[biker1]

Ooma works well with CenturyLink fiber to the house. The Ooma box is first in line for IP packets. Our router plugs into the Ooma box.

Originally Posted by Skip

I tried OOMA VOIP on our Comcast Blast two years ago. Person on the other end said they heard echoes of themselves. Didn't matter who initiated the call. We could not have a conversation it was so bad for them. Was on the phone with OOMA service often to get it resolved (download new firmware many times over, etc.). Took a whole month and still was not resolved. Even the senior tech on the other end understood and heard the problem. Took another month and fighting to get a full refund. Their tech department does not talk to their billing department. Glad I did not get rid of our home number. So for us, OOMA with COMCAST did NOT work. I believe it was our Comcast local node at fault trying to do duplex with IP.

If you have a whole house security system, like us, (fire/intrusion/flood with no monthly monitoring fee BTW), you need to have a POTS dial tone if you don't want to rely on Comcast. With POTS, if the electricity in the area goes off, you still have phone service. POTS runs on a DC battery system invented by A.G.Bell. Your digital phone station may not work but an old fashioned handset on the line still works without electric in the area. A security system with battery backup dialer (like ours) still works, so you DON'T need internet or electricity to dial out.

If electric goes out, sometimes cell service goes out too (depending on the tower location). Most now have backup generators (if they work!).

If you are out of town and a storm breaks a window in your house and rain comes in, our system dials 5 numbers: 911, your cell#, spouse's cell# and two local friends that can come and repair the damage because they have a house key. The security system earns us an insurance discount too.

So we have Centurylink POTS at $50+ /month without Caller ID. Wish I could drop the long distance portion. We use our cell phones for long distance cause it's free.

Anyone have Centurylink POTS without a long distance add on? I'd like to know.

For some, POTS is not dead. Hope this helps.

Skip