Anyone else think AT&T landline phone service is getting too high priced with nickle and diming you?

Question

Anything better? I like their DSL at $14/mo, but with long distance extra (and the bills for the long distance sometimes come months behind, so you don't remember who you called) and other things nickle and diming you (like auto call back, hitting the redial button they charge ME money and I hit the button, not them).. I had MCI once, but they billed me TWICE a month and that sucked. Also don't like the automatic machine calls from ATT saying I am late paying my bill...only a small amount late. Gas and electric don't bug you this way...

Answer 1

VoIP has the landline PSTN phone serveces beat by a long shot.  But, many people stay away from VoIP because of technical problems.

I recommend the best of both worlds.  Find out who, in your area, has cheapest landline PSTN phone service.  No bells and whistles, just the basics and with 911 - no extras. (they really ding you on the extras.)  Use this for local and emergency call backup.

Then, use Internet (DSL or cable) for all your long distance calling with VoIP. Long distance is where most people spend the most bucks and save the most with VoIP.

If you don't mind using PC for phone calls, I like Skype.  Some people also like Gizmo Project, Magicjack, or Yahoo Voice.

If you don't want to use PC for VoIP calling, then many VoIP services can supply you with ATA (analog telephone adapter) that connects to Internet without PC being on.

I have InPhonex LiteLine for $7.95/month - including area phone number, all the bells and whistles, 911, free incoming calls; outgoing calls cost 2.5 cent/min anywhere in USA/Canada. InPhonex can supply your ATA - no contracts - no commitments - no fine print - what you see is what you get - pay-as-you-go.

I also use CallCentric with a phone number for $1.95/month, including all bells and whistles, 911 in USA; incoming calls are 1.5 cent/min and outgoing calls are 1.98 cent/min anywhere in USA/Canada.  Pay-as-you-go; not contracts, no strings, period.  Only catch, with CallCentric is that you have to provide your own ATA  and be tecky enough to configure it yourself (I use my own Linksys PAP2T).  However, CallCentric also provides a free softphone you can use from your PC to do all calling from. (see my profile for links).

If you are adventurous, you could pull the plug on PSTN phones altogether and just use strictly VoIP for home phone service - that is what I did for maximum savings.  But, I can't recommend this route for everyone, because of 911 issues related to VoIP. (however, I also have UPS power backup for my router and ATA in case of short term power outages)