Any experience with VoIP in Canada, other than Vonage?

Question

I'm thinking of switching from Bell residential service to VoIP but I'm not impressed with Vonage's rates in Canada: $39.99 vs $24.99 in the US. Has anyone had any experience with Sunrise, ZingoTel, VoiceStick, VoicePulse, Rogers, or any other VoIP service in Canada? Not calling Canada from the US, but VoIP calling FROM Canada. Any issues? Did you need a US address and credit card in order to get the equipment? What about support and fax? I've read that VoIP can be problematic for faxing.

Answer 1

I live in Alberta, Canada and am currently exclusively using VoIP for all my phone calling.

I wanted to pull the plug on Telus, so I got Shaw Cable Internet.  

I use half a dozen different VoIP services - mainly because I was researching about VoIP and wanted to test many different types of services.

As you say, Vonage Canada is far toooo expensive a service, expecially when you compare to what they charge in USA for same service.

From my PC, I use Skype, for most of my out-calling (local and long-distance).

But for Home Phone Replacement service I cannot find a good "low-cost" service (in Canada) that also includes 911.  So, I have USA-based VoIP services for my home phone replacement.

I use InPhonex LiteLine as my "primary" home phone service with 911.  It is pay-as-you-go service for $7.95/month + unlimited "incoming" calls + 2.5 cent/min outgoing calls (anywhere in USA/Canada).  You can also get Unlimited USA/Canada service for $24.95/month + including all the bells & whistles.  Buy ATA box from them extra. Most important is No Contracts - No Commitments - No Hidden costs - no fine print exceptions.  They provide 911 service in Canada too, which is why I use them as my primary.  You do not need a USA address - I use my Canada address only.

As my "secondary" VoIP home phone provider, I also subscribe with CallCentric for 1.95/month for area 403 phone number + 2cent/min outcalling (anywhere in USA/Canada) + 1.5 cent/min incoming calls.

CallCentric also offers Unlimited USA/Canada service for $19.95/month + including all the bells & whistles.  But, they only offer 911 service in USA - Not Canada; which is why they are my secondary service rather than primary.

Also, CallCentric is BYOD only (bring your own ATA device), which is fine with me.  

I have my own Linksys PAP2T-NA 2-line VoIP adapter.  I configured Line1 for InPhonex and Line2 is configured for CallCentric.  It works great - two simultaneous services over 1 VoIP box behind my D-Link NAT-Router.

For cheapest pay-as-you-go long distance calling I also use Les.net and Voip.ms configured into my ATA.  Les.net offers 1.5 cent/min calling in USA/Canada and VoIP.ms has rates as low as 0.7cent/min to USA/Canada calling.  But they are also BYOD and pay as you go - no commitments.  But don't offer 911.

Most important is that these services are pay-as-you-go, no contracts, no obligations, no fine print strings attached, terminate at any time - no hassle.

For more info visit my web site: CQ VoIP Call (link in my profile)