VOIP and other free phone thread

[cathy63]

So, should I go with an "Ultra Mobile Paygo" (the old cheap T-MO prepaid) and see if it ports? Or just bite the bullet and get a month or two of full featured cell on the parent carrier? The MVNOs should port, but who the hell knows?

You can use any pay-as-you-go plan that allows inbound porting, which I think should be all of them. They all have to allow outbound porting or be in trouble with the FCC. If Ultra Mobile Paygo is the cheapest, then go ahead and use them. The port won't happen faster or more seamlessly if you pay more. Just make sure to keep the mobile plan active until your number is working correctly on Google Voice.

Also, if you have a 3rd party long distance provider, make sure to call them and cancel their service. I had an LD provider whose website FAQ claimed there was no need to call and cancel if porting to mobile, but that turned out not to be true since they kept billing me after the land-line was gone (they did refund the money when I called though).

I know for a fact that Republic Wireless typically doesn't port to GV because of it's VOIP-like characteristics.

I don't believe this is an issue any longer. We ported two numbers directly from Republic to Google Fi (which is Google Voice under the covers) earlier this year. Each one took just minutes to complete and worked seamlessly once done.

 

[JoeWras]

Just out of curiosity: is the intent to keep your landline phone number active/alive but operating with a different transport layer (not sure if that’s the correct term)?

The motivation is to:

• Keep the old land line number we've had forever. DW and I like a "shared number". Yeah, we're old fashioned. We want our friends to be able to say: "Let's call the Joe&DW Wrases".
• Keep a land line we can actually use with handsets
• Have E911 service
• Reduce cost from $35 per month to less than $2 per month

Steps to do this:

1. Obtain OBI200 get it up and running with existing Google Voice number (my dad's old number)
2. Port out landline to cell phone. Required by Google Voice to port in.
3. Port cell phone to Google voice to replace old Google Voice number.
4. Obtain E911 service on OBI200 through a different service provider.

I'm current at step 1 as I write. I want step 2 to go smoothly. People have had issues in the past porting into Google Voice from some of the clunky MVNOs. There's the law, and then there's service behind porting. I don't like trouble.

 

[JoeWras]

You can use any pay-as-you-go plan that allows inbound porting, which I think should be all of them. They all have to allow outbound porting or be in trouble with the FCC. If Ultra Mobile Paygo is the cheapest, then go ahead and use them. The port won't happen faster or more seamlessly if you pay more. Just make sure to keep the mobile plan active until your number is working correctly on Google Voice.

I'm guessing it shouldn't be a problem, but... Well, the collective wisdom of "The Good People Of The Internet" was to use T-Mobile's PayGo because it was reliable on port outs. They are now an MVNO. People have struggled with MVNO ports, having issues and delays due to their poor communication with GV. Of course, this was a few years ago. 5 years ago I actually successfully ported my old GV number through Virgin Mobile, an MVNO.

<Regarding ports out from Republic to Google Voice>
I don't believe this is an issue any longer. We ported two numbers directly from Republic to Google Fi (which is Google Voice under the covers) earlier this year. Each one took just minutes to complete and worked seamlessly once done.

Good to know. There were a lot of complaints years ago about port failures to GV. GV has their own dang port IN rules. Not so much about port out, but port in. Republic is classified as a VOIP provider and GV can be unhappy about that.

BTW, not sure Google FI is equivalent to Google Voice. Their port in rules seem to be different. Google FI allows land line port ins, while GV still does not.

 

[steelyman]

The motivation is to:

• Keep the old land line number we've had forever. DW and I like a "shared number". Yeah, we're old fashioned. We want our friends to be able to say: "Let's call the Joe&DW Wrases".
• Keep a land line we can actually use with handsets
• Have E911 service
• Reduce cost from $35 per month to less than $2 per month

Steps to do this:

1. Obtain OBI200 get it up and running with existing Google Voice number (my dad's old number)
2. Port out landline to cell phone. Required by Google Voice to port in.
3. Port cell phone to Google voice to replace old Google Voice number.
4. Obtain E911 service on OBI200 through a different service provider.

I'm current at step 1 as I write. I want step 2 to go smoothly. People have had issues in the past porting into Google Voice from some of the clunky MVNOs. There's the law, and then there's service behind porting. I don't like trouble.

Those are all good reasons. I’d have had the same motivation to keep my old “forever” land line number until I moved from the midwest.

I set up the VoIP before leaving and selected a new number with a local (NC) area code. Makes it obvious I moved. But the sheriff keeps finding me anyway.

 

[pb4uski]

How does the ooma do for latency (the delay between when you speak and when the person hears you)? I tried ooma 10 or so years ago here in Michigan and found I couldn't live with the latency: it was like talking on a walky talky (for anyone who remembers those!).

