Ok, I pulled the trigger on one.

In the end, the Costco deal after rebate and including tax was $37 more than this one including shipping. I asked myself, would I pay $37 for an 18 month warranty? No. Not on a $99 item. So woot! it is. Sorry, Costco. Sales tax was basically the deal breaker.

gogyroswin wrote:When I call Comcast about this they say that within the triple play the phone service is pretty much free. This is why I haven't made the switch to Ooma yet. Kind of getting sick of calling Comcast every six months trying to get the cost back down. Anyone else see this big of a drop in price going to Double Play? This may get me out of that loop!

I was in a Triple play bundle for 3-4 years. Initially, it was very cheap (I think around $120/month), but once the 'introductory' (bait) offer expired, it was upwards of $175/month. Going to the exact service (but Double play) was around $130 +/- per month. Now, we took the opportunity to motivate ourselves to become more active, and significantly lowered our catv plan at that time (just entry level digital with no premium channels) and now our monthly cable/internet bill is around $75 or $80 per month. So, the Ooma has really saved us almost $100/month, and gotten us up off the couch more...

Check in your area. Also, check to see if you are in an introductory offer or not. The Comcast website is very, VERY confusing (new vs. existing customer deals). It took several calls, and a trip into our local office to get what we wanted/needed. It turned out, we actually considered dropping catv altogether, but the price for internet alone was almost exactly the same as the internet/catv (entry level digital) bundle. So, we kept the basic digital cable. Go for what works best for you.

I got this from W00T 1 1/2 years ago - almost no problems since!
Occasionally I get the incoming voice breaking up (the "robot voice"). This happens when my internet signal is still good, so I'm guessing it's an OOMA bandwidth issue (anyone?). Annoying, but considering how infrequent I'm happy with the savings I've seen.

If you have DSL + a traditional landline phone and want to move the number over to any of these VoIP (ooma/vonage/magic jack) services, tread very carefully or you will lose your Internet connection!

Moving the phone number kills your DSL connection unless you request a "dry loop" (DSL without phone) from your DSL provider and schedule the number move for the same day as the DSL "dry loop". Problem1: if the dry loop happens before the number moves, you lose the number! Problem2: most VoIP phone providers don't allow you to schedule the number move! Yes, a catch 22!

In my case, I got the number moved to ooma, but the DSL connection was killed a couple hours later. I am also in the process of moving from DSL to UVerse Internet only. Since that change was scheduled for a few days after the number moved, I am without Internet and therefore ooma for several days.

Because I had very carefully scheduled all this ahead of time and AT&T screwed up, they will credit me back for using 'personal hotspot' (Internet sharing) on my iPhone for these lost days.

Lessons:
1. If you have DSL + a landline phone, seriously consider simply taking one of the new numbers offered by ooma. (You were ready for a fresh break from the old life anyway, right?)

2. If you must keep your number with the #1 scenario, do this when you are also changing Internet methods/providers, just make sure you've moved the number prior to changing the Internet and realize you may be without internet for a few days.

3. For virtually ALL conversations with your landline phone/cable company select 'cancel service' from their menu. They staff those departments with the best 10-20 year veterans and grant them the most authority to fix things.

Another thing to note...

This is refurbished. BUT, if it's refurbished anything like the refurbished one we got from Woot! almost a year ago, I couldn't tell that it wasn't BRAND-SPANKIN' NEW. Ours had NO signs of repackaging, was sealed in the original retail box, had all of the original protective plastic sticky wrap on it, and nowhere on the box did it even mention refurbished. I would bet it actually was brand new, just sold as refurbished since it was so much cheaper than the stores (30% when I bought it).

Today, this is 50% off of the normal $199 price. Even 33% off the mentioned Costo price.

Two words... buy it!

No, I don't have any stakes in Ooma, I just have been that impressed with the quality and savings it has provided us. I better go knock on some wood now!

scubalab wrote:Another thing to note...

