# magic jack + cutting phone costs



## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

I knew we were spending too much money in telecommunication/tv costs but recently added up all the bills and it came up to about $340 (with taxes and discounts), to me that's just insane.

approximate breakdown

1) landline and long distance approx $80
2) my cell $30
3) wife and son's cell $90
4) tv $85
5) internet $55

I have looked into cutting it down hopefully without much inconvinience and here is the following:

1) landline - did a reseach on magic jack plus, $80 to buy, $30 per year fee plus a bit of long distance for calls to Europe, online research tells me that there are some issues with magic jack but the plus version is a vast improvement, unfortunately I will have to change my phone number. Seems like here I can save the most. There are other alternatives but this one seems to be a idiot proof, and can be used without computer being on.

2) my cell - with koodo, 150 minutes, just about what I use, not sure if I can save much here, perhaps merging it with my wife. I am not on the plan but I believe it may cost me about $100 to cancel because the phone was part of the package.

3) wife and son's cell - just mentioning any changes put me in the dog house, those things are sacred, there are on long term plans.

4) tv - bell satelite with some hd, we aren't as sophisticated as some folks who live without tv, like to watch sports, shows, national geographic and so on, other companies don't offer anything better and I am not prepared to watch stuff online or use roof antenna, don't tink I can do anything here.

5) internet with bell - other companies like teksavy offer better deals, I can probably ***** to bell for them to give me a bit of break or just switch, it may save me $10-15 per month.

Seems like between land line and internet I should be able to save close to $100 per month, any other suggestions? Opinions on magic jack plus?

Thanks


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

We tried MagicJack but for a variety of reasons abandoned it. $80 on a landline + long distance seems REALLY high. What proportion of that is long distance, and what is basic phone service?


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

p.s. Internet is also high. 

You may be able to bundle long distance, internet and basic phone service for savings. I honestly can't remember who we are with at this point (we changed providers last year, and this is husband's area of expertise) but I recall that bundling was worthwhile. 

Your cellphone costs in total are quite reasonable.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

MoneyGal said:


> We tried MagicJack but for a variety of reasons abandoned it. $80 on a landline + long distance seems REALLY high. What proportion of that is long distance, and what is basic phone service?


Yes it is high, long distance is about half, most of my wife's friends are in GTA and we are just outside so that's the biggest cost, my wife likes to talk over the phone, than some calls to family in Europe but that's not that much.

Magic jack would eliminate most costs except European long distance, it depends how inconvinient it can get but I hope it's not that bad.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

We use Bell for basic home phone, that's about $25/mo. No calling features whatsoever. They really use those to make their money. 

For long distance we use 10-10-229. You just dial that before calling anywhere long distance, and it's 2c/min. My husband calls Europe a lot and our total phone bill (including the LD, which gets added to your Bell bill) is usually less than $35/mo.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

We use the MJ and it does keep costs down. We use it as a second line and for LD. Have tried the MJ+ but do not need it because we already have MJ. We also use MJ in Mexico. Our landline is $31.

I know several people who have switched to Tecksavvy and they are all pleased. $ savings and better service.

We use Shaw Direct for TV and it costs $74 for 2 locations.

We use Rogers Paygo with a Samsung smartphone and a Razr. I would suggest looking for a group discount for your 3 plans. Paygo offers auto topup so your family might save using that. Depends on usage.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I don't know all our details, but we switched over to Vonage. We had the Magic Jack, and for some reason my hubby didn't like it.

We do Vonage, which includes all our long distance for about $40 a month, plus we were able to tie two of our cell phones to it for an extra $15/each or so. 

Our internet is really high, because we have a special connection for business related reasons. Our TV is satelite because we have it at multiple properties. 

For us, the set up to Vonage was a little tricky (and hubby is in tech field), but it's been well worth it.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

MoneyGal said:


> p.s. Internet is also high.
> 
> You may be able to bundle long distance, internet and basic phone service for savings. .


This is already bundled, we are getting $20 off because of that.

Yes, internet should be cheaper as well.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

kcowan said:


> We use the MJ and it does keep costs down. We use it as a second line and for LD. .


Are you having any issues with MJ?

Thanks


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Plugging Along said:


> I don't know all our details, but we switched over to Vonage. We had the Magic Jack, and for some reason my hubby didn't like it.
> 
> .


