September 2007 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by John Stoffel

Frank> John Stoffel wrote: >> Hi, >> >> Anyone on here using Charter Telephone VOIP service? I've currently >> got Verizon, but the wife hates it because our phone lines get flaky >> all the time, esp when it rains. Frank> I use Charter VoIP server at home. Basically, unless you Frank> looked at where the wires ran or peeked at the bill, you'd Frank> never know that it wasn't a regular phone. Cool. Do you have also have Charter's high speed internet? I've got that currently and I run m0n0wall (http://m0n0.ch) as my firewall. So I've been surfing voip.com, vonage.com, voicepulse.com and other sites looking for any issues I need to think about. Mostly, as long at the phone doesn't annoy my wife, she won't care about it. :] Frank> There is one caveat with any VoIP service, which is that you Frank> need local battery backup for the equipment in your house. The Frank> VoIP box Charter provides includes a battery with (IIRC) about Frank> 8 hours standby or 3 hours talk time, but it's not a bad idea Frank> to back that up with a larger UPS. I've got a UPS at home and I guess I could run an extension cord from where the phone stuff would be to that location. Wouldn't be a problem... Thanks for the suggestion. John

Sept. 6, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by Brian Waite

On Wednesday 05 September 2007, Brett Russ wrote: > On 9/5/07, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: > > So I'm thinking to save money and combine all my stuff onto Charter. > > I've already got High Speed internet and regular old cable. Not wild > > about Digital Cable since I'm happy with Tivo and I don't want yet > > another set top box to have to deal with... > > I know nothing about Charter's VoIP because I use VoicePulse VoIP and > highly recommend it. Half the price of charter for the plan I use > ($15/mo) and I'm very happy especially with their service department. > If you have any problems you'll talk to and hear back from intelligent > service people who call and/or email you to discuss the issue. > > -BR > http://www.voicepulse.com/ > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug For VIOP alternatives check out GalaxyVoice. http://galaxyvoice.com For a MA phone number there is no montly fee and 60 mins free. The oer minute costs are free after that. Of course the features are all there too 3 way/call wait/caller ID/voicemail/hunt group/find me followme/etc Vmail is nice as you can setup an email with wav attachment I use it and am pretty happy. Thanks Brian

Sept. 6, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by Brett Russ

On 9/6/07, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: > Is Charter your internet provider? And of course, I don't want to > have happento me what happened to the people who used SunRocket Voip. > > Oh well... VoicePulse doesn't happen to be offered in Boylston yet. Charter provides my internet service. VoicePulse is available to anyone with broadband, what you may lack is availability of a local phone number. However, I plugged in 508-869-xxxx (Boylston) and they do offer local numbers in that exchange. That being said, I requested a Worcester exchange number because that makes it a local call for many more people to call me. I don't worry about bankruptcy, if anything happens (and there is no sign that it would) local number portability means I should be able to move to any other provider easily. -BR

Sept. 6, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by Frank Sweetser

John Stoffel wrote: > Hi, > > Anyone on here using Charter Telephone VOIP service? I've currently > got Verizon, but the wife hates it because our phone lines get flaky > all the time, esp when it rains. I use Charter VoIP server at home. Basically, unless you looked at where the wires ran or peeked at the bill, you'd never know that it wasn't a regular phone. There is one caveat with any VoIP service, which is that you need local battery backup for the equipment in your house. The VoIP box Charter provides includes a battery with (IIRC) about 8 hours standby or 3 hours talk time, but it's not a bad idea to back that up with a larger UPS. -- Frank Sweetser fs at wpi.edu | For every problem, there is a solution that WPI Senior Network Engineer | is simple, elegant, and wrong. - HL Mencken GPG fingerprint = 6174 1257 129E 0D21 D8D4 E8A3 8E39 29E3 E2E8 8CEC

