I won't even get into the three hours I just spent on the phone with who I thought was comcast (cost, monthly)

[livinginbuffalo]

Mich2Fl- what's this Ooma you speak of? Do they have caller id, call waiting etc? Momdog- what about this Magicjack? Do you get that stuff? and how did you get to pick your phone number? I don't need anything fancy. I just like to have caller id.

I think I am ready to ditch Comcast and try some other providers. I still haven't officially ordered and want to cancel. Then I'm going to write a five page letter to the CEO with screen shots and the names of the SEVEN people I spoke with over the course of three hours. It took up my entire evening.

Ericsonga- I have little children and if I or they would ever have to call 911, I don't want to worry about them not being able to locate me from my cell!

[billl]

Originally Posted by Mgyeldell

Yes all the area codes in the Metro area are interchangeable none of them are "truly" designated for anything in particular.

But when I first moved to Atlanta people use to say

404 was for inside the perimeter
678/770 was for outside the perimter

They were not entirely correct. Originally there was 404 for the entire metro Atlanta area. Then they created 770 for (roughly) that part of 404 outside the perimeter. When 678 came along in 1998 it was an "overlay" area code that covered the same geographical area as 404 and 770 combined. A phone in downtown Atlanta could receive either a 404 or a 678 area code. At no time were any of these designated either "business" or "residential". Now with VoIP providers, cell providers and number mobility, there is no longer any correlation between area code and the actual location of the phone that it reaches. This is true nationwide, not just here. I can get VoIP service in any area code in the continental US and have it land in my house.

[Momdog]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Mich2Fl- what's this Ooma you speak of? Do they have caller id, call waiting etc? Momdog- what about this Magicjack? Do you get that stuff? and how did you get to pick your phone number? I don't need anything fancy. I just like to have caller id.

I think I am ready to ditch Comcast and try some other providers. I still haven't officially ordered and want to cancel. Then I'm going to write a five page letter to the CEO with screen shots and the names of the SEVEN people I spoke with over the course of three hours. It took up my entire evening.

Ericsonga- I have little children and if I or they would ever have to call 911, I don't want to worry about them not being able to locate me from my cell!

With Magicjack, you get to pick your phone number and we had lots of choices. There is call waiting, but no caller ID...just the phone number appears. It's super cheap but you get what you pay for. I actually would NOT recommend it. I'm just learning to live with it cuz I don't want to deal with switching to something else.

I also agree about the 911 issue. And maybe I'm old fashion, but I like having a home phone.

[ericsonga]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Ericsonga- I have little children and if I or they would ever have to call 911, I don't want to worry about them not being able to locate me from my cell!

Actually, as long as your house is connected to the phone line you can dial 911. You don't have to have a paid landline for that. I do, however, understand your concerns.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by ericsonga

Actually, as long as your house is connected to the phone line you can dial 911. You don't have to have a paid landline for that. I do, however, understand your concerns.

Not true, if you are dsl only. You may hear dial tone but it will not connect to 911 because internet is not considered a phone service.

[livinginbuffalo]

Well, I cancelled my Comcast and signed up for AT&T phone and DSL with DirectTv and got much better pricing. We shall see what kind of internet speeds I have but since we are moving into a temporary rental, I can always upgrade when we eventually purchase. Thanks for all of the info. I am still waiting to get my actual phone number but requested a 770 area code. We shall see!

[cwkimbro]

Pretty much what has been said is correct.

The reason our calling codes are somewhat foreign has lots to do with the strength Bell South had after the Bell systems break up.

They put more effort into making larger 'free' local calling areas and less 'local-long distance.'

All of the Atlanta region was 404 and was a free calling area throughout the area code, so the location of the first 3 digits were not important to establish whether a call was long distance (local) or not.

I'm sure if I asked my father he could go into far greater specifics.

But yes we have 10-digit dialing here and everything is considered a local call between 404, 678, 770, and 470 (470 being relatively new and unknown to some).

678 is used by many residents and probably even more private cell phones. It is very common and should not cause you a problem. 770 is slightly more common in the suburbs, because it is older than 678.

404 tends to be the more central Atlanta area in the region. 770 is surrounding the central Atlanta region*. 678 overlays over both (I'm assuming 470 will too?)

*I remember there being some talk about 770 overlaying over both, but I'm not sure if that ever changed.

[MovedfromFL]

I feel your pain with Comcast. They treated me so poorly on the 2 occasions that I called TRYING to become a customer that I never followed through getting cable because why reward such poor business practices?

We are moving this weekend and I'm getting a bundle with Brighthouse. We used to live in the 770 area code up in GA and I had a good experience with Charter cable.

Oh and our new phone # here is xxx-404-xxxx. It's a sign! Maybe we should move back to GA! LOL

[flyonpa]

VOIP type phone have to be 'assigned' to the correct 911 center. 911 does work, but they have to set it up with the physical address of where the VOIP is. If you take your VOIP phone that is set up for atlanta, plug it into a internet connection in texas, and call 911 it will be directed to atlanta. If you dont setup a physical address for your voip it get directed to a call center, they ask where you are and then transfer your call to the correct 911 center (you hope). Some VOIP provider have sent 911 calls to the 10 digit phone number for the 911 center/police dept/etc. and there have been some cases where they directed the call to police dept that are not 24x7.

[mich2fla]

Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo

Mich2Fl- what's this Ooma you speak of? Do they have caller id, call waiting etc? Momdog- what about this Magicjack? Do you get that stuff? and how did you get to pick your phone number? I don't need anything fancy. I just like to have caller id.

I think I am ready to ditch Comcast and try some other providers. I still haven't officially ordered and want to cancel. Then I'm going to write a five page letter to the CEO with screen shots and the names of the SEVEN people I spoke with over the course of three hours. It took up my entire evening.

Ericsonga- I have little children and if I or they would ever have to call 911, I don't want to worry about them not being able to locate me from my cell!

Check it out here Free Home Phone Service | Ooma

We got ours at Costco after moving here. If we didn't like it, we can always return it within 90 days, no questions asked. I have seen it at other retailers.

It works great. It has caller id, call waiting, etc. We don't use the house phone often but it works well for our little ones without cellphones. We registered our home address with this phone and we have 911 service. You will need high speed internet service in order to use this Ooma.