I am considering Vonage, it would be $30 plus tax per month but it would cover all our needs including landline and long distance (Europe inluded), and we wouldn't have to switch the telephone number, with MJ I would have to prepay long distance to Europe, MJ seems to be lacking in support and such, and there are many reports online with issues. More expensive than MJ but way cheaper than what we have now.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Make sure that the $30 is not the one with the limit on the number of minutes. That's what we signed up for first (the cheapest), and then found out we go way over in terms of minutes. We found the extra $10 or $20 was for unlimited minutes was well worth it. 

We've actually had really good service with Vonage, for MJ, that was one of the reasons we went away from them. We had so many problems with our dropped calls, configuration, etc, it just wasn't worth it. We also had some more needs that MJ could not meet.


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## somecanuck (Dec 23, 2011)

I'd like to reduce our costs too. Including taxes..

1. Internet. TekSavvy DSL, $36.10 per month.
2. Phone. TekSavvy, $24.53 per month.
3. Mobile. Two smartphones with Telus, $120 per month.
3. Television. Zero, thank you internet.

$180.63 per month or $2,167.56 per year. Damn that hurts.

Switching to VOIP would reduce the phone to $9.99 or possibly less per month, or we could cut it entirely and use our mobile phones. However, Bell would nail us with a dry loop fee of around $10 per month, negating the savings. 

Switching our internet to cable with VOIP seems a possible way to save, but we're stuck with Cogeco. We'd need to spend $80 per month to get the 175 GB package, and even then, we go over that usage.

The last option is to make the mobile phones cheaper, only we're locked into a contract until April 25, 2013, and we're on the cheapest smartphone plan that Telus offers. And we use our Android smartphones for damn near everything these days (GMail, Google Docs, eReader, Google Calendar, Google Reader, work email, Mint.com, etc etc) except as a phone.

So... Unless TekSavvy rolls into Kingston for cable internet, which they're not likely to do, we're stuck.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Homerhomer said:


> Are you having any issues with MJ?
> 
> Thanks


Sometimes during peak internet periods, there is an echo/delay. But that was also true with Vonage. Strangely, I had a long talk to my son on Christmas night (Belleville to PV) and it was great. Since we replaced our router, it seems to be fantastic.


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## somecanuck (Dec 23, 2011)

Wow, here's an option I hadn't considered before. 7-Eleven has a great $30/month package with 100 minutes, unlimited data, unlimited texts, Caller ID, and other stuff. 

http://www.speakout7eleven.ca/rates-add-ons

That would cut my bill to 60% of what it currently is, ignoring the initial $20 fee for two SIM cards. If only I can get out of my contract..


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Homerhomer said:


> unfortunately I will have to change my phone number.


Number portability is legally mandated in Canada. Get the MJ and then request a number port. You will end up with 2 numbers on the MJ. They offer lots of permutations and combinations. Much has changed in 3 years. Get MJ+ if contracting now. I have a technical friend who explained it all to me...


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## Sustainable PF (Nov 5, 2010)

kcowan said:


> Number portability is legally mandated in Canada. Get the MJ and then request a number port. You will end up with 2 numbers on the MJ. They offer lots of permutations and combinations. Much has changed in 3 years. Get MJ+ if contracting now. I have a technical friend who explained it all to me...


We have MJ+ but were unable to get our number ported. Both the online tool and the tool, er, rep, I dealt with on the phone refused to port the number for my city (Peterborough).


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## colossk (May 11, 2011)

The problem with these VOIP systems that is not really discussed except in the fine print is that if or when you call 911 due to an emergency the 911 operator does not have your location when you call them. 

The address or "location field" comes up blank when using a VOIP, unlike when you call in from a landline.

People have died because of this.

Imagine trying to call 911 and not being able to talk or give an address, what happens next?

Some of these providers Provide you with "911 access " but what they don't tell you is that the 911 center is in India or some 3rd world country and precious time is wasted as the person you are calling has to in turn call your nearest police/fire/ambulance.

My wife was a 911 operator for 14 years before becoming an officer this year. We have 3 small kids. She has many horror stories to share about VOIP

We will never have VOIP


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## Financial Cents (Jul 22, 2010)

I just made my yearly call to Rogers last wee, re: keep my payments low.

We pay about $35 taxes included for Rogers Home Phone:
-500 LD minutes per month.
-Call ID.
-Call waiting.

I'm sure with Rogers, you could negotiate some talk international Europe plan.

http://www.rogers.com/web/link/hpBrowseFlow?forwardTo=LDPlans


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

colossk said:


> The problem with these VOIP systems that is not really discussed except in the fine print is that if or when you call 911 due to an emergency the 911 operator does not have your location when you call them.
> 
> The address or "location field" comes up blank when using a VOIP, unlike when you call in from a landline.
> 
> ...


