In today's How-To, we're taking the diagonal cutters to the Ma Bell umbilical cord and hooking up our voice over IP adapter so we can use our old phone jacks. No soldering irons or caustic acid required. This time.
For today's How-To, you'll probably need:
- Screwdriver, pliers, wire cutters
- Extra phone wires
- Splice connectors (optional)
- VoIP Adapter
The idea for this one is pretty easy. We'll visit the ugly box that Ma Bell graciously left on the side of every single building, ever. Inside it, we'll cut the leash and take control. Back inside, we'll hook up our handy VoIP adapter so we can use the existing phone jacks that run all over the house.
Most phones get power from the phone line, so there is a limit to the number of phones you can connect to a VoIP adapter. Your mileage will vary, but you'll probably be able to use three phones with the average adapter. If you've got lots of voltage sucking phones, then you might want to pick up a
ring booster.
We'll be semi-violating this warning label. If you connected it to the wall now, the voltage from the phone line would probably do something bad to it. Before hooking anything up a trip to the telephone companies box is in order.
Our typical access box. There's usually some sort of customer access area. In this case, we have to loosen a screw and the cover pops open.
[Update: If you don't mind going into the telco side of the box, you can probably disconnect the line without cutting]
Proper application of a screwdriver (or a dime) gains access to this rat's nest.
The module pops open to reveal some color coded screws. Since our VoIP line will be the primary phone, we're disconnecting the red and green leads. Since some lazy tech didn't connect everything, we had to splice together the two sets of red and green wires. Normal phone wiring has two pairs. If you're keeping your regular line, or have DSL on it, the yellow and black wires are the pair to use for a secondary line throughout the house.
The rebel inside is gonna enjoy this part. Sure we could have unscrewed the terminals, but snipping those cables was more fun. If you leave any wire attached, make sure they aren't shorted. Most phone companies leave out of service phone lines powered.
Inside the box, two of the wires were terminated at the screw terminals. To complete the internal network, they need to be spliced together. We used standard weatherproof splice connectors available from any hardware store. To attach them, just insert the
unstripped wires and squeeze down the circle with a pair of pliers.
The wiring is completed. The first line is disconnected, and the remaining leads are now spliced together. Now, the center pair of wires of all the phone jacks are connected to create in internal phone network.
Our packet8 adapter just has three ports on the back. The Ethernet goes to our router, and now it's safe to connect the phone jack to a wall outlet inside the house. Now our VoIP adapter can live happily on our server rack, where it gets a UPS, and delivers phone service to the rest of our house through a pre-existing phone jack.
Bye, Ma. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
posted Jun 20th 2006 at 10:39PM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Times Ticking @ Apr 24th 2008 10:26AM
Hey, you guys give great advice: so hopefully someone can help me.
I live in a apartment and have Vonage and my cable company gave me a so called cable packaged deal, which included the digital phone line thing, so i took it.
What I need to set up is 6 out going phone lines, which means I have to get 3 of the vonage box with 2 phone ports each in the back of them and pay for all 6 phone lines. I really dont want 3 more vonage box and may need up to 5 at some point, plus thats a monthly vonage plan per each vonage line,,to much money$$ and to many vonage boxes.
Does anyone have any suggestion on how to accomplish this, in a less expensive way or more creative way.
Oh yeah, some of you are tech guru's,,,,so please speak or type slow for a simple person to understand!!
FYI, I run a outbound telemarketing from my home.
Jnetty @ Jun 20th 2006 10:51PM
I wanted to do this, but there is no "typical access box" on my house. There is just a phone line that comes into the wall and after that just a small wall phone adapter on the other end that attaches to another adapter on the wall. Then it just strings along in another couple of rooms that I installed myself.
I once tried connecting my TA signal to that but it would not work.
Danny @ Jun 20th 2006 10:55PM
I did this as well with my Vonage. All I did in my telco box is disconnect the line coming into my house. I ran a wire from my vonage ATA into my attic and spliced into my main trunk coming in. Then plug in phones to the wall outlets. You can do this without splicing too if you plug the adapter into the wall phone outlet (assumung you have one free and near your router.)
Sacramento Photographer @ Jun 20th 2006 10:55PM
This was one of the first things I did when I first made the switch almost a year ago to VoIP. I did read on Vonage's website that people were doing this, but, of course, it wasn't supported by Vonage. Works like a charm in my house.
