SP1 and SP2 confusion with traditional corded phone
ProfTech:
LaFong,
What part of the country are you in? Where I'm at a land line is less than $19 from ATT for a plain "it just rings" [no long distance] line. But I know it varies a lot. I don't recollect which Obi you are using but a 110 and I'm pretty sure the 200 with the adapter could work quite nicely for you. I use the 110 with my land line and have the best of both worlds. Even the throw away "no contract" cell phones can run $20 a month. As you say, I like the security of having the land line. Until VOIP is more mature and internet service is more reliable I plan on keeping it. I just use the internet service for long distance. Depending on where you live you can configure the Obi pretty easily to automatically use the land line for local calls and the internet for long distance. And do everything with one phone set. You could try Google Voice for a while for free and see how everything works before setting up with a paid VOIP provider.
Just some thoughts.
Lafong:
Proftech:
The cheapest land line around here is between 15 and 20 monthly after taxes.
My Obi is a 202.
The premise of getting the Obi was to get rid of the land line from the old provider entirely, saving the 15 to 20 a month.
I know nothing about cell phones, prepaid or otherwise.
I had assumed that if you got one of the prepaids, you would have NO charges if you didn't use it (which I wouldn't barring a calamity). Apparently I'm wrong about that, since you said they can be 20 a month? So, exactly what is "prepaid"? Does that term simply refer to the fact that you bought the hardware outright but did not buy "phone service".
I gather there is no zero monthly charge phone device that can be tossed in a drawer and ignored, breaking it out only maybe to charge it, and have any expectation of it working for 911 purposes?
If I wanted to pay 20 a month, I'd have stuck with the old provider.
I'm not on the phone over an hour a month most months anyway. So with Obi and say Callcentric, I could have 911 and still pay under $4 a month after the setup charges.
It's highly unlikely you know anyone who uses the phone less than I do. As I said earlier, my ringer is off. I never pick it up for an incoming. My speaker is inaudible. I never even know I'm getting a call. All callers must leave a message or never talk to me. The blinking message light on my phone's built-in answerer is the only tip I have that anyone has called.
I got the Obi primarily in response to my old provider's cable TV/Internet/phone bundle going up to $182 from $140 in 2 months. It grates on me.
Wise me up to "prepaid" cell phones or any other method you can think of for someone in my position.
ProfTech:
I'm not a huge cell phone user myself. My wife has one that requires her to pay $20 every 90 days whether she uses the phone or not and her minutes do not expire. But they don't offer that plan any more. I think a lot of them now require at least $20 each month but if you have a Wal Mart in your area I would start your search there.
Question: You said you have a Google Voice number that you plan to use for people to call you on. You can also use Google Voice for calling out. Then all you have to do is configure Callcentric on the Obi just for 911. If you use it that way your monthly charge from them would be a flat $1.50! It's just a matter of pretty simple configuration of the Obi to make it work.
sdb-:
Quote from: Lafong on October 31, 2013, 05:09:34 pm
I had assumed that if you got one of the prepaids, you would have NO charges if you didn't use it (which I wouldn't barring a calamity). Apparently I'm wrong about that, since you said they can be 20 a month? So, exactly what is "prepaid"? Does that term simply refer to the fact that you bought the hardware outright but did not buy "phone service".
I gather there is no zero monthly charge phone device that can be tossed in a drawer and ignored, breaking it out only maybe to charge it, and have any expectation of it working for 911 purposes?
"prepaid" simply means you pay in advance for service, instead of having a contract where you agree to pay whatever the charges come to after you make your calls. Usually you buy "minutes" and those minutes are used or expire after some time so that you have to pay periodically.
WalMart has their "Simple Talk" prepaid. Don't know much about it. But widely available.
I use T-Mobile prepaid. Pretty widely available. Cheapest I could find a few years ago. I talk on the cell phone a few minutes per month, or sometimes more. Buy a phone as cheap as $20 (target, walmart, etc), then the cheapest way to keep it active is to spend $100 on 1000 minutes and they will be good for a year. Or you could do $10/month for the first 10 months (each $10 getting you 30 minutes of call time). Or spend 4x$25 or 2x$50. Whatever, after spending $100 on minutes you are a "gold" customer and then your minutes are good for 1 year. So after that first $100 you spend $10 per year, or spend more if you need more minutes. As long as you never let your minutes expire, the new payment adds to your pool of minutes. Pay a day late and your old minutes are gone and you start fresh with the just the amount you paid.
My Mom uses TracPhone. They have lots of games you can play to get double, triple minutes. But I think you have to buy every 30 days (or was it 60 or 90?) instead of of my T-Mo once per year. And I think for an idle phone it is considerably more expensive than my T-Mo.
And remember, with prepaid you have no contract so the terms can change any time. T-Mo has been good about keeping the same basic voice service plan. But they have tried all kinds of other plans and addons over the years. You just never know.
Shale:
One common difference is that pre-paid phones have no free periods-- no free nights or weekends.
But the rates are generally cheaper, but need some attention. You could squirrel a prepaid phone away, but you would not get phone number until you activated. Stop buying minutes, you can lose that phone number, but you can get a new number later.
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