MagicJack vs. Ooma vs. Vonage vs. ???

[Cobra9777]

Question to those with Google Voice. If I port a number that has been known to spammers, spoofers, will I have the same callers plague me once I'm on google, or are there mechanisms within the Google Voice application that are either already in use or that I can configure to filter out these calls?...

It's so much easier and cleaner to just get a new number from Google. The two-step port process sounds like a hassle, and you risk bringing all the spam calls along, although Google filtering might/should work. We transitioned from Cable VoIP to GV+Obi five years ago and, in the process, dumped a landline number we had since 1981. Over 90% of the calls on that number were unsolicited calls of one type or another. I was happy to let it go. We gave the new number to family and friends and never looked back.

 

[Golden sunsets]

It's so much easier and cleaner to just get a new number from Google. The two-step port process sounds like a hassle, and you risk bringing all the spam calls along, although Google filtering might/should work. We transitioned from Cable VoIP to GV+Obi five years ago and, in the process, dumped a landline number we had since 1981. Over 90% of the calls on that number were unsolicited calls of one type or another. I was happy to let it go. We gave the new number to family and friends and never looked back.

Your point is well taken, but so many have our number, think Dr's offices, banks, all sorts of companies, other than family and friends that I might want to receive the call from, that I am reluctant to discard it. Thus my question about the filtering that the Google Voice plan does offer.

 

[Cobra9777]

Your point is well taken, but so many have our number, think Dr's offices, banks, all sorts of companies, other than family and friends that I might want to receive the call from, that I am reluctant to discard it. Thus my question about the filtering that the Google Voice plan does offer.

After 30+ years, we were in the same situation and had the same concerns. Phone numbers at banks were changed online in a minute or two. Another minute or two to call all our doctors. Done. Best part is no more robo calls, etc. It's really not that big of a deal, but... suit yourself.

 

[cathy63]

Question to those with Google Voice. If I port a number that has been known to spammers, spoofers, will I have the same callers plague me once I'm on google, or are there mechanisms within the Google Voice application that are either already in use or that I can configure to filter out these calls?

Thanks.

Google filters out the spam and political calls pretty well, even on an old number that's been ported over. Go to voice.google.com and in settings, turn on the Filter Spam option.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Google filters out the spam and political calls pretty well, even on an old number that's been ported over. Go to voice.google.com and in settings, turn on the Filter Spam option.

Thanks Cathy. That's the information I was seeking.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[pb4uski]

I figured that I would bump this thread rather than create a new one. Ooma rocks!

85 yo DUncle was having trouble with his landline reliability. We were frustrated that we couldn't call him. He called the landline company many times and a couple visits but the reliability still sucked. They think it was the underground line from the street to the house... why they didn't just pull a new line is a mystery to us all.

Also, he has DSL from these clowns and that is unreliable as well. He only uses the internet for email and ccasional lite web surfing.

So I sold him on the Ooma 4G... Ooma, 4G receiver and battery backup for $130. Visited him yesterday and installed it.. installing it was a snap... we had dial-tone and did a test call to my cell and vice versa.

Then we go to get on his desktop to submit the porting request. No internet. He reboots the DSL modem and we get ssllooww internet but put through the porting request. Then I run a speedtest... 2mbps... yes, you read that right... 2mbps.

So I get an idea. I unplug his ethernet cable from the back of his DSL modem and plug it into the back of his Ooma... in effect using his 4G connection for both voice and data. Voila! He has working internet. I run a speedtest and it is about 7mbps.

So for heck, I ask him what he pays for phone/internet. he sheepishly says $150/month. I tell him, congratulations, you're now only paying $18/month.

Like I said, Ooma rocks.

 

[Sunset]

I figured that I would bump this thread rather than create a new one. Ooma rocks!

85 yo DUncle was having trouble with his landline reliability. We were frustrated that we couldn't call him. He called the landline company many times and a couple visits but the reliability still sucked. They think it was the underground line from the street to the house... why they didn't just pull a new line is a mystery to us all.

Also, he has DSL from these clowns and that is unreliable as well. He only uses the internet for email and ccasional lite web surfing.

So I sold him on the Ooma 4G... Ooma, 4G receiver and battery backup for $130. Visited him yesterday and installed it.. installing it was a snap... we had dial-tone and did a test call to my cell and vice versa.

Then we go to get on his desktop to submit the porting request. No internet. He reboots the DSL modem and we get ssllooww internet but put through the porting request. Then I run a speedtest... 2mbps... yes, you read that right... 2mbps.