Sept. 6, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by John Stoffel

Brett> On 9/5/07, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: >> So I'm thinking to save money and combine all my stuff onto Charter. >> I've already got High Speed internet and regular old cable. Not wild >> about Digital Cable since I'm happy with Tivo and I don't want yet >> another set top box to have to deal with... Brett> I know nothing about Charter's VoIP because I use VoicePulse Brett> VoIP and highly recommend it. Half the price of charter for Brett> the plan I use ($15/mo) and I'm very happy especially with Brett> their service department. If you have any problems you'll talk Brett> to and hear back from intelligent service people who call Brett> and/or email you to discuss the issue. Is Charter your internet provider? And of course, I don't want to have happento me what happened to the people who used SunRocket Voip. Oh well... VoicePulse doesn't happen to be offered in Boylston yet. John

Sept. 6, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by John Stoffel

>>>>> "Brains" == Brains <fmoody-ug-wlug(a)moodman.org> writes: Brains> John Stoffel wrote: >> Hi, >> >> Anyone on here using Charter Telephone VOIP service? I've currently >> got Verizon, but the wife hates it because our phone lines get flaky >> all the time, esp when it rains. >> >> So I'm thinking to save money and combine all my stuff onto Charter. >> I've already got High Speed internet and regular old cable. Not wild >> about Digital Cable since I'm happy with Tivo and I don't want yet >> another set top box to have to deal with... >> >> So, any horror stories about Charter Phone VOIP quality and service? >> >> Thanks, >> John Brains> I can't speak to the VOIP side of things, but I will Brains> say that I'm running my Series 1 Tivo with comcast digital Brains> cable. The thing that makes it mostly bearable is that I can Brains> use the data port instead of the IR blaster. Might see if Brains> that is an option for you if you end up going the digital Brains> cable route. I've got a series 2 box, with lifetime, so I'm really loathe to get rid of it until it goes up in flames. And since I *really* like the TiVo remote, I don't want to have to teach myself, wife and kid how to use yet another friggin TV doohickey. So to get this straight, you've got your TiVo plugged into the Charter Settop box and you can browse all the channels via the TiVo remote? Duh... I just re-read your reply and I see that you use comcast, not Charter. Sigh... now to find out what Charter uses. More googling I fear!

Sept. 6, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by Brett Russ

On 9/5/07, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: > So I'm thinking to save money and combine all my stuff onto Charter. > I've already got High Speed internet and regular old cable. Not wild > about Digital Cable since I'm happy with Tivo and I don't want yet > another set top box to have to deal with... I know nothing about Charter's VoIP because I use VoicePulse VoIP and highly recommend it. Half the price of charter for the plan I use ($15/mo) and I'm very happy especially with their service department. If you have any problems you'll talk to and hear back from intelligent service people who call and/or email you to discuss the issue. -BR http://www.voicepulse.com/

Sept. 6, 2007

Re: [Wlug] Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by Brains

John Stoffel wrote: > Hi, > > Anyone on here using Charter Telephone VOIP service? I've currently > got Verizon, but the wife hates it because our phone lines get flaky > all the time, esp when it rains. > > So I'm thinking to save money and combine all my stuff onto Charter. > I've already got High Speed internet and regular old cable. Not wild > about Digital Cable since I'm happy with Tivo and I don't want yet > another set top box to have to deal with... > > So, any horror stories about Charter Phone VOIP quality and service? > > Thanks, > John I can't speak to the VOIP side of things, but I will say that I'm running my Series 1 Tivo with comcast digital cable. The thing that makes it mostly bearable is that I can use the data port instead of the IR blaster. Might see if that is an option for you if you end up going the digital cable route. Frank

Sept. 5, 2007

Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?

by John Stoffel

Hi, Anyone on here using Charter Telephone VOIP service? I've currently got Verizon, but the wife hates it because our phone lines get flaky all the time, esp when it rains. So I'm thinking to save money and combine all my stuff onto Charter. I've already got High Speed internet and regular old cable. Not wild about Digital Cable since I'm happy with Tivo and I don't want yet another set top box to have to deal with... So, any horror stories about Charter Phone VOIP quality and service? Thanks, John

Sept. 5, 2007