We are wanting to get rid of our expensive Cox land line. Does anyone have any alternative long distance carriers that aren't so pricey? We don't care about voice mail, call waiting or caller I.D. We use cell phones for most of our local calls, but wanted a land line for an alternate, long distance phone.
COMMENT 203288
|
2011-08-12 12:19 PM |
|
VoiP Use Ooma (just google the name for the link to the web site)
|
| |
COMMENT 203289
|
2011-08-12 12:25 PM |
|
Assuming your cox phone was via the Internet...
Do not ever buy MagicJack (nicknamed MagicCrap).
No Tech support, and some dropped calls. If you would like a more detailed analysis, view the ratings on dslwatch (.) com (sorry, not a community member yet). You may be surprised by what you find.
|
| |
COMMENT 203306
|
2011-08-12 01:14 PM |
|
I strongly recommend Vonage. :) I have had Vonage as my main land line provider for several years (in Canada, and here in California). It's GREAT. Is your long distance within Canada or the U.S.? If so, there's no extra charge for those calls. If it's overseas (I'm not sure their Mexico rates), I'd suggest checking them out anyway since I do know they have reasonable rates for that as well. Good luck :)
|
| |
COMMENT 203311
|
2011-08-12 01:20 PM |
|
Skype works great. I don't use the video feature, just voice. About 2 cents/min in US, Canada, and many foreign countries. No charge for toll-free numbers. I got rid of my landline and use StraighTalk for my cell.
|
| |
COMMENT 203320P
|
2011-08-12 01:42 PM |
|
Avoid Verizon whatever you do.
|
| |
COMMENT 203323
|
2011-08-12 01:50 PM |
|
I use Ooma. I paid $250 up front for the device and that was that. I was paying Vonage $60 - $80 a month and the call quality was spotty. Google Voice has very good call quality and you can set it up to make calls through your cell phones. There are ways to cut the Verizon cord by porting your current number to Ooma but I don't know if you want to dump land lines altogether and just rely on cell and internet for voice communication.
|
| |
COMMENT 203337
|
2011-08-12 02:28 PM |
|
Cox has a program where a landline is only 5...it is what I have. If your calls are all local...then it would be perfect for you and would not mess with your bundling.
|
| |
COMMENT 203339
|
2011-08-12 02:33 PM |
|
For the last 7 years, we've been using a pre-paid telephone card a friend picked up for us at CostCo. It has 780 minutes for 4 cents/minute. When the minutes run low, we call a number to recharge the minutes with our credit card. We can make domestic calls anywhere for the 4 cents, and calls from us to Europe come in at about 22 cents. With pre-paid calling cards, you don't have to pay state, local, federal taxes, miscellaneous charges, connection fees, and all those other ridiculous expenses. I would never go back to a telephone company for long distance calls. You do need a landline or pay phone, however, to use an access card.
|
| |
COMMENT 203344
|
2011-08-12 02:38 PM |
|
Google Voice is free within the US. I got rid of my land line. I have an Iphone 4 - but use Google Voice for my outgoing phone calls and if someone calls me on my Iphone (I had my l old land line number transferred to the Iphone) I will call them back of the call is going to be long.
|
| |
COMMENT 203385P
|
2011-08-12 04:10 PM |
|
Land line....what is that? Haven't seen one in several years.
|
| |
COMMENT 203436
|
2011-08-12 06:09 PM |
|
Ditto. We all just use our cell phones and Google Voice.
|
| |
COMMENT 203446P
|
2011-08-12 06:42 PM |
|
Vonage is a terrible company- use very under-handed techniques to try to keep subscribers- just stick with a basic Verizon line and you'll be happier in the long run-
|
| |
COMMENT 203481P
|
2011-08-12 08:33 PM |
|
I have Vonage. It works fine. Basic service is under $14/month including tax and fees for VoiP. There are a few cheaper alternatives, but Vonage is a known company and not likely to go belly up quickly.
|
| |
COMMENT 203519
|
2011-08-13 06:01 AM |
|
My Cox bundle (land line/internet/cable), at the basic no frills level, crept up from $99/month to over $140/month. I called and said I was unhappy with the price level. The nice agent immediately dropped my monthly bill by $20/month for a year—no questions asked. A savings of $240 this year.
|
| |
COMMENT 203523P
|
2011-08-13 06:20 AM |
|
We have a celllular family plan and got a very basic phone to dedicate as our house phone. It is 9.99 per month with unlimited local & long distance. We switched over about 4 years ago. Best thing we ever did. We can even take our "house phone" with us if we're expecting an important call.
|
| |
COMMENT 203545
|
2011-08-13 08:06 AM |
|
skype...plus you can use it on your cell phone too.
|
| |
SHAGGY
|
2011-08-13 08:57 AM |
|
I have had great luck with the Magic Jack. yes an Occasional dropped call, but for the price I can tolerate that for sure.
|
| |
COMMENT 203568P
|
2011-08-13 09:01 AM |
|
Let me get this straight, 203523P. Everyone in your house has their own cell phone, with an unlimited-minutes family plan. Everyone carries around their cell phone everywhere they go. Yet you decided that you needed an EXTRA cell phone just for the house? Sorry, but you are wasting 9.99 + tax per month.
|
| |
COMMENT 203586
|
2011-08-13 09:34 AM |
|
I've had great times with CREDO, based in SF!
|
| |
COMMENT 203594P
|
2011-08-13 10:05 AM |
|
Please, 203523, give us more details. Do you really have all that service for 9.99/month? Or are you also paying for cell phone service, and this is just an add on??
|
| |
COMMENT 203600
|
2011-08-13 10:25 AM |
|
203339 "...we call a number to recharge... " I've used the COSTCO cards for long distance at less than 3 cents a minute also. It was great and there was no surcharge to add minutes when it was MCI but it's now been taken over by Verizon and they charge an additional 15% to recharge via phone. ...and if you buy a new card at COSTCO to save the $3 or so, you get a different PIN and if you've programmed your phones or use the features available with speed dialing you have to redo all that nonsense... Once the get you hooked you are stuck paying the premium of 15% for doing nothing but entering in their computer that you've recharged... Big PROFIT CENTER RIP OFF!!!
|
| |
COMMENT 203625
|
2011-08-13 11:22 AM |
|
I use MagicJack... only $20 per year for local and LD plus just 2c/min to call Europe.
|
| |
COMMENT 203693
|
2011-08-13 04:17 PM |
|
Vonage...I've had it for 7 years and am satisfied. Areas included in service at no additional charge are US, CAnada, Puerto Rico, Most of Western Europe (landlines only) ...good rates everywhere else. 24.99/mnth base. Only thing is, with local taxes applied it creeps up to 34/mnth. Still beats anything else out there. Cox will always try to pull a fast one on the bundle that they provide. No deal there.
|
| |
COMMENT 203696
|
2011-08-13 04:48 PM |
|
ECG online carrier. Great!
|
| |
COMMENT 203749
|
2011-08-14 07:49 AM |
|
@203600 I know exactly what you are talking about. We've pre-programmed our phones to do all the access number dialing with the push of one speed dial button. Don't want to dial all those numbers each time one makes a long distance call so we don't ever want a new PIN number. My CostCo card was originally issued by Sprint for 480 minutes. "STI" (I don't know what it stands for) took over for Sprint and doesn't charge a recharge fee. You can call them for extra minutes at 866-444-9936. Yours truly, 203339
|
| |
