[kwlug-disc] cell phone plans

[Ron Singh]

This is a very good point, I have 4 numbers ported using Fongo. 2 are used
at my Waterloo office and it sure is nice not to be hit by some
$110/mth/line + "hunting" fee from Ma Bell!

We use the GrandStream HT702 ATA adapter and that has been decently
successful although it can be quite a chore to get the right parameters in
place to work with a Nortel 616 KSU. We were even able to get the ATA
programmed properly to work with an old-skool Panasonic fax machine.

The ATA is this:
https://wiki.voip.ms/article/Grandstream_HandyTone_702_-_HT702
These days' I would imagine there are newer/better choices.

My children also have Fongo/FreePhoneLine on their Windows laptops and use
it often whey they cannot be bothered to get off their behinds and go grab
a cell or a landline. Wish there was a Linux client for their service, I
would definitely be mimicking my children's behaviour, haha.

Thanks,

Ron S.



On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 5:44 PM Francisco Dominguez <fxdoming at gmail.com>
wrote:

> If you want to just forward your number, fongo.con charges a porting fee
> (I think$20 one time) and that’s it.. you can then forward the number to
> anything that’s on their free footprint.
>
> You can also get the fongo works which gives you an auto attendant /
> extensions (forwarding / greeting. Etc) extensions etc. For free
>
>
> Francisco
> fxdoming at gmail.com
>
> On May 29, 2021, at 3:34 PM, CrankyOldBugger <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> 
> A free phone isn't enough for monetizing my data: I want free swag, like
> an NSA hat or monogrammed FBI handcuff keys...
>
>
> On Sat, 29 May 2021 at 15:30, Jason Eckert <jason.eckert at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> If you can wait until next year, you can get your phones for free:
>> https://airo.life/
>> Of course, this is provided you are OK with them monetizing your data -
>> it happens anyways, at least this way you get a free phone and data plan
>> out of it ;-)
>>
>> On Sat, May 29, 2021 at 3:19 PM Znoteer via kwlug-disc <
>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> On Sat, May 29, 2021 at 12:19:20PM -0400, CrankyOldBugger wrote:
>>> > It's that time of the decade when I sit down and decide that I'm paying
>>> > waaaay too much for mine and Wifeski's cellphone plans.
>>> >
>>> > So I humbly beseech the experts...
>>> >
>>> > What are you guys using for cell phones plans?  What's the coverage
>>> like?
>>> > Do you still have money left for food after you pay your monthly phone
>>> bill?
>>> >
>>>
>>> I'm in Montreal, so my experience may not be applicable to you.  I have a
>>> $35/mo plan with Chatr and a $40/mo plan with Lucky.
>>>
>>> The chatr plan ($35) is unlimited Canada-wide calling, unlimited
>>> International SMS, 2GB data/mo, voicemail.  Coverage in my region is
>>> fine.
>>>
>>> The lucky plan ($40) is the same with 4GB data/mo, call display,
>>> conference
>>> calls, and call waiting.  Again, no coverage problems.
>>>
>>> But, it sounds like you maybe only need a cell phone plan for your wife.
>>> You could port your number to voip.ms and configure the account so that
>>> all
>>> calls are forwarded.  If you want to continue having a laugh a cheesy
>>> text
>>> spam once a year, you could set up sms on the number.
>>>
>>> It would cost you (even though voip.ms is canadian they do all their
>>> business in USD so all prices quoted for voip.ms are in that currency,
>>> not
>>> CAD) I think $0.85/mo to keep the phone number in your name.  After that
>>> it's either $0.009 or $0.0052 per minute for incoming calls (I can't
>>> remember which fee is incoming and which is outgoing).  SMS cost
>>> something
>>> ridiculously low per/unit also.
>>>
>>> If you don't receive or make any calls in a month, your account will have
>>> costed you US$0.85 and maybe some taxes.  Rounding the per minute price
>>> to
>>> $0.01 you could talk for nearly 4 solid hours each day for 20 days (5
>>> work
>>> days x 4 weeks in a month) with your current $45/mo plan if you switched
>>> to
>>> voip.ms (4hrs/day x 60 min/hr x 20 days x $0.01/min = $48).
>>>
>>> Good deal hunting,
>>>
>>> --
>>> Znoteer
>>> znoteer at mailbox.org
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> kwlug-disc mailing list
>>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
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