Dump Ooma and go with just iPhones?

[teetee]

How much is redundency important for you?

If Ooma phone provides good redundency (say you can't find your iphone, or the cell tower stops working for a day), would you wish to still have access to your Ooma phone?

I have a similar setup and I ended up buying a inverter generator at beginning of Oct. which saved my food and allowed me to work during the outage caused by nor'easter last Wednesday and Thursday.

 

[robnplunder]

I want to get rid of Ooma but DW is deadset against it. However, I canceled the premier service option which costs $170/year. I added it some years ago to block unwanted calls. After I removed the option, I've noticed I am not getting any unwanted calls anyway. If I get too many spam calls, I may convince DW to get rid of Ooma for good or get the premier service again. For now, life is good.

 

[Lsbcal]

Some cellular plans allow your cellphone to function as a WiFi hotspot, though often limited, e.g. 5GB/month.

But even that should be fine for emergencies.

Were I running a business from home I'd probably sign up for something like T-Mobile's $50/month WiFi service as backup to my cable broadband.

Good idea. It turns out I can buy better hotspot capability for $15/mo by calling TMobile during a power outage. I do have some hotspot bandwidth with the current service.

 

[Lsbcal]

How much is redundency important for you?

If Ooma phone provides good redundency (say you can't find your iphone, or the cell tower stops working for a day), would you wish to still have access to your Ooma phone?

I have a similar setup and I ended up buying a inverter generator at beginning of Oct. which saved my food and allowed me to work during the outage caused by nor'easter last Wednesday and Thursday.

As mentioned above we have access to multiple cell phone towers in our area perhaps because we are up a hill and look down into a valley. So there is redundancy in our case. In our area the cell phones have been hardened to emergencies after the 2017 fires and have always come through. So the redundancy need is really not there for us. But others may need it.

 

[teetee]

As mentioned above we have access to multiple cell phone towers in our area perhaps because we are up a hill and look down into a valley. So there is redundancy in our case. In our area the cell phones have been hardened to emergencies after the 2017 fires and have always come through. So the redundancy need is really not there for us. But others may need it.

As mentioned above if you lose your phone or left it somewhere far away, then another phone line will be helpful. It has nothing to do with the cell tower availability.

 

[Lsbcal]

As mentioned above if you lose your phone or left it somewhere far away, then another phone line will be helpful. It has nothing to do with the cell tower availability.

We have 2 phones. Never lost one yet and how is that possible when it is always in my pocket?

 

[WestUniversity]

We have not had a “land line” for 10 years. We absolutely don’t miss it…

 

[a60dan]

We’re down to our two iPhones on T-Mobile.

One number per person, ported landline to my bride’s number. Got cussed out for porting all the spam calls.

$60/month including taxes grandfathered unlimited 55+ plan.

In every blackout we’ve experienced with cell phones, they still work.

For 911 calls, cell phones use the strongest signal regardless off carrier.

Reported drunk driver in backwoods South Carolina and drove for miles. Never dropped the 911 call.

 

[meleana]

I was a long time hold out with our landline. Then when we sold our home in 2019, we went with cell phone only and so far so good.

Amazingly don’t miss the landline. Never thought I’d say that. Even our wired home security system iis on the cell tower.

 

[atxk]

Redundancy

In snowmageden here in Texas we lost all service eventually as even the cell towers ran out of generator fuel.

Text from the cell phone was the last one that quit. So unless you invest in satellite tech all the others are not truly redundant since a long term grid outage will eventually kill all coms.

Just my experience after a 4 day wide spread power outage.

Starlink with a backup generator or a charged sat coms device would have provided redundant operations.

Everything else is just a bandaid since they rely on the same power grid.

 

[zippy2020]

In snowmageden here in Texas we lost all service eventually as even the cell towers ran out of generator fuel.

Text from the cell phone was the last one that quit. So unless you invest in satellite tech all the others are not truly redundant since a long term grid outage will eventually kill all coms.

Just my experience after a 4 day wide spread power outage.

Starlink with a backup generator or a charged sat coms device would have provided redundant operations.

Everything else is just a bandaid since they rely on the same power grid.

CA's wildfires also pointed up a similar situation. It turned out cellular providers had started skimping on storing generator fuel on-sites, only to be caught flat-footed when utility poles were destroyed by flames. This caused cell towers to start running out of fuel quickly.