So I get an idea. I unplug his ethernet cable from the back of his DSL modem and plug it into the back of his Ooma... in effect using his 4G connection for both voice and data. Voila! He has working internet. I run a speedtest and it is about 7mbps.

So for heck, I ask him what he pays for phone/internet. he sheepishly says $150/month. I tell him, congratulations, you're now only paying $18/month.

Like I said, Ooma rocks.

That is great !

<edit> Thanks for posting about this, now I know Ooma does 4G , and it's interesting..

 

[OldShooter]

... They think it was the underground line from the street to the house... why they didn't just pull a new line is a mystery to us all.

Your uncle's scenario is almost identical to ours except that "our" bad cable runs under a 4-lane state highway. What the tech told us, off the record of course, is that the latest acquiror of our telephone company hates the residential business/is only interested in business telephone and business internet. So they are not investing in fixing things for residential neighborhoods like ours.

We are very happy with Ooma as well. It is publicly held and appears to be mildly profitable. We have Comcast internet, having dropped our DSL. I don't think a 4G would work for us due to cost even though we don't stream music or video. We will be paying around $50 for 100mbs Comcast service after our sweetheart rate of $35 expires.

 

[pb4uski]

I had talked with DU about cable internet but while there is cable at the street the cable company would have had to run a cable to his house and bury it since his neighborhood is underground only.

The 4G works for him only because his internet use is negligible. It is interesting that his 4G is unlimited for voice and include 1GB of 4G data... all for $12/month. Additional data is $9/GB. He is such a lite user that I suspect that most months he won't crack 1GB.

 

[statsman]

We used to love Ooma back in California, especially before they put in cell towers close to us. Our cell service was sporadic when at home, so it was good to have a "landline" option. Even the rental house when we first moved to Texas had brutally awful cell reception, possibly worse than in California. Fortunately, cell service at the house we purchased here has been fine.

That said, the last 18-24 months with Ooma were no picnic. Constant calls getting through the various spam filters (we had the $9.99/mo premium service). Unlike in the beginning with Ooma, it was becoming impossible to block all of the numbers. At some point, we started call blocking whole Area Codes. We would direct those calls to voice mail because you couldn't be sure they were all spam calls.

Between that and the fact that every service requiring a phone number was tied to one of our cell phones, we finally stopped Ooma service several months ago. But if you have a need for a landline, Ooma can work well. Hopefully, they have improved their spam filtering. Spammers can and have mimicked "real" phone numbers, so that may prove to be an impossible task short of the government stepping in.

 

[sengsational]

I had talked with DU about cable internet but while there is cable at the street the cable company would have had to run a cable to his house and bury it since his neighborhood is underground only.

Google Fiber, AT&T, and TimeWarner/Speculum all had to run a cable and bury it. No cost to me. Even got service working before it was buried when it came to the cable company (they just laid the cable on the ground until the burial guy showed up with his cool vibrating blade machine, which cut right through tree roots). But I like the "deal" that Ooma offers with cell data. That's a cool product that I didn't know existed.

 

[sengsational]

We would direct those calls to voice mail because you couldn't be sure they were all spam calls.

Ooma basic along with a box called "Sentry" is our solution. Zero robocalls. It's a little bit of a pain to explain to people how to get through (press zero when they hear the "mean guy" recording, then call back). Most people "get it". But the result is that when the phone rings, we run for it, just like the old days

 

[OldShooter]

I had talked with DU about cable internet but while there is cable at the street the cable company would have had to run a cable to his house and bury it since his neighborhood is underground only. ...

You might want to verify that if it's important. When we gutted and rebuilt our house 25 years ago I had the cable company run their wire (no charge) to a box on the outside of the house but we never actually hooked up to it. A couple of months ago when I signed up with Comcast I assumed that they would just use this buried cable. Nope, the tech said. The wire was too old. So he ran a new wire, just laying it on the ground. Their subcontractor came the next day and dug it in. Maybe a 75 foot run and I think it took less than 1/2 hour.

 

[pb4uski]

Interesting, I know that he has explored cable and didn't move forward... I think due to the need to bury a cable. I did tell him that the burying of the cable isn't very intrusive as it doesn't need to be deep like a water supply would. I'll ask him about that next time I see him but I think this 4G solution will work for him given his lite internet use.

