you stay away from VOIP.

I'm 0 for 3 in any luck with it with three different companies.

Shitty call quality. Worse dependability.

Consider yourself warned.

with Cox.

Which companies did you try?

I kind of got the impression that it's very hit or miss.

...vonage and lingo. Check http://speedtest.vonage.com/ to see if you have the required speed for good service quality.

Look for a promotion or sale. Rates are dropping. Lingo has some useful tech features that can save you money if you don't use a cell for most calls. I have a family cell plan with ATT and use the viop mostly for the fax machine.

There are some rather expensive phones that work on wifi with skype or vonage.

I'm looking into this now: http://www.nettalk.com/duowifi

and just canceled our CenturyLink/Qwest landline a couple of months ago. We use Comcast cable for Internet access. The Ooma hooks up to the net without any problems. Love the voice quality on it - even when we had only a 1.5Mb DSL line it worked fine.

Our bill is whatever the phone taxes are - in our area we usually pay just under $4/month. We ported our old number to the Ooma, and paid for the premium service so we have a second line and a bunch of other 'extra' services. (I make extensive use of the call blocking features, and rarely hear from "Rachel from Card Services" anymore - they all get a 'call blocked' message.)

When we travel we carry the unit with us and just hook it up to the Hotel's Internet, and our home phone follows wherever we go.

Costco usually has a decent deal on the units. We've been *very* happy with the unit and the service. (They sometimes run a 'refer a friend' promotion where I can get something back, but I'd refer people even if they didn't do that...I'm not even sure they have one right now, and even if they do I'm not going to add any special referral codes to this message. We use it, we like it very much, and we're glad we can turn others on to the savings.)

You can check for more information at www.ooma.com.

My speed is good according to Vonage, so that's an option. I don't have a cell phone at the moment - my husband does but I'm going to switch to the AAA plan where we can get two phones and more minutes for less than Verizon charges for the one phone. The AAA plan is actually serviced by Verizon so I shouldn't have any trouble with signal.

I'm intrigued with the Ooma. I'll check on that as well.

Anyone else have a recommendation?

I pay something like 30 bucks a year for a number and unlimited calling, and bought a gadget for around 20 bucks to plug a phone into. The gadget plugs into your router or switch and everything works exactly like a normal phone setup. If I have wifi but no cell service (happens a lot in this area) I can also call from my laptop.

Works pretty much the same as the VOIP Cablevision is selling, with call forwarding, caller ID, and the other goodies Verizon charges for. We have that here, but I needed another number.

Call quality can sometimes be just a tad shaky, but never actually bad, and that often has a lot to do with local cable conditions.

Microsoft bought it and that may scare some people, but it also means there's money behind it and it shouldn't go away any time soon.

Never a problem. A couple of years ago the box died and when I called them they sent out a replacement box overnight even though it was way out of warranty.

I'll do another Google search....maybe they have two different websites or I missed something.

I've had XFINITY Voice for a few years now. I've been extremely please with service, quality, availability. Only about $35/month for unlimited long distance, plus voicemail, 3 say call conferencing, etc.

They even scheduled me to install it only to be told at the last minute by the installation person that it's not available here. They need to lay some kind of new lines or something. I live out in the boonies.

I keep hoping to see them laying new lines but there doesn't seem to be any plans to do so anytime soon.

i have basis cable and internet for 50 a month free unlimited international and state calls

I do not think they are currently taking new customers. But, when they expand, they have very good rates.

sipgate.com

I'm still procrastinating and having trouble making a decision but I will check out all of the recommendations.