Anyone on a VoIP plan?

White_Unifier

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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My prepaid Telus plan costs me CAD 100.00/year for a local mobile number with 400 local anytime minutes and 400 texts.

My Telus data add-on costs me CAD 10.00/month for 100 mb of data.

My Skype plan costs me CAD 4.00/month (with a 15% discount if I pay for a year) for unlimited outgoing calls to any Canadian phone number.

My Virtufon plan costs me USD 4.95/month for a Canadian virtual local phone number with unlimited incoming minutes transferred to my Skype plan.

Since I have unlimited high-speed internet at home, I can make and receive all non-emergency calls through my Skype and Virtufon plans. I have access to Wi-Fi at many businesses, and so I need data only between destinations for the most part with my data add-on providing enough data to fill the void.

Altogether, unlimited home high-speed internet aside, I spend an average of less than 30.00/month for unlimited inbound and outbound calls.

Freedom Mobile does offer a plan with unlimited calls across Canada and massive amounts of data for 30.00/month too, and all portable to boot. However, Telus has a wider network. So by shopping around, I more or less reproduced that Freedom Mobile could provide me but on a superior network and at a slightly lower price.

What have been your experiences switching to VoIP?
 
White_Unifier

White_Unifier

Senate Member
Feb 21, 2017
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Murphy said:
I use Magic Jack. $1.70 a month. ($20/yr). It is hooked up to my Internets.
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How's your experience with that.

I can't tell the difference between a regular Telus mobile call, a WhatsApp call, and an outbound Skype call: they're all high-quality. I did hear some static on an inbound Skype call on my Virtufon plan once, but high-quality otherwise. Maybe it was just that one call, but I'm also a relatively new customer to Virtufon too so I'll continue to give it a chance.

I have read mixed reviews about Majic Jack, Ooma, and Vonage too.

One thing I like about my Skype and Virtufon plans is that I can do everything through my Skype plan whether on my mobile phone or any other device. I believe Vonage allows apps for up to two mobile phones in addition to the home line with all calls ringing on the home phone and the two chosen mobile phones (needing to download a Vonage app though).
 
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Murphy

Murphy

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Apr 12, 2013
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Ontario
We've had Magic Jack for 7 or 8 years. Never a problem. Clear, regular phone calls with no long distance bills. The Bell rep tried to say that if power went out that we would lose our phone. The wife and I have cell phones, so we don't care. As well, I am an amateur radio operator. No worries in the event of an emergency.

If we didn't get MJ so cheap, we would just use our cell phones at home, or wherever.
 
White_Unifier

White_Unifier

Senate Member
Feb 21, 2017
7,300
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Murphy said:
We've had Magic Jack for 7 or 8 years. Never a problem. Clear, regular phone calls with no long distance bills. The Bell rep tried to say that if power went out that we would lose our phone. The wife and I have cell phones, so we don't care. As well, I am an amateur radio operator. No worries in the event of an emergency.

If we didn't get MJ so cheap, we would just use our cell phones at home, or wherever.
Click to expand...

Good points.

If home internet goes down, you definitely want a way to contact the internet provider to get it fixed. If your only means of communication was the internet that is now down, you're out of luck.

but for that, just a minimum phone plan works. My 100.00/year Telus plan gives me more than enough minutes for a year since I seldom use is anyway. Those minutes are just for an emergency. Plus, just as an additional back-up, I also have a 10.00/month data plan. It might not provide much data, but combined with the phone plan, it would be more than enough to contact my internet provider to get my internet fixed. As for real emergencies like 911, the basic Telus plan has that too.
 
J

JamesBondo

House Member
Mar 3, 2012
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I already have free unlimited calling voip and it only costs me $110 per month for my tv/internet bundle.

Murphy said:
We've had Magic Jack for 7 or 8 years. Never a problem. Clear, regular phone calls with no long distance bills. The Bell rep tried to say that if power went out that we would lose our phone. The wife and I have cell phones, so we don't care. As well, I am an amateur radio operator. No worries in the event of an emergency.

If we didn't get MJ so cheap, we would just use our cell phones at home, or wherever.
Click to expand...

As an amateur radio operator, you name and address is a matter of public record. Some would say that makes your family a target if there is ever an extended grid down event.
 
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