Looking for best VOIP phone and decent dry loop ISP

[kbag69]

Hey,
I am using bell phone and internet service since last 3 years.
I feel I am overpaying and with some research and advise can switch for better deal.
Presently I have home phone at 28.00 $ after discount.
Internet max 10 at 57.00 $ after discount
In total I am paying 85.00 $ + Tax monthly.

I feel I should switch Home Phone as VOIP like Acanac at 9.95 P/M
I am not sure @ internet service as I will need a decent speed with 50gb download limit and dry loop for voip phone.

Will appreciate help.

thanks
Bimal

[apn64]

If you're thinking about switching to VoIP, I'd strongly advise doing some research on voip.ms from Montreal.

They're a very good carrier-grade voip company w/ incredible rates (0.5cent/min anywhere in canada and 1cent/min to US/Europe) and an incredibly rich feature set (much more than you have now, I can assure you). You have the option to use your existing phones (buy an ATA for as little as $50), or you can switch to true IP phones like Aastra.

Only two downsides;

1) They bill in US$, but it's a non-issue with near-parity. No tax if you pay w/ Paypal

2) You need the technical savvy to setup your ATA or IP phones, but it's easy with the internet

A line can be got for as little as $1.49/month on paygo or $4.95/month with "unlimited" (3000mins) incoming calls. I'm on the paygo option and my monthly bill averages around $10 (all-in) for 30hours of call time, local and LD.

Another nice option with the ATA is that as well as the incoming line (DID), I also have a no-charge 2nd line for outgoing calls (just pay calltime), hence don't have to tie up the main line if I'm on a lengthy call.

Finally, I use this service on my Rogers internet connection, but it will work equally well on a good DSL service.

[ARK]

+1 for voip.ms

I transferred my bell phone line 2 years ago and had no problems. Paying approx. $10-$15 per month (was paying $35 per month with Bell)

[apn64]

I forgot to mention that Bell is a good option for dry-loop DSL since AFAIK, they don't charge the $9-10/mo "band-rate" that other resellers e.g. Teksavvy apply.

My Inlaws also switched to voip.ms a few months ago and canceled their Bell phone, switching Sympatico internet to dry-loop. They're also saving $$$ and have noticed no degredation in quality.

BTW, you don't need a massive bandwidth cap to use voip. Even at the highest quality codec (G711), it's only using ~85Kbps. What does matter is that you have a good router with QoS (I use WRT54GL/Tomato), since you need to manage the uplink traffic to ensure that your VoIP is getting out ahead of other applications.

[coleworld]

I'm using Vonage right now and it sucks very bad, I can't talk on the phone while on the internet. (Telus)

I have a DI-604 router, and a Linksys PAP2 phone adapter.

Do I need anything else to get started with another VOIP company (such as voip.ms) ???

I can't figure out all this technical mumbo. Thanks

[apn64]

I'm using Vonage right now and it sucks very bad, I can't talk on the phone while on the internet. (Telus)

I have a DI-604 router, and a Linksys PAP2 phone adapter.

Do I need anything else to get started with another VOIP company (such as voip.ms) ???

I can't figure out all this technical mumbo. Thanks

The ATA will work fine on voip.ms (I have it too), but I think your problem is likely not Vonage but your router; carefully read the last paragraph of post #4 (above) again, or you will likely have the same issue w/ voip.ms

As I mentioned, you have to be somewhat willing to look at the "technical mumbo" to ensure optimal quality. I've been told many times that voice quality on my new service is better than it was on Rogers. I can hear it, too.

While Vonage is fine for some people, the rates and feature set don't come close to voip.ms. I compared a few companies before I switched back in Feb09; I discounted Vonage based on price, feedback (forums) and at the time I thought they had a bad cancelation policy (penalties etc.).

[Imelda_Acanac]

Acanac dry loop dsl is $8 month for dry loop or $96 a year
plus the promotional deal for dsl is $18.95 month at $227.40
prepaid year. Voip plans start at $9.95 month prepaid at $119.40 year.
Dsl internet is up to 5M unlimited.

Imelda O. Suzara
Acanac Rep

Hey,
I am using bell phone and internet service since last 3 years.
I feel I am overpaying and with some research and advise can switch for better deal.
Presently I have home phone at 28.00 $ after discount.
Internet max 10 at 57.00 $ after discount
In total I am paying 85.00 $ + Tax monthly.

I feel I should switch Home Phone as VOIP like Acanac at 9.95 P/M
I am not sure @ internet service as I will need a decent speed with 50gb download limit and dry loop for voip phone.

Will appreciate help.

thanks
Bimal