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Newbie porting landline to Obi110 could use some help

Started by AeltLaser, August 12, 2014, 10:36:35 AM

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AeltLaser

Newbie here that needs some help trying to port my landline to an OBI110 and a new service.

I bought the OBI a few years ago when it was first released, but never got around to using it.  The crazy costs of Comcast have me itching to move to a free or much less expensive option for phone (also ditching tv in favor of OTA).

So far I have ported my landline to an AT&T GoPhone.  It's working fine.  I've got about 3 weeks left on the first month of service.

I'm confused as to whether I should now port it to GV or choose a different option.  I've read about various carriers, but I'm like a deer in headlights paralyzed not knowing what to choose.  I'm aware of the May 15 GV deadline, but that has long since passed and people are still using it.

Nearly 100% of the calls I make are in the US (perhaps one call every year or two to Canada), and a large percentage of my calls and minutes used are to toll free numbers for work conference calls.  I probably spend 1000 to 1500 minutes on the phone each month, but at least half of those are toll free minutes.

I've plugged in the OBI, called the echo number and it's lit green.  Not sure if it needs to be updated.

I'm looking to the forum for some help as to what I should do next. 
Thanks!

sailing

My impression from your post indicates you need a basic understanding of what the Obi and phone services are. I'll give you a few terms which you will run into if you do some reading on the internet. The Obi110, and others, are an analog telephone adapter (ATA). This allows you to connect to a voice over IP (VOIP) service such as GV. This first thing to do is pick a service. The forums talk about many services. You just need to pick one that suits your needs. With each of these services, you can try them out before porting your number.

Google announced the interface, XMPP, to GV is no longer supported. Although it is still operating, one day Google will pull the plug without warning. Choose a different provider and learn how to set up the Obi. All voip providers show how to set up an ATA.

If you sign up for an account on the Obitalk site, you can register your Obi110. There are some other features available, including being able to update your Obi directly.

Good luck.

Johnny

I agree with sailing.  You really need to decide on which service to use.

They all have pros and cons.

You didn't really say if the service you decide on had to be free.  If so, Google Voice would be your choice.

Google Voice is quite nice unless you require support services and then you're stuck with only their online help forum for any support you need.

I decided to pay a few dollars a month and went with Voip.ms as my main provider.  I have tested others as well, cause their all so darn cheap it's easy to do.

A lot of good providers have been mentioned throughout this forum, such as, Callcentric, Anveo, Future Nine, and many others.

Do some research on these companies and find out which ones might fit your needs.

Then pick one or two and test them out on your Obi.

Good luck.......................

Forgot to mention:  Voip.ms is offering free porting at the moment, don't know if any of the others are.

Also, if you need 911 service you would need to choose something other than GV, as they do not provide it.

Of course if you do need 911, you could put GV on as SP1 without any 911 service and add one of the other providers to fill the 911 need on as SP2.

Most providers that offer 911 are in the $1.50/mo. range, Anveo is a few pennies cheaper.

Again, good luck.......

sailing

I use both Anveo and Voip.ms. I would not recommend Anveo. Their customer service is almost none existent. Voip.ms has very good customer service. Just make sure the provider you choose, offers what you need.

AeltLaser

Thanks for the info.  So far I've begun the process to port my phone (previously a landline, now with ATT) to GV.  I also added circlenet for outbound and tested it and it works great.  I created a free account with callcentric for inbound with their NY number but I'm having some trouble getting that configured.

Once the line is ported to GV, and the callcentric problem resolved, I will redirect the GV calls to CC.

I still have to figure out the e911.  Not a high priority because I have my cell, but I will repeat the process for the house landline and it absolutely needs to have 911.

So far so good.  I'm learning a lot -- more than I really ever cared to but I guess that comes with tinkering with this type of solution.  I may choose a different path when I help my Dad break away from comcast because I can't have anything complicated.

Thanks again for your posts.

nlurker

Quote from: AeltLaser on August 15, 2014, 01:46:51 PM
Once the line is ported to GV, and the callcentric problem resolved, I will redirect the GV calls to CC.

A word of warning, I tried forwarding GV to Callcentric free NY number to Obi, and I get painful lag.  Much worse than the small lag I get with GV forwarded to Google Talk to Obi.

AeltLaser

I finally got it configured.

I ported my landline to ATT, then to Google Voice.
I created a free DID phone at CallCentric for incoming calls and set up the OBI110 to receive calls at this number.
I instructed GV to redirect incoming calls to the CC number, and it works.  I am not experiencing any lag issue at this time.
I am using Circlenet for outgoing calls.

It took a while to get everything working, but it's working well.

Thanks to everyone on the forum that posts info on how to integrate everything.  It really helped!