Some years ago I had looked into getting a Skype phone as a cheap way to have a phone that would work anywhere that I had wifi access. Finally after doing some research I bought a SIP phone and created an account with Callcentric as even cheaper than Skype and more versatile as I wasn’t trapped with one service provider. Well, I liked Callcentric service but hated the phone, it wasn’t all that great and I could only get it to connect to my home wifi (after a lot of tries) and never to any other. (An unlocked Android phone would have been a better choice as a wifi phone – would do skype or SIP)
So come to the present. I’m looking at upping the speed on my internet connection (it is pitiful right now) and thinking that if I get a faster connection then I really should look again at VoIP phones and get rid of my land line service. The land line service is way too expensive for how much I don’t use it and I do have a cell phone any way.
Did a little searching around and came across the Obihai products. They have a couple of little router devices that you just plug it into your ethernet connection (wifi is an option) and you plug a regular phone into that. It will work with a Google voice account or pretty much any SIP provider. This definitely looks like the solution to get rid of my land line. Reviews are pretty good about voice quality and it supports up to four providers that you can connect to. So I can connect to both Google Voice and my Call Centric account. Call Centric can give me the ability to dial out 911 for as little as $1.95 a month. I can use my cell for 911 but nice to have phones around the house that are handy as well.
That gives me full functionality of my land line for way way cheaper. I can save close to $30 a month, though the phone company will give me a surcharge on my internet connection if I don’t have a phone account as well with, ding you with fees any way they can. Actually it gives me more functionality than my existing land line because it has more features such as black listing spam numbers (why doesn’t the regular telco give you that ability?)
There are a couple of low cost alternatives to Obihai, such as Magic Jack and Ooma, but not only is Obihai likely cheaper than those but it gives me more choices in back end providers. (If I want to set up my own SIP server like Asterix I have the option as well)
I think this is a service I’m going to like, mostly because it will save a lot of money. I always get a little frustrated with how many fees are tacked on my regular phone bill. This shouldn’t feel like a rinky dink cheap work around as was the experience I had previously trying out a SIP phone, I think it will seem fairly seamless as a full service phone around the house.