I eventually decided ooma didn't have a server in a data center close enough to where I lived. Maybe they have servers in more locations today?

We had severe latency issues for a while... so much so we thought of dropping Ooma. Then our internet would go out numerous times each day. Turns our it was some bad wiring at the box near our house.. once they fixed that the internet is reliable and the latency problems are gone.

 

[JoeWras]

Just hooked up the OBI200 to Google Voice.

It was much easier than I thought. Go to their web page, dial a few numbers, and boom, it is connected.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Congratulations, I felt like the smartest person in the world when I installed mine years and years ago and I've saved a ton of money getting rid of the house phone. Rarely does it go down but if it does just unplug the power cord in the back of it for 20 seconds or so and it should come right back up again unless of course the problem really is that someone has left one of the phones off hook which is usually my problem....

 

[RetMD21]

I’ve been on a bit of a home electronics updating spree the past couple of days. The latest was to connect my Ooma Telo device to the existing phone jacks at my home.

The setup is very simple but the Ooma instructions made it clear repeatedly that the any prior landline service had to be completely removed before connecting the Telo. I took a few extra steps and had AT&T come out for a service call (no charge) to make sure.
....

So now I can make and receive Ooma calls from both the “landline” cordless home phone or through the mobile app.

We do this too. I like have a sort of landline and it gives me a number to give to business or government entities that need one. I don't want those calls going to my cell phone and I have my google voice forwarding to my cell for actual important business related calls (still working, lol) I pay the $10/month for Ooma Premier and use a white list so all the marketing calls go to voicemail.

 

[steelyman]

We do this too. I like have a sort of landline and it gives me a number to give to business or government entities that need one. I don't want those calls going to my cell phone and I have my google voice forwarding to my cell for actual important business related calls (still working, lol) I pay the $10/month for Ooma Premier and use a white list so all the marketing calls go to voicemail.

That’s the idea for me too. I’ve let my cell number slip out to a few places that weren’t personal contacts (friends/family) but am trying to get better about that.

Something I’d never thought to do was to actually test to see if 911 is working through my VoIP and cell services. I was reminded to do this by recent forked/drifted threads/discussions about 911/E911.

It turns out that, for the Ooma mobile app, it won’t put the call through and instead directs you through a pop-up to call on a landline or cell phone.

Switching to a handset directly connected to the Telo (a “landline”) verified the operation and location which was the address registered with Ooma as part of the service agreement.

 

[JoeWras]

Switching to a handset directly connected to the Telo (a “landline”) verified the operation and location which was the address registered with Ooma as part of the service agreement.

Were the 911 people OK with this? I heard it is illegal to "test" in some places?

 

[steelyman]

Were the 911 people OK with this? I heard it is illegal to "test" in some places?

I wondered about that too and searched for accepted testing procedures. I found 911.gov which has a lot of info.

I called the (non-emergency) sheriff and asked first. They said, “call 911 and say you’re testing, it’s OK”. So I did. The person who took the call was very nice, took it in stride.

I wouldn’t do it blind. Ask the non-emergency police/sheriff first.

 

[JoeWras]

I wondered about that too and searched for accepted testing procedures. I found 911.gov which has a lot of info.

I called the (non-emergency) sheriff and asked first. They said, “call 911 and say you’re testing, it’s OK”. So I did. The person who took the call was very nice, took it in stride.

I wouldn’t do it blind. Ask the non-emergency police/sheriff first.

Great information, Steelyman. Thank you.

 

[steelyman]

Great information, Steelyman. Thank you.

You’re welcome. Next up: the acid test with my brand-new mobile provider while at and away from home!

 

[JoeWras]

Steps to do this (port landline to Google Voice):

1. Obtain OBI200 get it up and running with existing Google Voice number (my dad's old number)
2. Port out landline to cell phone. Required by Google Voice to port in.
3. Port cell phone to Google voice to replace old Google Voice number.
4. Obtain E911 service on OBI200 through a different service provider.

I'm current at step 1 as I write. I want step 2 to go smoothly.

DONE with all steps as of this morning. Also added another step:
5. Connect OBI with home phone wiring so all phones work seemlessly.

This was slightly painful. Step 1 and 4 were super easy. I had consternation about it, but Polycom/OBIhai make connecting to Google Voice and adding E911 super easy. So we're paying $25 per year for E911 via OBI's default suggested E911 provider, Anveo. Basically, $2 per month.

Step 2 was painful. In the last few years, the number of plans that are cheap and have voice only are going away. T-Mobile used to have PayGo or something like that. Turns out they gave it to Ultra Mobile. You still have to go to a T-Mo store to get this secret Ultra Mobile SIM. It should be something like $13 total to get started, to make your port out easy.

