OOMA - one time equipt cost, no monthly fee

[pmb1010]

Long time Vonage user. No troubles with it, my TimeWarner internet cable service has been very reliable. It does quit during power outage, but I have cell phones for that occurance. My TimeWarner specs at 10MB down, and 1MB up using the online speed test tools.

I bought an OOMA from Amazon the other day. Registered the MAC address online, picked a new number from my area code selection they showed. (it is possible to port numbers for a fee, but I didn't want to do this, If I keep OOMA I'll just continue to use the new number).

When I got home, I plugged it into my upstairs bedroom gigabit switch (3rd switch daisy chained from basement). Let it crank away configuring itself, get IP from my DHCP router. Indicator tab turned "blue" (a good thing). Plugged in a test phone, and damn there's a dial tone. Calls out & receives just fine. Quality is as good or even slightly better than Vonage. Came with another device called a Scout that gives 2nd line and a trial for $9.95/month add on additional services like 3 way calls, other perks. I will skip that, the out of the box capability with no monthly cost is good enough for the 2 of us.

During setup, it asks for address & stuff for 911 information. I don't know where it currently goes, something I'll test soon - call the local PD and tell them I'm calling 911 and to expect it (maybe).

Guess there's mixed results of using this with alarm systems or satellite services. I have neither, if you do you might want to consider that as a potential issue.

The other glitch is "Unlimited Calling". The real number number is 3000 minutes per month, which they say is loosely monitored for abuses by folks using these in call centers, etc. That's like 2 hours a day for a month. Not really too much if you had a daughter on the phone all the time. Maybe the 2nd line option doubles the minutes, not sure on that one.

So far, after a half dozen inbound and outbound calls, it seems quite good. Both OOMA and Vonage were on a call, I didn't notice anything weird. Internet still works while online.

Really, trying hard to find some faults but nothing is glaring out at this point.

Will report back after a couple weeks of use and see how it goes.

[Vitruvius]

PMB, The OOMA looks pretty promising. A couple of questions:
I think MagicJack has to be connected to an operational computer on the internet. Does OOMA?
I have Lingo, which is like Vonage. I have a Lingo Modem attached in sequence to my cable modem. Is OOMA like that?
I have disconnected the AT&T wiring from my house. I connected the output from the Lingo modem back into a house jack, and it feeds phone service to four phone outlets for me that way. The wiring was already there, and why not just re-use it. Do you think this is possible with the OOMA?

[pmb1010]

The OOMA is a standalone device, it requires nothing more than 110v power and the ethernet connection.
I know what you're talking about Majic Jack - and no this does not need any computer.

The OOMA device can be hooked up in 2 ways.
1) it is a DHCP & NAT device. They actually suggest that you hook it up inbetween your cable modem, and your inside computer network. It has a WAN port and LAN port. It will issue IP addresses and do NAT for your internal computers. It issues IP address in 172.27.35.x range.
This way it can ensure it gets the bandwidth it needs.

2) you can plug it into your network switch (like I have done). It will get an IP address 192.168.1.x just like any other computer in your network. It has a configuration page where you can set QOS that your router can use (if it's smart enough to handle QOS) to ensure OOMA gets the bandwith for good quality calls.

The reason I did number 2 is I want to control how things are routed in my network at home. My router is higher performance than the OOMA device.

Yes you can "back feed" your phone system wiring to all your phones. Works fine. You just want to make sure the phone line is disconnected at the port that goes outside - so you're not sending the dial tone back down the street.
If you have it working currently, you probably disconnected your house wiring from the landline provider already.

Theres a really good online forum that folks (sorta like here!) answer questions on the setup and use of this thing.
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