--Bill
Chris @ Jun 20th 2006 11:16PM
This is more or less how Charter and other cable companies hook up their phone service too. The only "not supported" bit is how many phones you hook to the adapter since it's realy just a longer phone wire (through the whole house). a ring booster is an interesting idea to support more phones though
Reverend William @ Jun 20th 2006 11:33PM
I believe I will try this, but only after I send myself a "good luck" blessing from www.onlineblessings.com. Although a very instructional piece and well written, I am going to need all the luck I can get to do this right.
Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Jun 20th 2006 11:39PM
This is terrible. VoIP is a huge threat to thousands of peoples jobs across the country. Think about the families of the people who's job they will have lost because of VoIP. VoIP = Walmart.
Mark @ Mar 2nd 2008 8:23PM
So I guess we should force consumers to pay their phone bills so their employees can have a salary when cheaper means are available to consumers?
When the car was invented no one needed buggy whips any longer. I suppose we should mandate everyone use the horse and carriage instead of the automobile?
Nima @ Apr 6th 2008 1:03AM
I work for a VoIP company. We provide excellent service for customers who can't afford to pay ridiculous long distance fees. Your previous post is extremely inconsiderate and selfish. By providing cheap telephone lines for people who can't afford it, its just another way we are enabeling people of all classes to communicate with the rest of the world and live an easier life.
Ari @ Jun 20th 2006 11:55PM
Is this any different than plugging the VOIP adapter straight into the phone jack? I did this in my parents house when I got them Vonage, and all the phone jacks now have vonage flowing through them. Is there advantages to this more complicated way?
Anti-Ludite @ Jun 20th 2006 11:59PM
*sigh* there are always people like that (smoke_dawg). Maybe we should have stopped the industrial revolution because it destroyed all the people live's in the various guilds. Wake up, we live in an ever changing world
no @ Jun 21st 2006 12:04AM
"This is terrible. VoIP is a huge threat to thousands of peoples jobs across the country. Think about the families of the people who's job they will have lost because of VoIP. VoIP = Walmart."
Edward Whitacre reads engadget?
Matthew Boyd @ Jun 21st 2006 12:24AM
Wait, you mean VoIP is taking away jobs? What about the jobs that it's creating. Let me guess, you work for a telecom company don't you?
Mario in Japan @ Jun 21st 2006 12:52AM
I'm curious how does VoIP=Walmart? What kind of math is this? I'm a service member stationed in Japan, I use VoIP to keep in touch with my family & friends stateside and all I pay is a flat monthly fee... I fail to see how I'm depriving someone in the states their livelyhood or how I'm supporting a company such as Walmart... Clue me in because I'm just not getting it??
Happy with VoIP in Tokyo, Japan!
Becky @ Jun 21st 2006 12:56AM
Smoke_Dawg, it honestly is not as big a threat as you think, maybe will cause shift in where some jobs are, but doubt thousands will be out of a job completely.
Also, some internet services require that phone lines be active (like DSL, not sure about fiber optic though) or get a special service, which is not yet available in all areas and costs a good amount to get installed. Many DSL customers obtain a very basic land line and get VoIP for the extra services they need, like unlimited long distance.
And also, not all areas have access to high speed internet yet, which VoIP requires. I know that just two blocks west of me, the people who live there cannot get anything besides dial up, and I am not exactly in a rural area.
And also, VoIP at this time does not work with wireless broadband which is a new thing, and may become quite popular. I can tell you from experience that they don't mix well, as the wireless broadband signal isn't stable enough for VoIP, so calls drop if you even get them period (which was my issue, couldn't get a dial tone at all).
So while phone companies will indeed have to deal with the problems that will arise with VoIP, as far as jobs go, I doubt there will be a loss, just a shift. Many of the large phone companies offer DSL and cell phones also, and I assure you, those will indeed make plenty of jobs, as those are not the most stable things in the world, take it from someone who has had to support both items.
Maybe you should go take a look at the articles that have come out about what jobs indeed likely will no longer exist in 2014. That is something to be a lot more concerned about. Funny how the only thing related to the phones is telephone operators, and that has nothing to do with VoIP. And funny how you aren't concerned about cell phones which already are used in place of a land line by many people, and that number is growing steadily.
