Cut that phone line

[Presto]

We all have cell phones, but most of us still need a phone line for our home. I've gone with magicJack for the past 3 years. Compared to traditional telcos, the rates were fantastic: $45 USD/year ($30 service + $10 Canadian number), and that included unlimited US/Canada long-distance calling. However, with the tumbling Canadian dollar, and increasing rates, magicJack kept looking less impressive.

I wanted something different, but the magicJack did it's job, and it wasn't pricey. Great deals entice me. I found VoIP hardware, an Obihai 200, for a nice price ($50), and it was Google Voice compatible. My parents' magicJack crapped out for a 2nd time, and rather than get a 3rd, I decided to give an alternative a try. I also got one for myself.

With the use of a VPN, and US number, I was able to register for Google Voice numbers. You probably won't have a US number, but you can use something like Burner and it'll give you one. A GV number will grant you free unlimited outgoing calls to US and Canada, but since it's a US number, people in the Lower Mainland won't be able to reach you as a local number. My mom just wanted to be able to call her family in the US, so she was fine with just GV. Personally, I had to go to freephoneline.ca for receiving local calls. Porting the number takes up to 14 days. It took them 5 days to port mine.

FPL will supply you with a local number, and it's free if you use their application. For $60, they'll activate, and provide login information for VoIP hardware. It's another $25 to port your existing phone number to it. Then, there's no monthly cost. The only time you would have to spend money is if you want to do international calls.

The Obihai 200 was easy to configure. Initial setup involved plugging in the power, ethernet cable, and phone. You will need to create an account on their website, which gives you access to the dashboard to sync and configure the hardware. A wizard guides the setup for Google Voice, and there are only few fields to complete for the FPL account setup. My total cost to get this going was less than $150. That's a few years of magicJack service, but their increasing prices, and nickel-and-diming strategies were pissing me off. I think it's a worthwhile investment. If you're still using a traditional landline, then I would strongly consider going this route!

I hope this covers most of my journey to cut the cord. If there are any questions, or if you have anything to add, please post it!