This is refurbished. BUT, if it's refurbished anything like the refurbished one we got from Woot! almost a year ago, I couldn't tell that it wasn't BRAND-SPANKIN' NEW. Ours had NO signs of repackaging, was sealed in the original retail box, had all of the original protective plastic sticky wrap on it, and nowhere on the box did it even mention refurbished. I would bet it actually was brand new, just sold as refurbished since it was so much cheaper than the stores (30% when I bought it).

Today, this is 50% off of the normal $199 price. Even 33% off the mentioned Costo price.

Two words... buy it!

No, I don't have any stakes in Ooma, I just have been that impressed with the quality and savings it has provided us. I better go knock on some wood now!

Agreed, just buy it - it works great... And I too have zero relationship with ooma/woot/Costco other than as a happy customer in all three cases.

Clark Howard on CNN just mentioned that Woot is selling this today. He had a positive review about it.

StephWV1 wrote:I am now working from home. I currently have a MagicJack, which is fine, usually. However, I recently learned that when I try to call in for conference calls using conference call-specific phone numbers, I get a message from MJ stating that I need to buy prepaid minutes for such calls > Anyone know if there is any such issue with Ooma?

I too work from home. I've been using OOMA the entire time and no problems. It bogged down my internet speed when I hooked it up the recommended way but I switched and plugged it in an empty port in my router and no longer have any problems. Hope that helps.

What's up with all of the refurbs and stuff that didn't sell last month on AmaWoot? Will there ever be a fun NEW thing for sale here?

(And I hate the new website.)

Does anyone know if this model supports the bluetooth option and the Purevoice HD? Seems like older units didn't.

bnystrom wrote:Does anyone know if this model supports the bluetooth option and the Purevoice HD? Seems like older units didn't.

Take a look at the product description - I believe it says it does support the bluetooth option but you have to buy that adapter.

I thought the HD feature was a part of the ooma Telo as well.

So Why should i buy this over a similar device such as a Magic Jack Which is waaaay cheaper plus it is only $20 a year

mtrlgrl wrote:Clark Howard on CNN just mentioned that Woot is selling this today. He had a positive review about it.

ooma tweeted this woot deal early on as well - in fact so early that I suspect they were completely coordinated with the deal and might be watching... (if so, too bad they don't speak up!)

gotseven wrote:So Why should i buy this over a similar device such as a Magic Jack Which is waaaay cheaper plus it is only $20 a year

You could take a scan of this forum - there are many good cases being made and very few negatives.

I am very frugal, have configured and used Magic Jack (and ported a phone number) for my parents - since they had already bought it. After that experience and much research, I bought ooma for my own home. It simply is better in just about every way.

But MJ also works.

ashah1111 wrote:This sounds great, but what if we have 6 cordless phones throughout the house? According to what I'm reading I can only connect one phone like to this.

if you have six sepertate cordless phone then no but...

if you have 6 cordless phones that connect to one base then you can have the 6 or even more because you are only connecting one device to the ooma device.
or...
you can connect the ooma straight to one of you home ("at&t") connections and it will make all of the connections all around the house communicate to the ooma device.

thx

scubalab wrote:I was in a Triple play bundle for 3-4 years. Initially, it was very cheap (I think around $120/month), but once the 'introductory' (bait) offer expired, it was upwards of $175/month. Going to the exact service (but Double play) was around $130 +/- per month. Now, we took the opportunity to motivate ourselves to become more active, and significantly lowered our catv plan at that time (just entry level digital with no premium channels) and now our monthly cable/internet bill is around $75 or $80 per month. So, the Ooma has really saved us almost $100/month, and gotten us up off the couch more...

...It turned out, we actually considered dropping catv altogether, but the price for internet alone was almost exactly the same as the internet/catv (entry level digital) bundle.

Almost exactly the same thing here. I dropped everything but the highest speed Internet I can reasonably get in my area but wound up keeping the basic CATV because it was the same cost.

Before committing, I tried a few things: Roku, Hulu Plus, and HD HomeRun. They work but if you're really fond of TV, they don't replace it completely. Also, those alternatives require more work to be entertained than simply switching on the TV and surfing.

I still have all the aforementioned (and afore-Wooted) paraphernalia hooked up but I usually find myself doing what my parents used to tell me to do: go outside and play.

ChoquetteCo wrote:My question is if I can take my American unit to Huatulco, Mexico and use it instead of Skype? Will the unit work outside of the states?

I asked the same question but no one answered, so I hunted around some and found this. It appears the answer is yes. Check out the ooma forum question on traveling abroad: http://www.ooma.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8774&p=61340&hilit=+abroad#p61340

scubalab wrote:We travel to a vacation home in the Bahamas, and can take this (and our number) with us when we go. Free calls to home (or anywhere in the US) from the Bahamas, and calls to our 'normal' home number ring in the house in the Bahamas. Pretty cool, and SO MUCH cheaper than BaTelco!

Thanks. I didn't think anyone answered! I bought one.

I have Hughes Net Sattelite internet. Would this work? Or would it just drop calls? Thanks.

we have had our ooma for almost a year, and have nothing but praise for it. 97% of the reliability of a landline for 10% of the cost.

Have had this unit for 15 months now....

My wife was a non believer.....Now she is the biggest advocate to friends....

They can not believe we have a $3.48 a month phone bill....That is a savings of $850 minus the $39 one time porting charge....

I have Comcast high end cable internet for $60 and put a DOCSIS 3.0 modem on it....

I put Ooma on one of the main trunks of my DLINK 655 router....The other 3 trunks are distributed through out the house to 3 8 port DLINK switches....

I have 20....Yes 20....wired and wireless devices on these other trunks and/or wirelessly....

I use a Uniden 5 phone 1.9GHZ phone system to eliminate all 2/5GHZ interference from my wireless router....

I have had no problems with Ooma....

I had Magic Jack as a test....But it failed so miserably I never put into "production" on my network....

I can not speak for the standalone model but the computer model is "garbabe" explicative's deleted....

This is the single best non- Apple Product that has come out for consumers in the past 5 years....

I am tempted to buy a backup in case the unit craps out at some point.....But that is my only worry....

If the power goes out.....Use your cell phone....That simple....

$850 in 15 months....No salt water!

wallsg wrote:I've used the $45 (I got it on sale for about $10 off) Obi100 for over a year now. We use cell phones so this is just a backup for home and doesn't get much use, but we've never had a problem with it.

This guy's review gives detailed instructions on multiple setup methods. I have the "multiple Google Voice through SIP incoming" setup. (Using a free SIP account for incoming calls gets around an occasional no-ring issue that I don't know if it's fixed yet, and also is required if you want the phone to have multiple incoming numbers.)

Here's another vote for the Obi. Fantastic Google Voice integration and never gives us any trouble. The Obi is completely free but does not include 911 service, so we pay $1.50/mo for 911 service

I keep all our net-tech on a dedicated desktop/monitor-rated UPS. We've gone several hours without power and the Obi hasn't blinked (well, it does blink, but that's not the way I meant it).

Of course if the cable header loses power, it's not working. But so far, it hasn't been an issue.

OK, I'm in. Have been wanting one for awhile and now I won't have to deal with the *evil* Verizon anymore.

aaltieri wrote:Sadly, this is simply not a true statement of fact. More accurately, there MAY never be a fee. The reality is that Google announces around November or so if they will start charging for service within the next calender year. For the last few years, yes, it has been free. However, this could change in 2013, or 2014, or whenever google gets around to it.

I have used the Obi100 with GV for a year or so now and it does work the trick...MOST of the time. There was a small outage a month or so back. So I'm certainly not saying NOT to use GV or the Obi. However, to say that there will never be a fee is simply not a statement that can be backed up.

Actually, it is true that I've never paid a fee to use Google voice. Yes, they could start charging, just like OOMA could start charging a fee.