Earl @ Jun 21st 2006 1:02AM
"Edward Whitacre reads engadget?"
I dunno, never met the guy.
Smoke_Dawg_187 does though, on a completly different topic. See? right here
Posted at 11:39PM on Jun 20th 2006 by Smoke_Dawg_187 [ ! ]
Cool huh?
/sarcasm
icepick314 @ Jun 21st 2006 1:44AM
telcos been jacking up prices with these "taxes" and "service fees" that you don't really understand for years....
VOIP is the way to go these days with unlimited calls without worrying about hidden fees...
it's nice to see technology actually working for people these days....
Gadget Guy @ Jun 21st 2006 3:24AM
So, you took about 10 minutes longer and two more tools than you should have. A coin and your fingers were all that you needed.
You see, under the telco access in the left side of the DMARC shown in the photot, sits the lines heading to the CO switch. When you unlock and slide the hinged RJ-11 jack from this it gives them a test jack for the wires "they own" and drops voltage from your 25+ year old wiring. This gives them a convenient way to test then charge you for fixing your old crusty wiring.
By keeping that arm unlocked and undocked, you are disconnected from them and they from you. This makes selling your house (or more aptly moving out of your apartment) a re-connection breeze. Or when you realize that your TiVo or Sat dish won't dial out, you can get that POTS line re-installed again.
Now the rest of you can just plug that ATA, MTA, VTA or whatever acronym your favorite vendor has made up into any wall jack and enjoy your new faux dialtone. These devices will generate 3-5 REN, or Ringer Equivalency Number, so you won't want to put 3 of the old "clapper" ringing phones on your circuit; but the new phones with electronic ringers should never complain.
One minute and one coin's worth of work.
The Dr. @ Dec 8th 2006 8:45PM
Dork
Cotszy @ Oct 8th 2008 5:37PM
having a problem getting phone jacks to work. There is no nid. The 1 wire comes directly in from outside and is spliced into another wire how do I connect to the jacks. I have never seen anything like this. The modem is by the television and when I plug into that jack behind the television we get a dial tone but no where else in the house. She has a wireless fax how do I hook that up in another room when the jacks are not working anywhere else. please help.....If you could help maybe I could draw a simple picture to explain better. I have to go back tommorrow and try to get this to work. Her business is from home so she needs that fax desperately.
DEB
Cloud @ Jun 21st 2006 3:42AM
If telecommunication companies don't want to go bankrupt and have to lay-off all of their employees, they need to keep up with the modern time.
Telephone services did relitivly nothing to revolutionize, innovate, or even do much for the consumer heck they even cheap out on a lot of their equipment. LAN-Lines are low-quality and they can't compare to the technologies a cellphone has and the mobility. It costs less where I live to buy a cell-phone then to have a lan-line and that is excluding the bonus features you can add to a lanphone such as caller id, voicemail, and tone dial.
VoIP is a good thing. Phone companies didn't want to upgrade and they didn't want to go with what the people wanted so they are failing. I use Skype as my normal phone and it works fine, and long distance is free. Got a cellphone for on-the-go so its all good.
Coasterjob @ Jun 21st 2006 8:29AM
Gadget Guy,
Sounds like you have or do, work for a communications co?
I do as well. You are correct, that's the easiest way you disable the CO side of the DEMARC.
Since my office/network room is just inside from demarc, I spliced my VOIP into the secondary pair of my house and rewired some jacks to use the VOIP as the primary. So my satellite uses my telco line, and my business(side business) calls come into my VOIP line, but ring on certain phones.
Cloud,
The phrase is LAND-line, because the cable is buried, or travels over LAND, not lan.....
To defend the traditional telcos for a bit. The quality of a LAND-Line is far superior to any wireless or VOIP line. There are simple physics employed that keep LAND lines sounding better until their demise. Starting with bandwidth, all voice grade channels are 64KB, and all of the channel is used to carry high quality voice signals...there is no overhead for signalling or etc, becuase all the signalling is done with the keypad, BEFORE the voice-part of the call starts. However, people don't care so much about quality anymore, just having service. So I am not arguing a point, just stating that a lot of engineering and effort has gone into making the call as clear as possible, but again, now it doesn't matter.
As far as wireless and thier technologies; Yes cellphones are better[all around]becuase they can talk, send messages, surf the web, and entertain you. But the voice quality sucks....granted it's good compared to, say, two cans a cord...but nowhere near the quality of your traditional LAND-line.