It does have your address. We had no problems when we had to call 911. They were able to get our address right away. 

However, you are right, we had a toddler die in our city because when they moved, the ambulance was dispatched to an old address.
This was a very good reminder for people to make sure their address is up to date.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

One other big advantage for us with Vonage is that we bring our router with us when we go to our cabin, or on vacation for an extended period, and then we can get all our calls, and have free long distance. It may not be used much for others, but we are able to not have another phone line in our vacation property, and we brought it with us, when my husband was working in the US for 6 months.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Plugging Along said:


> Make sure that the $30 is not the one with the limit on the number of minutes. .


On Vonage website says unlimited with asterics, but infact it is limited to 3000 minutes per month.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

kcowan said:


> Number portability is legally mandated in Canada. Get the MJ and then request a number port. You will end up with 2 numbers on the MJ. They offer lots of permutations and combinations. Much has changed in 3 years. Get MJ+ if contracting now. I have a technical friend who explained it all to me...


I have chatted with their tech support yesterday about it, they said it's not possible, I wonder if their compliance with Canadian laws still needs to be ironed out (or they don't have whatever permits they would need in Canada), or simply don't have a procedure set up for that, it should be very easy to do.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I use Skype since I haven't been home for longer than a few days in a couple years...$3/month unlimited calls US Canada Mexico. I use Virgin for internet...$40/month unlimited in USA...I think $35/month for 1 gig/month in Canada.

I use Direct tv...$29.95/month for a large number of mostly useless channels. Works fine everywhere in Canada as well.

911 calling is not that important....I survived many years without dying by having relevant phone numbers pasted to the wall.


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## colossk (May 11, 2011)

Eder said:


> 911 calling is not that important....I survived many years without dying by having relevant phone numbers pasted to the wall.


Good for you, so have many others. Tell that to the people who have died or have had loved ones die.

Talking is not always an option when dialing 911. When you can't talk how are those other numbers going to help?

When you call 911 and can't talk, fire/police and ambulance are dispatched


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Can you provide some examples of those relevant numbers pasted to the wall? ie. which orgs?


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## colossk (May 11, 2011)

Plugging Along said:


> It does have your address. We had no problems when we had to call 911. They were able to get our address right away.
> 
> However, you are right, we had a toddler die in our city because when they moved, the ambulance was dispatched to an old address.
> This was a very good reminder for people to make sure their address is up to date.


Durham region 911 does not have the capability to get your address on their system when you call in if you use VOIP. This has been the case for years and still is.
Maybe some locals are different and have the capability, I'm not sure, Durham region does not

Chances are when you called 911 and used a VOIP and they had your address you were not calling 911 , you were calling another call centre somewhere else. You as the caller would have no idea that this was the case and that call centre called your local 911 which wasted valuable time in an emergency.

Is magic jack a VOIP? i have no idea


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

the-royal-mail said:


> Can you provide some examples of those relevant numbers pasted to the wall? ie. which orgs?


I really don't get it.
What diff is it if I dial 911 or my police #, fire # , ambulance # ? It is what the person I get by dialing 911 will be calling anyways?

I think I just arrived in bizarro world? That you can't have coffee unless it is a $4.25 Starbucks? You can't exercise unless it's a membership to Gold's Gym? That you can't quench your thirst unless it's Perrier?

No wonder no one can ever retire.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

colossk said:


> Durham region 911 does not have the capability to get your address on their system when you call in if you use VOIP. This has been the case for years and still is.
> Maybe some locals are different and have the capability, I'm not sure, Durham region does not
> 
> Chances are when you called 911 and used a VOIP and they had your address you were not calling 911 , you were calling another call centre somewhere else. You as the caller would have no idea that this was the case and that call centre called your local 911 which wasted valuable time in an emergency.


I can't comment on Durham, I live on the other side of the country. I know that when I did have to call 911, they already had my address, I have no idea how, and it was right while I was on the phone with dispatch. It did not take any more time, as they already had it up as I was giving my address. I guess this comes down to one of those risk vs. benefit discussions. Everyone will do what they are comfortable with. 

I am curious on one item, perhaps you can clarify. Can dispatch find a location if the number comes from a cell phone? I've wondered if they are hooked up to cellular triangulation yet or some other technology?


