Tried it, but going back to landline

Summiteer · Post by **Summiteer** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 4:46 pm

I really liked the idea of MJ and eventually canceled my landline and went all in. My experience: There are times when MJ works fine--good quality and service. But there are other times it's quirky. There seems to be a split-second delay during many conversations. Sometimes I'll hear the other party and they won't hear me. Other times I get complaints from the person I'm talking to about me "breaking up." Occasionally, there are random beeps on the other end of a call. Voicemail is kinda weird. The bottom line is that my experience has been spotty and made me long for the dependable, predictable ol' landline. My wife, particularly, found herself defaulting to the cell phone for important calls that she couldn't afford to have get screwed up. I'm disappointed, but not mad. It was worth a try, and we'll keep it for those times we're on the road. In the end, MJ was too finicky for me to be thoroughly satisfied. The reasons? Can't really say. I have a fast internet connection and a new computer that's hard-wired to the modem, so I can't be sure why our experience was unreliable. Wish it had been different. We were able to get our old number back, so I'm going with a bare-bones phone service linked with Google Voice.

cell14 · Post by **cell14** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:16 pm

I have a fast internet connection and a new computer that's hard-wired to the modem, so I can't be sure why our experience was unreliable.

The problem is most likely your internet connection, which is at times much worse than it should be or as the provider promised you.
People who have Verizon wireless or other "friends and family " type calling circles can program their Google Voice number as one of them and get the least expensive plan and do unlimited calling through Google Voice from their cell phone(s)

speaker2112 · Post by **speaker2112** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:12 pm

Just to clarify, to make calls via Google Voice from the cell phone, you need to be at a computer to initiate the call through Google Voice which then rings your cell phone and destination number, correct?

Darkman90808 · Post by **Darkman90808** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:35 pm

you need to be at a computer to initiate the call through Google Voice which then rings your cell phone and destination number, correct?

Not necessarily. I use an app on my Samsung Omnia: GV Dialer.

http://www.gvdialer.com/

It will dial out from your phone with your GV# showing as the CID to the receiving party. The other way, would be to go to google.com/voice/ from your phone's browser and dial out from there, but that's really just a variation on dialing out from your desktop, IMO.

GVDialer is $9.95 after the trial period. There's another dialer that's free but I ponied up the dough because it works seamless with the phone's voice commands.

Darkman90808 · Post by **Darkman90808** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:41 pm

Aacchhhhh! Apparently, I posted too soon! GVDialer is no longer being supported or offered. Too bad! really enjoy it.

http://blog.gvdialer.com/

Nobody beats the Whiz! · Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:02 pm

speaker2112 wrote:Just to clarify, to make calls via Google Voice from the cell phone, you need to be at a computer to initiate the call through Google Voice which then rings your cell phone and destination number, correct?

No. You can dial your GV number using your cell. Then when the VM answers, press 2 (? I believe) to make an outgoing call using your GV number.

Darkman90808 · Post by **Darkman90808** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:11 pm

You can dial your GV number using your cell. Then when the VM answers, press 2 (? I believe) to make an outgoing call using your GV number.

Good point. I forgot about that since I've gotten spoiled with my little app.

speaker2112 · Post by **speaker2112** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:37 pm

Nice, but if you pay by the minute on your cell plan as I do (prepaid plan) then there is no money savings going through Google Voice. Is that correct?

Is the only reason you guys are calling out via Google Voice is to have the GV shown on caller ID, or are there other reasons?

Nobody beats the Whiz! · Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:56 pm

speaker2112 wrote:Nice, but if you pay by the minute on your cell plan as I do (prepaid plan) then there is no money savings going through Google Voice. Is that correct?

Is the only reason you guys are calling out via Google Voice is to have the GV shown on caller ID, or are there other reasons?

They were talking about adding their GV number to the Friends and Family list. That way, all their calls through GV do not use minutes.

That disqualifies prepaid plans, of course.

speaker2112 · Post by **speaker2112** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:11 pm

Gotcha Whiz.

I justed pmdump'd MJ to find my proxy and discovered my packets go from Boston to Chicago to New York and back to Boston to connect to MJ's proxy and vms servers. Seems likes a ridiculous route since I'm physically located about 15 minutes from Boston by car!

