I like the idea of buying this, but we have a phone in every room in the house. Is the there any way to use regular phone wall outlets with this?
I just ordered my second one. First one was for my wife’s office, which she doesn’t use much, since she’s mostly out using her cell phone. This one is for the house, to replace Vonage, which is costing me $35/month, with all the fees. I’ll probably port my number and go with Ooma Premier, and still come out way cheaper than Vonage.
Yes. Either buy a mult-handset cordless system, and just plug Ooma into the base station, OR, plug Ooma into one of your wall jacks to share throughout the house. That can also me done with Magic Jack and Vonage, but you should first disconnect your phone company’s incoming power to the jacks. There’s a junction box on the outside of your house where you disconnect this. Sorry, I can’t explain how to do that, but if you Google it, you’ll probably find answers.
I’ve had mine for about a year now.
I’d give it 9 out of 10. Minus 1 for the weird incompatibility with some of my friends phone systems. When I try to call their house they never pick up… wait a second!
In all seriousness, I’ve had some minor issues with my phone and calling to other friends phones. So for that I had to deduct 1. I love only paying $4 per month in fees/taxes. I reduced my monthly phone bill by $15.
I have all three:
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MJ original good quality and faxes work, but has to be rebooted (computer and/or MJ) now and then … Not good if you’re expecting incoming calls or say a 911 - mine is running on a Mac.
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This version of Ooma - faxes and voice quality are flakey - and it’s directly plugged into my AT&T uverse router. Add the new monthly regulatory fees and I’m no longer a fan
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Just bought the new MJ plus and works flawlessly. Big fan.
Side note on MJ (original and plus): does not seem to work on Mac OS X Lion. Had to configure MJ Plus on an older Mac with Snow Leopard (after initial config., no longer need a computer, hence the “plus”)
We have the FIOS triple play system as well, and the phone piece is about $27 a month. Our deal runs until April, and at that point I’ll be interested in switching to OOMA, as well as dropping much of the premium stuff from FIOS. Right now I have a hub and scout system, with the premium service. Even with the upfront costs, $140 for a telo and $120 for the premium package, it is worth not having ten telemarketer calls every evening between 6 pm and 9 pm. AT&T will provide call blocking, but only for an extra fee. Work it out–ten months at $26.99 = $269.90. Telo $145 + Premium $120 for 12 months = $265; and the telo is a one-time cost. As soon as our FIOS package ends, we’re dropping the phone. Besides, it’s already going over the internet. We lose FIOS, we lose phone (after the battery runs out) anyway.
I fully agree you will save energy and cost relative to MagicJack. However, it is unlikely you will save over $50. If you have a 300W supply on your PC, it will likely never draw the full 300W. Typically, it will draw less than 50W. Also, energy rates are likely less than $0.10/kWH - mine are just under $0.07/kWH.
I have my MJ hooked up to a laptop, drawing less than 20W on average. About the same as leaving a night light on in the hallway.
Does anyone know if you can take and use this if your a snowbird? We live in Illinois and go to south for the winter.
We’ve had this for about 4 months and it it works perfectly. Callers say we sound the same as if we were on a regular phone line. Our phone bill went from $40/month to about $3.50 and we have all the same features.
How does this compare with the Magic Jack Plus? Magic Jack Plus does not require a computer either, and you get call waiting, caller ID, 911, unlinited local and long distance calling, and all the other features including directory assistance for $19.95 a year. All for $69.95 for the unit & 1st yr service. I just received a Magic Jack Plus at a 48 hr. special of $39.95. Christmas present so I haven’t hooked it up yet. However, aq co-worker got one and loves it. Sound is great he says.
Does this system work if the power goes out? Does it have a battery backup?
I’ve had the Ooma Hub for over two and one half years. I was fortunate also to buy a lifetime subscription for Premier services, so I have been paying no fees. I have saved a lot of money and never had a problem with my Ooma (except for one time when the whole system was out for a few hours and the demise of Ooma was being forecast).
However, I have run into a frustrating problem. I dropped my landline and have what they call a dry loop line. Verizon has told me the fastest DSL speed I can get with this is 1-3 mps. It is good enough, but when you have an Ooma, desktop, laptop, iPads, iPods, etc. all vying for the wireless signal, it is a problem. And, don’t even think of setting up one of those neat streaming boxes often offered here and elsewhere.
So, my choice is to get the landline back and pay the cheapest possible (I think around $30) or continue the way it is now with the dry loop.
Other than this, love the Ooma!
Fax - dial *99 then the number - works like a charm! YMMV.
If you still have a landline through AT&T or your cable company, YOU NEED TO BUY THIS.
I paid $250 or so for it and I don’t regret my decision at all. It paid for itself in 6 months.
Only recurring fee is $3.50 or so a month. I also opted for the $119/year Premier service because of the AWESOME integration with Google Voice…ported my local number to Google Voice when I got the Ooma and it is outstanding.
I cannot recommend this enough.
I have one and think it is worth while. I then got two more, one for my mom and one for my in laws. One liked it and one didn’t. One had a bad time with the phone number port. Now here is the bad side. The one that didn’t like it gave it back to me to return. Being that I got it from woot there are no returns. Therefore, I had to sell it. I was able to sell it on ebay for $120 but I found out later from the person who bought it that Ooma charges a $79.99 re-activation fee, ouch. So be sure you are a candidate for it or be fair buy it from somewhere which takes returns.
Doubles as a mouse pad! Just be careful which buttons you roll over while you’re on a call.
My problem is that my computer connection is linked to my landline… How can I dump my landline, keep my DSL (through the phone company)? I’m old and it seems too complicated but SOOOOO inticiting! I WANT IT! Plus, is it a “service area” thing? I live in a tiny coastal town in Oregon. I barely have cell service! 
I have one of these acquired from Woot early this year. I love it! I pay $3.47 for taxes per month. I enjoyed several features of the Premium service they offer whe I had the free trial, but haven’t ponied up the fee for that yet. (I just don’t need the phone that much…) They had an offer for a free handset if you bought a year of service. Don’t know if that’s still valid. Except for the musical dial tone, I notice no difference between this and the cable company’s phone. I use an answering machine with 4 cordless handsets plugged into this. It will definitely pay for itself over time. The Premium service offers call forwarding to your cell or any other line, call blocking, do not disturb feature, voicemails sent to your email- all really cool features that I don’t need because I don’t get many calls. One of my better impulse Woot buys!
Should work anywhere broadband internet is available. Not sure about DSL, but if you have a modem with a standard network plug, I don’t see why not. Bandwidth could be an issue with some slower connections, but not DSL… I DID notice a better connection when I went from Time Warner Cable to Verizon FIOS. You can decide whether to hook it up BEFORE or AFTER your router in the setup.