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Eder said:


> I really don't get it.
> What diff is it if I dial 911 or my police #, fire # , ambulance # ? It is what the person I get by dialing 911 will be calling anyways?
> 
> I think I just arrived in bizarro world? That you can't have coffee unless it is a $4.25 Starbucks? You can't exercise unless it's a membership to Gold's Gym? That you can't quench your thirst unless it's Perrier?
> ...


I have to admit, that I'm really confused by your post. I think TRM was wondering what numbers you would have posted that would reduce the risk if you had an emergency. There is actually a difference between calling 911, and calling police #, fire #, or ambulance # (can you even call an ambulance directly?).

I don't think people are saying you have to spend more money to get a service. However, there was a fair point about that some of the VOIP services do have associated risks. There are people who have died from not getting the right address. What does this have to do with any of the examples that you provided?


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

VoIP usually forwards you to the regional emergy dispatch centre (PSAP). 911 emergency calling is free on all cell phone networks in Canada, even without a SIM card, but if you do have a registered SIM dispatch is also able to receive location data. Keep a spare handset around at all times and you should be fine.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I meant if you call 911 on your cell, how do there know your location, as you may not be home.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Mobile operators are able to pull latitude/longitude data after you make a 911 call with Enhanced 911 Phase II, dispatch has access to the phone number and cell phone tower you are calling from, registered service address (if registered), longitude/latitude via triangulation or the GPS right on your phone

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/t1035.htm


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Homerhomer, for the same cost of your current cell phone plans, consider Winds $40 Holiday Miracle Plan and $5 BTS discount. Paying more than 2 lines on one account gives you a $5 discount a month per person and you get unlimited everything North America inside Home zones and roaming at $0.25/minute.

If you're on a contract, don't renew it... ever... again...

I just switched my entire family over. Only my brother had a contract left until March with Fido and I paid the $100 ECF because we'll make it back with savings. Right now we're paying:

TV: $0/month (ATSC)
Internet: $31.60/month (TekSavvy Lite cable + Tomato router with QoS)
Landline: $5.60/month (voip.ms)
Mobile: $163.85/month (3 Wind HMPs + 2 Wind Smart's)
Total: $201.05/month

My one word review of Wind: fan-freaking-tastic. See my signature for data speeds in downtown Toronto, I'm almost tethering all the time now, it's faster than cable (depending on your phones modem speed), a fraction of the cost, portable, and unlimited. They may throttle you to 2Mbps after passing 10GB/month if you're on a busy cell site though, a busy cell is also more likely to start dropping packets regardless of your own usage.

There are VoIP services that have better rates for Europe, you just have to shop around. We only use a few hundred minutes on the landline, hardly use it at all, but calls to Europe are made there. Using voip.ms, they have different rate structures, but in the last two months we logged 170 minutes to Holland @ 0.0193/min, the cost was $3.28. So monthly cost with that long distance usage and no local for a pay-as-you-go number would be $0.99 + $3.28. e911 is optional at another $1.50/month. There is a pay once $25 fee for porting numbers over. Of course you also have to consider initial hardware costs, I bought a Panasonic KX-TGP500 system with 3 handsets for $350 including shipping to Canada (PM me for the store link, otherwise I feel spammy). You can also use an analog telephone adapter, like the PAP2T-NA, that supports 2 analog telephones and runs about $60.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

colossk said:


> Is magic jack a VOIP? i have no idea


Sort of. It is a CLEC in the US so calls are routed through their infrastructure. This makes it superior to VOIP for certain calls, e.g. Vancouver to Toronto. But is you are calling within the area, e.g. 905 or 604 it is VOIP.


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## colossk (May 11, 2011)

Plugging Along said:


> I can't comment on Durham, I live on the other side of the country. I know that when I did have to call 911, they already had my address, I have no idea how, and it was right while I was on the phone with dispatch. It did not take any more time, as they already had it up as I was giving my address. I guess this comes down to one of those risk vs. benefit discussions. Everyone will do what they are comfortable with.
> 
> I am curious on one item, perhaps you can clarify. Can dispatch find a location if the number comes from a cell phone? I've wondered if they are hooked up to cellular triangulation yet or some other technology?


I have no idea, I'll ask my wife when she comes home


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

First step taken, called Bell and received 50% off my internet for the year, no modem rental fees forever (let's see how long that lasts ;-), and $20 off per month for the tv for 12 months.

Still have to decide what to do with the land line and if there are any savings to be had for my cell.