Tracing route to proxy01.boston.talk4free.com [216.234.66.8]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 8 ms 7 ms 9 ms ge-3-21-ur01.needham.ma.boston.comcast.net [68.85.160.149]
3 8 ms 6 ms 7 ms te-7-1-ur02.needham.ma.boston.comcast.net [68.87.145.166]
4 18 ms 8 ms 13 ms te-0-11-0-0-ar01.woburn.ma.boston.comcast.net [68.87.145.169]
5 41 ms 40 ms 39 ms pos-2-4-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.5]
6 39 ms 51 ms 53 ms xe-10-0-0.edge1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.71.248.29]
7 39 ms 39 ms 39 ms vlan52.ebr2.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.69.138.190]
8 40 ms 49 ms 54 ms ae-5.ebr2.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.140.193]
9 42 ms 39 ms 47 ms ae-23-54.car3.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.68.101.103]
10 41 ms 39 ms 40 ms XO-COMMUNIC.car3.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.71.100.46]
11 80 ms 79 ms 82 ms vb2001.rar3.nyc-ny.us.xo.net [207.88.13.10]
12 79 ms 79 ms 82 ms 65.106.1.93.ptr.us.xo.net [65.106.1.93]
13 88 ms 86 ms 86 ms p0-0-0d0.mar2.cambridge-ma.us.xo.net [65.106.3.18]
14 85 ms 83 ms 84 ms 207.88.86.158.ptr.us.xo.net [207.88.86.158]
15 88 ms 85 ms 110 ms 66.237.160.154.ptr.us.xo.net [66.237.160.154]
16 85 ms 84 ms 84 ms proxy01.boston.talk4free.com [216.234.66.8]

Trace complete.

Tracing route to vms03.boston.talk4free.com [216.234.66.14]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 16 ms 9 ms 7 ms ge-3-21-ur01.needham.ma.boston.comcast.net [68.85.160.149]
3 9 ms 12 ms 10 ms te-1-2-0-2-ar01.needham.ma.boston.comcast.net [68.87.145.161]
4 10 ms 10 ms 9 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.woburn.ma.boston.comcast.net [68.85.162.146]
5 39 ms 39 ms 39 ms pos-2-5-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.1]
6 38 ms 39 ms 41 ms xe-9-3-0.edge1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.71.248.21]
7 39 ms 41 ms 42 ms vlan51.ebr1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.69.138.158]
8 49 ms 39 ms 50 ms ae-6.ebr1.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.140.189]
9 40 ms 40 ms 42 ms ae-13-51.car3.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.68.101.7]
10 39 ms 39 ms 39 ms XO-COMMUNIC.car3.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.71.100.46]
11 80 ms 80 ms 82 ms vb2001.rar3.nyc-ny.us.xo.net [207.88.13.10]
12 171 ms 80 ms 79 ms 65.106.1.93.ptr.us.xo.net [65.106.1.93]
13 87 ms 84 ms 97 ms p0-0-0d0.mar2.cambridge-ma.us.xo.net [65.106.3.18]
14 85 ms 85 ms 84 ms 207.88.86.158.ptr.us.xo.net [207.88.86.158]
15 96 ms 85 ms 86 ms 66.237.160.154.ptr.us.xo.net [66.237.160.154]
16 84 ms 86 ms 85 ms vms03.boston.talk4free.com [216.234.66.14]

Trace complete.

Just as a test I did a trace to MJ's Chicago's server and still got 15 hops.

I'd like to know if people are getting similar hop counts and having consistently good quality calls with MJ? Thanks!

cell14 · Post by **cell14** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 9:13 pm

That disqualifies prepaid plans, of course.

There are some prepaid plans with a favorite number.

Darkman90808 · Post by **Darkman90808** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:34 pm

Is the only reason you guys are calling out via Google Voice is to have the GV shown on caller ID, or are there other reasons?

It's one of my main reasons, but there are others. GV stores your voice mail so you can access them from your desktop, forward them via email, etc. You can also create different messages for individuals or groups. I use my phone for business and personal calls, so I have a group of work related numbers that answers with my company name and so on, while some of my friends get a different message with some levity.

Also, since GV will ring the phones you set up simultaneously, it's a nice way to keep my cell phone open if I'm waiting for a call, while I call out on another line. To me, it's a lot of small things that add up to a nice package.

speaker2112 · Post by **speaker2112** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:28 am

thx Darkman.

