Looking For a Good VoIP Phone

Joined
Aug 16, 2019
Messages
1,245
Got any suggestions? I was on a VoIP phone before Spectrum land line but can't recall what it was called. It cost about $17 a month with free long distance calls to USA and Canada.
I signed up for a "7 day free trial" for Spectrum streaming package, that would cost $19.99 a month, but then I saw the email bill they sent me, which had several things on it that I never ordered with a bill for $165.87. It will a cold day in hail l I pay that. I feel like breaking off with Charter / Spectrum and never going back. I tried to get this fixed and it can't be done today, it's their "busy" day.

When I can get them on the phone tomorrow, I'm going to tell them to take me back to the prices I was being charged or it's goodbye Spectrum for me.
They remind me of XM Sirius radio. It's easy to sign up for, then they sucker punch you and make it next to impossible to cancel out of anything or downgrade your service. I can go back to fiber optic and VoIP phone (and pay more) and make believe Spectrum never existed.
 
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in these days of unlimited cell phones what is purpose of voip phone?(for personal use)
Honestly. I canceled vonage around 6 years ago. No more home phone and i don't miss it. Places that had my home phone also had my cell and they always ask you for both. Now if they only asked you for a home phone or updated your cell then call to add a new cell number.
 
in these days of unlimited cell phones what is purpose of voip phone?(for personal use)

edit: yes spectrum are 100% dirtbags on the sales side.

I have no need for a cell phone. I don't want to expose myself to a cell phone close to my head.
I get enough electro pollution from WiFi and EMFs. But it might be good to just have in case of emergency.
 
I was on Vonage for years, and also MagicJack, which I hated.
Oh that sparked a bulb. I remember hearing about that as seen on tv magicjack thing. I automatically assume anything as seen on tv to be a scam. So was it a scam.
 
If you already have a cellphone- EDIT, Just read you don't-, have you considered Panasonics Link To Cell? Keep the Bluetooth turned on at all times on your cell and as soon as you walk in your house, it links to your cell and you can make and receive calls on the old fashioned cordless phones placed around your house. It'll connect up to two different cellphones at the same time. If more people knew about them they would be more popular. Once set up, you never need to mess with it again.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/panaso...ystem-white-navy-blue/6479123.p?skuId=6479123


 
I have a MagicJack and have been using it for about ten years. The key to it working well is having a good internet connection. If your internet quality is half-baked or the speed isn't all that great, the MagicJack will be bad. Otherwise it works great.

The other quirk is that it seems to cap calls to cell phones at the 2 hour mark. It drops you and then after about 15 minutes, you can call back to that cell phone number. If the person you are talking to on that cell phone calls you back, during that window, it works just fine. It was 1 and a half hours for the first few years after I got it, but it changed to 2 hours. Not sure why, but that's my observation.

A good friend of mine got a MagicJack after I informed him of my observations and it seems to be fine for him as a house phone. He would definitely complain and has been quite complimentary of it. The other quirk I can think of is for certain phone numbers such as government entity phone numbers giving a message about additional charges as opposed to connecting you. You can sign up for 911 if you need it.

It works very well for what I need and it's cheap enough to not be bothered by the aforementioned quirks.

Your results may vary, but this has been my experience.
 
I dropped phone with Spectrum about 4 tears ago and went with Magicjack. It works fine. I have it connected directly to the router and all, 4, house phones connected to it.

Crappy cell service at home so need a landline.

Kept my number too.
 