Our local PBS station published this very detailed article about steps one can take to cope with cellular interruptions:

During a Wildfire, Your Phone Might Stop Working. How Can You Communicate?
https://www.kqed.org/news/11840047/during-a-disaster-your-phone-might-stop-working-how-can-you-communicate

 

[Jkstrudwick]

My wife and I made that “cut” some years ago. I was frustrated paying our mobile phone service and home phone service simultaneously. It didn’t make any sense as all the calls we were getting in the land line were telemarketers. We haven’t looked back.

 

[atxk]

Snowmageden

When you add impassable roads to a grid wide power outage finding WiFi is out of the question so sat coms of some type along with backup power is truly redundant. There are a number of inexpensive sat com devices that can provide your location and you can text, call or SOS. Iridium Go is one. Sailors and backpackiers use them.

 

[ncbill]

CA's wildfires also pointed up a similar situation. It turned out cellular providers had started skimping on storing generator fuel on-sites, only to be caught flat-footed when utility poles were destroyed by flames. This caused cell towers to start running out of fuel quickly.

Our local PBS station published this very detailed article about steps one can take to cope with cellular interruptions:

During a Wildfire, Your Phone Might Stop Working. How Can You Communicate?
https://www.kqed.org/news/11840047/during-a-disaster-your-phone-might-stop-working-how-can-you-communicate

Got one of my kids a SpotX, a standalone device (two-way texts via satellite) a few years ago when they looked like they might be spending the summer in central Asia...device has its own phone number so can receive texts like any cellphone.

For ~$40/month I get unlimited GPS tracking plus unlimited text messages...can just activate for just a month at a time.

IIRC there are newer, cheaper options that support text messaging via satellite though your smartphone.

Voice via satellite remains too pricey for me.

 

[Cobra9777]

Texas Snowmageden

Our wired internet service (Frontier FiOS) went down with the first of the rolling power outages. I was later told that their local servers couldn't handle the rolling outages, so they just left them down until power was restored. Apparently, they were not considered a "critical facility" that would be exempt from the rolling outages. And apparently they had no diesel generators for backup. Even after power was restored, it took 2-3 days for the FiOS service to come back. So obviously our Google+Obi VoIP home phones were useless during those 5-6 days.

Fortunately, our cell phones worked fine, even when the power was out every other hour at the house. Data was crazy-slow at times, as I imagine the towers were overloaded. But we had no issue with calls or texting throughout that whole event. So, I'm not inclined to rush out and get a satellite device or a generator, especially given the low probability of that happening again in my lifetime. I will make sure we have plenty of wood ready for the fireplace though. Staying warm was the more immediate concern.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Got one of my kids a SpotX, a standalone device (two-way texts via satellite) a few years ago when they looked like they might be spending the summer in central Asia...device has its own phone number so can receive texts like any cellphone.

For ~$40/month I get unlimited GPS tracking plus unlimited text messages...can just activate for just a month at a time.

IIRC there are newer, cheaper options that support text messaging via satellite though your smartphone.

Voice via satellite remains too pricey for me.

When my baby (34 now) drove alone from California to Utah in her 12 year old car a couple of months ago I was freaking out. She was long on her way before I even knew about it. In an effort to appease me, she sent me her location to my phone so I would know where she was at all times.
Where was this technology when my kids were growing up, it's an amazing tool that updates her location about every 3 minutes. It even showed me the status of her cellphone battery. If everyone had this turned on on their cellphones and had location sharing with just one person, it really would help when someone goes missing, you can use their last recorded location before the phone is destroyed or taken away from them.
My son and his wife also use this so they always know where the other is as does my daughter and her husband (and now me).
The only time I ever used this technology before was about five years ago when we ordered an Uber in San Francisco and we were sent a tracking link.
I think every one should have this turned on for the seniors in their life to keep track of them as long as they have their phone with a data plan and it's totally free.

 

[pc95]

Ooma is $5.34 / month for domestic calls. It works as our main phone. Also have work phone with unlimited minutes/data that can use in case of power outage. ATT used to be $40/month in 2015 wen we switched. Could probably get by with just work phone, but like having redundant line at home.

Also pay skype credit for sporadic International Calls.

