Thanks. I will look into that option.

Ooma
 

$90 at Costco thru 11/28, includes 3mo int'l service

Suggestions for this situation?
 

I've had Ooma since 2009.

In the last 2-3 years, though, I've had it forward all calls to my cellphone.

I **think** the ability to do so only comes with the "Premier" subscription that I have paid each year (last time it was $131/yr.). But I haven't actually used my handsets connected to the Ooma box in well over a year.

Number re-direction is the service I need but $11/month seems pricey (since I'm not using any of Ooma's other features -- although their community blacklist of spam calls is nice and I presume has kept me from getting such calls in lots of instances).

Every once in awhile, but really, only a couple of times a year, the ability to use the Ooma iPhone app to make a wifi call has come in handy (I **think** this may be only available with Premier add-on) but now with AT&T having wifi calling on my iPhone 6 (iOS 9.0.2) that seems much less needed too).

I don't want to give up the Ooma phone # though.

So, are there alternatives that I could look into that would a) let me port the Ooma # to another service; and b) that other services could be managed online to re-direct to my cell phone; an c) which is cheaper than what I currently have?

Finally, if anyone knows, if I should port the number, cancel Ooma, would I be able to reinstate later at my original no monthy fee for basic service price (I have one of the original boxes that has no monthly charges)

Thanks for your wisdom :)

I think you probably know this, but you could have a 2nd number wth the premier service.

Then you could port your primary number out to google voice. Then, use an obi device to maintain a voip line service to your home phones to which the ooma is currently hooked up.

With the number at google voice, you could have it forwarded to or simple ring to your cell phone number (which is basically what you are currently doing now) There are no fees for this service other than the 30-45$ for the initial obi hw purchase.. google continues to renew the GV services for free but it could go up to maybe 20-40$ a year.

then drop premier with ooma, keep the new number and your ooma will still function fine just with the one number.

You'd then be able to use the ooma for calls (if you hooked it up as well) and you could still use the ooma app, albeit I think for only 250 minutes a month from your ios device. ATT WIFI calling works very well pretty much everywhere.

I don't think you can stop the ooma and re-start it later and keep the same terms (no fees or taxes) so once it gets officially shut off, that plan cannot be recovered. You'd have to sign up for a new plan which would most likely have the fees.

Ooma currently has an undocumented program for current HUB owners or legacy Telo owners on no fees. you can move up to the latest Telo 2, and negotiate no fees for 3-5 years. . after that the at the time fees would go in place (anywhere from 4-7$ a month depending on location)

Thank you. Sounds like I need to do some investigating!

Anyone else have ideas for something even simpler? My Ooma Premier renews early November.

ETA: It looks like OneSuite, recommended a couple of times downstream in an earlier thread of mine,
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...fferent-s.html , might be the way to go for cheaper (and a much easier interface than the scary looking one recommended by several on that thread):

1) Port main Ooma # to One Suite.
2) Set up OneSuite to forward to cell phone.
3) Test
4) Drop Ooma Premier but still have the free Ooma

ETAA: After further checking, it looks like call forwarding with OneSuite is $.025/minute to USA #s. Was hoping for a solution with a no per-minute charge.

AETAA: Maybe just keeping the Ooma Premier for $11/month is the simplest :)

Have you looked into Obitalk?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...s-obitalk.html

Was going to chime here, but seems you got it straight.. while I like onesuite a lot for many different things, it's not really free and forwarding isn't either.. it's great in a pinch when traveling int'l for destination phones and the like, or having a simply 800# for people to call, but I think you're looking for free, right?

If not free, cheaper than $11/month (but with no per-minute forwarding charges, just a flat rate)

Thanks!

I have the original Ooma hub (thank you, ScottC, for that recommendation so long ago!)

Just got an email from Ooma hinting at possible degradations in service to the original hub because they no longer support it and offering me the latest Telo hub for $79 and, they say, I can keep my tax-free, fee-free plan.