My biggest beef when I was a OOMA user was that after paying $180 for the unit, it only had a 90-day warranty. When a lightning storm took it out, OOMA would not repair my device even for a fee. There answer is to buy another $180 OOMA device. And forget buying a used OOMA, you have to pay a transfer fee.

And what is also left out are the many features that are only available on the Premier for $10/month such as 3-way calling, voicemail to text, call screening, and do-not-disturb mode. These are available free to Google voice customers.

I'm simply letting people know there are other alternatives in the VoIP world. And no, I'm not worried about Google "data-mining" my phone conversations. You should be more worried about people hacking your cell-phone or wireless phone.

To those concerned about VoIP needing Internet and power, think about how much you are paying for a more reliable land-line, versus the minor inconvenience of having to resort to using your cellphone to make a call.

The only time I've wished for a land-line was once after a hurricane took out our power and the cell towers were all busy. I think I'll live with the extra $350/yr in my pocket.

For what it's worth, if anyone is still reading all these comments...

I've had an OOMA TELO for a couple years for our home number.

NOW, I'm buying a second one.

I plan to use it for my home office number for my new job.

In other words: So pleased with it, I bought it AGAIN.

I have ATT 3mbps dsl which usually tests at 2.54Mbps download (Download Speed: 2521 kbps (315.1 KB/sec transfer rate). Upload .43Mbps (Upload Speed: 425 kbps (53.1 KB/sec transfer rate). The modem currently connects to a router and then a hub as well connected to a number of computers. If I run modem to ooma to router to hub, will this work and will this work with my current speeds?
Can I activate with a new number now and then port my current number later? Or will there be additional charge (aside from the $40 port fee)?

tECH TaLk is so boooooring.

scottmo wrote:I've got an Obi110 and it is great. Problem for me was that I couldn't port my existing number to GoogleVoice. If I could I wouldn't need the Ooma device, but checking their website it looks like I can port to Ooma.

So you're gonna switch to Ooma just to port your number? Sounds like Obi is more cost effective though.
Yes you can port to Ooma, I did and am very happy!

juicer52 wrote:I have ATT 3mbps dsl which usually tests at 2.54Mbps download (Download Speed: 2521 kbps (315.1 KB/sec transfer rate). Upload .43Mbps (Upload Speed: 425 kbps (53.1 KB/sec transfer rate). The modem currently connects to a router and then a hub as well connected to a number of computers. If I run modem to ooma to router to hub, will this work and will this work with my current speeds?
Can I activate with a new number now and then port my current number later? Or will there be additional charge (aside from the $40 port fee)?

In short: Yes.

Re: porting, they will assign you a temp OOMA provided number until your port is complete, so that is much the same.

My connection is a bit faster (6MB down/ .75MB up) However, the connection is this:

DSL router --> Cisco Linksys router ---> Switch ---> Switch ---> Ooma ---> Panasonic DECT 6.0 6 handset phone system

Often, along with all that, I may be downloading with uTorrent, leaving myself a bit of dedicated bandwith for web browsing and calls.

I find that this works great no matter where you plug it into your network.

And, it is plug and play. While you could do it, don't plan on getting to the device webpage. (In fact it really doesn't benefit you to do so.)

MITCHELLWOOT wrote:tECH TaLk is so boooooring.

I know, right?

zebraitis wrote:I know, right?

Tech talk is boring?? Sorry for asking more than what color the box is. Yeah it's only 100 bucks but I don't need another doorstop and I'd like some assurance that my dsl speed is adequate. The fellow who answered civilly has speeds twice that of mine so I'm not assured yet and times running out.

kzjunk wrote:Actually, it is true that I've never paid a fee to use Google voice. Yes, they could start charging, just like OOMA could start charging a fee.

My biggest beef when I was a OOMA user was that after paying $180 for the unit, it only had a 90-day warranty. When a lightning storm took it out, OOMA would not repair my device even for a fee. There answer is to buy another $180 OOMA device. And forget buying a used OOMA, you have to pay a transfer fee.

