I bought a skype phone for about $75. It plugs into an ethernet so no computer required. It is like any typical chordless phone, except the contact list and all that stuff is skype. Nice to be able to walk around and not be tied to the computer.
which one? Corded or cordless? I know the call quality is OUTSTANDING with a headset + computer.....people comment on how clear the sound is....its better than a landline. I like being able to have my phone number in multiple locations, i've used it out of the country. I was going to get a wireless/wifi skype phone but they all apparantly suck. I've tried skype on my mobile phone (Windows Mobile), didn't work so great.
Here at home we use a company called PulseTele (voip), get to talk free to most of Western EU, the US, Canada, etc. Only have to pay for Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. (when calling there) We needed it because most of the family lives in Germany and Switzerland. (a few in Austria) The plan is something like 30 bucks every month. We've had it for 2 months, and it's been great.
Cordless. I have the base for it upstairs and the phone downstairs. It plugs in a recharging cradle and has about 10 hours of talk time. Pretty amazing. Mine has a base, not wifi built in. The call quality is excellent.
We have a home security system that's tied to a land line. When I was researching VOIP, that was the only aspect which kept me from jumping on board. Has anything changed there?
Not sure, but you could get the cheapest land line and dedicate it to the security system and use VOIP for talking to people.
oh yeah, Vonage is TERRIBLE. They are almost as bad as AOL if you want to cancel your service. They routinely hang up on you to discourage you to cancel. I have an early vonage line, it actually dials out like a landline for some reason..old Motorola unit...i can update my direct TV using the line
You should be able to get a line without any bells and whistles for $15 or so. How often is it going to be used? Once in a blue moon, and if it is, you wouldn't care if it cost you $20 extra to make that phone call!
Also, you can check with your cable company, they may offer land lines that work with security systems for cheap. I checked Cox Communications and their lowest price package is $14 and $.05 per call.
two quick comments: (1) there are a number of security issues that have cropped up when skype is used through a computer. Just be aware. (2) one reason to hold onto a landline is that it will continue to be operational during a blackout.
Don't forget 911 Telco's aren't integrating the 911 location services with VOIP providers and won't until they are forced to. Land lines are tremendously profitable and the losses of them are forcing a lot of job cutbacks.
vonage has 911 location services. but screw vonage, they suck balls. cell phones have 911. and work in blackouts.
I'm not an expert by any means, but I looked into this quickly a few months ago. First, there are security issues w/r/t peer-to-peer software generally. For instance, hackers have started using peer-to-peer networks to remotely take over hordes of “zombie” computers; a few months ago a tool called "Phatbot" was the big thing. Once it has successfully infected a computer, Phatbot disables security programs such as firewalls and anti-virus software, scours the hard drive for email addresses that it can use for spamming and attempts to spread itself to new computers. It also opens “backdoors” in the operating system that turn the computer into a zombie controlled remotely by the virus writer. As far as Skype specifically, there seem to be a number of advisories warning of security vulnerabilities when using Skype. Here's one that would allow malicious attackers to execute arbitrary code on the targeted victim’s machine through Skype. http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/display.php?id=711. See also http://www.skype.com/security/skype-sb-2008-003.html (where Skype, the company, confirmed the existence of the vulnerability)