Thanks for all the help and valuable input so far, appreciated.


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## somecanuck (Dec 23, 2011)

Homerhomer said:


> First step taken, called Bell and received 50% off my internet for the year, no modem rental fees forever (let's see how long that lasts ;-), and $20 off per month for the tv for 12 months.
> 
> Still have to decide what to do with the land line and if there are any savings to be had for my cell.
> 
> Thanks for all the help and valuable input so far, appreciated.


Are you sure that didn't renew a contract with them? Normally any change to it does, and you're stuck with them. I can't recommend TekSavvy enough for internet. No contract, no modem rental fees, cheaper than Bell, more bandwidth usage than Bell, and you speak to people in Mississauga if you have a problem.


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## Top_Spin (Apr 25, 2011)

I'm surprised no one has posted this before:

You should switch your phoneline to freephoneline.ca . You can port your number and there is no monthly cost. You can either pay the one time $100 for an ATA that lets you plug in your home phones into it. I was hesitant when I first tried this but have had no regrets. Works great! They collect 911 address information and you control what shows up on your caller ID. Basically no real difference between this and a landline.

And for your cell phones: You need to switch to a family plan. I'm with Rogers for my family. Depending on your needs you will save a lot. I roughly $180 all in for 5 cell phones including unlimited messaging, canadawide my5, caller id, voicemail, unlimited eenings and weekends, 1gb shared data and a bunch of other stuff i don't even use. Best part is unlimited calling in between family members so it doesn't count towards your minutes. I know you mentioned your wife and son are inflexible about their plan, but chances are they will get a lot more than they have for less if you go on a family plan.


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## somecanuck (Dec 23, 2011)

Top_Spin said:


> And for your cell phones: You need to switch to a family plan. I'm with Rogers for my family. Depending on your needs you will save a lot. I roughly $180 all in for 5 cell phones including unlimited messaging, canadawide my5, caller id, voicemail, unlimited eenings and weekends, 1gb shared data and a bunch of other stuff i don't even use.


Ouch. Family plan with Telus, $120 per month with tax for two of us. Unlimited calling/texts between us, calling in the evening/weekends, voicemail, 1 GB shared, My5, but no Caller ID.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Top_Spin said:


> I'm surprised no one has posted this before:
> 
> You should switch your phoneline to freephoneline.ca . You can port your number and there is no monthly cost. You can either pay the one time $100 for an ATA that lets you plug in your home phones into it. I was hesitant when I first tried this but have had no regrets. Works great! They collect 911 address information and you control what shows up on your caller ID. Basically no real difference between this and a landline.
> 
> .


Thanks for the suggestion, I was looking at their website and looks like I would have to have the computer on to make the calls, am I right, have not found any reference for using ATa without computer.

As an altrnative I was also considering nettalk, seem to have good reviews and better tech support than let's say MJ, however they have introduced restrictive limits and practices I didn't appreciate so this company is off the list.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Homerhomer said:


> Thanks for the suggestion, I was looking at their website and looks like I would have to have the computer on to make the calls, am I right, have not found any reference for using ATa without computer.


I don't know about freephonelines.ca , but on the dedicated forums voip.ms is by far and large the recommended/de facto VoIP SIP provider and buying a Linksys PAP2T (which is the de facto ATA and can be bought anywhere online for $50 CAD or less) if you want an "analog telephone adapter". To answer your question, no, your computer does not have to be on if you plug an ATA into a router (as you should, and only the router has to be on) This is one reason new houses are wired with CAT5. Personally I just use the iPhone on a good MIMO WiFi VoIP.

Magic jack is definitely just an overhyped service and based on the ATA cost I assume Freephonelines is as well. It's a one stop shop, and I'm sure there is a weak link. I would rather chose a specific internet provider, choose my own wireless router (most "included" routers are junk, and a good router is key) my own softphone or apps etc and chose my own ATA ($100 is a full 100% markup of the best ATA out there for example) All of these services together can be just as cheap as freephonelines


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks Mode, I checked voip.ms and the only thing I could understand is that they charge per minute, other than that alot of techno talk I don't understand, unfortunately I am a techno idiot and as such need a simple solution that is idiot proof. One stop shop is what I would prefer.

After visiting all the sites and reading up I almost decided on vonage, not the cheapest but offers everything I need in one package at a price that is less than 50% than what I am paying right now, however reading the reviews on various websites there seem to be alot of issues with service, billing and such, although pretty much all other communication companies seem to be getting bad rep as well.


