but there seem to be plenty of new ones around that may be just as good, for less. I'm guessing any of them should work with Starlink.

Back when we had phone through Charter cable, it was just another modem (don't remember the brand) with phone plugs. We had 2 lines and like someone else mentioned, we wouldn't lose phones when we lost TV and internet. The only issue we had was getting a fax to work reliably with distinctive ring.
If you want to keep your number, have your new hookup and transfer your service, don't cancel your old service first.

 

[mikester]

It works but I wouldn't depend on it as my only phone.

 

[johnjk]

I had VOIP running on my Time Warner/Spectrum service. It was through an independent company called ViaTalk. It required a separate device called a PAP-2 or PAP-2T to enable VOIP. Worked great. At the time it was around 20/month for this service. non of those "fees" you paid for a traditional line. Much less than Ameritech or any other POTS offering and cheaper than what my ISP's bundle price was at the time. What I liked the best was the ability to blacklist /whitelist numbers that tended to spam me. It also integrated in to the E911 system with a few extra steps during setup. Took maybe 3 minutes of time to get that all set. In addition, I could easily redirect calls to my mobile when traveling. Our main reason for having it was to have a "land line" while our kids were little and ease of contact for our parents. Once we got the kids cells, we dropped the VOIP system and just went mobile. Found it easier at the time to just visit the folks and program in the new numbers to their phones for them rather than telling them and having them figure it out.

Now my only option for a traditional phone would be Century Link and I'm not paying 2K for them to run the line down the driveway just for a phone. My ISP Viasat offers VOIP on their system but I cannot see adding anything to an already super slow connection.

 

[bearbait]

I've had Starlink since October and I have nothing to say except rave reviews.
With a much much lower latency than Hughes net I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Finally got a notice 2 days ago that my kit was ready for shipment...should be here September 3rd. A landline phone here would cost us thousands and that was back 15 years ago when we checked so we decided to give the MagicJack a try and have had it ever since and it's been great not to mention cheap. It does run through the web and low latency is a must to have it work. 50 bucks USD for the year and another 10 bucks for you phone number with no limit calling across North America and the better your internet is the better it works.

VoIP Phone Service | Internet Home Phone Service Provider | magicJack

Enjoy uncompromised VoIP calling and say goodbye to phone bills with magicJack. Get free unlimited calling to the US & Canada and keep your same number!

www.magicjack.com

 

[shelkol]

I've been using VOIPO.com for several years. Service is OK. they seem to be the cheapest. $185 for 2 years. I don't rely upon my voip line as I can use my cell either direct or through wifi calling.

 

[Code]

Does you cell plan have wifi calling? Im on tmobile and when im on my home network (wifi) it uses that to do voice calls as im lucky to get 2 bars on my property. I was looking at voip but Then remembered wifi calling. No need for it if your phone and plan support it

 

[DustyRusty]

Still using a landline at home, since the cell tower goes dark with power outages, which are frequent around here. We loose all services regularly, as the trees are always falling across the wires during a storm.

 

[Code]

Maybe get the cheapest phone and plan possible? Saying that. My dad has been pretty happy with vonage and nextalk

Still using a landline at home, since the cell tower goes dark with power outages, which are frequent around here. We loose all services regularly, as the trees are always falling across the wires during a storm.

 

[RCW]

Just got my monthly text that my Spectrum bill was available.

Looks to be up $50 from last month, and up almost $80 in 12 months.

Need to cut the cord somehow......