Land phone over Internet? Anybody have experience with it?

[rgbecker]

Which service? OOMA? others?

Would 3 mbps internet be fast enough to handle usual use?

I'm thinking of trying it out before switching my land line phone number to it.

Very interested in hearing how others have found it to work...problems etc.

Thanks.

[Deep State Witch]

1. Vonage Is Good

We were on Vonage for many years, until Xfinity offered us a package deal. However, I have nothing but good things to say about Vonage.

[Siwsan]

3. I have Xfinity. It's great unless the internet goes down

That doesn't happen very often but I'm learning it's smart to always have my cell phone well charged.

[Siwsan]

2. The thing I miss about a land line is phone service during a power outage

Yes, I have a cell phone but during a prolonged outage it's really time consuming and inconvenient to recharge the battery via the car. For one thing, it's in the car and I'm not so if someone calls, I'm not there to answer.

My old landline was a real blessing when during the 6 day power outage back in 2013.

[Progressive dog]

5. I miss that too but

you can buy a back up battery for your modem which will keep your phone working for a while as long as the internet didn't go down with the power.

[oregonjen]

7. You could also get an external battery charger for your cell phone

or other devices. Keep those charged and ready to go for emergencies.

[ggma]

8. Ditto

I've had Magic Jack for about 15years and just renewed it. I have a cell, only use it when I leave the house, but I keep it charged.

Plus side is I paid 145 dollars for 5 years of service. No bill until 2027.

gg

[Tetrachloride]

9. i had Magic Jack also

[ggma]

13. Did you like it?

ggma

[Tetrachloride]

14. Yes. a couple times, i brought it to public library.

i gave it up because i revived my cell phone.

i am a computer desktop user. so, i liked it and could use my family number. same phone number for over 50 years.

Switched to all cell phone because i am on call 24 hours for 2 families and my jobs tend to be outside.

[ggma]

16. I love my desktop, too.

gg

[Progressive dog]

4. I switched to internet for landline soon after it became available here

through the cable company. It came with caller ID, free long distance calling to US and Canada, voice mail, call forwarding, & number blocking for less than I had been paying for basic POTS. I still have it. Voice phone service over POTS is digital outside of local exchanges and uses less than 56 kbps so 3 mbps is way more than enough for that. For free I also use the basic NOMoRoBo to block known robo calls. Nomorobo does not work on POTS.

[CentralMass]

6. Land lines can go down as well if there is power line damage.

You would be better if getting a small backup power unit. There are some pretty inexpensive ones .
Check out Jackery.

[JohnnyRingo]

10. I have my landline through my Spectrum cable account.

I can't tell any difference except not having a phone when the internet goes down occasionally.
What I do like is when someone calls my landline my cell phone rings as well. Plus, I pick up my voicemail on my desktop so no answering machine of sorts.

[Susan Calvin]

11. I've had Ooma for quite a number of years.

It's always been great for me, as in I seldom have to give it a thought. I have the basic version, where all you pay is the initial equipment and the tax. The equipment is still working fine, knock on wood.

You have to either put the box where you can hook it up to ethernet, or get a Wi-Fi adapter. I got a third party Wi-Fi adapter for hardly anything, and it too has been working fine, knock on wood again.

[kimbutgar]

12. I have AT&T they got rid of the wired phone line and make it wireless

And it is terrible and now my phone only works sporadically. I am looking for a new carrier for my landline.

[RainCaster]

15. I'm using Ooma

Got it 2 years ago so that I could cut the bill entirely to CenturyLink. The service uses very little bandwidth, I never see it show up on my firewalls traffic reports. Far below every computer, tablet and streaming device in our house. The biggest down side is that it will get lost every few days, so I have to cycle power, then it returns. Some day I will put a smart power switch on it so that I can automatically cycle power every day at 2:00 am.

[Susan Calvin]

17. Wow.

I've never had to cycle my ancient unit even once.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. My land line is through comcast

When the internet goes out, so does the phone

[SoFloDenny]

19. I'm on my second Ooma device.

I replaced the first one I had after 9 or so years. So, yeah, I recommend Ooma.

[Betty88]

20. Google phone

I know, but it works. My mother-in-law moved and could not find any ane to deliver a POTS line to her location. I set up google phone for about $50 worth of hardware no monthly fees works great.