Is there any reason not to? Conversely, should I just stick with what I have until it dies? I actually only use Ooma these days with their Premier option so that I can go online and forward all Ooma inbound calls to my cell phone.

yeah, these are coming out fast and furious. I got one on one unit about two months ago, and another just yesterday.

It started at "three years free" now it's "life of the unit"

I really don't want to lose features or function (and it HAS been acting a bit wonky lately) but don't want to put all my faith in a new telo unit, when the hub has been running nearly a decade problem free.

I'll probably jump for one of them though - and then if the other hub fails in the future I'll contact them and say "hey, you can give me the same deal and I'll stay premier or I'll just switch away to obi/gv or something on that unit.

OK, lovely Ooma experts, I need your help once again!

I have a three phone Panasonic cordless system. The base unit plugs into Ooma, the rest plug into standard electrical outlets around the house.

Random question: Is there something that would be the equivalent to a "port extender" that would allow me to plug something else into the Ooma, and then plug the base unit in elsewhere in the house?

Long explanation:

Our cable and internet come into our condo through our pantry, which isn't a big pantry, but rather a small closet (that just happens to have two huge drain pipes running through it) unrelated to this question but mentioned because I want to emphasize how little room there is in the pantry. The router is on the top shelf hidden behind a panel.

I've always had a port extender plugged into the router and then the Ooma plugged into the port extender elsewhere in the house because, well, having Ooma and my base unit in the back of a closet on a shelf/space I can't access easily just seems ridiculous. (And I already get enough grief from Mr. CE for having a "landline" in the first place.)

Anyway, my phone call quality has been lousy for a while now -- people complain of hearing an echo, though I can't hear it. And today the Ooma went offline and wouldn't go back online until I moved the entire thing into the pantry. But I really don't want to have a phone in my pantry because, well, I'm not regularly in the pantry when my phone rings. Any solutions?

(Moving the router elsewhere in the house isn't an optimal solution, but might be an option if -- and this is a big if -- the router can attach to any cable outlet in the house.)

Not really 100% sure what you are asking here.. do you want to move the ooma base unit somewhere so you can plug in the phone base unit somewhere else? Or do you want to plug in the ooma where the router is, or anywhere for that matter and then plug the panasonic phone base unit somewhere else?

If its the first one, you can just setup a small powerline ethernet network to move the internet signal from the router to wherever you want to put the ooma base station.

If you want to put the panasonic phone base station somewhere other than near the ooma, the ooma has to just be near ONE phone jack and then it can enable the ooma dial tone to anywhere in the house over the phone jack network. (note, it's best to have the NIC (where the phone line comes into the house) disconnected so as not to conflict with the phone line signal - which is technically always there and providing both some power and emergency dial tone.

this link should show you how to enable the other phone jacks in the house so you can put the panasonic (or other phones) base station anywhere else.

http://support.ooma.com/home/distrib...elephone-jacks

I'd note that echo is not usually an issue with the ooma dial tone. I would look for interference in the house with the panasonic cordless phones. Make sure you are running 5ghz if you have a wireless router that would be on 2.4 or 5ghz, and try to make sure the channels do not overlap.

Nope, that's the setup I've had, and it really doesn't work well.

Gotcha! I've just called the internet/cable company to move the router to a more convenient location that I believe is also next to a phone jack. Thanks!

We have a dual-band router, with some devices connected at 2.4 and others at 5 ghz. The ones that connect 2.4 do so because they don't support 5 ghz. Are you saying that the 2.4 ghz devices are interfering with the Panasonic handsets? Given that it's probably cheaper to buy new handsets than to buy new computers and other devices, is there another workaround? Or am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

All you need sited in the pantry is router + Ooma + cordless phone base unit. All of which you don't really need to touch or use.

Just use the other 2 cordless phones which you will distribute around your condo. Don't need to use the base unit. Better yet, buy a charger cradle off ebay and you can use all 3 phones.

As to a potential frequency overlap, most cordless phones are 5.8Ghz (you can check - just look at the faceplate of phone, most likely it will state), which will not overlap with your wifi frequencies.