Is your phone hooked to cable (VOIP?)

[Capn Sunshine]

looking for a nationwide statistical sampling. How many of you use the internet for phone service?

[Kutjara]

1. I use my cell or office phone for 99% of my daily calls, and....

...Skype for the ones I make to family and friends in Europe and Asia.

[Capn Sunshine]

2. Skype is cable related , right?

[Kutjara]

8. No, it's VOIP software that works over any Internet connection.

I happen to have a cable connection at home, but I've used Skype over a wide range of connections. I've even got it on my iPhone.

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Connected right into my cable modem.

Which sucks when the modem goes out. :o

[Capn Sunshine]

4. Yes, that's what got me wondering

here, a hard rain we lose power, or cable, or both. Either way, phone is kaput.

[Drunken Irishman]

5. Why'd you change your sig?

Did you fall off the bandwagon too? :(

[Capn Sunshine]

6. Not at all

I had a set time thing to how long I was going to leave it up. I worked for Obama since 2006 and it was time.

But here at DU , people seem to be overwrought about things.

[Drunken Irishman]

13. I am done with GD and GDP...

It's all about the lounge now!

[qnr]

7. Not precisely "hooked" - I use VOIP on my N800, via a wireless router. n/tt

[crispini]

9. I'm such a Luddite. I refuse to get rid of the landline.

The other day the power went out. I dialed the power company using my ROTARY phone. Confirmed that indeed there was an outage. So, for amusement I wrapped Christmas presents and listened to 78s on the Victrola! :rofl:

[Capn Sunshine]

10. dude, that is so retro

you are ahead of the curve. What goes around, and what's old is new.

[GoCubsGo]

16. But, a smart Luddite...

I refuse to give up my landline, too. I don't have a rotary phone, however. My decision came about 5 years ago, when we had a bad ice storm. The power was out at my house for two days, and I was one of the lucky ones. Others lost their electricity for over a week. The only reason I had a telephone was because I have an old Trimline. The cordless phones didn't work. My computer didn't work. If I had a cell phone, I couldn't recharge it. With the "old-fashioned" technology, I had communication, whereas the "modern" kind was a huge failure.

I keep that Trimline around for another reason. If I want to carry out an conversation where I don't want my personal information picked up on the neighbor's baby monitor, or whatever, I use that phone.

[Skip Intro]

11. What, no Magic Jack option???!!!

I don't have Magic Jack, I'm just asking...

I have both - JoiPhone VOIP service and wireless from Page Plus Cellular. I pay a total of around $40 a month for both. I don't really need two numbers but I can't seem to get rid of either of them.

[Lasher]

12. Magic Jack is VOIP.

I have one in addition to my land line and cell phone.

[Skip Intro]

14. Now I look like an idiot.

:silly:

It is voip. I don't know why but it seemed like it should be its own option. I had magic jack, I didn't like it, seemed intrusive to me on my computer. There was no uninstall option for the software. Google that problem and get a lot of different answers. At any rate, in it came and out it went. It has kind of a creepy vibe to it.

You know, I was about to ask you why you have landline and voip and cell, and I am, but I also wonder why you need three numbers. I'm asking myself why I need two. Although, there is Google Voice where you can get a new number with call forwarding, for free, and I'm gonna end up with a third number myself. It's just a matter of time.

[Lasher]

15. You don't look like an idiot.

If you want to see what actual idiots look like, hazard a peek in GD right now.

I have a cell phone for when I travel. I get no reception on it at home, so I have the land line. The Magic Jack actually belongs to a friend. It wouldn't work on his computer and he asked me to fire it up to see if it would work on mine. It does. I'm keeping it until he gets a new computer it will work on.

Magic Jack now has a file on their help website that you can download to uninstall their software. I don't think I would go with just a Magic Jack phone and nothing else. For one thing you're out of commission if your computer is turned off. Also, there is a delay between the time you speak and the time the other party hears you. It can make talking awkward, and I find myself interrupting the other person because of this.

Thanks for the heads-up about Google Voice. Maybe I'll look into it just for grins.

[HopeHoops]

17. My neighbor was a major Vonage fan when it first came out in our area.

If you mention it now, he is likely to drop kick you into the next county. They fucked him over so badly. He would go days without service, calls wouldn't go through, calls weren't received. And they pulled a billing trick on him so he ended up paying more than what Verizon was charging. That's just the introduction to his rant if you happen to mention the company within his earshot.

My wife and her sister use Skype. The video quality is barely passing, but not terrible. We also use it with my eldest daughter now that she is in college. My sister-in-law got into it because her eldest daughter was grown and on her own. When she was in Central America on a good-will trip, it was not only cheaper than the phone but often more reliable. I couldn't figure out why Internet service would be reliable when basic phone wasn't, but that was apparently the case.