How To: Use Google Voice and OBi
Rick:
Quote from: kealolo on January 18, 2012, 03:17:10 pm
I've read through a number of forum threads but apparently my question is more basic than anyone has asked...
In order to port my landline number, I apparently need t-mobile cell phone; can I just buy one off ebay or is there some special kind which will work with the prepaid SIM card which is recommended? And does "prepaid" mean I won't get stuck with having to pay for a monthly t-mobile plan?
thanks
T-Mobile and AT&T (and perhaps others) offer prepaid phones that may, or may not, come with initial minutes. I bought an AT&T phone for $5.00 from Best Buy, but the minimum minutes would have been $15. I ended up having a $4.99 T-Mobile SIM card for a device I ended up not using, and instead used that option and now have an AT&T prepaid phone with no minutes on it that I can keep as a emergency phone for a $5 investment, which I can add minutes to at any time (I opened it, so I can't return it).
A prepaid plan is where you buy minutes, use them, and then buy more. You can refill the minutes online or by buying cards of minutes, but you'll use maybe 2 or 3 minutes in your conversion (unless you get calls during that period), so don't buy too many. Some of the phones come with 30 minutes or some on them.
One thing to note though is that some prepaid phones, and SIM cards, are "locked" for a period. I've read that AT&T is locked for 6 months. That means you can't move the SIM card to another phone. For example, I tried putting the T-Mobile SIM card into the AT&T prepaid phone, and the AT&T phone wouldn't use it because the phone was locked to AT&T's network for 6 months. I would NOT use eBay. you want to make sure what you get works for the porting. Besides, between the phone and the minutes, I don't know how you'll beat $30.
The phone I bought from AT&T is now $15. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/xNxfa7
The minimum minute purchase is $15. Here's that link: http://bit.ly/xxLDfA
Total cost is $30. Hard to beat.
T-Mobile's cheapest phone is $19.99. http://bit.ly/y2utAI
Minutes are $10, total cost $30 also. http://bit.ly/ygdk7l
I would also strongly recommend setting up a separate GV account (which requires a separate GMail account) for your OBi. I did that, I wanted to be able to keep things separate, and not give my Google password to the OBi device, which then gives access to all my Google stuff.
jimates:
get a tracfone. Often on sale for $10 at Dollar General, Rite Aid, Family Dollar etc.
It comes with enough minutes to get your port done. You can keep it and reactivate it anytime by just buying an airtime card.
topsub:
I looked through the forum but couldn't find this, but is it possible when someone calls my google voice number to have it ring with the OBI100 and my cell phone?
Rick:
Quote from: topsub on February 01, 2012, 03:20:31 pm
I looked through the forum but couldn't find this, but is it possible when someone calls my google voice number to have it ring with the OBI100 and my cell phone?
That's done at GV, simply setup your cellphone under the Phones tab and check the box for your cell phone, and it will ring both.
topsub:
Quote from: Rick on February 01, 2012, 03:22:38 pm
Quote from: topsub on February 01, 2012, 03:20:31 pm
I looked through the forum but couldn't find this, but is it possible when someone calls my google voice number to have it ring with the OBI100 and my cell phone?
That's done at GV, simply setup your cellphone under the Phones tab and check the box for your cell phone, and it will ring both.
Wow thanks i unchecked this thinking OBI100 wouldn't work, but thats what i want.. This product rocks.
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