 

[athena53]

My MagicJack number is my "spamcatcher" number. I'm very protective of my smartphone number after seeing how easily it gets abused- you give it to someone doing work on your house so they can make necessary contacts with you and it's used for follow-up surveys and marketing texts (I'm looking at you, Pella). My smartphone number even ended up on DH's credit report- all I can figure is that he gave it to the hospital as an emergency contact.

I've also read that, given the number of things that require your mobile phone to authenticate, a hacker who fraudulently ports your cell number to another hone can do major damage.

I'm grateful I gave CVS my MagicJack number because they robo-call me endlessly when THEY think my prescription needs refilling (it's an "as-needed" prescription). So far the only spam calls I get on my iPhone are the infernal "auto warranty" calls, and they typically originate from a couple of cities I can identify.

For me, the extra $42 for MagicJack is worth it.

 

[Lsbcal]

Regarding CVS, yes they can be a pain. But I think you can download their app and manage prescriptions better that way rather then through phone contacts.

 

[MdaPetralia]

Ooma also has robust call blocking features that can reduce and even eliminate spam and unwanted calls. Calls are categories as follows:

1) Anonymous calls (i.e. caller can't be identified, is blocking their number)
2) Known spammers from Ooma's blacklist DB (you can whitelist if it's a call you want)
3) Suspected spammers from Nomorobo's DB
4) Specific names/numbers you can block/blacklist
5) Callers in your contact list

For each of these categories, if you don't wish to receive the call or your phone to ring, you can send directly to voicemail or block the call. If you want to block the call, you can play a “you're blocked” or phone number is disconnected message, or phone can ring continuously only on callers end. You can also make it simple and block all numbers not in my contact list.

Is there a mobile phone app for Android and iOS that can do the equivalent?

 

[tulak]

Regarding iPhone spam calls, you can set your phone to silence unknown callers. If they’re not in your contact list, your phone won’t ring and they’ll go to voicemail.

I use it most of the time, unless I’m expecting a call from someone not in my contact list. It’s not a perfect solution, but it helps.

 

[ivinsfan]

Regarding CVS, yes they can be a pain. But I think you can download their app and manage prescriptions better that way rather then through phone contacts.

Walgreens has a way to turn off all auto alerts, I'd be surprised if CVS does not offer the same.

 

[mountainsoft]

My wife and I each have cell phones, but cell service is not very reliable here at home. We also have a VOIP home phone through 1-Voip.

I generally don't use my cell phone unless I'm leaving the house. I use my cell phone as a disposable number, for places that insist I give them a phone number when they don't really need it. Unless I know the person calling, I never answer my cell phone.

If the power goes out our cable internet connection is usually still operational. My computer, router, and phone adapter are on my Cyberpower CP1500PFCLCD UPS. I can run about an hour with the computer on, or longer if I power down the computer.

I'm not a phone person anyway. Not having phone service during a power outage is the least of my worries. If we had a true emergency we could use our cell phones. We might have to wander around the house to find a good signal, but it's doable.

We like having both the cell phones and the home phone. Cells are personal, a call can only go to that specific person. In contrast, calls to the home phone can go to anybody. There are advantages to each.

 

[Lsbcal]

Regarding iPhone spam calls, you can set your phone to silence unknown callers. If they’re not in your contact list, your phone won’t ring and they’ll go to voicemail.

I use it most of the time, unless I’m expecting a call from someone not in my contact list. It’s not a perfect solution, but it helps.

Here is a link that discusses this: https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/06/ios-13-silence-unknown-callers/

In my case I sometimes get a call from a medical office that I want to take but would not be on my contact list. Calling back is not a good option in this case. So I probably won't use the feature. However, nowadays I hardly ever get junk calls and if I do they are from some remote city that I just ignore.

 

[tulak]

Here is a link that discusses this: https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/06/ios-13-silence-unknown-callers/



In my case I sometimes get a call from a medical office that I want to take but would not be on my contact list. Calling back is not a good option in this case. So I probably won't use the feature. However, nowadays I hardly ever get junk calls and if I do they are from some remote city that I just ignore.

I seem to get a good amount of spam calls, so I appreciate them going straight to voicemail. For numbers that I want to go through - such as medical offices - I add an entry into contacts.