# How I reduced my families phone bill to less than 10 dollars per month



## groceryalerts (May 5, 2009)

Guest article on how I used a combination of Skype, virtufon, and a cordless skype compatible phone to have my phone plan under 10 dollars a month.

http://www.milliondollarjourney.com/save-money-with-voip-voice-over-ip.htm


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## canadianbanks (Jun 5, 2009)

The only thing stopping me from doing something similar is that I have problems with my Internet connectivity 2-3 times a month (Rogers) and that's why I still keep my landline with Bell. I usually use skype for long distance calls.


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

How much are you really saving when you end up with poor voice quality and need to have a cell phone as a 911 lifeline?

With all due respect, these ideas don't cut it for me. I find it irritating talking to someone who won't sit still and keeps roaming around the house doing all their chores while holding onto a cordless phone. If people can't sit still for 5 minutes and have a conversation with nice, clear voice quality then I won't be talking to them.

Just my opinion.


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

Here's the article without all the ads:

Save Money with VoIP (Voice over IP)


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Royal - you should just post a link to that article. It's probably under copyright.


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## mfd (Apr 3, 2009)

Four Pillars said:


> Royal - you should just post a link to that article. It's probably under copyright.


Royal has 272 posts. He must know the connection between the forums and MDJ? If not I find it kind of funny.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> How much are you really saving when you end up with poor voice quality and need to have a cell phone as a 911 lifeline?
> 
> With all due respect, these ideas don't cut it for me. I find it irritating talking to someone who won't sit still and keeps roaming around the house doing all their chores while holding onto a cordless phone. If people can't sit still for 5 minutes and have a conversation with nice, clear voice quality then I won't be talking to them.
> 
> Just my opinion.


a) ANY cell phone can call 911 for free. All you need is any functional cell phone plugged in and cell coverage. No need for any plan what so ever. This is better than a landline because you can take it in the woods/car etc

b) there is a thing called e911 where you update your personal info. the only problem with this is if you call 911 from voip from a random place and don't tell them you aren't home. just use the cell away from home for 911

c) cordless/wireless phones are very convenient but the quality depends on what you buy. I use a bluetooth headset or my iPhone when I make calls on Skype. the quality is Better than if I sit down at my computer on a cheap headset. the reason is my bluetooth headset has dual mics and one cancels noise etc and the iPhone seems to do the same

when I call my family I like to talk for awhile and if I wasn't wireless then I'd have to leave the phone/call back instead of being able to move

landline = dead. just my opinion lol


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

mode3sour said:


> a) ANY cell phone can call 911 for free. All you need is any functional cell phone plugged in and cell coverage. No need for any plan what so ever. This is better than a landline because you can take it in the woods/car etc
> 
> b) there is a thing called e911 where you update your personal info. the only problem with this is if you call 911 from voip from a random place and don't tell them you aren't home. just use the cell away from home for 911
> 
> ...


I've had a VOIP phone for years but here's a correction about cell phones. Good in cities crappy up in northern Ontario. When I go visit my folks, I have to leave their house to get coverage, lots of the Hwy up North is not covered so don't think a cell phone is going to save your life when your travelling because it isn't necessarily true. 

Now Hwy coverage is actually pretty good but in the woods just forget it. Maybe if you go to a highest hill. I even had this problem in Acton visiting my friend at a trailer park and that's not even an hour out of the city.

And here's the lawsuit over 911 coverage even Norther lol I made a new word. 

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/04/13/bell-911-lawsuit.html


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I agree with Royal - I can't stand talking to people who are obviously busy doing other things like watching tv (and giving me commentary) or cleaning or whatever.

Also agree with Berubeland - cells are great in a moderate sized town/city but anywhere else they are useless.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

I'm sure there are good VOIP providers but somehow most people I know that have VOIP have terrible voice quality.
Except one who has Vonage.
All the others sound like they are on an analog cell phone in the middle of Africa.
My cousin in Brisbane (Down Under) calls me once a month on his VOIP phone over high speed DSL but sounds like, well, an analog cell phone in the middle of Africa.
I just keep saying "uh huh, uh huh, sure, of course" without understanding a word of what he's saying.
With international LD rates getting cheaper by the day, I'm like dude just get a regular phone line and pay 5c. a min.
Sacrificing quality is not frugality in my book - frugality is finding good value for money.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

HaroldCrump said:


> With international LD rates getting cheaper by the day, I'm like dude just get a regular phone line and pay 5c. a min.
> Sacrificing quality is not frugality in my book - frugality is finding good value for money.


True, and when I need to use my landline (or a payphone for longdistance calls when traveling, which is much cheaper than a cell -- provided you can find a payphone; they're getting rare), I use my Yak card. The rates are great.

However, 5 cents a minute is what you pay for the call. You have to consider how much you pay for basic landline telephone service and add it to that. We have a pretty basic package with Bell (voicemail, call waiting, etc.) and when you include taxes it's around $50/month before we make a single phone call.

