Cheap landline service - for the whole house

[CALL 911]

I have a problem I haven't been able to solve on my own, thus I turn to the collective wisdom of the mustachians!

I have a house. It used to have a $45/month landline. It worked great! Every phone would ring. Every phone would call. I never used it to call. Nobody I knew used to call it (though it did ring several times a day - "No, I don't want to buy whatever crap it is you're selling")

So I turned it off. Yay!

Sort of. For a variety of reasons, I'd like to get some VoIP service at the house. But I want it to be crazy cheap. I don't need a Cadillac system. A scooter system would work.

The catch is, I want one system to run ALL of the jacks. Magic Jack needs one per phone. Ooma is expensive. An Obihai might work - I just can't figure out if it will.

I read a good part of the communications superthread, and don't see a solution.

I'm thinking one box connecting the router to the phone wall jack. The box will have enough juice to run ~6 phone lines throughout the house - you know, just like Ma Bell did. I don't need 6 people on the same call, but I want 6 phones ringing, or the ability to use any of the six to call for pizza, using one VoIP account.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[Daley]

The problem with the forum-based version of the guide is that a lot has been trimmed in order to make it fit, including a lot of useful links. The unabridged guide on my site tends to be a bit more useful, but for your case specifically, I think this is what you're after:

VoIP and the return of the home phone

Goes into detail over exactly what you're wanting to do. Also of value will be this old wiring guide:

How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home

...and finally, for what it's worth: [Future9] Introducing Future 5 - unlimited* service for $5/mo ($60/year).

F9 doesn't have quite all the bells and whistles that a lot of other open standards based VoIP providers have, but they seem to get the job done. The only things I miss with them is global call hunt and anonymous call block. If these are non-negotiables, look into VOIPo or one of the other recommended providers.

[CALL 911]

I am very glad you replied.
I kinda hoped you were out there, since you're the resident expert in all things telephony!

I've read both of your links. This is RIGHT in my wheelhouse. It's absolutely what I was seeking. You're the best!

Thank you!

[Daley]

De nada, al lo davar, etc.

Glad to help, and good luck. :)

[CALL 911]

Just felt like updating the mustachians. The above links were enormously helpful. The system is up and running with an Obihai Obi200 with Google voice. 3 phones are functional.

Thanks again for the help I.P. Daley!

[zolotiyeruki]

FWIW, we use Ooma, and I just use the existing telephone wiring in the house for the extensions.  Just unplug it at the demarcation point (the box outside your house where the telco's wiring comes in), and run a regular telephone cable from your Ooma to a nearby phone jack.

[AnotherFI_IT_Guy]

Just wanted to say that I followed I.P. Daley's advice to do exactly this a few months ago.  I went with VOIPo.com and it has worked perfectly.  Transferred my existing home phone number too.  And, their web interface has lots of great functionality, like making it very easy to block the number for recent callers, and the ability to report an unwanted callers phone numbers to a shared telemarketer block list.

[Daley]

Glad it worked out and was able to help, CALL 911 and AnotherFI_IT_Guy!

FWIW, we use Ooma, and I just use the existing telephone wiring in the house for the extensions.  Just unplug it at the demarcation point (the box outside your house where the telco's wiring comes in), and run a regular telephone cable from your Ooma to a nearby phone jack.

Ooma is not a great deal compared to the alternatives available. Sorry. The math and the features plus the overpriced proprietary hardware and high costs for features that other VoIP providers provide for free such as number porting and functional caller ID just doesn't add up. There is considerably better for the money.

[zolotiyeruki]

Ooma is not a great deal compared to the alternatives available. Sorry. The math and the features plus the overpriced proprietary hardware and high costs for features that other VoIP providers provide for free such as number porting and functional caller ID just doesn't add up. There is considerably better for the money.

No argument there, I was just pointing out that it's possible to use the existing phone wiring in the house with a VoIP device.

[Daley]

No argument there, I was just pointing out that it's possible to use the existing phone wiring in the house with a VoIP device.

Cool, and absolutely. I've used a lot of words teaching others how to do exactly that over the years, myself.