[newopty]

I thought this thread was about Chicken Pox. Never mind

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by mojavedxer

The internet portion of the business is pure bloated profit plain and simple. Overcharge for the service because of no competition and just band aid the existing backbone instead of upgrading to fiber.

Cox has fiber. I used to work at a place where we were one of their first (if not the first) fiber customers. They dug up half of the valley to put it in. Our redundant fiber ring went from Maryland Pkwy, Anthem, Summerlin, and GV. The school district was also on the hook for that build. Their network was even more extensive.

The infrastructure is there. The customer service? Not so much. The other option is Centurylink-->Formerly Quest-->formerly Sprint. You want a headache? Deal with them.

I am no fan of "My Friend in the Digital Age," but if you need high speed data- you've got one choice at this point.

[mojavedxer]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

Cox has fiber. I used to work at a place where we were one of their first (if not the first) fiber customers. They dug up half of the valley to put it in. Our redundant fiber ring went from Maryland Pkwy, Anthem, Summerlin, and GV. The school district was also on the hook for that build. Their network was even more extensive.

The infrastructure is there. The customer service? Not so much. The other option is Centurylink-->Formerly Quest-->formerly Sprint. You want a headache? Deal with them.

I am no fan of "My Friend in the Digital Age," but if you need high speed data- you've got one choice at this point.

That is my point. Only one choice in the valley and they stick it too you. None of this revenue is being used to improve the infrastructure down to the last leg of delivery. Also with traffic shaping software in place that Cox uses. I should not have to hide behind a VPN/ proxy and encrypt my packets to get the full benefit for the speed package that I pay for.

[Prosze]

Good Job.

My husband was calling Cox (Perfect name for them) every 6 months or so to get them to lower the rate. I think the last time he spent 45-1hr negotiating with them. They like to offer some bundle package or whatever and all he wants is the rate lower for what we have. You have to stick to your guns and be patient.

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by mojavedxer

That is my point. Only one choice in the valley and they stick it too you. None of this revenue is being used to improve the infrastructure down to the last leg of delivery. Also with traffic shaping software in place that Cox uses. I should not have to hide behind a VPN/ proxy and encrypt my packets to get the full benefit for the speed package that I pay for.

They are definitely playing games with bandwidth. I was paying 106 a month for basic+ cable and high speed internet (no phone). I cancelled because I was moving, then I didn't move and called to have it turned back on. I asked them to just give me what I had before. It was a fight. The interesting thing is that they insisted on having a guy come out and cut the co-ax and put a new connector on the ends.

My speeds have not been the same since. I'm pretty sure the dongle that they put on has a signal attenuator of some sort on it. To get the same price, I also had to agree to them installing their stupid DVR device, which interferes with my existing set-up.

If you really want a laugh, ask me what they accidentally did at one of my old employer's locations.

I hate them, but Century Link is worse. (IMHO)

[BBMW]

Is there any real competition between ISPs in Clark County? Do you Verizon coming in with Fios, or anything else? I know there is Clear, with their wireless system, but is this real competition?

[Merrily Gather]

I also want to add that people in the US don't need to pay for land lines anymore. You can get a Google number on Google Voice and take it with you where ever you move in the US by using Voice Over Internet Provider (VOIP). It's no additional charge to VOIP users when they're already paying for internet, and it can be setup just like having a regular "home phone"/"landline" where you use a regular house phone instead of headphones on a computer.

You buy an OBItalk universal VOIP adapter on Amazon, or Ebay, or on some websites that have a special on it. The pricing is pretty standard and will run around $35 - $50. It's in Walmart right now for $38 and there are two models. Once you buy the adapter then you need to start an OBItalk account and setup the adapter to the service you want. It can work for many VOIP's but we use Google Voice because it's free. There is also an OBItalk forum where you can get help setting up and ask questions.

You'll plug your phone into the adapter and the adapter is plugged into the modem. You can use any regular phone. We got a cordless phone with an answering machine. We can receive calls on the phone and make calls to anywhere in the US and Canada, since it's the same country code as the US, and it doesn't cost anything after buying the adapter besides what we'd pay for internet use.

The only thing about it is when you make a call it takes bandwidth. If your computer is plugged directly into the modem this won't affect it but if you're running a wireless laptop, tablet, or phone at the same time then your wireless devices might disconnect from the internet or run slower during the phone call. One way to solve that is to plug the laptop directly into the modem with a cord. As for the tablet and phones you'll have to wait till the call is ended.

You can also set up your Google Voice number to forward to your cell phone if you want to get your landline calls while you're out and about. Both phones will ring at the same time if someone is calling your landline number. Also the number people are calling from will show up on your "landline"/"home phone" caller ID and on your cell phone if the number is saved in your phone.

[Raiderman]

I just use MagicJack for work. Gave me a local number although I work for a company out of New England. I have an AT&T wireless headset. I think MagicJack is something like $10 or $20/year.

[Merrily Gather]

Weighing the pros and cons of obitalk and magicjack-

MagicJack has their own VOIP service and you can only use it through that. The Obitalk adapter can be used with any VOIP and that includes the free services such as Google Voice.

MagicJack you buy the equipment and it charges an annual renewal fee of $29.95 on top of paying for your monthly internet service. With Obitalk you pay a one time fee for the equipment and there are no additional fees on top of paying for internet if you use google voice.

The only thing I'm not certain about with MagicJack is if international calls are included in the annual fee or if it's like the Obitalk adapter where you can buy credit though google voice to make international calls. We've found that there are websites where we can get credit for much cheaper depending on which countries we're calling so we go through them instead.

People that I know with MagicJack usually purchase two adapters for international calling. One for their computer and one for the person in the foreign country. The calls to each other works just like skype.

Looking at the magicJack website I'm reading you can set up the magicJack plus adapter like an obitalk adapter where you plug a regular phone into the adapter and you're not stuck on a headset, but the annual fee seems to doubles to $50. Looking at their 5 year plan you save money on the annual fee.

[TomKBL]

Google Voice will no longer support Obi device starting on May 15, but Obi device will still work on other VoIPs.