replace landline phone? (Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler: sales, home, movies)

[Jkgourmet]

I am looking at my Cox c able bill and getting hives. One of the things I am considering is replacing my Cox provided land line with Majic Jack. (I considered using our cellphones, but our cell phone reception INSIDE our home in East Mesa is spotty.)

I also read that there is a thing that Majic Jack just started selling the Majic Jack Plus which evidently hooks up to a regular phone and you don't need to leave your computer on all the time.

Can anyone give me their experience with these products? Or another solution to dump Cox phone?

[Jkgourmet]

Forget about my question above. I just found out that the majic jack plus will work on only one phone, and it has to be connected to the modem or router in your home. So, one phone in a 3100 square foot house, with two arthritic old people living in it? I don't think so. . .

However, if anyone has another suggestion (besides cellular phones only, as noted above), please share!

[azriverfan.]

I've pondered eliminating my Cox land line for the same reasons you cited. I kept it because a land line is nice to have during emergencies. If someone needs to contact you immediately while you are at home, it's really nice to have. Sometimes with cell phones, you can't hear them because you turned them on vibrate, powered off or can't hear them very well. Also, the reception quality with land line phones is excellent.

[dura]

How about those phones that only require that the base unit be plugged into a phone jack? While all the handsets require power, only the base needs a phone line. The other handsets work wirelessly with the base so you just plug the non-base phones wherever you find convenient. If you want to go this route, I'd recommend the Panasonic DECT 6.0 Plus five handset phone system. Of course, do your own double checking to make sure this will work for you with magicJack.

[Jkgourmet]

Thanks, Dura. I'll look into that.

To add insult to injury, I just tried to call Cox to see what would happen to the bill on one of their contract deals (and what the consequences would be if I break the contract because of moving out of state). Answer? Their sales department is closed. So is billing.

I've been a huge Cox fan for decades. I was one of the first 3 people in Chandler to get their cable internet (no, I'm not kidding - it was 1998). And I've rarely had complaints about them. But a closed sales and billing department? That's bizarre.

[Newporttom]

I've experimented with various VOIP solutions over the years. The first one (Sunrocket) was great till they went out of business with no notice. I think I have an awesome setup now.

Get a Google voice number. I don't think Google is going anywhere. Once people call your Google number you have a ton of control over where it goes. I have it forward to my home phone and my cell. (lots of control over how that works)

And for my home phone I bought an Ooma. One time cost less than $200 and then I pay $3.47 a month for the local taxes, and fees. (I'm in Florida). Call quality is excellent, I plug it into my router and then my Panasonic base station plugs into it....

and then you can station phones throughout the house.

[TiredOfyycCold]

Jkgourmet - our inlaws bought us a magicjack that we use in our Phoenix house. It works great.
It is essentially VOIP - so you do need to have a decent speed for your internet connection. We have Cox preferred and it works great as long as someone isn't streaming netflix on the tv at the same time.

And what Dura suggested does work... that is how we have it setup.

We don't have the magicjack plus... yet. My inlaws currently have the regular magicjack plugged into their laptop and the main phone, the other 2 portable phones are just plugged into power outlets throughout the house.

[CheyDee]

Originally Posted by dura

How about those phones that only require that the base unit be plugged into a phone jack? While all the handsets require power, only the base needs a phone line. The other handsets work wirelessly with the base so you just plug the non-base phones wherever you find convenient. If you want to go this route, I'd recommend the Panasonic DECT 6.0 Plus five handset phone system. Of course, do your own double checking to make sure this will work for you with magicJack.

This is precisely the set up we have. We used the regular Magic Jack, (which was all that was available then), when we lived in Mesa and used it more or less as our "second line". Now we have the Magic Jack Plus as our only home line in Queen Creek. The regular Magic Jack's downside was needing to keep your computer on, but that's no longer an issue with the Magic Jack Plus.

Nobody knows we're using VoIP, as opposed to a regular land line, and the clarity is excellent - even when people are playing on Xbox Live or multiple computers are in use. (We're not big movie watchers, so I can't comment on whether there are issues when streaming movies.) There are no dropped calls, either. We have the 7 Mbps plan from Century Link, (formerly Qwest). I can't say enough good things about Magic Jack Plus.

[talich]

I have few friends using Ooma here in the Valley. They all like it.

[Jkgourmet]

Great information from everyone - much thanks!

Can anyone tell me the differences between ooma and MJ plus?