[biker1]

I had Ooma for about 5 years, before I retired. I ran a fair amount of conf calls and my cell just didn't cut it from a quality point of view and the occasional drop was unacceptable. This was before Wi-Fi calling on a cellphone. Ooma has a box, you don't need a computer. It plugs into your router. Actually, you can put it before your router as your router can plug into the Ooma box for potentially better QoS. It is low cost, IIRC I was paying about $7 per month. It is effectively a replacement for a more traditional land line. Regarding power outages, my ONT was on a UPS so there is a good chance internet access would continue but the Ooma box, and the attached phone, would also need to be on a UPS. Power outages are so infrequent that I don't think this is really an issue. The voice quality was very good. They did import numbers when I had it. I dropped it when I retired as I didn't need it anymore.

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I know MagicJack required a desktop/laptop to work and I assumed Ooma did too; he doesn't have either.

My preference would be to have him use just the single mobile number rather than having to deal with two numbers, two phones, two bills, etc. But I'll take a look at Ooma to see if that might work for his situation.

NOTE: I am trying simply to eliminate an expense. A VOIP phone is NOT a one-to-one replacement for a landline phone. In the worst of emergencies, the landline phone might be a bit more reliable than the mobile. On the other hand, I don't expect we will encounter that type of emergency so his mobile on one cell carrier and his internet (providing wifi calling and possibly Ooma) on another cell carrier seems sufficiently reliable.

[Boston1945]

Originally Posted by Dusty_Star

How about Ooma VoIP service for your father? My understanding is customers can keep their numbers, but you would have to investigate this for him.

(This is not an advertisement, I am just trying to be helpful. It might work for you, it might not.)

No advertising here either.Check onto Magic Jack Had the service for over 30 years and never had any issues. All the bells come with the service. I pay $95.00 for three years of service. And yes you can keep the landline number. It's called porting.

[MorTech]

You don't need a computer for Magic Jack either. It cost me $160 total for 7 years with voicemail and FAX capability...$1.90 / month.

It is fear of change that drives these $300 per month Internet/Cable Box/Phone prices You can't move them.

Another reason for cable modem is that the modem/router is in the living room so I can put one large UPS on my NAS, Magic Jack and cable modem WiFi router in case of power outage. Power outages are rare where I live but I feel naked without Internet/phone. I use laptop computers as desktops...Connect to external monitor/keyboard/mouse via USB and USB-C Display Port. My monitor powers my laptop (charges battery) via USB-C port.

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by jrref

That's unfortunate. I understand for some, internet is critical for work or medical or other reasons. In working with Quantum, they are usually pretty quick to send out a tech but if anything else is wrong, it can take a while to fix. When I worked for Verizon, we were regulated by the Public Service Commission and other govt. agencies so if there was a medical or other critical issue, we would respond the same day and it would be a priority.

What I'm curious about is, did Spectrum give you any assurance that they would maintain a high level of service given your situation?

Also, at a high level can you tell us what the problem was with Quantum that took too long to fix.

Just curious to learn what happened and for other's is there any company that will respond quickly for these types of customers these days?

at about 9:37am the service just stopped, no reasons, they kept on blaming my equipment, wich it wasn't it was their problem outside this house. I escalated it 3 times and it was still a 2-3 day wait. So I called around and spectrum was the first to not only sign me up but be there in a few hours to switch the fiber to coax, and yes they showed up.

With that said I much more prefer they way it way but if this is going to be the 'new millennial' version of 'lack of support' then I'll love with spectrum as when I calli actually get an american human.

at a deeper level the issue was pretty easy - they had a line break and couldn't see it. I kept on telling them what it was but alas someone with 49 years in all levels of IT has no clue what they are talking about ..... go figure

[jrref]

Originally Posted by midiwiz

at about 9:37am the service just stopped, no reasons, they kept on blaming my equipment, wich it wasn't it was their problem outside this house. I escalated it 3 times and it was still a 2-3 day wait. So I called around and spectrum was the first to not only sign me up but be there in a few hours to switch the fiber to coax, and yes they showed up.

With that said I much more prefer they way it way but if this is going to be the 'new millennial' version of 'lack of support' then I'll love with spectrum as when I calli actually get an american human.

at a deeper level the issue was pretty easy - they had a line break and couldn't see it. I kept on telling them what it was but alas someone with 49 years in all levels of IT has no clue what they are talking about ..... go figure

Thanks for the information. Again, sorry this happened to you.

From what I understand, the "normal" wait for a tech to come out is usually a day or two depending on when you call. If the tech was dispatched they would have found the break and got you back up. I've watched them do this fiber line tracing a couple of times. Most of the time the problem is the fiber coupler in the box on the side of your house. Other times it could be the fiber connector at the terminal. If it were anything else like a cable cut from construction many of your neighbors would have been affected.

In talking to one of the Quantum techs who I know, he explained that they are overwhelmed with new installations because of the cheaper pricing that Quantum has been offering recently and they don't have a specific team just doing repairs. This is why the wait. He said, they need to have a repair specific team focusing on same day repairs to prevent situations like you had from occuring.

This wouldn't have helped in your case but if your service goes out the first thing to do is check the SmartNid. If you don't see a green light then power cycle it. If that doesn't work take a paper clip and depress the reset button adjacent to the power plug for 20 seconds. The light should go from Yellow to Red to flashing blue to green. If that doesn't work call Quantum because it's probably a problem with the fiber coming into your home. I've not seen the SmartNid fail unless it gets zapped from a power surge but it's possible.