any company have a better deal than Vonage?

i just need the bare minimum 500 min/mo plan

hell, if anyone has less minutes for less money that'd work too

and magicjack is a no-go since the computer needs to constantly be on

10/3/2008 5:56:57 PM

well for any SIP voip provider you can buy a SIP hardware phone and plug it into your network. it is then not dependent on your computer being on, just your internet connection.

10/3/2008 6:05:01 PM

but magic jack...is soooooo cheap!

10/3/2008 6:05:43 PM

Have you looked into buying a Skype branded phone? I have a Netgear SPH101 that connects to any Wi-Fi signal and lets you use Skype. Never had any major issues with it. $5 a month gets you unlimted incoming and outgoing calls or if you hardly use it then they have a pay as you go 2 cents a minute outgoing plan.

I bought a Netgear SPH200D as well which looked and felt more like a "real phone" but it had to keep being rebooted every day or two so I returned it. Maybe I got a bad one, but I didn't feel like getting another one to find out.

10/3/2008 6:13:19 PM

magicjack ftw!

10/3/2008 8:47:43 PM

^^think such a thing would work with an alarm system?

10/3/2008 10:08:49 PM

I doubt it.

10/3/2008 11:27:01 PM

^^i know that even vonage doesn't work with my parents alarm it seems they can only have actual land based lines that will work

If you want it to work with an alarm you should call your provider i bet they know what will and won't work

10/4/2008 12:50:48 AM

packet8.net

[Edited on October 4, 2008 at 10:01 AM. Reason : I don't think any voip phones would work for an alarm as they dont have 911 access]

10/4/2008 10:00:19 AM

alarm systems do not call 911

im not familiar with skype service, but a linksys pap adapter or cisco ata should work fine with your alarm system, just confirm with an analog line first

10/4/2008 11:20:12 AM

my alarm system calls the alarm company

that's really all i need out of it

[Edited on October 4, 2008 at 4:05 PM. Reason : doesn't need 911]

10/4/2008 4:05:06 PM

Quote :

"i know that even vonage doesn't work with my parents alarm it seems they can only have actual land based lines that will work"

Do you know this because they tried it, or because that's what someone told you. Because I was told that I couldn't use my cell phone on the gate system at an apartment I used to stay at, but I gave them my cell number anyway and it worked just fine.

Granted, this is an entirely different system, I'm just saying sometimes what "they" tell you isn't always correct.

Quote :

"my alarm system calls the alarm company"

Do you mean you plug it into a wall jack and it dials out itself? If so, then yeah, you're not gonna be able to get skype to work. What's wrong with using a crappy old pc in the closet and using a magicjack? Or find a used mac mini for a couple hundred bucks?

10/4/2008 4:20:20 PM

Or you could build a Skype server and plug it into your home wiring.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8592

10/4/2008 4:53:11 PM

skype is for europeans

10/4/2008 5:23:49 PM

not to highjack the thread

but i was thinking about alarms and how they call the alarm company

i have a multitude of ideas for a completely integrated/automated home, but this is the one sticking point

why cant the alarm system call 911 with a prerecorded message about the event in question, and is there a standard for sending them data once they answer the call?

10/4/2008 5:34:25 PM

Why would the alarm system call 911?

99% of the calls the alarm system makes are false alarms

10/4/2008 5:50:18 PM

to avoid paying the monthly monitoring charge

ie, your system shits itself, you get a text message, and then you text back call or not depending on the event

[Edited on October 4, 2008 at 6:28 PM. Reason : 

10/4/2008 6:25:55 PM

Its like a cell phone, they make their money from the monitoring service, not the actual equipment they install - that is usually free or highly discounted with contract

10/4/2008 6:43:59 PM

i know for a fact vonage will work with it

i'm just trying to find potentially cheaper alternatives

10/4/2008 10:39:17 PM

look at http://www.phone.com looks cheap if you want them all and reviews go to

http://www.voipreview.org and look through them yourself im to lazy to do it

[Edited on October 5, 2008 at 10:39 AM. Reason : red reviews]

[Edited on October 5, 2008 at 10:42 AM. Reason : *]

10/5/2008 10:36:02 AM