Alternatives to Ooma

RetiredAndLovingIt said:
Lets try this again
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the effort! I didn’t know that by simply plugging in a live telephone line into one jack you could get all your jacks throughout the house work. You learn something every day...

Thanks again.
 
Sojourner said:
+1

Google Voice does have a great spam filter, and I also only ever give out my GV number to companies/websites/people. The one thing I don't like about GV is that sometimes it can't receive text messages when I sign up for certain things online. For some reason, certain websites think that my GV number is not a legitimate cell phone number that can receive text messages.
Click to expand...
Normally I give out me cell number for texts, Google is weird in that it seems to use other numbers. From time to time my kids will text me and it's from a different area code and phone number but it's them and they claim they didn't do anything differently. In my daughters case she sent me a google link address link and that's when it happened. Also I've send me own texts before and when the person replies I get it in an e-mail from GV not on my phone. A few years back I got a call from a guy that wanted to know why I was talking to his daughter for the past few months, he was pretty angry. I asked what number he called and it wasn't my number but he was insisting he was redialing the number on her phone and I'd better leave her alone and he was about to call the cops and report me. All I could tell him was go ahead and do what you feel you have to do, I have nothing to fear, I don't know who you or your daughter are. Never heard back from him again but it was definitely weird.
 
to you people who are happy with the ooma basic service. What model of ooma device are you using? I have one that is a years old and it goes offline sometimes at night, pretty unreliable for a landline. went through all the different hookup configurations, still can't get a reliable landline with this machine. my model is 110-0110-252.
 
I have an Ooma Telo... probably 8 years old... works fine.

Is the problem the Ooma device or your internet connection? Perhaps contact Ooma and see if they can do a swap under warranty?
 
frank said:
to you people who are happy with the ooma basic service. What model of ooma device are you using? I have one that is a years old and it goes offline sometimes at night, pretty unreliable for a landline. went through all the different hookup configurations, still can't get a reliable landline with this machine. my model is 110-0110-252.
Click to expand...




Mine is 110-0110-201 and is over 7 years old.... It is rock solid. I suspect that you are running yours wireless and you have a weak wifi signal.... I have Ethernet hooked to mine.



Tell us more about your Internet Service. Do you have Cable or DSL or Dish or :confused:
 
dsl internet with 40 mbs down and about 1. mbps up hooked directly to router. sometimes it works other times it just goes offline or to sleep for no reason and when someone calls it cannot reboot fast enough to answer the call so it goes to voicemail. its frustrating to want to use the phone and it is unavailable or when someone calls and the message goes to voicemail instead of ringing in.
 
I have an Ooma Telo (Premium membership for the call blocking and caller name features).

How is the Ooma hooked up. When I first hooked up to the popular way (Internet -> Router -> Ooma Telo), there were some disconnects. When I hooked up to the more reliable (Ooma gets prioritized) way (Internet -> Ooma Telo -> Router), I've only had a couple of disconnects when the internet went down. Overall, quite happy with Ooma.

Puzzling to me why the instructions I got suggests the popular, less reliable method of hooking up over the more reliable one.
 
Last edited:
Another thing to pay attention to is if you have any media file sharing/thieving apps running, like Kodi, those apps are routinely uploading files you have stored on a device in background. Took me awhile to figure out my Amazon stick was uploading and cutting off Ooma calls.
 
frank said:
dsl internet with 40 mbs down and about 1. mbps up hooked directly to router. sometimes it works other times it just goes offline or to sleep for no reason and when someone calls it cannot reboot fast enough to answer the call so it goes to voicemail. its frustrating to want to use the phone and it is unavailable or when someone calls and the message goes to voicemail instead of ringing in.
Click to expand...


How old is your router? -- Do you have a phone company supplied one? -- If so, and it's pretty old, contact your phone company and ask them if you can get a newer updated router.


And as others have mentioned, what other devices do you have hooked to your network? Do you only have 1 router? Any switches or other access points on your network?
 
I’ve taken my Telo offline (it’s packed in its original box) and place/receive calls through the Ooma app.

Not necessarily related, but people tell me the call quality is better when I use my Bluetooth earbuds (instead of the mobile device speaker/mic).
 
