Communications & Tech - The ISP, VoIP and Cellphone Superguide

[engineerjourney]

Does anyone know anything about Blu cell phones? 

Blu is a newer company, mostly focusing on the Latin American market. Usually a company's lower-end handsets can reflect their higher-end model quality. They're not terrible, but they're not great either... maybe a notch or two above something no-name off of DealExtreme. Think low-end boutique phones. I want to like them, but they need to improve their support, documentation, and quality control a bit more first.

Thanks! I think I am going to give them a try through a reputable dealer so I can always return them if they dont work.  I will let you know how it goes.  I will work with not terrible at that price.  Since I haven't shopped for a cell phone in over 6 years I had no idea how expensive they all were!  Crazy!

[adam]

Check this shit out:
Go into Netflix and search for "example short 23.976". It will tell you what bit rate and resolution you're getting from Netflix through your isp. In my case, my 25mbps Connection through Comcast provides 235kbps at 320x240 resolution. It doesn't look good on a 65 in TV. Time for a new isp.


I was guessing before at 240.  Turns out I was right.  This is some bullshit.  It took us an hour and 45 minutes to watch one episode of Breaking Bad tonight because of all the buffering.  We just got back from a cabin on the side of the mountain in Asheville with a ~1mbps internet connection and we were able to watch the previous episode in full HD.

I don't want to go back to AT&T DSL, but this is ridiculous.

[yipihiho]

Just wanted to share I successfully upgraded all our AT&T iPhone 4S to iOS 7.0.4 and ported them to Airvoice with MMS and data working on both their $10 and $30 plans.  As an added step, I set up a voip.ms account and have been able to place calls to normal phones from a VoIP app on the iPhone at very low cost: 1c a minute in 6-second increments to the US all without the need for a monthly plan.  With Caller ID set to the mobile number used to reach the iPhone, the people I call don't even need to know I am using VoIP and they would hardly be able to tell as voice quality is top notch, I think better than what AT&T can deliver.  Very happy with this new set up!  Would recommend voip.ms whose customer service has so far be courteous and helpful.  voip.ms is so good, I am now considering perhaps switching from the $10 monthly plan on AW to their pay as you go since I'm most often behind WiFi...

I.P., I recall reading from you that you recommended Kik or perhaps Gliph for texting as the size of the messages is lower than that of apps like iMessage or Facebook.  How did you come to this conclusion? Is there a link you could provide to a survey of message sizes across text apps?

[Daley]

I.P., I recall reading from you that you recommended Kik or perhaps Gliph for texting as the size of the messages is lower than that of apps like iMessage or Facebook.  How did you come to this conclusion? Is there a link you could provide to a survey of message sizes across text apps?

Haven't recommended Gliph (any app cashing in on bitcoin can go take a flying leap in my book). As for the Kik/XMS recommendations, they're built off of the disclosed data usage statements by their respective programmers. Kik's can be found here, Ebuddy has dropped their Zendesk accounts and I can't find the pages cached for it or XMS data usage. Both cited roughly 1-2KB per average text message, which works out to around 500-1000 per MB. I had confirmed that data usage under Android using Onavo and both apps had minimal idle traffic as both are push notification based. Nimbuzz has publicly stated they use Zlib for data compression on most platforms (it was a big deal when they finally implemented it for Symbian) and has even estimated their own average SMS message size at roughly 250 bytes. Other XMPP based applications using compression have shown similar numbers.

However, this is not true with all text replacement apps. Google Voice used to eat close to 100k per message and do a lot of background data, however I don't know if that's held true for Hangouts. Some are more efficient than others, but I mostly base my recommendations off of terms of service, privacy policy, and security history so long as you're able to get at least a couple hundred texts through under a MB of data and it doesn't eat up data sitting in the background.

[BearDown]

Anyone know if there's any forums dedicated to Future9? Posts are a little sparse on DSLReports (most seem to be from 2009) and I'm not entirely sure how this works. Links to website discussing Future9 in more depth would be appreciated as well.

How I understand though is, I set up an account with them and get a number, buy one of those ATA things, set it up, and then I'm good to go?

Also, is there potential for savings outside of just making/receiving calls from home?

[Daley]

Anyone know if there's any forums dedicated to Future9? Posts are a little sparse on DSLReports (most seem to be from 2009) and I'm not entirely sure how this works. Links to website discussing Future9 in more depth would be appreciated as well.

How I understand though is, I set up an account with them and get a number, buy one of those ATA things, set it up, and then I'm good to go?

