call blocker device suggestions?

An answerphone message machine, just set on outgoing message and speakerphone mode for any incoming call, and tell your friends about it, so they can ignore it and not hang up, but keep the line open until someone gets to the phone.

Use caller ID, when you get one of these calls save caller ID as ID = "junk call" with a silent ring sound. This has cut our annoying calls down quite a bit.

I have been using This Pro Call Blocker for several years and it works as long as a phone number shows up on caller ID.

We just don't answer and let call go to voice mail where message is seldom left.

Probably useless to try to block as numbers are often forged. I've had a couple of calls that gave my number as the caller.

bill ashford formulated on Sunday :

Hey Bill,

have a look at this one:

It's call Phone Tray and I've been using it like, forever (Windows 95 :-)). The features are unbeatable (you can block an entire area code, but still allow only numbers you want to receive from that area code.

I may add that I'm not in anyway associated with this company, just a very pleased customer of the product.

Note: They offer a service that automatically adds known telemarkters to a master list at a small fee, but I don't have a need for anytning like that so I turned off that service after the free trial expired, to stop the annoying reminders to renew the subscription.

It's worth a look!

I gotta ask, just how does a machine like this 'block' the call. If this unit is tied in parallel to the phone you have then as the call comes in, it would ring on both your phone and this unit. Or do you plug your phone into it first?

And what about the 4 extensions in the rest of the house?

Just curious, I've thought about something like this too. I've also seen the nomorobo

It is in parallel with the other phones (I have 5 plus an answering machine). When some call comes in that you want to block, hang up. Then push the button on the blocker to "save" that number. The next time it calls, it will ring once then the blocker will hang up on it.

| in UK, silent calls are illegal, and the originator can | suffer quite a large fine. | | If it isn't already, you could pester your councillor/senator/whatever | to have similar legislation passed there.

We actually have pretty good protection in the US, in theory. A few years ago there was a federal Do-Not-Call list and also a state version where I could register a complaint. Advertisers were not allowed to call registered numbers. Now the state version is closed and the federal version seems to be a joke, with no enforcement. I probably get 2-3 junk calls per day. I gave up complaining about them. I just use an answering machine with Caller ID.

Citizen protection from corporate exploitation has gone *way* downhill in the US. I just read the other day that Google lost an effort in Britan to stop Safari users from suing over privacy due to Google bypassing all cookie settings to track people.

Apparently they hacked a Safari bug to spy on people. Google claimed that resulting privacy lawsuits in Britain should be thrown out because the people spied on didn't lose any money! I thought that was a great example of the difference between European civility and American corporatocracy. It's classic American thinking: Anything that makes money can't be wrong.

Our allegedly liberal president Clinton pushed through NAFTA, which boils down to a free ticket for American corporations to exploit foregin labor and avoid American labor costs. Our allegedly liberal president Obama is now pushing a similar agreement in Asia. With friends like that, who needs Republican oligarchs?

We have a similarly problematic sitution with telephone service accounts. They're no longer regulated as a utility for all practical purposes. My own phone company is raising my rate next month. There's nothing I can do. I checked into it last time they raised the rate. They're free to set any rate they like. In theory I could switch to another company, but that company is Verizon and the two companies keep their offerings matched. As with highspeed cable, there isn't any real competition.

With both landlines and cellphones there's no longer any way to actually find out what the plans and prices are. There's no set price. It's all devolved into a flim flam operation, like used cars. They charge what they think they can get away with. Here in the colonies we have to depend on the civility of European law to police "cowboy" American corporations. It's our only hope. :)

Aren't burglars, these days, bright enough to cover their tracks by posing as cold callers (and not stay silent)?

Mike.

I've used this unit for some time and it works well, but is not perfect. You need to plug caller ID phone line into unit and a phone into output of unit. You will use this phone to program unit being unit has little on-board programming function. Depending on phone plugged into unit it might disable caller ID on phone. Unit also has tendency to freeze up but can be "rebooted" by simply picking up phone plugged into unit. Overall, poorly engineered but functional once you're used to it. Recommended.

OK, I see landline solutions but what about cell phone solutions I am on Sprint. Samsung Galaxy S5 lollypop. Is there a forum that will cover that if someone here has no good solution. Thank you!

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OldGuy wrote on 3/29/2015 10:55 AM:

try comp.mobile.andriod

Seems to be a good amount of traffic in there.

I do something similar as well but on my cellphone since we don't use a land line anymore.

What I've been doing for years is I left a voice mail message which clearly states I don't answer my phone unless I recognize the number. Therefore, leave a message and I will return the call. If you do not leave a message, you will never reach me. Obviously, I input info for friends, family, businesses and acquaintances so I know who is calling. I also registered with the "Do Not Call" registry. Will it stop machine auto-calls, most likely not since I have seen a number from Florida and Oregon a few times, but infrequent. Overall, I think it works well and I don't receive any unwanted calls very often.

I just upgraded my old flip phone, pay as you go phone, do nothing phone to a new android based v4.4.2 phone. Really nice upgrade. I got next to zero calls on that phone, and now on the new phone (same number) I'm starting to get 2 or so a week. So somewhere in contacting T-Mobile and getting that sim card I needed and moving the plan from pay as you go to monthly caused an trigger. I suspect I'm going to get more and more junk calls as news travels that I have a new phone. So much for privacy!

Would this help?

Fed up with getting nuisance calls from telemarketers or your ex-boyfriend? You can automatically block unwanted calls.

- In Samsung's (this will vary slightly, depending on your Android phone) , open the Phone app and tap Call Settings > Call Rejection > Auto Reject List.

- In iOS 8, go to Settings > Phone > Blocked, or go to your list of recent calls, click on the ?Info? button next to the number and then scroll down to "Block this caller".

Not needed here.

Four cell phones in the house and none get unwanted calls. Maybe one in a year. It is still illegal to call for telemarketing.

Per bill ashford:

I have heard good things about a service called NoMoRobo, but it requires that you phone service support something called "Simultaneous Ring". We have the most el-cheapo basic phone service and I am too cheap to pay more, so I do not have experience.

Another option (which I am toying with) is going over to a VOIP provider for phone service.

I already have all outgoing, except 800, calls going out on VOIP.

If I were to switch the incoming over, I could use a service provided by my VOIP provider (CallCentric.com) that prefixes every incoming call (except those on a GoldList that I maintain) with an announcement like "Please press 3 to talk with somebody...".

I figure robocallers won't be able to deal with that challenge-response situation... at least for a few years.

If you have digital voice through Verizon, go to NOMOROBO.com and sign up.. No charge and they are very good in blocking calls.. I've been using them 2 years and they work great..

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