Last edited:
Just take a look at this post on Ooma Forums.....

https://www.ooma.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21437

Someone suggested a Static IP address for your Ooma... If you currently have a mixture of Static and Dynamic IP addresses on your network, it's possible you could be getting a Duplicate IP address somewhere... Anyway by assigning your Ooma Telo to a Static IP, it is far less likely to have an internet problem..... This is not that difficult, but requires someone with a little network knowledge to set this up for you... Do you have a friend in town, that can help you with this?
 
tried changing the ip address and that didn't help. never thought of the firestick. I will unplug that and see what it does. keep the ideas coming. I did some other changes in the ooma box software that were on the forum also, but it didn't seem to do anything. tried the configuration of modem to ooma to router and that pulled my streaming speed down pretty badly. hulu and netflix showed no connection when I configured it that way. thanks

frank
 
I just ordered an Ooma Telo on Amazon. When do I sign up for Ooma service? When I receive the Ooma device?
 
go online when you hook it up and activate it. just follow the instructions.
 
Carpediem said:
I just ordered an Ooma Telo on Amazon. When do I sign up for Ooma service? When I receive the Ooma device?
Click to expand...

Good idea too to think about if you are going with Ooma basic or Premier and if you wish to port your current phone.

In my case, I wanted Premier (main features I NEEDED are call blocking and Caller Name). Basic only has Caller ID without name and no call blocking.

If you do decide to port the old number, signing up for Premier, porting is free. Otherwise, porting is about $39 if all you want is basic.
 
ziggy29 said:
The free Google service doesn't include 911. Ooma does, which is part of the reason why it costs about five bucks a month in taxes.
Click to expand...

For the record, the monthly taxes and fees for Ooma's "free" service in my zipcode are $7.71. YMMV. Alternatively, one can easily add 911 service to an Obi/GV set-up for as little as $1.50/mo with Callcentric or $2 with Anveo. Or just use your cell for 911 if/when needed and keep the landline totally free, which is what we do.

Also, the upfront hardware cost for Ooma is at least 2X the cost of an Obi VoIP adapter, and the Ooma hardware locks you into one provider. The Obi device can be used with a variety of low cost VoIP providers. Google Voice just happens to be the most popular because it's free and has world-class call blocking for spam/robo calls.

Finally, GV has most of the Ooma Premier features such as call blocking, call forwarding, voicemail to email, free calling to Canada, and 3-way calling... all for free. For me, Ooma Premier would be about $18/mo or $216/yr. Versus zero, or $18-25/yr with 911 service.
 
Last edited:
ooma costs whatever the charges are in your own personal area, but you can go on the ooma site and they can get an estimate there.

on another note it would have been nice to know the things recently posted about 911 on obi. as it would have made a difference.
 
frank said:
...it would have been nice to know the things recently posted about 911 on obi. as it would have made a difference.
Click to expand...

Post #15:

Cobra9777 said:
We use Google Voice and the Obi-200 VoIP adapter for totally free landline phone service. IIRC, the Obi device sells for around $50 on Amazon. Set-up with GV is easy and well documented. Calls in the US and Canada are free and most international calls are 1-2 cents per minute. As mentioned earlier, GV is already free on PCs, tablets, smartphones, etc. The Obi-200 VoIP adapter just enables use with your existing landline handsets.

After 6 years, we rarely get robo/telemarketing calls of any kind. Google's spam call filtering appears to be extremely good. If one does get through, it's quite easy to block the number and report it as spam.

You get all the usual features like voicemail, call forwarding, call blocking, conference calling, caller ID, etc. One feature I really like is getting a notification on my mobile phone when I miss a call at home, including the voicemail transcription as a text. No 911 service though, so you'll need a cell for emergencies, or pay a small fee.
Click to expand...
 
Carpediem said:
I just ordered an Ooma Telo on Amazon. When do I sign up for Ooma service? When I receive the Ooma device?
Click to expand...

If you have a problem hooking it up and keeps going offline. check the firewall in your modem that is what was the problem with mine. had to set the firewall to the lowest setting.
 
Another Ooma related question re: porting my landline number....

I am also in the process of moving to a new Internet service provider. My landline number is with the previous provider. From what I've read, I need to keep my previous Internet provider active so the porting can be done. But do I need to keep them until the phone number porting is 'complete' or is it until the process has been 'initiated'?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

easysurfer
What Happened to Ooma's Webpage?
Replies
6
Views
701
easysurfer
easysurfer
S
Just want one little indoor motion/sound wireless security camera
Replies
22
Views
843
Sunset
Sunset
MercyMe
Gmail Alternatives if Privacy is a Concern
Replies
11
Views
1K
CaptTom
C
J
Has any here used an e-sim card?
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
fh2000
F
D
Sold Position - How to send the IRS a check?
Replies
9
Views
834
Sunset
Sunset

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom