Long distance landline phone services?

[zannej]

I don't know if there really is a proper section for this, so I'm asking here. I live out in the woods where cellphone reception is shoddy and I have to play the "can you hear me now?" game and a lot of the time people just can't hear me or I can't hear them.

We used to have a long distance plan that was like 3.5cents a minute or somesuch but it would only call out of the area code or within my town. Any numbers within the same area code could not be called. That service ended up adding a monthly fee in addition to the cost per minute so we dumped it.

We are currently trying to find a good long distance landline plan that is inexpensive and will let us call within our area code as well as out of state. We are open to one that has a low monthly fee and does not charge per minute or one with no monthly fee and a low charge per minute.

When I was searching I saw something called "Opex Value 2.5" that claims to charge 2.5cents/min. It says it offers in-state and state-to-state, but I don't know if it does within the same area code. Has anyone heard of this service? Is it good or bad? Does it let people call within the area code?

Or are there other services available that people know of?

When looking for plans we kept seeing ones that required internet for long distance, but our internet is satellite so its worse than using a cellphone because of the upload delay.

so, any suggestions?

 

[Wuzzat?]

I suspect that the FTC has fallen victim to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
so read the fine print and

watch out for small print that looks like a contract but is not really and

ask if the entire contract that you are signing up for is available by e-mail rather than being on public view in some city distant to you (this is what nailed me on long term care; I paid for the more expensive fixed premium but page 23 of the contract available for viewing in Philadelphia clearly stated that I am still not immune to premium increases and so my premium went up. And I cancelled.
Apparently any lawyer knew this).

The book on Long Term Care by Nolo Press is invaluable for listing the many ways that contracts of any kind can be gotten around.

 

[slownsteady]

I used to use Matrix Telecom (I think they've changed their name now) They were okay for a while, but the same thing happened...they started charging a monthly fee which more than doubled our long distance bill. They also continued to bill after we discontinued service. They hope that it will go undetected in the phone bill. Fortunately, cell service is good here, so we haven't needed another long distance carrier.

 

[havasu]

Have you tried MagicJack?

 

[nealtw]

Majicjack works good if you have good interweb connection. They hook up to the nearest big city so locals have to call long distence but you get to call anywhere in the world for free.

 

[oldognewtrick]

We dumped the land line and I have to admitt, I haven't missed it. The only calls we got were her mom and telemarketers....yep.

Won't be long and land lines will be like drive-in movies.

 

[havasu]

My son was invented at a Drive In movie. :banana:

 

[nealtw]

My son was invented at a Drive In movie. :banana:

invented or prototyped?

 

[slownsteady]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlG84nn_kYc&index=17&list=PL6DF7C21A97D330E8[/ame]

 

[nealtw]

3 people fit in the trunk of a 58 chevy.

 

[havasu]

We also packed the trunk. Shortly afterwards, they changed to a price per carload, probably because of idiots like us.

 

[nealtw]

The movie was running anyway and we always bought burgers.

We have a new one built here about 6 years ago, I haven't herd of anyone going to it.

 

[Wuzzat?]

There are probably boosters that improve cell phone communication.
At the high frequencies that cell phones use, a small directional antenna high off the ground may work but you'd need interface circuitry and maybe a two-way wideband RF amplifier.
This might available in kit form. Do some searches, e.g.,
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q="improve+cell+phone"+range+kit&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

To pick the right setup you need to know how weak your signal is for your location. Cell phone companies know this but the trick is to somehow get the info. IIRC, signal strength is expressed in dBm.

 

[zannej]

I've actually had an amplifier for my cellphone but it didn't work.

MagicJack won't work because we have satellite internet. We actually have a micro-celltower that routes our phones inside the house through the internet, but the upload delay is horrible and I often get echoing and delays that makes it hard to communicate.

We just need something without the upload delay that works through the landline.

 

[Wuzzat?]

How far away is the nearest landline?

 

[Chris]

I haven't used my landline in a couple years but I keep paying for it.

 

[zannej]

How far away is the nearest landline?

I'm not sure what you mean. I have a landline at my house. That is my primary phone service. But it doesn't have long distance so I can't call out of state or out of the town I'm in. I can only make local calls.

I'm looking for a plan that uses my landline to be able to call within my area code as well as in the rest of the state and out-of-state but that is inexpensive. Either a low flat fee without extra fees for minutes OR just low cost per minute that doesn't have a flat fee in addition.

But it has to cover within my area code. In the past I was able to call within the state and out of state, but not in the same area code. So I could call like 337 area code but not 318.

 

[Wuzzat?]

OK, gotcha'.

 

[slownsteady]

I should have added that in the rare cases that I need to dial long distance a-la landline, i just let the phone company handle it. No extra service fees, no third party billing and the rate, after all this time, is pretty competitive - especially when you don't have to worry about a monthly fee.

 

[zannej]

My phone company charges something ludicrous like 10cents per minute in addition to a monthly fee.