[Scan-DC] Wireless Home Phone Service in D.C. area

[Michael Kiron]

Rick,

All good points but sadly, the Google Voice interface will be going 10-7 as
of May 2014.
Here is the official notice:
http://blog.obihai.com/2013/10/important-message-about-google-voice.html



On Fri, Nov 1, 2013 at 10:40 AM, Rick Hansen <Rick.Hansen at apsglobal.com>wrote:

> Hi Alan, I have a lot of experience with Comcast and Verizon in Maryland. I
> am a heavy internet and phone user who recently ditched FIOS/cable TV. At
> the end of the message I mention how to hook up all your house phones to a
> free Google Voice number and ditch the taxes. I also address an alternative
> to their TV service.
>
> - Comcast reliability and customer service in my part of Montgomery County
> is bad. I used to have to reset the modem several times a week, which is a
> 10-20 minute endeavor. They love to hike your price regularly and Comcast
> staff rarely shows up for appointments. IMHO their Montgomery County
> support
> staff enjoys lying to customers and their management couldn't care less.
>
> - Verizon's product is good and their management sucks. FIOS provides very
> fast and very reliable internet service. Make sure you ask for a WiFi
> router
> that supports the new 'N' standard. The problem is if your start out with
> all their services (phone/internet/tv or a double play of internet+phone)
> and then drop something off of your package. Your account will get screwed
> up and it takes a long time to recover. They also love to increase your fee
> yearly. You have to ask to cancel your service to keep your price and this
> is a time consuming endeavor.
>
> - Once you've had FIOS going back to DSL would be frustrating. I would hate
> to live that way, but if you mainly do e-mail and light web browsing it
> would be OK.
>
> Regarding the phone service - yes you can get CLEAR and some other vendors
> who are reasonably priced for a wireless house phone. You can connect all
> your phones to the box, depending on which one you get. I can help you with
> this.
>
> =====
> *However*, I would suggest you do the following:
> - Get the lowest cost FIOS Internet plan you can. They offer frequent
> rebates so do a lot of research.
>
> - Set up a free Google Voice account, and then purchase a $39 interface
> that
> lets you hook up your house phones to Google Voice via the internet:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833617001
>
> I have two FIOS phone lines in my house and I am dumping one of them so I
> can use this device for the second line. Note that it has over 163 reviews
> and the highest possible rating in the reviews (5 eggs).
>
> Regarding Cable TV, you might want to look at Hulu/Hulu+. For the "pay"
> version (Hulu+) there are lots of programs and it only takes 44 minutes to
> watch an hour long show (commercials are less than 50 seconds at each
> break). With the high-speed FIOS we're very happy with the performance. I
> also hooked up an attic antenna and receive plenty of TV stations from DC
> and Baltimore, and most of the stations have "secondary" channels that
> provide additional programming.
>
> May we all listen well and often,
>
> R.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Alan Henney
> Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 1:54 AM
> To: Scan DC
> Subject: [Scan-DC] Wireless Home Phone Service in D.C. area
>
>
> My mother and I are seriously considering canceling our Verizon POTS
> copper-wire phone service.
>
> Checking our bill, 35 percent of it goes to taxes.  This is ridiculous.
>
> Verizon called us a couple weeks ago, apologizing for bad phone service we
> may have had recently (we hadn't had trouble).  They were trying to
> encourage us to switch to a new fiber line (I presume) complete with
> battery
> back-up which we don't have (and don't need) now.  Should we make the
> switch?
>
> What options do we have in the D.C. area for wireless home phone service?
>  I
> saw ATT and Verizon Wireless both offer a unit for about $22/month in this
> market (anybody using those?).  How many extensions can you run from the
> unit?
>
> What about Internet?  What other common VOIP services are there that use
> our
> old home telephone (Vonage, MagicJack, etc.)?
>
> We would like to transfer our existing phone number.
>
> Curious what options others are using in the D.C. region.  Since we already
> have a MagicJack now, I was thinking of going wireless for the other phone
> line.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> Alan
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