VOIP Home Phone - Magic Jack

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Nov 7th, 2019 7:51 am

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Aug 19th, 2019 10:53 pm

beemer [OP]: Newbie; Nov 27, 2003; 49 posts; 5 upvotes; New Westminster

Aug 19th, 2019 10:53 pm

VOIP Home Phone - Magic Jack

All,

Hoping there are some VOIP (not Shaw etc.,) home phone users here, especially if you are using Magic Jack.

Shaw is charging me $43/mo for home phone (yes, we still need it) and I did buy Magic Jack and have been using it for about 5 months and am pretty happy with it.

I'm trying to get a better deal from Shaw but even the best deal will cost me about $180.00/year whereas Magic Jack is $39/year + one time cost to port my number.

Question I have is this:

1. If I port my number, and one year later I decide I don't like them how easy is it to port back?
2. Has anyone ported their Canadian number over (they are a US company and honestly support is pretty shitty, but I don't need a lot of support)
3. What if they went broke -- who "owns" that number? Me or them? Could I get it back?

Any other information anyone has would be appreciated including other comparable VOIP services in Canada.

Thanks!

14 replies

Aug 19th, 2019 11:07 pm

HghSsociety: Deal Addict; Feb 16, 2018; 1292 posts; 1306 upvotes

Aug 19th, 2019 11:07 pm

We dumped our home phone years ago but recently brought one back into the house due to a recent change in our personal situation.

We went with Koodo. $5 month for 12 months. There was a one time connect fee. I think it was $35 but I can't remember 100% but it was around there. Don't need to make a call from a computer either. We pulled our old cordless set out of storage and it works great

+2

Aug 20th, 2019 8:17 am

agnatha: Newbie; Apr 18, 2011; 9 posts; 6 upvotes

Aug 20th, 2019 8:17 am

You can always port your number back and forth from any provider to any provider. There is no restrictions on that.
I have ported my number from Bell to VOIP. There are many VOIP services out there like voip.ms and others.
Hope this helps - feel free to ask more details...

Aug 20th, 2019 8:33 am

jensen1: Sr. Member; Jun 21, 2008; 634 posts; 177 upvotes; mississauga

Aug 20th, 2019 8:33 am

HghSsociety wrote: ↑ We dumped our home phone years ago but recently brought one back into the house due to a recent change in our personal situation.

We went with Koodo. $5 month for 12 months. There was a one time connect fee. I think it was $35 but I can't remember 100% but it was around there. Don't need to make a call from a computer either. We pulled our old cordless set out of storage and it works great

just remember, it goes up to$20 p.m. after 12 months. I had it for a year and was pretty happy with it. I also had voip.ms and that was good too

Aug 20th, 2019 8:59 am

djemzine: Deal Expert; Jun 15, 2011; 43980 posts; 7551 upvotes

Aug 20th, 2019 8:59 am

Have you looked into Vonage as an alternative? Been a customer for couple of years now.

Blanka

Aug 20th, 2019 9:20 am

vkizzle: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2011; 37239 posts; 23243 upvotes; Center of Universe

Aug 20th, 2019 9:20 am

Check out Ooma.

Aug 20th, 2019 2:14 pm

death_hawk: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2006; 28732 posts; 14285 upvotes

Aug 20th, 2019 2:14 pm

djemzine wrote: ↑ Vonage

They still exist?
There's a name I haven't heard in like 15 years, around the same time I ditched them and went to voip.ms

Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet

Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.

Aug 20th, 2019 3:04 pm

rcmpvet: Deal Addict; Oct 13, 2014; 2572 posts; 1812 upvotes; Just Moved To Somewh…

Aug 20th, 2019 3:04 pm

I use Netfox for $16.95/month, no increase as yet and it has been over a year. You do have to buy their modem (plug into router) but after that any home style telephone will work. It can also be easily connected to your old telephone demarc whereby any jack in the house will then work.

