Thanks for the info.

Here is a quick update.

My no cost google voice has been working great so far. Yes I had to buy the hardware $37.99 shipped but no go forward cost.

They have a feature to be able to block known scammers. I enabled this and have not received one sales or scammer call since. This is a great feature.

Ditto Ooma.

But it is interesting that you bring this up, because my motive for going with IP phone was not cost (which was too high) but the incessant sales/scam calls which were making me miserable. I was getting maybe six call / day.

I even complained to my state communication board and discovered that they were powerless to do anything about it.

More ominous was the phone company, itself. They would track numbers for a per-call charge. Even they said it probably wouldn't help because the numbers were spoofed.

BUT THEY HAD A SERVICE WHICH COST ALMOST AS MUCH AS MY PHONE SERVICE THAT WOULD ELIMINATE THESE ANNOYING CALLS.

Around this time, I read that the phone company sells user information. So they were working it from both ends, selling user phone numbers to sales/scam callers, AND charging customers to make it stop.

Since the telecom companies make huge contributions to politicians, and our country is corrupt beyond measure, we are left to wave in the wind.

Then came smaller VOIP companies. Like Ooma, and the others... less cost, less agony.

We have many options:

http://www.voipsupply.com/voip-adapters

-AC

I do this same thing without any dedicated hardware, except what I already own. At home, I use Google+ and messenger to make free calls using computers. The older desktops all have phone modems to rig a handset to if you want to. I use a headset or hands-free setup on the laptop or tablet most of the time anyway. Works with my home TV / internet service with no additional charges.

Cable companies offer "value added service" through their set-top boxes (VOIP and piggyback WiFi on the go), but it isn't free. If you have internet service, for a small fee they will make millions of other people's set-top boxes into available access points you can connect through. The cable companies are striking deals with each other, so depending on your provider, you may be able to get wifi from a different company's subscriber's box. All kinds of communications companies everywhere are also offering personal hotspots that will also fall back on cell data if you go out of range of (preferred) wifi access. This stuff is pretty new and all sounds like some sort of scam to me, but it is cheaper than having a dedicated cell voice/data plan or contract if having live data always is a must.

With the cellphone, I do the same basic thing without cell service. 99.7% of everywhere I am, there is WiFi access available. The only exception to this is while I am driving between places, and even then, the fast food joints all have free WiFi access points to hop onto. When I am actually driving, I shouldn't be texting or on the phone anyway. I use Google messenger, Facebook messenger, and TextFree to communicate. My phone hasn't had cell voice or data activated much at all in the last few years. I use Boost, which is Sprint flavor, and have activated it a couple times going on trips. Yes, they still have minute plans, and I usually have to argue with the counter guy to pay less than a full month worth of access.

Not many people actually answer their phone calls nowadays. The majority of comms I make that are actually productive are over SMS or instant messaging services. I can text or message someone, see when the message got sent, and see when or if the message was viewed in pretty close to real time. To charge up with free call minutes, I play videos on textfree a couple times a day while watching TV or waiting in line somewhere.

OBI with Google Voice VOIP free service has been great no down time at all. Voice calls sound great just as good as before.
If I get a junk call I can go into the google voice app and block this call. Next time they call they get this phone has been disconnected.

This really cuts down on spam calls.
When I get a Voice mail it goes to mu cell phone I get alerted with the google voice app.
This free service is way more than I expected and we are very pleased with it.
We also just use the same phone we already had for our land line so this also saved money.

Been using the Obi box with Google voice for a few months now and the quality is the same at Comcast voice so far. Dumped the Comcast voice and kep the same number, though I had to port to a burner phone and then back to google voice, but it all works fine.

Pinball, Thanks again for starting this thread years ago. :thumbup: After my father passed away last year, I picked up an ObiHai200, borrowed an old unlocked cell from a friend and ported dad's phone through T-Mobile ($8 SIM + $3 Pay-Go plan) then ported it along to Google Voice for $20. After that if anyone called dad's old number, I could get the messages, but not pay a land line provider.

At my house, it took me quite some time to finally find an internet plan to replace my slow DSL connection my wife has despised for years. I picked up an internet only plan with the local cable provider (Comcast) for $30/mo that is way faster than our DSL ever was. At that point, keeping the land line phone was no longer a requirement. So, I ported my land line off to T-Mobile then over to Google Voice as I had done with my dad's phone.

As you said, this system just works. I have an Obihai 1032 on my desk at work, programmed with the Google Voice number I use for work, my old home number, my dad's old home number, and a google voice number we got for our farm in Maine. My only challenge recently has been that I want to port the straight talk cell we had been using in Maine to GV, but Google Voice has no more places to land ported numbers on their system in some area codes. :eek: I still need to decide what to do with that phone...

Good I am glad others are using it. I am still using the same OBI box with Google Voice VOIP free service that I post about in the first post. I am still very happy with it. Couple years later and under $38.
I get all the messages on my cell phone and I receive text on this number. That is very useful some people just think the can text any number. I will still get the text.

Still using the same phone setup. Recently had to get Voip phone with my new internet service. I just made a number for my now steel business and forward it to my old phone setup. Still free still working well.

The Ooma I got for my Daughter is still going. She's been using it a lot with the
current Work-at-home still in place here in MA.
I really hate this pandemic, but it's been pretty easy driving on the highways.
The gas stations are hurting. We gas up the Prius C about every 3 or 4 months.
It's only about 3 miles home from babysitting on weekdays, and sometimes, we make most of the trip on the battery. :)