Also, is there potential for savings outside of just making/receiving calls from home?

I'm still running F9 myself, what other information do you need to know? I'll do what I can to share.

As to the first question, pretty much. Buy an ATA, set up an F9 account with new number if need be, set it up, and off you go. That said, depending on your expected usage and feature needs, don't forget to give the other VoIP providers a look as well.

The last question, I'm not sure I follow on what you're asking. Being able to make and receive calls from home via a VoIP provider is basically just that. I recommend this route for most people's phone calls because it's far cheaper per minute than mobile phone service, and most people use their mobile phones to talk to other people the most when they're stationary at home.

[madage]

So I upgraded my phone on Republic to the MotoX....and less than 24 hours after activating it (played with it unactivated for a few days) managed to completely destroy the screen after dropping it 3 feet.

I'm not advocating Republic as a service provider in any way, but if you bought your phone with a credit card, check to see if it offers purchase protection. You may be able to get a statement credit for the cost of the phone.

[Daley]

Also, I had logged into personal accounts (including my bank) from the MotoX before I broke it, and by destroyed I mean no part of the screen works at all so I have no way to reset to factory (as far as I know....), what's the best way to get rid of it safely?

Does the screen still at least display anything? If it does, you can at least do an external factory reset. I did a little searching and found this:

• With the phone powered off, press the VOL DOWN KEY for 2-3 seconds then POWER key then release.
• The device will display different BOOT OPTIONS.
• Use the VOL DOWN Key to SCROLL to Recovery and VOL UP Key to select Tip: If the device reboots, you may have waited to long to make a selection, you will need to begin the process again.
• The device will display the Motorola logo and then the Android in distress ( logo with Exclamation mark).
• Press and hold the VOL UP key for 10-15 seconds. While still holding the VOL UP key tap and release the POWER key. Tip: You can try this step, holding the phone in landscape. If you are stuck on step 6, try a force reboot by pressing the Power key and Vol Down key, and start the process again.
• The device will display additional menu options (Text will appear in BLUE)
• Use the VOL DOWN Key to scroll to Wipe data / factory reset and the POWER Key to select this option.
• Use the VOL DOWN key again to select YES – delete all user data and press the POWER key to CONFIRM.
• Once the Formatting is complete, press the POWER key to confirm a REBOOT.
• The device will reboot and start the normal power up sequence.

As for a Page Plus-friendly smartphone, my first and most obvious question is, do you need Verizon coverage specifically? If AT&T GSM coverage is an option, it might be worth it to go the Airvoice (or possibly H2O) route instead with a GSM handset... what you might lose in quantity of service for the money, you'll gain with a far greater flexibility in device choices that better suit your needs. If you need to go with Verizon specifically, understand that Page Plus can only activate postpaid non-LTE Verizon handsets which haven't really been sold for a long time in smartphone configurations, or Page Plus specific devices. That said, the easiest path with least resistance might just be to go through Kitty Wireless for their $90 Huawai 881C (Ascend Plus).

Do smart phones generally have to option to turn off cellular data? Is that something I need to be careful of while I'm shopping?

Yes, you can always turn off mobile data entirely under Android, and you should also have the option for more fine-grained control with other apps if necessary.

[geekette]

Having trouble with VoIPo for the last bit.  Or maybe it's our ISP, who knows. 

We've had VoIPo since late October/early November with no real problems.  Now we're getting sporadic dropped calls (twice today - just turns to a busy signal), and occasionally one sided garbled calls.  Another odd thing I've just figured out is that it will "ring" up to three times before the ring sound changes and it actually IS ringing on the other end (7 rings instead of 4 before their answering machine picks up).

It's been hooked into our home wiring all this time (disconnected at the bridge outside the house, just like with Vonage).  VoIPo, in their customer service chat, recommended to NOT use the house wiring, but to buy new remote phones, which I am loathe to do, seeing as we did this port to save money.

At any rate, he "updated the firmware" and said perhaps that would help. 

I haven't found anything in the VoIPo forums regarding dropped calls going to busy signal, and only scattered mentions of dropped calls on DSL reports. 

Any other VoIPo users having similar problems lately? 

[Daley]

Geekette, try running a few tests here, here and here. I suspect there may be noise on the lines and you may have to yell at your ISP. To help leverage that yelling or noise line issue diagnosis, you might want to take advantage of this tool as well, it should help isolate whether it's line noise or over-sold bandwidth or routing issues on the ISP end.