#1 - “Don’t irritate old people. The older they get, the less “Life in prison” is a deterrent."
#2 - Are you a Sexual Intellect? /S - What you post in this thread may determine that.

Aug 20th, 2019 3:36 pm

djemzine: Deal Expert; Jun 15, 2011; 43980 posts; 7551 upvotes

Aug 20th, 2019 3:36 pm

death_hawk wrote: ↑ They still exist?
There's a name I haven't heard in like 15 years, around the same time I ditched them and went to voip.ms

Lol. Yes they do exist. The only issue that I've had is sometimes the call quality or when someone tries to dial our #, it gets redirected to someone else's home. Has happened few times.

Blanka

Aug 20th, 2019 3:38 pm

ratudio: Sr. Member; May 29, 2004; 512 posts; 146 upvotes

Aug 20th, 2019 3:38 pm

I use Teksavvy TekTalk Basic for $9.95/month + tax. You will need to buy their modem as well. Or you use app like zoiper if you don't want to get their modem. If you plan to use the modem and zoiper, you will need to recent your modem again in order to use it again after you use zoiper.

Aug 20th, 2019 3:40 pm

death_hawk: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2006; 28732 posts; 14285 upvotes

Aug 20th, 2019 3:40 pm

djemzine wrote: ↑ The only issue that I've had is sometimes the call quality or when someone tries to dial our #, it gets redirected to someone else's home. Has happened few times.

That raises further questions.

My favorite issue when I had them was that my (Canadian) number was somehow on a US Carrier so some geolocation based phone systems would forward me to the US side instead of the Canadian side.
UPS did this for some reason. It was impossible to call UPS Canada via their toll free.
Why they didn't look up based on area code is beyond me...

Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet

Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.

Oct 6th, 2019 2:50 am

Pacific Web: Newbie; Jan 29, 2007; 35 posts; 13 upvotes; Comox Valley

Oct 6th, 2019 2:50 am

I have been using Shaw phone along with the internet and TV for years. I talked to Shaw several times about the price of my phone service, and they decreased the charge to $10/month. The regular price is about $25-30 /month. Phone them up and ask if they can do anything to reduce the cost. It sure saved me a bundle of $$$.

Nov 6th, 2019 11:05 pm

beemer [OP]: Newbie; Nov 27, 2003; 49 posts; 5 upvotes; New Westminster

Nov 6th, 2019 11:05 pm

Thought I'd update this with what happened.

Called Shaw, didn't really get anywhere with them. So I signed up with VOIP.MS and started to port my number over.

Got a call from Shaw as soon as I was going to port it, and they offered me a pretty awesome deal -- but of course will have to see if they extend it 2 years later when it comes up for renewal.

In order to keep me they gave me a discount on my Internet 600 PLUS an awesome discount on the phone.

So Internet 600 was $105 less $35 discount so that works out to $75.00/mo and for the phone I was paying $43 and they gave me a $38 discount/month so that works out to $5.00/mo.

So am only paying $80.00/mo (plus taxes).

I still have a deposit at Voip.MS and may sign-up for it using the lowest "tiers" I'd be paying around $5.00/mo CDN. I can't port my number anymore as I am locked in at Shaw until 2021.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

Nov 7th, 2019 3:59 am

death_hawk: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2006; 28732 posts; 14285 upvotes

Nov 7th, 2019 3:59 am

beemer wrote: ↑ I still have a deposit at Voip.MS and may sign-up for it using the lowest "tiers" I'd be paying around $5.00/mo CDN.

You could get a pay as you go DID for $0.85/month.
The $5/month one comes with unlimited incoming calls which isn't really needed unless it's your primary number.

Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet

Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.

Nov 7th, 2019 7:51 am

Phils: Deal Fanatic; Sep 29, 2005; 6361 posts; 1515 upvotes; Montreal

Nov 7th, 2019 7:51 am

Exactly. unlimited incoming wouldn't be worth it. Remember it doesn't include outgoing calls.
If it were me, I would just ask VOIP.MS for a refund for now.

Phils

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