I do agree that VOIP is a good thing, it's pushing the market to a more cost effective and mobile delivery of voice grade traffic. In effect also creating more demand for high dollar broadband services...
RalphyBoy @ Jun 21st 2006 8:45AM
What's the big secret here? AT&T published directions for doing this and ships an illustrated copy in every AT&T CallVantage box it sells. And in their published version NO wire cutters are required. And here's another tip... their telephone adapters are built with the proper ringer equivalency so there's no issue with all of the phones in your house ringing and no warning label on their TAs. But hey, maybe this guy will reinvent the wheel next.
Brian Hague @ Jun 21st 2006 9:18AM
"Starting with bandwidth, all voice grade channels are 64KB"
Actually It's 8k overhead for burst mode (I don't talk like a metranome), soo... 56k bandwidth...
voipdude @ Jun 21st 2006 9:48AM
If you want to read a much more detailed version of how to do this check out: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html
chris @ Jun 21st 2006 9:57AM
64KB is a single BRI channel, common POTS in hoomes are not BRI's, and they get multiplexed, so it's really more like 26KB (which is part of why recording programs have 22.5Khz labeled as "telephone quality", there isn't all that much dedicated bandwidth)
VOIP is quickly improving though, if you have the bandwidth and QoS. There are clients and codec's that will do full stereo and "CD quality" audio and you just can't do this on the tradictional land-line phone network. I haven't use one myself, but word is that the difference is kind of like when someone phones into a radio station for an interview vs a satalite hookup for the interview.
Leonard @ Jun 21st 2006 10:14AM
I've been using Lingo for quite a while now. Knowing that the house phone wiring is parallel, one of the first things I wanted to do was plug the adapter into my house wiring. I was concerned about overloading the adapter box, so I called Lingo's technical support. My question got passed around a bit, finally to one of their technical "experts." The guy I talked to said he didn't know if it would work or not and suggested that I give it a try! I figured that covered me if I fried the box.
I disconnected my house wiring from the external network. In my case, there was a small box outside with a sort jumper with RJ11 plugs on each end. I just unplugged it. I then ran a standard phone cord from the adapter to a convenient phone plug. I have about 5 phones connected, but I have the ringer turned off on all but a couple. No problems at all.
Jason @ Jun 21st 2006 10:25AM
Smoke_Dawg - stop blowing smoke. No one's lost any jobs over VOIP becoming popular, and even if some telco people do get the ax a decade from now, the cable company will be hiring.
Harish @ Jun 21st 2006 11:26AM
Mwhaha... we have a home wiring center where I can just plug in the VoIP box (which we're actually getting today) to all the jacks with one simple wire.
Did I mention this new house rocks :)
Michael Freeman @ Jun 21st 2006 12:09PM
Thank you GadgetGuy!
gorkon @ Jun 21st 2006 12:30PM
Easier way....
If you have Time Warner, get the Time Warner digital phone, use it for a month or so, then switch providers to Vonage or whoever. Time Warner DOES this for you as part of the installation. Once you have it done, it's done for ever and you can just plug your phone out on the Vonage/Asterisk box into the house's phone system.
me @ Jun 21st 2006 1:08PM
wow, all i did was take a splitter, connect it to the back of my vonage box. one wire went to a phone, the other went to an existing phone jack in the wall.
and voila, all pre-existing jacks worked.
i deno why all the extra work. maybe it was the way my house was wired, but those who are looking to try this may want to try that. it cost a whopping 50 cents and 10 seconds.
me @ Jun 21st 2006 1:10PM
actually, maybe i connected the splitter to the back of the phone, instead of the voip box.
may or may not matter, but before anyone says it didn't work, figure i'd mention it. in case it does.
i'm not home to check myself, sorry.
snarf @ Jun 21st 2006 2:38PM
I climbed the pole, cut down the wires and ripped the box off the house... NEVER again ma bell! They wanted $300 to fix wires that were falling off the house 'cause they didn't install them right. Cable company buried the line for free. VOIP for over 2 years and $hundreds saved.
bruce the alarm dude @ Jun 21st 2006 3:46PM
or just notify your alarm dude. He will come and do it for you, but he will grumble about how much VoIP sucks.