 

[Chuckanut]

[-][/-]

So for heck, I ask him what he pays for phone/internet. he sheepishly says $150/month. I tell him, congratulations, you're now only paying $18/month.

Like I said, Ooma rocks.

That is very nice. I have used Ooma for years to provide a 'landline' at all three levels of [-]Palazio Chuckanut[/-] my modest home. It cost me less than $6 a month - all required taxes and fees paid to various government entities.

 

[Sunset]

You might want to verify that if it's important. When we gutted and rebuilt our house 25 years ago I had the cable company run their wire (no charge) to a box on the outside of the house but we never actually hooked up to it. A couple of months ago when I signed up with Comcast I assumed that they would just use this buried cable. Nope, the tech said. The wire was too old. So he ran a new wire, just laying it on the ground. Their subcontractor came the next day and dug it in. Maybe a 75 foot run and I think it took less than 1/2 hour.

We switch every few years between cable and Wow (which also uses a cable). Each time they lay down a new cable and in a few weeks someone buries it.
We have about 4 cables under the ground now all running to the same place, each less than 10 years old.
It's like they are not allowed (probably legal reason) to use the other companies wire.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm happy with Ooma. Don't mind paying about $10/month for the premium features which included call blocking.

 

[pb4uski]

Just curious... how deep do they bury the cable? When I put mine in I had to dig a shallow ~8" trench from the nearby utility pole to the corner of the house... ~10'... the cable guy laid the cable in pex in the trench and then I covered it up.

 

[Texas Proud]

I figured that I would bump this thread rather than create a new one. Ooma rocks!

85 yo DUncle was having trouble with his landline reliability. We were frustrated that we couldn't call him. He called the landline company many times and a couple visits but the reliability still sucked. They think it was the underground line from the street to the house... why they didn't just pull a new line is a mystery to us all.

Also, he has DSL from these clowns and that is unreliable as well. He only uses the internet for email and ccasional lite web surfing.

So I sold him on the Ooma 4G... Ooma, 4G receiver and battery backup for $130. Visited him yesterday and installed it.. installing it was a snap... we had dial-tone and did a test call to my cell and vice versa.

Then we go to get on his desktop to submit the porting request. No internet. He reboots the DSL modem and we get ssllooww internet but put through the porting request. Then I run a speedtest... 2mbps... yes, you read that right... 2mbps.

So I get an idea. I unplug his ethernet cable from the back of his DSL modem and plug it into the back of his Ooma... in effect using his 4G connection for both voice and data. Voila! He has working internet. I run a speedtest and it is about 7mbps.

So for heck, I ask him what he pays for phone/internet. he sheepishly says $150/month. I tell him, congratulations, you're now only paying $18/month.

Like I said, Ooma rocks.

How much data can he get for that price?

 

[pb4uski]

How much data can he get for that price?

Unlimited voice and 1GB of data is included in his $12/month charge... after 1GB is $9/GB.

.... The 4G works for him only because his internet use is negligible. It is interesting that his 4G is unlimited for voice and include 1GB of 4G data... all for $12/month. Additional data is $9/GB. He is such a lite user that I suspect that most months he won't crack 1GB.

 

[JustVisitingThisPlanet]

Sounds like Ooma has improved since I've used them a few years ago. Was getting a lot of delay in the voice. It was slight but just enough to notice and was annoying. I've been using Obitalk with Google Voice since, which is much cheaper but a little more involved with setup than Ooma. The free call director with GV also a major bonus.

 

[Sunset]

Just curious... how deep do they bury the cable? When I put mine in I had to dig a shallow ~8" trench from the nearby utility pole to the corner of the house... ~10'... the cable guy laid the cable in pex in the trench and then I covered it up.

For my 4 buried cables, I've only seen 2 buried.
They stuck a shovel in along the wire, pulled back on the shovel to open a slit in the ground and then pushed the wire into the slit and stamped on it with their boot to close the slit.

It's just the plain cable, no protective tube around it.

 

[amt]

Obi is the best. Have been using it for at least 8 years. Very low cost for just one time initially and high quality free voice service that can be expected from Google Voice.

https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/

 

[frank]

have been using ooma basic for years now and love it. 5.22 a month but do get some junk calls. robocalls are hard to get a way from. started with the cencus this week, training monday and then online. they issued me an iphone and it was all locked for security. the first call I got was for the extended warranty on my car scam. good luck with getting rid of unwanted calls.

 

[lem1955]

What does VOIP provide that regular cell service does not? I can take calls on my iMac if my phone is elsewhere.