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  1. #1
    "Sorry" Woody's Avatar
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    Question Which VOIP to use? (Canada)

    I have come to the realization that the only people that call my house are my parents, her parents and people that do not speak english trying to steal my identity. I want to cancel our home phone but not sure what VOIP to use. My other half won't give up her home number so I am making a call and going with something.

    I have narrowed it down to OOMA from Costco or Fongo but are similar with a couple of differences.

    Do you use a VOIP, which one and do you like it?
    Thanks Everyone!!

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  2. #2
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    mom and dad have Vonage, as does my brother (he's in the US though). The only weird things are sometimes it will go to voicemail for no reason (not ring), and sometimes they don't get the notification that theres a voicemail. But honestly have to chalk some of that up to the parents doing something goofy with it.
    I just have the cell phone, have a dry loop for the dsl internet at home.

  3. #3
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    Although I'm not in Canada, I have Ooma and have been happy with it. My internet connection is one of the lowest internet speed options from my cable company so I have noticed the call clarity reduced if 2 PCs are online and doing something intensive like downloading at the same time. I have the premier package so it will play voicemails as they come in from the speaker and email me if someone leaves a message.

  4. #4
    "Sorry" Woody's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JC001 View Post
    Although I'm not in Canada, I have Ooma and have been happy with it. My internet connection is one of the lowest internet speed options from my cable company so I have noticed the call clarity reduced if 2 PCs are online and doing something intensive like downloading at the same time. I have the premier package so it will play voicemails as they come in from the speaker and email me if someone leaves a message.
    I am a little confused with the Ooma packages they sell at Costco. One has a wifi dongle and the other doesn't but comes with a phone handset.

    We have one phone set plugged into a phone jack and then have three stations with phones that we use. Is it easy to set up so that these all work?
    Thanks Everyone!!

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  5. #5
    House Broken furballs's Avatar
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    Used Vonage for quite a while, was very happy with it. Great call quality. Only switched off as MIL's lifeline service needed a POTS line, VOIP unsupported.

  6. #6
    Real Retriever KenZ71's Avatar
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    Granted I am in the US so take my comments as you will.

    Had Vonage for about a year, it was great. Then I decided to save even more and went with Magic Jack. Dirt cheap and my DW cant tell the difference so we are good. The Magic Jack ads and website annoy me but the service is cheap and works well.

    As for setup I hear its easy. Years ago our internet provider switched up the wiring for voip so all I had to do was unplug the phone line from their gizmo to Vonage then later MagicJack.
    -- Ken, owned by:

    Max - Black Lab mix gotcha 4/23/2012 Born 12/2011
    Scarlett - Yellow Lab gotcha 4/19/2013 Born 2008? 2007?
    Lizzy - Terrier mix gotcha 6/29/2014 Born 2006?
    Zeus - Papillon mix gotcha 1/30/2015 Born 3/26/2014

    Avatar: Ziggy, my kitty who crossed the bridge a few years ago.
    He slept in the sink for years, silly boy.
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  7. #7
    Senior Dog
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woody View Post
    I am a little confused with the Ooma packages they sell at Costco. One has a wifi dongle and the other doesn't but comes with a phone handset.

    We have one phone set plugged into a phone jack and then have three stations with phones that we use. Is it easy to set up so that these all work?
    I got mine at Costco a couple years ago and it came with the wireless donegal. The handsets came out after I bought mine so I don't know much about them.

    My router is in the basements so I wanted the wireless dongle so my phone base station and the Ooma box could be upstairs. I don't remember the details of how to set it up but remember it was pretty easy. My phone sounds like yours. One base station and extra handsets with charging stations. My Ooma is in the den and connected wirelessly to the router using the dongle. The base station is then plugged into Ooma versus the wall phone jack and the rest of the bases and handsets worked without doing anything. They are in other rooms on the same level and upstairs and all work fine.

    The only thing different is the answering machine is the Ooma box and the one on the phone base station is no longer used.

    Hope that helps.

  8. #8
    Real Retriever KenZ71's Avatar
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    Just remembered - if faxing is important to you the cheaper VOIP plans don't work so well.

    When I had Vonage I could fax to anyone. With MagicJack it usually don't work. So I just take a picture with my phone and email the image. If it must be a fax then I take it to work and use their fax.
    -- Ken, owned by:

    Max - Black Lab mix gotcha 4/23/2012 Born 12/2011
    Scarlett - Yellow Lab gotcha 4/19/2013 Born 2008? 2007?
    Lizzy - Terrier mix gotcha 6/29/2014 Born 2006?
    Zeus - Papillon mix gotcha 1/30/2015 Born 3/26/2014

    Avatar: Ziggy, my kitty who crossed the bridge a few years ago.
    He slept in the sink for years, silly boy.
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  9. #9
    "Sorry" Woody's Avatar
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    Thanks everyone. I am going to give Ooma a shot probably next week after I catch up on a few bills. On another note I went to Costco to see if they had any in the actual store and nobody in the electronics end of the warehouse had any idea about using your internet to make phone calls. I was kind of surprised.
    Thanks Everyone!!

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  10. #10
    "Sorry" Woody's Avatar
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    I set up my Ooma last night and played around with the free phone number they gave me and it was pretty clear. There is a small bit of a delay but for $3 a month compared to $55 I can live with it. I am just waiting for them to port my actual number over from our current service to theirs before I go through and set everything up.

    It was pretty easy to set up but they should tell you that when you try to set up the wifi that it has to stay plugged into the computer for 10 or 15 minutes so it updates. I thought it was instant and that it was broke. Otherwise it's fine.
    Thanks Everyone!!

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