VOIP vs U-verse etc

9 years ago

This is driving us crazy! We've had cable in the past for tv and internet, and had a normal landline phone. Then we decided to use antenna for tv (and did fine, weren't watching much tv for a while LOL), kept cable for internet, and normal landline phone.

Someone convinced DH we should try the "new to our area" U-verse, so we had it installed a couple of days ago. Now, someone else is convincing DH that if we are going to change, we should go VOIP for phone and drop the landline, and utilize ruku or something for extra tv channels when we want, and go back to cable for internet b/c it's the faster option.

Good grief. Help me out....I'm tired of DH getting convinced from everybody in town! LOL

What do you have and what pros and cons are you dealing with? Thank you for helping to restore my sanity!

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Comments (6)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
9 years ago
Ha! We dumped cable, too! Also got rid of the landline, but kept internet. We kept our home phone number on the new iPhone that we got to use for the house. Used an antenna with the tv, but decided to go ahead and get a new Smart tv. We have one already, but it is older and not quite like these new ones. We got a Samsung 50" 4K Ultra from Crutchfield on sale at a very good price. We can stream tv shows and movies through Amazon Prime, netflix, etc. and still get the local channels with the antenna. Our son also gave us Chromecast. It is a small media streaming device that we can use with our iPhones, Mac, or iPad to stream right to the tv. Being a techno-idiot, I only know that because it says so on the box. Ã°ÂÂÂ³ I think we are going to attach it to the old Sharp Aquos (sort of a first generation Smart tv, I think). I am thinking we may get a new Samsung 42" or so one for the kitchen/keeping room after the holidays. I suspect the non-4K Ultra HD tvs will go on sale at a huge price reduction once everyone decides they want the newer ones and I don't really care whether we have the superduper new-fangled HD or not.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
9 years ago
Oh, our internet is through our cable company.
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writersblock (9b/10a)
9 years ago
I guess it depends on where you are, but around here VOIP via comcast is the only thing more horrible than u-verse's version. Nothing but static and crackling and "What? What did you say?"

I'm keeping my landline, thanks.
beaglesdoitbetter1
9 years ago
We have magic jack for our landline. It works very well and is $19.95/year. We rarely use the landline because we both have cell phones, but it is nice to have.

We have Verizon Fios internet in our FL house and I like it a lot, so far (1+ month). It seems faster and more reliable than the Internet we have through a local cable provider in our PA house (limited options in PA b/c of our location).

Have an Amazon prime and netflix subscription for movies/entertainment. We have had at various times (or currently have) a Kindle Fire TV, a Boxee Box, an Apple TV, two different smart TVs and a Roku for accessing Netflix and transmitting video from computer to TV.

The Boxee box used to be my favorite option b/c I could stream movies I downloaded right to the TV as well as access the web. Now, I much prefer the Apple TV because with my newer Macbook, I can mirror my screen on the TV which is even easier than the Boxee box.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
9 years ago
One other note in case it makes a difference: We are outside DC and have Comcast for our cable. I have never had a problem with them other than the prices they charge which is why we went to just internet service. Our phone service with them was fine as far as how it functioned. With the cell phones, we have AT&T. Seems to be fine as well. I do think all the cell phone companies gouge us as well though!
3katz4me
9 years ago
I get internet through Comcast. I have no cable TV. I use a Mohu Leaf antenna for network TV reception which where I live provides a much better HD picture than I got from Comcast. We stream other TV through Netflix and Amazon using Roku and Apple TV devices. We had phone through Comcast when we had the exorbitantly priced bundle. When we dropped that we added a basic cell phone to our family plan and transferred our home number to that. Very happy with this solution and saving a lot of money since we dumped Comcast for everything except Internet.

VOIP vs U-verse etc

Comments (6)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)

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