Also, it might not hurt to try and run all those things without your router in place as well, just in case it might be the cause. Just be sure to fully patch your OS and use a software firewall like Comodo first.

Don't worry about the wiring in the house, that's not going to impact the end you're having trouble with, and the VOIPo folks just say that to reduce support issues and ensure your device won't get fried. If you've got the wiring disconnected at the DMARC and properly tagged as such with equipment warnings in the box for the phone company to see, you should be fine.

As for the additional rings, that's something a lot of ATAs will do if there's handshake/connectivity delays... the ATA will ring like it's connecting while the actual connection is still being negotiated so you don't just get dead air and wonder if the call is going through.

[geekette]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I've forwarded the info to the tech half of this household.

[SweetLife]

My question is ... Tango uses our wi-fi ... but does it also use up the minutes on his phone? I know it shouldn't be using data (I think ) but last month we were charged $10 for going over data ... I am confused.

Tango can potentially use mobile data if you don't turn mobile data off while on WiFi, and it might not hurt to make sure it's not running in the background eating up data while out of the house. Best bet would be to simply restrict data access of the Tango app to WiFi only if you have the option.

Thanks IP Daley!!! I will try and figure out the Tango side ... I had to take it off of my cell as it was interfering with all of my other apps (really really annoying lol)

[johnsonran]

Hello,

Is there a easier way to get or sort version of current comparable frugal plans? This thread is ginormous and is years old since its start and it is a bit overwhelming.

What is the cheapest cell phone plan that offers lots of data that is 3G or faster preferably a BYOD that plays nice with AT&T iPhones. I would even change phones if needed. I am in the center of a major metro (Phoenix)

I manage my whole life on the phone and have no home phone, computer, laptop or anything else.

Just looking for options to the $90 I pay AT&T monthly. Data is pretty much all I want. Minutes and text limitations I can adjust to.

[Daley]

Is there a easier way to get or sort version of current comparable frugal plans?

There's an updated version of the guide here, but the guide itself is built upon the restraint of consumption (especially data, as it's the most expensive portion of mobile communications) and the pursuit of the best quality for the money spent. If you genuinely want to save a significant amount of money over what you're spending currently, you're going to have to revisit and completely change your approach to communications. If you refuse to give up your current approach, then you're simply going to have to accept the price you're paying as the cost of that approach.

Also, even with its age, the better providers are still the better providers for the most part.

[Paul der Krake]

Is there a easier way to get or sort version of current comparable frugal plans? This thread is ginormous and is years old since its start and it is a bit overwhelming.

It's nowhere near the level of detail of IP's guide, but this page at prepaidphonenews.com has table for comparing plans (and pay-as-you-go) of all the major MVNOs at a glance.

[Daley]

Is there a easier way to get or sort version of current comparable frugal plans? This thread is ginormous and is years old since its start and it is a bit overwhelming.

It's nowhere near the level of detail of IP's guide, but this page at prepaidphonenews.com has table for comparing plans (and pay-as-you-go) of all the major MVNOs at a glance.

Good idea, Paul. Here's Dennis Bournique's guide on the data usage end as well, which illustrates my point on why I recommend scaling back on data usage in the first place and said what I did about just accepting the price you're paying for the service you're receiving if you're unwilling to change.

[Daley]

Attention

After nearly two years... it's time for a bit of change and structured improvement. The original Superguide here will be locked to discussion, but fear not! In it's place, we have the new and improved abridged Son of the Superguide, as well as it's own dedicated discussion thread!

Of course, the guide posted here is only an abridged and shortened version of the new for 2014 Daley’s Frugal Communications Guide, which is a far more complete and detailed version of the information over at Technical Meshugana. I'd love to post the entire guide here, but at over 23,000 words across all the sub-topics, it would just be too massive a wall of text to present in a forum. As it is, the new guide at only six posts is still huge.

Anyway, why split the new guide apart and separate discussion? Because more and more frequently, people found the guide to be overwhelming despite the core only being seven posts due to the length of the subsequent discussion. Again, this is a limitation of doing this in the forums... so, adapt for the environment and all that jazz.

New Superguide Index
Introduction
Internet Service Providers
Cell Phone Providers
Home Telephone Providers
Home Entertainment
Closing & FAQ

Superguide Discussion Thread

The Unabridged Daley’s Frugal Communications Guide

Thanks for everything, hope to see you in the new threads, and here's to even more savings for the community than before!