And what is also left out are the many features that are only available on the Premier for $10/month such as 3-way calling, voicemail to text, call screening, and do-not-disturb mode. These are available free to Google voice customers.

I'm simply letting people know there are other alternatives in the VoIP world. And no, I'm not worried about Google "data-mining" my phone conversations. You should be more worried about people hacking your cell-phone or wireless phone.

There's a product for everyone...

google voice is not plug and play - you're using a service and separate hardware.

It really couldn't get any easier than ooma, especially if you're not porting your landline phone number to ooma. Service + hardware + support in one tidy package.

The ooma pricing model has you paying for the service in a lump sum via the box purchase - you know up front you are only assured of as many months service as you have warranty. Divide 6 or 12 into your purchase price - then everything is cream after that many months until the box dies. (BTW, plug ALL your electronics into surge protector strips!)

If you like Android, go and have some fun with google voice - otherwise...

I've had this since 2010 and it is the best. I plug it right to my router no computer hook up it even works with my old fax machine however you need to adjust the settings on a fax to make it work properly.

juicer52 wrote:Tech talk is boring?? Sorry for asking more than what color the box is. Yeah it's only 100 bucks but I don't need another doorstop and I'd like some assurance that my dsl speed is adequate. The fellow who answered civilly has speeds twice that of mine so I'm not assured yet and times running out.

Here you go - at least a bit closer to your speeds: measured via speedtest.net, 4-4.5 Mbit down/350 Kbit up. (DSL)

5-6 laptops/iPad/iPhone/Touches connected at various times.

But no bit-torrents allowed in this house.

ooma has been working fine for us.

juicer52 wrote:Tech talk is boring?? Sorry for asking more than what color the box is. Yeah it's only 100 bucks but I don't need another doorstop and I'd like some assurance that my dsl speed is adequate. The fellow who answered civilly has speeds twice that of mine so I'm not assured yet and times running out.

Ah... You DO realize that I was the person that answered your question, right?

I joked, as here at woot, most of us are tech talk geeks.

So: Lighten up, Francis.

VOIP bandwidth requirements are negligible. You will be happy.

bluemaple wrote:Here you go - at least a bit closer to your speeds: measured via speedtest.net, 4-4.5 Mbit down/350 Kbit up. (DSL)

5-6 laptops/iPad/iPhone/Touches connected at various times.

But no bit-torrents allowed in this house.


ooma has been working fine for us.

snooze and lose SOLD OUT!

juicer52 wrote:snooze and lose SOLD OUT!

Next best price I know of - go to your local Costco and apply the new July rebate (ooma site) of $40 (new devices only, no refurbs). For our local Costco's, that means $150 less $40 = $110. $10 for an extra 6 months of warranty seems like a deal! Assuming your sales tax washes out with the woot shipping cost.

ibsfusion wrote:
...snip...

or...
you can connect the ooma straight to one of you home ("at&t") connections and it will make all of the connections all around the house communicate to the ooma device.

thx

HOWEVER: If you do this (which I do highly recommend to folks that have several old traditional analog phones plugged into existing wall jacks)...

THEN REMEMBER TO DISCONNECT THE DEMARK on the outside of your home.

For most of you, that will be a gray box that has a part that opens, and another that doesn't.

(It was installed by "the phone company" sometime in the last 20 years or so.)

On the part that opens, you just unplug the jack, and that isolates your home from the traditional voice carrier network.

This prevents any inadvertant enery spikes from hitting your equipment.

juicer52 wrote:Tech talk is boring?? Sorry for asking more than what color the box is. Yeah it's only 100 bucks but I don't need another doorstop and I'd like some assurance that my dsl speed is adequate. The fellow who answered civilly has speeds twice that of mine so I'm not assured yet and times running out.

sORrY, nO oFfENCe InTEnded