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## jwsmith519 (Dec 13, 2009)

Since I already carry an iPhone, and I rarely use my home phone, here's what I did. I picked up 3 things:

1) Phone wire + Jack
2) Cell phone charger
3) XLink BT bluetooth device

I wired a jack to my front door. I plugged in the charger. And paired my iPhone to my XLink. Now when I'm home, I make all my calls from any wired phone in the house. But in reality all the calls go through my iPhone.

How has it worked for me? Call quality is as good as any call on my iPhone. No issues at all with quality. Call display works (some delay at times) I make sure my iPhone is always charged, since you don't want to be in a situation where your phone is dead (fire, medical). I also make sure that it's at the front door, so I always remember to charge it and it doesn't end up in my jeans pocket down in the laundry room.

If you're going to do the same thing, make sure your cell phone signal is high enough. You need to have decent reliability with a home phone.

I'm sure there's other and/or better solutions out there. But this solution is really simple, and it works.

So I'm paying
Home Phone - $0
Cable TV - $67
Internet $36
Cell Phone - $58 (250 minutes, 6GB data)
Total - $161 before tax

Now if you're really cheap, and you're on a 6GB data plan, and you don't use your home Internet much, you could cancel your Internet, and put a Wireless Repeater (aka Range Extender) beside your iPhone at home. Use the iPhone Hotspot feature. This will extend the range of your iPhone Hotspot throughout your house instead of a room or two. Viola, no need for home Internet anymore!


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## somecanuck (Dec 23, 2011)

jwsmith519 said:


> Now if you're really cheap, and you're on a 6GB data plan, and you don't use your home Internet much, you could cancel your Internet, and put a Wireless Repeater (aka Range Extender) beside your iPhone at home. Use the iPhone Hotspot feature. This will extend the range of your iPhone Hotspot throughout your house instead of a room or two. Viola, no need for home Internet anymore!


I love your setup with the phones, but you're better off canceling your cable TV than your internet. Every TV show (and movie) you could ever want is available online within an hour or two of airing in HD with no commercials, and you get to watch it whenever you want. Pair it with a Boxee Box or WD Live or something if your BluRay player doesn't support streaming via wifi.


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## jwsmith519 (Dec 13, 2009)

somecanuck said:


> I love your setup with the phones, but you're better off canceling your cable TV than your internet. Every TV show (and movie) you could ever want is available online within an hour or two of airing in HD with no commercials, and you get to watch it whenever you want. Pair it with a Boxee Box or WD Live or something if your BluRay player doesn't support streaming via wifi.



I think it's quite plausible to cancel either your home internet OR your home TV. I think most people couldn't live without one or the other.

If you don't use your home internet much _THEN_ cancel your home Internet, use your iPhone Hotspot with a repeater. You still have TV cable.

If you don't use your TV much and think you can watch TV online or OTA _THEN _cancel your cable TV. Setup an antenna for over-the-air to catch locals. Watch everything else online through your home internet.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Homerhomer said:


> Thanks Mode, I checked voip.ms and the only thing I could understand is that they charge per minute, other than that alot of techno talk I don't understand, unfortunately I am a techno idiot and as such need a simple solution that is idiot proof. One stop shop is what I would prefer.
> 
> After visiting all the sites and reading up I almost decided on vonage, not the cheapest but offers everything I need in one package at a price that is less than 50% than what I am paying right now, however reading the reviews on various websites there seem to be alot of issues with service, billing and such, although pretty much all other communication companies seem to be getting bad rep as well.


I found the website confusing as well myself (not well laid out) Basically I opened chat, they responded instantly from Montreal and told me to copy paste 2 or 3 things (after you download a program..) THATS IT You can set up a lot more yourself but not required. Chat would solve anything

voip.ms is a non flashy/commercial gimmick no bs kind of site. Vonage is the opposite, it's like a traditional telco marketing and hype/flash bs with all the usual problems and crazy markup. I guess we are just conditioned to like pretty websites


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## tango (Sep 29, 2014)

ddkay said:


> I bought a Panasonic KX-TGP500 system with 3 handsets for $350 including shipping to Canada (PM me for the store link, otherwise I feel spammy).


I signed up to this forum just so I could ask you where you ordered the TGP-500 from, as I'm having difficulty trying to find a Canadian reseller with reasonable prices.. (The system wouldn't allow me to send a pm for some reason.) Hope you can share your source!


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