Ok, guys, got another AT&T bill and I just had it. Charged a minimum fee for under-usage, plus this, that and the other "recovery fee". IOW almost $20 for long distance while no long distance calls where made. None! Let's see, how much is that per minute? $20 divided by zero ...
Not much money but this stinks. We use 1019898 + number anyhow, gets 2c to many EU countries and so on. No idea whether it'll last but I bet if not there will be others.
So, what happens after I cancel all long distance service? What if a client accidentally picks up the phone and dials out to New Jersey or to Asia? Local long distance? Can that result in a humongous bill or will the phone just refuse to dial out?
Well, you could see this coming. Personally, I try all avenues to avoid having anything in my life metered. Cell phone minutes, time clocks, overdue library books, you name it.
Of course, in today's world is not that easy to avoid. My guess is you signed up for a plan that anticipated use, and then you didn't use. Take solace in the knowledge that some bean-counter curve-fitted that behavior...
I note you're using PacBell, can you just get net service from them? And then hang a Vonage box on it. I love my Vonage service, I get a whole host of features that I don't really use except for CLID, Call Wait, Voice Mail, DND and Return-Call.
Their online activity log is fantastic and they also include free access to France, Italy, England, Ireland, and Spain. Other countries like Israel, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Argentina, Australia and China are a penny a minute.
Germany is 4 cents a minute.
My Vonage Unlimited account costs about $31 a month once all the fees and taxes are added in which is still a bargain compared to anything Verizon or Cox could offer me.
That would be ok but when I signed up I explicitly asked whether there was a min charge. Because I didn't want there to be one. "No, there isn't". Got a record about that here. Today Mr.Smartguy from customer service told me that this old plan was grandfathered in and a min charge was introduced and that customers were notified. Which we were not. Ok, if I have time I'll file with CPUC now and get it reversed. Not much money but it's about the principle.
That reminds me... Does anybody know if a Netopia Cayman 3346 router has a QOS port? What are you using Jim? Are you happy with it?
Have cablemodem at the house and looking to add one of these VoIP lines. Have Sunrocket now (long story), but not terribly happy with the quality. It could be the router though (on that one, it's just a standard 4- port Linksys BEFSR41 V2)
I had a similar experience with AT&T changing plans on me a long time ago. They had changed something and I ended up paying about $400 more than I should have over the course of about a year. They would only credit me the last 3 months.
So, (since I often do consulting work for them), I just tacked on what they owed me. Two can play that game. :)
I don't like VoIP much. A vendor of a client has that and sometimes I have a real hard time understanding.
I get 2c/min to Germany :-)
Well, if the LD goes away AT&T will be under $20 with all the taxes and the 3rd party minute fees miniscule. Pretty much 2c/min for most places unless you call some tiny island way out there.
What do you mean "local". It's long distance... not the multi-area-code Californicated crap. We have 4 area codes in the Phoenix metro area, but they're free of charge, no "1" required.
...Jim Thompson
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| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
That reminds me... Does anybody know if a Netopia Cayman 3346 router has a QOS port? What are you using Jim? Are you happy with it?
Have cablemodem at the house and looking to add one of these VoIP lines. Have Sunrocket now (long story), but not terribly happy with the quality. It could be the router though (on that one, it's just a standard 4- port Linksys BEFSR41 V2)
That's very different out here. IIRC only a 12-mile radius is free, give or take. Our area code 530 spreads much wider plus some numbers are assigned to Davis, clear across on the other side of Sacramento and its
916 area code. That and much of our area will be toll calls.
[...]
Dunno. I use those for SBC/AT&T "sticky" static IP kludges. As I vagely recall and am too lazy to RTFM, the 3346 has no dedicated ports for QoS. I wouldn't do the QoS in the 3346 anyway. It should be done in the router(s) that follow. Another good reason to dump your BEFSR41 v2.
Docs on the 3346 can be found here:
That's an ancient piece of marginal junk. Slower than a snail. Prone to hang, reboot, or go comatose. They still work, but the lack of features makes them suitable only for simple systems (which do not include VoIP).
Get a router that runs DD-WRT firmware and install the generic or no-Kaid version. You don't need the VoIP version unless you wanna play mini-Asterisk box in the router (not recommended).
For those wondering what this is all about, you need QoS on the VoIP phone or computer. If you don't, the first time Windoze decides to download an update, some program phones home, your email client decides to check for email, or someone else in the house decided to so some surfing, your VoIP audio is going to sound like gargling ball bearings. That's because there's no priority scheme in place to give the VoIP packets priorty over the other junk. To give VoIP priority, you need QoS in the router.
I have no long distance service on my house phone. My service is the absolute cheapest, which is "measured rate".
If I try to call out to a long distance number, AT&T plays a recording offering to allow the call if I give them a credit card number.
For long distance, I use Skype, Gizmo5, and several private Asterisk boxes that friends let me use. For the Asterisk services, I pay 2 cents per minute anywhere plus $5/month for the DID (direct in dial) phone number. Skype and Gizmo5 prices are here:
There are plenty of other services. The really long winded long distance calls are usually IP phone to IP phone (or Skype to Skype). Those are free.
As for prefering a "real phone", I use several adapters and IP phones. I have several Linksys IP phones (SPA921 and SPA941):
I also have a Zoom Model 5801 adapter with which I'm fighting a losing battle trying to get configured correctly. The Linksys phones look and operate just like desk phones. The Zoom will eventually have a cordless phone plugged into the phone port. No computah required. It's as close to a "real phone" as I can get.
Since this is an election year, it's always fun to bug the local candidates about armtwisting the telcos and the PUC into delivering "dry" pairs, which can be used for DSL, but without dialtone from Ma Bell. They keep promising, but somehow, never seem to deliver.
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
The usual problem is lack of QoS in both their and *YOUR* router. Both have to have QoS to give VoIP packet priority over the other traffic. Otherwise, the audio will sound like gargling ball bearings.
--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
I make about 1 ld call a month so last year when all the ld carriers went to a $2-4 minimum charge per month I dropped ATT ld on my land line. I call on my cell and if the connection is bad I just ask them to call me back (or I use a prepaid ld card) on the land line. On the land line if you dial any non-toll-free ld numbers you just get a recorded message and the call does not go through (and you are not charged). Toll free numbers work like they used to.
-- Regards, Carl Ijames carl dott ijames aat verizon dott net (remove nospm or make the obvious changes before replying)
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