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This info is only relevant to people who want/need a home phone in addition to (or instead of) cell phones. Most people can get by with their cell phones. We "need" a home phone because it's much cheaper to call China that way. It's WAY too expensive for my wife to talk to China on a cell phone contract.
I've been using Vonage for years now, and I thought that was pretty cheap. Free US and Canada calls, and 1 or 2 cents per minute to call China. Vonage cost us about $38 per month, including the China calls and taxes, etc., which was much cheaper than a regular land line.
But I finally took the plunge and bought an Obi VoIP unit (you can find various Obi units on Amazon, and they're really quite cheap). You hook it up to the Internet and your phones, just like you would the Vonage unit. Only with the Obi, you can choose from a variety of VoIP providers. (There are other units besides Obi, but Obi has been around for a long time, so I figured I'd go with the historically established brand.)
I chose Phone Power, which has a special deal for Obi owners. $59.95 per YEAR for free US/Canada calls, and 60 minutes free calls to China every month, after which it's 1.2 cents to 1.5 cents per minute, depending on the China destination. Cool feature: I could never find a way to use Vonage to block telemarketers or persistent annoying callers. It's easy to do with Phone Power.
Best of all -- if you end up disappointed in the provider you chose, you can just cancel your contract and go with another provider. It's easy to switch. And they all seem to have basically the same boatload of features. The only bad news is that Google has cut its ties to most of the units you can buy (including Obi). Google Voice was a way to get unlimited US/Canada calls entirely for free - no monthly or yearly payment.
The Obi is really easy to set up if you are even the least bit web savvy. And there are lots of providers to choose from, so you could pay even a lot less than $59 per year if you only use it to talk to US/Canada. And you can subscribe for next to nothing to one provider just for 911 access, and subscribe to another for your regular phone calls. These units support multiple providers simultaneously. Phone Power has 911 service, so I didn't need to do that.
So -- highly recommended to cut your connection from land lines and Vonage if that's what you use. I'm very impressed.
I've been using Vonage for years now, and I thought that was pretty cheap. Free US and Canada calls, and 1 or 2 cents per minute to call China. Vonage cost us about $38 per month, including the China calls and taxes, etc., which was much cheaper than a regular land line.
But I finally took the plunge and bought an Obi VoIP unit (you can find various Obi units on Amazon, and they're really quite cheap). You hook it up to the Internet and your phones, just like you would the Vonage unit. Only with the Obi, you can choose from a variety of VoIP providers. (There are other units besides Obi, but Obi has been around for a long time, so I figured I'd go with the historically established brand.)
I chose Phone Power, which has a special deal for Obi owners. $59.95 per YEAR for free US/Canada calls, and 60 minutes free calls to China every month, after which it's 1.2 cents to 1.5 cents per minute, depending on the China destination. Cool feature: I could never find a way to use Vonage to block telemarketers or persistent annoying callers. It's easy to do with Phone Power.
Best of all -- if you end up disappointed in the provider you chose, you can just cancel your contract and go with another provider. It's easy to switch. And they all seem to have basically the same boatload of features. The only bad news is that Google has cut its ties to most of the units you can buy (including Obi). Google Voice was a way to get unlimited US/Canada calls entirely for free - no monthly or yearly payment.
The Obi is really easy to set up if you are even the least bit web savvy. And there are lots of providers to choose from, so you could pay even a lot less than $59 per year if you only use it to talk to US/Canada. And you can subscribe for next to nothing to one provider just for 911 access, and subscribe to another for your regular phone calls. These units support multiple providers simultaneously. Phone Power has 911 service, so I didn't need to do that.
So -- highly recommended to cut your connection from land lines and Vonage if that's what you use. I'm very impressed.