The last VoIP I was on was BasicTalk. It was $9.99 a month when I got on it and they gradually increased the final price up to about $17 when I went off it in 2021.
This is a screen shot of the charges Spectrum tried to dump on me. I was just a bit ticked when I saw this.
I may go back to my Brightridge fiber optic over this. It ticks me off to no end when a big outfit like Spectrum tries to rake me over the coals.
I'd love to get them out of my life for keeps. I was paying $33 a month for broadband, after a discount I got from the Covid relief, and $12.99 for phone, about $46, then I saw the bill for over $150 and I said no way. It still burns me up to think about it. I will call them tomorrow when it's supposed to be less busy for them, and tell them, take me back to my old plan or I'll leave your modem on the front porch.
I didn't even order this stuff! I only wanted the streaming upgrade for $19.99 a month. That is unbelievable.
It would have been $14.99 for the new phone rate, $33 for BB, and $20 for the streaming upgrade, about $68 in all.
Now I will not accept any upgrade because they proved to me once again that they cannot be trusted to do a simple upgrade and I think my days with spectrum are nearing an end.
 

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I have a MagicJack and have been using it for about ten years. The key to it working well is having a good internet connection. If your internet quality is half-baked or the speed isn't all that great, the MagicJack will be bad. Otherwise it works great.

The other quirk is that it seems to cap calls to cell phones at the 2 hour mark. It drops you and then after about 15 minutes, you can call back to that cell phone number. If the person you are talking to on that cell phone calls you back, during that window, it works just fine. It was 1 and a half hours for the first few years after I got it, but it changed to 2 hours. Not sure why, but that's my observation.

A good friend of mine got a MagicJack after I informed him of my observations and it seems to be fine for him as a house phone. He would definitely complain and has been quite complimentary of it. The other quirk I can think of is for certain phone numbers such as government entity phone numbers giving a message about additional charges as opposed to connecting you. You can sign up for 911 if you need it.

It works very well for what I need and it's cheap enough to not be bothered by the aforementioned quirks.

Your results may vary, but this has been my experience.
So with MJ these days you just buy their kit for about $50, then pay a fee per month?
I have a good broadband now, up to 200 Mbps.
I think I had Charter broadband when I had MJ years ago. MJ seemed to go through my PC and I'd have trouble hearing people on the other end or vice versa. I was glad to get off MJ when I did.
 
I dropped phone with Spectrum about 4 tears ago and went with Magicjack. It works fine. I have it connected directly to the router and all, 4, house phones connected to it.

Crappy cell service at home so need a landline.

Kept my number too.
Interesting. I have a TP Link wireless router with 4 ports on the back.
Now I'm wondering if MJ might be good for me again after I dump Spectrum.
I swear, this was the last straw for spectrum and any other service is better than Spectrum, even if it costs more.
 
On the MJ, if I recall correctly it came with 12 months service. After that I signed up for a 5 year plan but don't think that is still available, $130.
I do get a 911 fee but it's less than $20 annually.

They have an app too and you can take your MJ with you if you travel.
 
I dropped phone with Spectrum about 4 tears ago and went with Magicjack. It works fine. I have it connected directly to the router and all, 4, house phones connected to it.

Crappy cell service at home so need a landline.

Kept my number too.
Glad to hear the good reviews about the current MagicJack. It seems MJ has come a long ways and has a loot of satisfied users.
I do think I will get me a new MJ and ditch Spectrum phone. Less than $3 a month, and the PC doesn't have to be on to make calls. That sounds good to me.
 
I just had a funny thought. Person doesn't want danger of cellphone, but needs mobile access to phone. Person gets cellphone, activates hotspot, uses voip phone via cell phone hotspot. 😁
 
Ooma.
the Device itself costs $99.

if you don't need bells and whistles like caller ID, the only thing you pay month to month is applicable local taxes and fees ( for us it's $5.44/mo, check your Zip here)

we're on their Premier plan($9.99/mo, billed annually), to get the bells and whistles like, Caller ID, Call forwarding, Call Blocking, instant second line, etc.
 
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Ooma costs extra to call Canada.

I've used voip.ms a little, it's a Canadian company and calling Canada or US is the same price, which is purely by minute ($0.009 per minute). You will need some technical ability and provide your own unlocked VOIP device, which can be software.

But really cell phones are the way to go here, there are many options such as Red Pocket including Canada and many other countries free. Verizon is a $5.00 add on to get unlimited Canada.
 
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