I use Vonage for my work line; it's pretty good but I get about 10 dropped calls per month (connection disappears while I'm talking with clients or colleagues) and another 6 or 7 times a month I pick up the phone and hear the dreaded "This phone cannot connect to the Vonage network" message. For that reason we maintain a landline as reliable backup.


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

brad said:


> I use Vonage for my work line; it's pretty good but I get about 10 dropped calls per month (connection disappears while I'm talking with clients or colleagues) and another 6 or 7 times a month I pick up the phone and hear the dreaded "This phone cannot connect to the Vonage network" message. For that reason we maintain a landline as reliable backup.



Wow that's pretty bad.

A service that you can't count on is no service at all.

Thanks for reaffirming my assertion that landline-only is the only reliable method. It's rock solid. Everything else is a waste of time and money.

Good point about the costs. I've got my IPTV bundled with my phone and a 24/7 unlimited LD plan Canada/US. That costs me about $87-88 a month and I get TV call display (including a log of previous calls) and voice mail. Can't beat the rock solid service. It's also much more peaceful, not having to continually frig around installing all sorts of gadgets. My phone never needs charging, always on etc....it's one of those staple things in the house, probably the most solid, reliable, quality device in my life!

I'm not about to give that up just to follow some silly uninformed techie trend.

P.S. I have a friend who calls me from a cordless phone using vonage. It is by far the worst voice quality I've ever heard, filled with crosstalk and some kind of shimmering static on the line. He can't even hear when I'm about to speak and continually interrupts as a result due to the time lag. I can only basically just sit there and listen because to try to get a word in edgewise, I can't participate in the discussion, more like speak in long bursts and hope the phone doesn't chop out part of my sentences. Annoying. Lots of reasons to be turned off all this electronic phone junk.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

the-royal-mail said:


> P.S. I have a friend who calls me from a cordless phone using vonage. It is by far the worst voice quality I've ever heard, filled with crosstalk and some kind of shimmering static on the line.


I think it largely has to do with the quality and speed of your internet connection. The company I work for (3,500 employees) uses VOIP over a high-speed line (I'm assuming T1) and the sound quality is clear and excellent, no dropped connections ever. 

I use Vonage on my DSL line; I expect the quality and reliability would be better if I had cable or fiber optic for my internet. My DSL line has always been a little dodgy. Upload speeds on DSL are always a lot lower than download speeds, and when you talk you are effectively uploading.


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## Dana (Nov 17, 2009)

We haven't had a landline for over two years. We have a grandfathered cell phone plan that is ridiculously cheap. My only concern with ditching the landline was 911 location as we have two small children. We have spent a _lot_ of time teaching them about using the phone and how to repeat their address and directions to our house if necessary. One of our smartphones has some sort of locator-chip-thing enabled within it so that emergency services can locate the phone to within a few metres.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

brad said:


> We have a pretty basic package with Bell (voicemail, call waiting, etc.) and when you include taxes it's around $50/month before we make a single phone call.


Shouldn't be - you are not getting a good deal from Bell.
I have the exact same service (caller ID, call waiting, etc.) and pay about $30 after the bundle discount and the promotion discount.
Call and complain.
You should be able to get it down to at most $35 (if you don't have bundle discount).


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

HaroldCrump said:


> I have the exact same service (caller ID, call waiting, etc.) and pay about $30 after the bundle discount and the promotion discount.


Hm, here's the link to what we have:

http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpPns_wirelinePackages_Flex.page

Even bundled it would be $42 before taxes; our plan is not bundled unfortunately as I pay for the internet (I get reimbursed from work) and my girlfriend has the phone line in her name. What I should do is see if she can downgrade to one of the cheaper packages, but we have two phone numbers on this line (which I also need for work, though I don't get reimbursed for that).


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Berubeland said:


> I've had a VOIP phone for years but here's a correction about cell phones. Good in cities crappy up in northern Ontario. When I go visit my folks, I have to leave their house to get coverage, lots of the Hwy up North is not covered so don't think a cell phone is going to save your life when your travelling because it isn't necessarily true.
> 
> Now Hwy coverage is actually pretty good but in the woods just forget it. Maybe if you go to a highest hill. I even had this problem in Acton visiting my friend at a trailer park and that's not even an hour out of the city.
> 
> ...


Huh? I'm saying cell phones offer MORE coverage than a landline...

Your landline isn't going to call 911 from the HWY up north either! I live much further north than most people (we still have snow, my heat is still on) and I get cell phone coverage while I snowmobile

If you go out of cell phone coverage, you'd obviously need sat comms or a personal emergency transponder



For those saying VoIP is bad quality, the problem is the technology is young and a lot of people are using crappy equipment and don't know how to set it up

With a decent internet connection, router that is designed for VoIP (prioritizes voice with QoS) and a good Mic it sounds perfectly fine. The Linksys SPA2102 is a great piece of kit you won't find in a big box store

High speed internet has more than enough bandwidth to carry good quality voice. Digital voice plans that cable companies sell now Are VoIP

NORAD has been using VoIP for years...