Further he will tell you that one of the reasons your new service is less expensive is because they do not have to pay any service techs, relying instead on the cheaper labor of handy subscribers and thier alarm dudes. And he is right.
tim @ Jun 21st 2006 4:02PM
>The quality of a LAND-Line is far superior to any wireless or VOIP line.
Simply not true. I used to have Qwest and over a few years, my line was down frequenctly, had poor audio quality, static, clicks, echo, and calls were frequently droped. We complained and it went on for literally years. Finally we switched to Vonage and sadly, my VOIP line is much higher quality and more reliable. It really depends.
John A @ Jun 21st 2006 4:05PM
How am I suppposed to do this? My telephone box is about 3 in x 3 in and has a big bolt in the middle. It is so old should I even open it? (My house is 150 yrs old)
Paul @ Jun 21st 2006 4:09PM
Just for people like Smoke_Dawg_187 , remember who owns all the physical copper and fiber lines that are on the poles and carrying your VoIP data from place to place. Just cause you pay a bill to Vonage (or other VoIP company or Skype), doesn't mean that the Verizon's or AT&T's are not getting a cut of that. Plus, as bandwidth increases, new lines and more fiber needs to be installed and/or replaced and that is where the Teleco's will be making their money... They are not going anywhere anytime soon.
K @ Jun 21st 2006 5:10PM
Verizon won't be getting any more of my money until they bring FIOS to my area. we dropped POTS when the phone company told us they were going to charge us $100 for two moves in six months...we went with AT&T CallVantage and could not be happier. less than $34/m with taxes...a $15/m savings and more features than traditional line from Verizon. Of course I have heard I could save $5/m more with Vonage...The only headache and what is keeping me from going to Vonage is the pain of porting a phone number...It's not as simple as porting a cell phone.
carbon430 @ Jun 21st 2006 5:28PM
What about all the concessions the government has issued telco's in order to help them create and distribute broadband service to consumers? European customers with far worse infrastructures are way ahead of the US in terms of fiber to the home and higher speed connections. I realize that this takes time but common!!! The telcos want concessions from the government to expand their infrastructure and a tiered Internet so they can charge consumers and content providers! I agree with the user that said this creates more jobs than it takes away. Analog telephones are becoming an outdated technology and telcos should embrace the change and work with it instead of fighting to keep outdated infrastructures.
Patrick @ Jun 21st 2006 5:45PM
This is RETARDED!!! I work in telco, all you really need to do if you have disconnected your telephone service is unplug the cord from the 'Smart Jack' in the phone box(it's a normal looking phone cord). Then just plug a phone cord from your voip router into any wall jack in your house and just like magic, you have voip dialtone on ever jack in your house, no splicing or jacking with your phone box and having to repair it later if you go back with the telco.
RalphyBoy @ Jun 21st 2006 6:00PM
This posting is for the poster named "me." You really should go to your NID (network interface device) as pictured above and at the very least disconnect the wires from the terminals serving your house. Otherwise you may have sporadic direct current flowing into the system. It may not be causing background noise or hum now, but it may in the future. And, it's subjecting your TA to a voltage spike -- albeit it a small one. In many of the newer NIDs, all you need to do is "unplug" the little modular pigtail and you're done. On older ones you may have to lift 2 wires (the green and red) from their terminals. Cutting the wires as suggested above is radical to say the least.
Marcel @ Jun 21st 2006 7:03PM
I didn't bother with the wire hookup to the box. I disconnected the phone line from the outside, and just plugged the vonage into an empty phone jack. It was a self contained curcuit. (as mentioned above.)
Alot less hassle.
Employee @ Jun 21st 2006 8:14PM
I might point out out that failing to disconnect your home wiring or ISW as we call it in the industry, from "ma bells" outside line before attempting this rewire could result in not only serious harm to your teledapter, but may get you a hefty charge from your local telco company. You are in effect sending your VOIP line down the entire network if you do not disconnect it, therby "hogging" a network pair that belongs to the telco which it can no longer use and will have to spend time and money finding out where the trouble exists....money you will likely have to pay back to your local telco for doing unauthorized/unapproved of work inside a telco owned box.