Turns out, the kids at these stores are all confused. I had no luck getting an agent that knew about the Ultra Mobile Paygo. So I then go to the AT&T store to get their prepaid, and mention I want to port from a landline. The kids there say: "Seriously, you can do that? Who even has a landline anyway?"

The upshot is you are probably better off going to some web-only MVNO to get your landline ported to a cheap cell. I thought doing it with in-person help would make it easier. It made it harder. I don't want to drag out the details but it took me a day of running around to get that accomplished.

Step 3 actually took 4 days. It should only take 1. But I think it was because I had an old ported number on my Google Voice account existing. If I were to do this again, I'd transfer that number away (or delete) it first. Don't try to port in over it. I ultimately had to open a ticket with Google to resolve this. Note: if you are porting in over a number given by google voice, it should be easy with no issues.

The good news is that all is working today. Finally.

Oh, and as for step 5... I back-plugged my OBI into my phone jack and it resulted in a dead line. Turns out I had to disconnect the phone connection from Uverse. Even though it was "dead", it was pulling the line down to ground or something. Because of the way the tech backwired my phone from Uverse out to the outside junction box, I had to go outside and on the "consumer side" of the wiring box, make a disconnection. This may be a bit unnerving for many people.

So on goes the odyssey. I'm in the process of totally reworking all my communication and media (cell, landline, television). This takes care of 2 of the 3 items. TV (cut the cord) is next. When I'm done, I'll run an account of all the savings.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I remember I had to disconnect the phone company jack outside when I installed my original OBI100 many years ago. I thought it was in the OBI instruction sheet at the time but maybe not any more.

 

[JoeWras]

I remember I had to disconnect the phone company jack outside when I installed my original OBI100 many years ago. I thought it was in the OBI instruction sheet at the time but maybe not any more.

I probably didn't read that part. I would bet it is still there.

 

[steelyman]

I probably didn't read that part. I would bet it is still there.

I was pretty paranoid about that when working with my Ooma (post #33 in this thread). AT&T came out to verify. I learned a couple of things about unknown-purpose boxes in my home in the process. They looked very “telecom” to me and one had the T logo.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I remember I had to disconnect the phone company jack outside when I installed my original OBI100 many years ago. I thought it was in the OBI instruction sheet at the time but maybe not any more.

Yep, and that part is critical if you plug your VOIP box into the phone line to distribute the signal to corded phones (or cordless bases) in other rooms, because the ring voltage that goes through the phone line could and probably would damage ATAs and other VOIP hardware.

 

[JoeWras]

Yep, and that part is critical if you plug your VOIP box into the phone line to distribute the signal to corded phones (or cordless bases) in other rooms, because the ring voltage that goes through the phone line could and probably would damage ATAs and other VOIP hardware.

Probably what saved me was my reluctance to back plug when I was testing the OBI a few months ago. Back then, I just worked on getting it on Google Voice and had one phone plugged in.

Fast forward to today... My Uverse phone has been "dead" over a week while waiting for this transition, so it was unlikely to push out a ring voltage. But it was doing "something" like clamping the line.

Glad I apparently didn't damage anything!

BTW: back in the mid 80s, when they finally allowed us to play with our indoor wiring, I was adding a phone line for mom and dad. I had no issues doing this. And then suddenly, pow! Hey, that was a shock! Turns out someone was calling and I got a nice dose of 80v AC ring voltage. Not like the house mains power, but enough to wake me up for sure.

 

[steelyman]

Yep, and that part is critical if you plug your VOIP box into the phone line to distribute the signal to corded phones (or cordless bases) in other rooms, because the ring voltage that goes through the phone line could and probably would damage ATAs and other VOIP hardware.

You should be appointed “Secretary of Explaining Things” for this. I never knew.

 

[Sunset]

We still have our land lines, so I never considered plugging my obihai into the phone lines.
Instead I got a wireless set and plugged the base station to the internet cable and all the wireless handsets are around the house.

 

[ncbill]

Anybody do Ooma then to Obi or vice-versa?

Obi's price appeals to my inner cheapskate but the landline (currently cable VOIP) is still the main number we use.

 

[pb4uski]

We still have our land lines, so I never considered plugging my obihai into the phone lines.
Instead I got a wireless set and plugged the base station to the internet cable and all the wireless handsets are around the house.

That is what I did but we already had a cordless phone with 5 handsets even back when we had POTS... so when we went to Ooma I just plugged the cordless phone base unit into the Ooma Telo.

I think technically my phone wall plugs are still connected to the POTS but the POTS service is disconnected and there are no phones connected to any of my phone wall plugs... so all is good.