The only reason it's slow to catch on, is the big companies are soaking you for every last penny for as long as they can by charging you twice for data transfer


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

brad said:


> Hm, here's the link to what we have:
> 
> http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpPns_wirelinePackages_Flex.page
> 
> Even bundled it would be $42 before taxes;


Ah, I see...what we have seems to match closest with Home Phone Choice (must be a new name, it wasn't called that when we signed up many years ago).
Based on a quick glance, the one mjaor difference I see between the Choice and the Complete is voice mail.
We don't have that - we just use an answerer.
Once you apply the bundle discount, you should be able to get away with just under $35 a month.


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## Larry6417 (Jan 27, 2010)

I used Primus, and it was awful. The sound quality was noticeably worse; the line would frequently cut out. I returned to a land line but at a lower price. I returned to my prior provider (Telus) for ~ $20/month with caller ID. I know at least one person who switches every year to get the new customer discounts.


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## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

I've got to ask. With all this talk about using VoIP and cell phones to replace landlines, I assume that you are using Roger's or another cable company to provide Internet. Is there anyone who is using a dry line service? Able to get just Internet without bundling with cable or telephone? The reason why I have a landline is for Internet. I have the cheapest phone package with Bell because I have no interest in cable and Bell's dryline charge for naked Internet is about the same as the cost of a landline. Where I am, Primus doesn't offer naked Internet service.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

What what what? They charge more for dry DSL now?

I used to have to know a secret 1-800 number to get Dry DSL from Bell back in 2003 or so.. They don't like to do it but they can give you dry DSL for the price of internet without phone line

The cable companies let you have cable internet without cable TV. That's what I use now


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## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

mode3sour said:


> What what what? They charge more for dry DSL now?
> 
> I used to have to know a secret 1-800 number to get Dry DSL from Bell back in 2003 or so.. They don't like to do it but they can give you dry DSL for the price of internet without phone line
> 
> The cable companies let you have cable internet without cable TV. That's what I use now


I don't know if you're kidding about the secret 1-800 number, but when I called about it two years ago, they said that it would cost another $20 on top of the regular internet option if I didn't want phone service. I wasn't aware that cable companies offered cable internet without cable TV, but I guess it'll be something that I'll look into.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

No I'm not kidding, back on 2003 or so the standard Bell reps had no idea what Dry DSL was and even if they did they couldn't set you up with it. You had to talk your way to someone who actually knew something or know a number to get you directly to someone who could actually set you up with Dry DSL

Same thing now a days with VoIP on a cell phone. All the reps swear you can't have a data plan without voice plan, "that's unheard of, why would you want a phone without a voice plan"


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## Dana (Nov 17, 2009)

bgc_fan said:


> I've got to ask. With all this talk about using VoIP and cell phones to replace landlines, I assume that you are using Roger's or another cable company to provide Internet. Is there anyone who is using a dry line service? Able to get just Internet without bundling with cable or telephone? The reason why I have a landline is for Internet. I have the cheapest phone package with Bell because I have no interest in cable and Bell's dryline charge for naked Internet is about the same as the cost of a landline. Where I am, Primus doesn't offer naked Internet service.


We have internet through Bell, but we don't have a landline with them (we don't have a landline at all), and they don't charge us for a landline to enable our internet connection. They set up something called a "dry loop". I have limited understanding, but I believe it is a landline that comes into our house but only to the jack associated with our main computer.


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## yupislyr (Nov 16, 2009)

The jacks in your house shouldn't make a difference on dry dsl. It's still the same phone line and the same copper from the central office or remote to your house, the only difference is that they've turned off dialtone and allowing phone calls on the equipment at the phone company or isp's end. 

I know one of our local ISPs do allow phone calls on dryloop but only to the ISP's customer service department.


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## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

Hmm, doing a Google search about the subject seem to indicate that the cost is $10, and they'll refund it if you choose certain Internet packages. I guess I'll take a look later.


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## smihaila (Apr 6, 2009)

the-royal-mail said:


> How much are you really saving when you end up with poor voice quality [...]?
> Just my opinion.


Contrary to what would many believe, for VOIP purposes what it counts more for an Internet connection, is not necessarily a high bandwidth, but a low or constant latency. Your voice gets compressed at one end and decompressed at the other end through audio codecs, and these codecs are configured to use a low-band pass filter, cutting anything greater than 8khz. Hence, the traffic is low, even for less compressed/higher voice quality codecs such as PCM-A/U (a-law/u-law).


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## smihaila (Apr 6, 2009)

bgc_fan said:


> I've got to ask. With all this talk about using VoIP and cell phones to replace landlines, I assume that you are using Roger's or another cable company to provide Internet. Is there anyone who is using a dry line service? Able to get just Internet without bundling with cable or telephone? The reason why I have a landline is for Internet. I have the cheapest phone package with Bell because I have no interest in cable and Bell's dryline charge for naked Internet is about the same as the cost of a landline. Where I am, Primus doesn't offer naked Internet service.


I happen to have exactly what you were asking: DSL service through teksavvy.com, over a dry DSL line from Bell. 5Mbit download/600kbit upload rate, and paying $9.xx monthly rate for leasing the dry circuit from Bell.


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