Just thought I'd mention it, it is becoming an increasing problem
Todd M. @ Jun 21st 2006 9:10PM
I'm all for technological innovation and reduced costs for necessary services, but I thought it might be important to bring up one key point. VoIP is great as long as you have power. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone who lives in a natural disaster prone area where you may be without power for several days (California/Earthquake country, Coastal towns/hurricane Country, Plains/tornado country, mountains/blizzard country). Most times in situations where the power is out, the old tried and true telephone landlines continue to work. Ask anyone who lived in the northeast during the blackout of 2003 (???) when everyone who had a cordless phone was SOL. My friend had the only landline in her apt building... she made a LOT of friends.
tina m @ Oct 1st 2006 4:57PM
An added comment:
To have dsl you must have a regular phone line. Comcast is charging 57.00 per month for cable tv service/19.99 for 6 months to suck you in. I see no need to keep comcast when ATT is charging 12.99, phone costs me $15.00 for a basic line (which by the way works when ATTadvantage goes belly up from no power and 19.99 for calladvantage with unlimited long distance plus I can take the ATA box up north in Michigan and it works there also as well as when I visit my brother in Arizona. Wow what a blessing...phone service is crystal clear on both lines (dsl and advantage). Just make sure you buy a phone for your home dsl line that doesnt require power, so that it will work in an emergency. I now can dump verizon wireless (100.00 for 2000 minutes) and buy a prepaid plan. yes yes yes!
yes I have two, no three phone numbers
1-dsl line
2-virtual phone number useable anywhere there is dsl/cable
3-prepaid phone from walmart net10 (356 days to use 1500 minutes for 99.99) no i did not buy a tracphone. This is cheaper than paying 117.00 to Verizon..I hate that I have been paying Verizon over 1200 dollars a year for their service.
OR you can do like my friend, he ported their phone number to Calladvantage and they charge him 44.00 total price for a dedicated line and ATT calladvantage (19.99) but he has no regular phone in his home now, but bought a prepaid cell phone.
3rdsun @ Jun 21st 2006 9:19PM
I would like to ask a question, are u guys using another broadband service other than DSL on the Mabell line. Cuz it seems to me if u are gonna cut the line completely u are in effect cutting ur DSL. Then how would u place ur voip calls. Suppose some one only has DSL on the one line he surely cant take that approach.
The writer is really cutter happy, he does too many useless things. In the pic where he shows the red and green screw terminals after lifting the jack the circuit is already disconnected. What more does he want to do cut down the pole. lol
Will O'Brien @ Jun 21st 2006 9:49PM
The 'disconnected' jack is for testing the line with a handset. The wires had to be disconnected.
The broadband connection is via cable modem.
Linoth @ Jun 21st 2006 10:11PM
I work for a VoIP company in their support department, and yes, this is the way to do it. There are a few things you want to keep in mind on this, however.
Some devices suck at pushing out voltage to your phone lines. As an example, our device pushes 5 volts in order to ring a telephone. Some phones, mostly Motorola and their rebranded Radio Shack brothers take as much as 9 to 11 volts (their "REN value") in order to ring. I worked with a customer that had 6 Radio Shack phones hooked up this way. His phones would ring twice, then drop the call, and if he picked up the phone, there'd be nobody there until he hung the phone up or pushed flash. We narrowed it down to a single, innocent, corded Radio Shack. Turned the ringer off on it and all of a sudden the phones all rang properly. So be aware that even though all your phone jacks may be "working", you may not be able to use them all at the same time the way you always have.
If you're having call quality issues, don't expect your VoIP company to help you as long as you're connected to the wiring. They are not responsible for your badly wired house. Wiring can cause delayed hang-up (your phone rings as soon as you hang up), echos, "tunnel voice", and worse. Believe it or not, a properly wired phone line is wired in sequence, not in parallel. Every house I've ever checked is wired in parallel, and that's a bad thing.
Some companies may not warranty their product if it's hooked to your phone line. Lightning strike, connected to your phone wires, other electrical and ethernet is working fine? Shouldn't have plugged in that house, pay for your new box. Granted, I've never heard of this happening and I know we'll just replace a smoked/fried box without asking any questions, but I hope everyone realizes that the sticker you're "violating" is there for a reason.
earthwalker7 @ Jun 22nd 2006 12:17AM
So is Vonage or TW Digital the way to go, or maybe, since I've already got Skype and Skype-in I could just get a Skype cordless phone. What do you guys think?
Skype's cheaper, and last time I went with Vonage I couldn't figure out that tangled mess in the phone box at all.