If I want to make cheap calls over a standard landline instead of MJ, I think I could do the following - but please people tell me if this would make sense.

A. order cheapest landline plan available in my area (ie. Verizon has a $2.99/month plan here - http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/Ho ... stance.htm) and obtain landline phone number

B. register landline number with Google Voice

C. whenever I want to make calls from my landline, initiate them through the online GV interface and have it link to my landline (and then call the number I want to connect to) - if I understand correctly this will be an incoming call to my landline and therefore will cost nothing extra

Is this a viable plan? Am I overlooking anything?

Thanks.

cell14 · Post by **cell14** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:49 pm

order cheapest landline plan available in my area (ie. Verizon has a $2.99/month plan here

Sounds too good to be true. We do not have Verizon here, but the 'new' ATT and with all taxes, fees and surcharges the bare bone land line costs $ 25.-. That's why I got rid off it, not because I love MJ or any other VOIP.

speaker2112 · Post by **speaker2112** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:31 am

cell14 wrote:
order cheapest landline plan available in my area (ie. Verizon has a $2.99/month plan here
Sounds too good to be true. We do not have Verizon here, but the 'new' ATT and with all taxes, fees and surcharges the bare bone land line costs $ 25.-. That's why I got rid off it, not because I love MJ or any other VOIP.

Yeah, you're right. I called Verizon and found out the minimum charge for a phone number with dial tone would be about $24, which is roughly $16 for the basic service and $8 for surcharges, taxes and fees. And this is without making any outgoing calls either! With this plan, every call is extra.

To get unlimited nationwide calling it's minimum $48/month, and that's w/o any extras like call-waiting, caller-ID, etc... You just reminded me why I'm not getting a landline. Even if MJ isn't always perfect, it's very good value for the price - as long as I can make most calls problem-free.

Darkman90808 · Post by **Darkman90808** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 11:28 am

A. order cheapest landline plan available in my area (ie. Verizon has a $2.99/month plan here - http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/Ho ... stance.htm) and obtain landline phone number

B. register landline number with Google Voice

C. whenever I want to make calls from my landline, initiate them through the online GV interface and have it link to my landline (and then call the number I want to connect to) - if I understand correctly this will be an incoming call to my landline and therefore will cost nothing extra

Although I agree, it does sound too good to be true, your plan should work. However, when I looked at the plan, they're also charging .08/minute direct dialed calls. As long as you initiate them through the online GV interface as you said, you should be good to go, except that can be a pain if you're doing any serious calling. If it's just for the occasional call to the family, you should be fine.

However, the alternative I chose (thanks sabresfan!) is to set up an account with sipgate, use my GV number as my outgoing CID and call out for .02/min. It's still within the tolerance of pain and I have the convenience of using my phone to dial out. Also, no recurring charges, along with tax, license and dealer prep to the bastids at Verizon.

Whatever floats your boat.... (I find myself using a lot of water related cliches and metaphors lately with all the rain we've been having.)

speaker2112 · Post by **speaker2112** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:49 pm

Darkman90808 wrote:
A. order cheapest landline plan available in my area (ie. Verizon has a $2.99/month plan here - http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/Ho ... stance.htm) and obtain landline phone number

B. register landline number with Google Voice

C. whenever I want to make calls from my landline, initiate them through the online GV interface and have it link to my landline (and then call the number I want to connect to) - if I understand correctly this will be an incoming call to my landline and therefore will cost nothing extra
Although I agree, it does sound too good to be true, your plan should work. However, when I looked at the plan, they're also charging .08/minute direct dialed calls. As long as you initiate them through the online GV interface as you said, you should be good to go, except that can be a pain if you're doing any serious calling. If it's just for the occasional call to the family, you should be fine.

However, the alternative I chose (thanks sabresfan!) is to set up an account with sipgate, use my GV number as my outgoing CID and call out for .02/min. It's still within the tolerance of pain and I have the convenience of using my phone to dial out. Also, no recurring charges, along with tax, license and dealer prep to the bastids at Verizon.

Whatever floats your boat.... (I find myself using a lot of water related cliches and metaphors lately with all the rain we've been having.)

sipgate looks interesting Darkman - I'm gonna check it out.

btw, does this mean your MJ is not generally involved in your calls?