It's about time to move the ol' copper pair phone line to VoIP. The beast that calls itself "at&t" these days is going to kill POTS in 2-3 years, and, it turns out, they've bumped our bill to $47/mo. for basic service--no LD or frills. (Last I knew it was down around ±$30/mo. Grrr...)

I've conferred with on-line friends/colleagues and over at DSL Reports. I've done searches. I've read reviews. Checked the various on-line stores' customer ratings.

It looks like the Obihai Obi202 VoIP ATA is the best way to go, for a balance of performance, features and price.

For a service provider: Balancing reported ease-of-use, customer service, reliability and cost: It looks like CallCentric is the winner.

Was going to take my sweet time doing this, but, finding out we're paying nearly $50/mo. for the POTS line bumped my planning for this project up to "immediately, if not sooner." (Plan to order the ATA today.)

Figured I'd make a quick "last stop" with the SF Oracle before pulling the trigger on anything

I'd also look into Comcast VOIP if they are available in your area.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I'd also look into Comcast VOIP if they are available in your area.

Not a chance in hell!

Everybody, but everybody we know that has Comcast phone service has had nothing but trouble. Outages, phones that never ring, voicemail left and no notification, abysmal call quality, trouble establishing outgoing calls. You name it.

Plus: Compared to independent VoIP providers: More expensive for less features.

I've used Vonage in the past and was happy with it. I have relatives that like the deluxe Magic Jack.

I don't have an answer for you but keep in mind (and I know you will) that VOIP is susceptible for attack. I've had some IT clients get hacked.
VOIP is something I have to look into also and the security aspect is a concern.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I don't have an answer for you but keep in mind (and I know you will) that VOIP is susceptible for attack.

Yeah, networked service. It comes with the territory :/

I've little choice. It's VoIP or give up the number. POTS is going the way of the dodo.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I've had some IT clients get hacked.
VOIP is something I have to look into also and the security aspect is a concern.

The only client vulnerabilities of which I've ever heard, other than DoS, have all been with Skype. That's been a problem with Skype just about ever since its launch--well before MS bought it.

Only thing I could do, to prevent the VoIP ATA from being a threat, would be to put the VoIP ATA on the third port of my border router. Problem is: I want to use that port for an LTE modem, for fail-over in case the cable goes out. Hmmm...

I should, in the ERLite, be able to limit the ATA's traffic to known SIP provider servers/networks. That should mitigate any possible problem--other than DoS.

For home VOIP, I'd look first at Ooma.

quote:

Originally posted by italia:
For home VOIP, I'd look first at Ooma.

I'd forgotten all about Ooma. Thanks for the reminder.

I have had a client get their VoIP hacked too, not for surveillance, but to make international calls on their dime. But VoIP rates are so low, their loss was only about $80.

Take a look at voip.ms, I use this service and I'm happy with it. I have two lines (DiDs), home and business, with seven phones, two of them on an Obihai ATA, it costs me about $35/yr. The thing I like best is that I have gotten zero solicitation calls since implementing the auto attendant feature.

If you have a Google Voice number, the Obihai ATA can use it for $0, but quality and reliability are not always there. I would not recommend this as one's only calling option.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I have had a client get their VoIP hacked too, not for surveillance, but to make international calls on their dime.

Sounds like their VoIP service provider account got cracked, not their ATA? Do you know/recall which one they were using?

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Take a look at voip.ms, I use this service and I'm happy with it.

*nod* VoIP.ms, CallCentral and Anveo seem to be the most frequently recommended providers over at DSLR. CC is alleged to have the best CS.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
If you have a Google Voice number, the Obihai ATA can use it for $0, but ...

We do, both my wife and I, but we keep those reserved for if we need phone service and cannot get cell service. All we need is WiFi and we're more-or-less back in service.

quote:

Sounds like their VoIP service provider account got cracked, not their ATA?

Yes, the provider account was compromised. It was actually a SIP conference phone that retained the default admin. credential. Not exactly l33+ hackery.

I'm not at liberty to provide specific details, heck, I'm not even supposed to know them.

I have an Obi100 for personal int'l line & used the google voice integration for local/LD calls @ home until Google updated security beyond what the 100/200 can do (I believe the 202 still works with GV, but you don't really need that). It's saved me a shit ton on int'l calling.
I'm not using it in an enterprise, or even SOHO use case, but Obi in general seems cheap, powerful & configurable.
The only issues I've had have been with iPhone/Android apps under performing/not working.

OOMA for the win. 100% reliable.

I have had good service from PhonePower.com. US support, good price for my business and residence.

Update

Went with the Obihai Obi202 ATA & CallCentric. 1000 minutes of N. America calling & unlimited incoming: About $20/mo. A few minor changes to the existing wiring and the existing phones all work like they did on the POTS line. Call quality so far seems excellent. Setup & configuration might be tricky for a non-techy. Call setup is a bit slow, but that's fairly common with VoIP service. Be interesting to see how well their anti-telespammer stuff works.

We've had Ooma for years and it has been fantastic. Always worked and very cheap.

It is unlimited and MUCH cheaper than $20/month. Like $4/month.

Did they solve the E-911 issues with these services. A few years ago there was concern about no 911 service, or calling 911 and getting some 911 operator 1000 miles away. Or, having the 911 operator think you were calling from some address on the El Camino in Palo Alto, California or some such thing.

These issues solved now?? E-911 gtg?

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
We've had Ooma for years and it has been fantastic. Always worked and very cheap.

CallCentric, VoIP.ms and the others are BYOD. With Ooma you're locked to Ooma's hardware. I avoid lock-in to the extent possible, so Ooma was never in the running.

Plus, I think Ooma devices want to play firewall for your network. That would not be acceptable for me.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
It is unlimited and MUCH cheaper than $20/month. Like $4/month.

Ooma makes a good deal of their money off their hardware and extras. Ours is $20/mo. because of the service plans I chose. It could have been as low as $4/mo., with minimal incoming and outgoing plans. Ooma could be more than $20/mo. with some of their additional features.

But the big thing, for me, was the hardware.

With my ATA I plug in whatever phones I want, when I want, where I want, and how I want. Heck, the phone in the garage is an old, black AT&T (the real AT&T) 2500 desk set with an honest-to-God AT&T noise-cancelling mouthpiece. We're talkin' a barely into the Touch-Tone™ era phone. Doesn't even have modular connectors. Probably belongs in a museum

Ooma, like Vonage and others, is great for non-techies, because, being as they control the hardware, installation, setup, etc. is a breeze. But you pay for that in other ways. There ain't no free lunches.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
Did they solve the E-911 issues with these services.

I believe so. Now that the number's ported, I need to make a test call.

One thing you do with the service I have, as part of the setup, is enter your name and address into an E-911 configuration page.

I have been using magic jack for years.

$99 for 5 years.

$1.65 per month.

cuts off calls after about an hour and need to reconnect. I am rarely on the phone that long.

I sometimes travel with it.

Just plug it into my computer and I am off and running with it.

I've had Vonage for the past 7 years and very happy with the service. I found their equipment (phone adapter) to be very stable, their customer support to be very good, and their service to be very customizable on their website or iPhone App. You can save money when traveling overseas with their Wi-Fi calling app. Their long-distance plans are some of the best I've seen too. The only issue is that the cost of the service is a bit high, at about $25/month for their premium plan.