Internet/phone in Grimsby?

TwistedKestrel

TwistedKestrel

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Folks are moving to Grimsby, and I'm trying to take care of their internet, TV & phone for them. Thought I had it figured out with TekSavvy, but apparently they don't offer their home phone service there and from what I'm reading their VoIP service isn't the most reliable/idiotproof. I love my parents but if their VoIP stopped working and I wasn't available to help them they'd probably be dead in a week. Probably going with Shaw Direct for the 1-3 cable channels that they really want. So what are you people doing for telecom out there?

And to get this out of the way, Cogeco would be doable but expensive, and Bell's sole "fibre" offering for their address is a joke (5mbps) and their unbundled POTS would be even more expensive.
 
When I lived in beamsville and then grimsby and now stoney creek.

It was always cogeco internet, and Vonage.ca for phone. Been using this set up for years, and never a problem.
 
I've had magic jack for at least 5 years now without a single problem. You can prepay for up to 5 years. Pick any available number or pay a little extra for a custom number. Not bad for $30 a year for unlimited North America and also free to any other magic jack number anywhere in the world.
 
g2teg said:
I've had magic jack for at least 5 years now without a single problem. You can prepay for up to 5 years. Pick any available number or pay a little extra for a custom number. Not bad for $30 a year for unlimited North America and also free to any other magic jack number anywhere in the world.
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Same here been a magic jack customer for 3 years and never a problem
 
Not discounting Magic Jack out of hand, but I'm reading online that their customer service is terrible. Since you guys are here though, how do you have Magic Jack connected? One phone, whole house, etc
 
TwistedKestrel said:
Not discounting Magic Jack out of hand, but I'm reading online that their customer service is terrible. Since you guys are here though, how do you have Magic Jack connected? One phone, whole house, etc
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I have it connected to the modem & 4 wireless phone connected to it.

3 years now. Everything is done online
 
Same here, connected to modem and 3 cordless phones. Never called in, not sure if they even have a call center. Everything was done online. Spoke to them once through their website messaging about payment options and replies were instant.

I tell everyone about magic jack but I guess it's one of those things where at $30 a year it sounds too good to be true.
 
g2teg said:
Same here, connected to modem and 3 cordless phones. Never called in, not sure if they even have a call center. Everything was done online. Spoke to them once through their website messaging about payment options and replies were instant.

I tell everyone about magic jack but I guess it's one of those things where at $30 a year it sounds too good to be true.
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There's also support online. Where you chat via a window. I just remembered I used that a long time ago.

The good thing is you always get an email when your # is about to expire or you need to pay for long distance minutes
 
RockerGuy said:
There's also support online. Where you chat via a window. I just remembered I used that a long time ago.

The good thing is you always get an email when your # is about to expire or you need to pay for long distance minutes
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The prepaid long distance minutes sound like they expire after six months, is that right?
 
TwistedKestrel said:
The prepaid long distance minutes sound like they expire after six months, is that right?
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Not that I'm aware of. Everytime you make a long distance call, they tell you the amount of time remaining. I've never had an expired notification

The only problem I have is, I have the smallest internet package & when I'm downloading something, it obviously affects the call. There is break-up
 
RockerGuy said:
Not that I'm aware of. Everytime you make a long distance call, they tell you the amount of time remaining. I've never had an expired notification

The only problem I have is, I have the smallest internet package & when I'm downloading something, it obviously affects the call. There is break-up
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Seems like that would happen with pretty much any VoIP, it's something you can deal with using QoS on your router.
 
TwistedKestrel said:
Seems like that would happen with pretty much any VoIP, it's something you can deal with using QoS on your router.
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Honestly, I've been trying to figure out something like that. I have no idea what QoS is, but I'm running an old router with Tomato.
Linksys WRT54GL to be exact.

Something which would give priority on my Voip
 
just moved from Grimsby, really there are very few options.. Depending on where your folks are moving, even the Cogeco service is sketchy at times. Not sure how this might affect any VOIP services you are after.
 
I'm thinking I'm gonna go with TekSavvy for cable internet & VoIP, and Shaw Direct for TV. Vonage looks pretty good, and their hardware is newer than TekSavvy's... but it's 2.5x the cost. MagicJack has of bunch a small caveats, and the need to prepay for long distance (and certain rare local) will only confuse & irritate the folks. If TekSavvy VoIP turns out to be no good, I can hopefully sell the modem to someone else.

The only 100% reliable phone service would be Bell, but after not having a Bell landline in the family for so long, $47/month is a bit eye-watering.
 
Will MagicJack let you keep your current phone number? I wouldn't mind giving them a whirl and a twirl, but have a feeling they won't match my Vonage service.

My folks have MagicJack at their US address, and we've run into a few problems with it.

I'm surprised to hear that Cogeco service in Grimsby is considered "sketchy". When I lived in Beamsville about 12 years ago, I had cogeco for phone and internet and it was rock solid. Even at my Grimsby address, I had cogeco internet and it was perfect.

Current set up of Cogeco internet and Vonage is working splendidly, but always keeping eye open for something different or better value. Disheartening when your current set up is running just fine, and you switch to something not as good.
 
My folks have Magic Jack too. They are very not tech savvy. I pay everything online for the. I help reload their long distance credit & renew their #.

You can port your # as long as your # is still active, ie. get magic jack before you cancel your phone. Go on MJ's website you'll get your questions answered by a live agent. It's chat by computer though

Sent from my tablet using my paws
 
TwistedKestrel said:
I'm thinking I'm gonna go with TekSavvy for cable internet & VoIP, and Shaw Direct for TV. Vonage looks pretty good, and their hardware is newer than TekSavvy's... but it's 2.5x the cost. MagicJack has of bunch a small caveats, and the need to prepay for long distance (and certain rare local) will only confuse & irritate the folks. If TekSavvy VoIP turns out to be no good, I can hopefully sell the modem to someone else.

The only 100% reliable phone service would be Bell, but after not having a Bell landline in the family for so long, $47/month is a bit eye-watering.
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What long distance do they call. Magic Jack is free North America
 
SunnY S said:
Will MagicJack let you keep your current phone number? I wouldn't mind giving them a whirl and a twirl, but have a feeling they won't match my Vonage service.

My folks have MagicJack at their US address, and we've run into a few problems with it.

I'm surprised to hear that Cogeco service in Grimsby is considered "sketchy". When I lived in Beamsville about 12 years ago, I had cogeco for phone and internet and it was rock solid. Even at my Grimsby address, I had cogeco internet and it was perfect.

Current set up of Cogeco internet and Vonage is working splendidly, but always keeping eye open for something different or better value. Disheartening when your current set up is running just fine, and you switch to something not as good.
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I think it's $29 to port it over
 
The reason I say give magic Jack a try, is because with a Canadian number it's 39 for the year, even if your don't like it after 3 or 4 months it saved you that much and more so you're not out anything
 
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