{"id":2982,"date":"2004-12-01T10:30:15","date_gmt":"2004-12-02T02:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2004\/12\/01\/switch-to-voip\/"},"modified":"2019-12-11T14:23:57","modified_gmt":"2019-12-11T22:23:57","slug":"switch-to-voip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2004\/12\/01\/switch-to-voip\/","title":{"rendered":"Switch to VoIP?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:9723,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net\\\/refer\\\/68429&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20081122120819\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net\\\/refer\\\/68429&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 21:24:34&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-20 02:03:25&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:49&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:49&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9724,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.qwest.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9725,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net\\\/residential\\\/onelink&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20081012133918\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net\\\/residential\\\/onelink\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 21:24:42&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-20 02:03:25&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:48&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:48&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9726,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net\\\/residential\\\/voice&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20050227035044\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net:80\\\/residential\\\/voice\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 21:24:44&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-20 02:03:28&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:50&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:50&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9727,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net\\\/residential\\\/voice\\\/spend_less.php&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20050224022911\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.speakeasy.net:80\\\/residential\\\/voice\\\/spend_less.php\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 21:24:46&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:48&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-30 15:16:48&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:8822,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/click.linksynergy.com\\\/fs-bin\\\/click?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941.10000002&amp;subid=0&amp;type=4&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:9039,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/click.linksynergy.com\\\/fs-bin\\\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DCollide%26partnerId%3D30&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:7697,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/click.linksynergy.com\\\/fs-bin\\\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DCollide%2526albumTerm=Vortex%26partnerId%3D30&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>On the off chance anyone noticed, my site (along with all other sites I host) had about two hours of downtime earlier today. Sorry about that &#8212; as it turns out, the DSL modem had frozen up, probably from overheating thanks to the poor ventilation in my apartment. Once it was reset it was fine. Sorry &#8217;bout that.<\/p>\n<p>While I was bouncing around <a href=\"http:\/\/www.speakeasy.net\/refer\/68429\" title=\"Speakeasy\">Speakeasy<\/a>&#8216;s site during the initial round of &#8220;what&#8217;s going on?&#8221; troubleshooting, I ran into some interesting information that may lead to me ditching my current phone service with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.qwest.com\/\" title=\"Qwest\">Qwest<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Item One: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.speakeasy.net\/residential\/onelink\/\" title=\"Speakeasy - Residential OneLink Broadband Services\">Speakeasy OneLink<\/a> &#8212; DSL service that doesn&#8217;t require a phone line.<\/p>\n<p>Item Two: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.speakeasy.net\/residential\/voice\/\" title=\"Speakeasy - Residential Voice over IP (VoIP) Services\">Speakeasy Voice<\/a> &#8212; VoIP service.<\/p>\n<p>Item Three: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.speakeasy.net\/residential\/voice\/spend_less.php\" title=\"Speakeasy - Residential Voice over IP (VoIP) Services: Spend Less, Get More\">Nice savings<\/a> when you order both packages.<\/p>\n<p>I already use Speakeasy as my broadband provider, and I&#8217;ve been very happy with the service I get from them. I have a good package for a reasonable price, and the few times I&#8217;ve had to call tech support, they&#8217;ve been quick, friendly, and very friendly (and occasionally just a <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2003\/06\/speakeasy_needs.html\" title=\"Speakeasy needs a laxative!\">little bit silly<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>I currently use Qwest for my phone service, and have very intentionally been getting the bare minimum necessary package. For me, that means about \\$30\/month for basic phone service plus voice mail, and nothing else. No caller ID, no call waiting, no other fancy features &#8212; and no long distance.<\/p>\n<p>According to Speakeasy&#8217;s site, if I were to switch over to their VoIP service, I&#8217;d get unlimited long distance in the US and Canada, voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, three-way calling, last call return, do not disturb, and I&#8217;d even get to keep the same phone number I&#8217;d have now &#8212; all for the same price as my current basic service from Qwest.<\/p>\n<p>If I switched over to both OneLink and VoIP, my final cost would be about \\$6\/month more than what I&#8217;m paying now, but the first three months would be cheaper, as you get a &#8220;free three months&#8221; for signing up (some of which are offset by the setup costs, but that&#8217;s expected). All in all, this sounds like a pretty damn good deal to me.<\/p>\n<p>Giving this one some serious thought.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/click?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941.10000002&amp;subid=0&amp;type=4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" width=\"61\" height=\"15\" alt=\"iTunes\" src=\"http:\/\/images.apple.com\/itunesaffiliates\/logos\/iTunes_sm_bdg61x15.png\"><\/a> &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DCollide%2526albumTerm=Vortex%2526songTerm=Predator (Final)%26partnerId%3D30\">Predator (Final)<\/a>&#8221; by <a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DCollide%26partnerId%3D30\">Collide<\/a> from the album <em><a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DCollide%2526albumTerm=Vortex%26partnerId%3D30\">Vortex<\/a><\/em> (2004, 6:32).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If I switched over to both OneLink and VoIP, my final cost would be about $6\/month more than what I&#8217;m paying now, but the first three months would be cheaper, as you get a &#8216;free three months&#8217; for signing up (some of which are offset by the setup costs, but that&#8217;s expected). All in all, this sounds like a pretty damn good deal to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2043],"tags":[13,65],"class_list":["post-2982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","tag-life","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}