Hawth0rn

Thanks everyone for the advice, it looks like everything is very different to home.

As I said we are going to be in Las Vegas, we have some contacts there so will ask which is the best coverage.

Can anyone explain about internet connection at home, do we need a landline like in the UK? Whats line rentel and call charges like?

Oh this is going to be so much fun sorting things out when we get there, not knowing what we are talking about - those salesmen are going to have a field day!

Regards
Jo

Kar98

You can get DSL-only, what's called a "dry line". You'll have the phone wiring and jacks, but it can only be used for internet purposes, no phone calls.

There's also internet via TV cable.

In many areas, you'll get only the choice between one or the other, a duopoly if you will. In others, you'll have at least the choice between several DSL providers.

More in-depth information: http://www.dslreports.com/

TimNiceBut

The faster connections are usually from the cable company (Comcast[1] in Las Vegas), DSL is often only 1.5Mb/s. A lot of the landline phone packages include line rental and free calls to the US so there's no direct comparison to UK prices. You'll have to find out who the local phone company is and check their website for prices. I'd also recommend using something like Skype for calls to the UK, the monthly subscription for calls to landlines from Skype tends to work out cheaper than most cheap long-distance phone companies I've found. That's how I talk to my family in Germany and Switzerland and my friends in the UK.

[1] Recipient of Comsumer Report's "Worst Company in America" award in 2010

mikechristina

Reading everyones comments here with interest.

We are going to be living by the beach Florida (Tampa area). I make calls right across Europe for my work and need a 100% reliable internet line and phone, cause if it goes down then I am out of business (like most people I guess!).

Wondering if I can do all this from a mobile? Though maybe a good idea to have both as a failsafe?

Any suggestions on good companies for international call rates - I make a LOT of calls.

Weeze

http://www.magicjack.com/

These are popular. Not personal experience though so check out the reviews.

TimNiceBut

IME (and reading stuff on blogs like The Consumerist) you can't get 100% reliability. Heck, I'm an IT guy and I don't expect 100% reliability.

What I would do if that's possible (mainly due to availability) is to get both an Internet connection via the cable company and DSL from the phone company (don't get both from the same company!). That way you'll have a fallback if the faster cable internet craps out (which it will from time to time). You can't get DSL everywhere (for example, my only choices are satellite Internet or cable Internet, or drive into town to get 3G reception on my phone).

Of course it won't protect against the "look, a hurricane, now we won't have power for a week" type problem.

Most mobile cos out here will not have an unlimited plan, plus mobile Internet tends to be expensive. I think the only remaining company that offers unlimited mobile Internet is Sprint - check your local coverage though.

I use Skype via a monthly subscription for unlimited calls to Western European landlines. Works for me.

mikechristina

Thanks Tim, really useful info from you.

Backup line is a fine idea, done it before and 2 companies is always prudent. Cable and phone - is one fibre based the other over the telegraph poles?

Can you call mobiles via Skype? What is the quality like?

I am also looking at Vonage and Ooma - both also VOIP based.

TimNiceBut

In our case, both are coming in via poles and that's fairly normal, hence the comment about hurricanes. Fibre-based is still fairly rare here, availability depends very much on location.

Yes you can, you just have to pay extra for calls to mobiles. Call quality is about as good as phone-to-phone if you're calling a phone at the other end and extremely good (much better than phones) if you call Skype-to-Skype. Plus the latter is free...

I have no experience with either, but I'd recommend getting a "real" phone line when your business depends on it.

We get our phone from the cable co via a bundle deal and I found out the hard way how well VOIP works if you have trouble with your Internet connection. Just a thought.

BritishGuy36

Make sure your cellphone is an android phone - then set yourself up a google voice account. You can dial via the GV network to landlines across most of the first world for 2 cents a minute. I call mum (in the UK) from my cell all the time, never had a single issue with either inbound or outbound calls.

I say get an android phone since the integration with google services including google voice is total. You just give out your google voice number instead of your actual number provided by your cell service provider. The part of the call to call into the GV network does come off your minutes so get unlimited minutes in your cell plan.

Some people like Magic Jack but this ties you to a computer so is worthless for business people or anyone who needs access to cheap international calling from their cellphone.

Noorah101

A friend of mine has Magic Jack, and it's not very reliable.

Rene

anotherlimey

Plus GV lets you redirect the number to any other number you want, or more than one number. It's really useful, everyone should have one.

mikechristina

Thanks everyone. My thoughts:-

I had my doubts about MagicJack, looks a little 'home spun' - I need a robust voice service. It ranks bottom on the http://www.dslreports.com/ also.

Google Voice sounds interesting at 2 cents per min, I will look into this for sure. Can you call mobiles also? If not, it holds no value to me sadly.

No one has mentioned Rebtel? Christina and I have used it for the last 3 years. It is free to call anyone, any where in the world - cell or landline from your cell or landline. VOIP based of course. It works by both parties calling a local number (often included in your phone plan) then it connects you together and you can chat for hours without thinking about the bill - cause you never get one! Sounds to good to be true? Try it

I cannot use the above for business though, as it needs setting up in advance with each party, but perfect for family and friends.

What I do know is that if you want to use VOIP, you need to invest in a really good broadband line - ideally dedicated, so best to have 2 connections. Purely a business requirement of course.

http://www.dslreports.com/ - is a mine of very valuable information - thanks very much for that

This forum is fab and has been a lifeline for us, so very thankful

GeoffM

We have a MagicJack and so have first hand experience with it. It costs something like $20 per year and gives you a US phone number in the area of your choice - ours is in Southern California as that is where most of the wife's relatives are. It's local to most of them so with their phone plans it's free to call/receive calls from us.

We've never had reliability issues with the MagicJack though of course it relies on a good Internet connection. We have 14Mb down/1.2Mb up around here so speed is pretty good but still drops out occasionally.

What I will say is that the echoes/delays can be annoying. Quality seems to be less than PC-Internet-PC Skype calls. And I certainly wouldn't rely on it for business (nor Skype for that matter).

Bomjeito

I've lived in Vegas for some years and still have a home there.

Comcast is not the only cable company in Vegas. Cox is much better. Cable is better than DSL for internet in Vegas, correct. There are tiers of internet speed, and I found out the hard way with Cox that the lower tiers are worthless. I pay $65 a month for decent internet.

I dropped Cox for cable TV (which dropping the bundle increased my internet by $5) and went with DirecTV. I'm very happy with it, and its the same price as cable, and in Vegas, and much of the SW, satellite TV is brilliant.

As for mobiles, T Mobile and AT&T are the biggest players, but T Mobile - no one I know likes them. Most move quickly over to AT&T once they can finish their T Mobile contract. I have Verizon, but that is because my cell is originally from another state with great Verizon coverage and service. I have zero problem for coverage in Vegas, with Verizon.

The landline company changed so many times in since 2005, so I'm not even sure who it is anymore. I dropped them in 2005 as with internet, I carry Vonage for $35 a month, which give free calling to Canada and UK (amongst others) but not to UK cell phones.

The only problem is that Vonage doesn't work if you don't have internet. And from time to time, Cox Cable has gone out, but not for more than a few hours. Their 800 line keeps audio lists of where work is being done and outtages are occuring. Each time I've had a problem, the technicians have been very good, by the way. Since we dropped cable TV, we've not had a problem at all or may just be coincidence.

As all have noted, cell phone contracts are a bugger. If your company will provide that for you, that is a huge bonus. If not, yes, a credit check, down payments and a legiron for 2 years or pay the difference. Virgin mobile pay as you go does well in Vegas. I have these for guests coming in from overseas. You could try that until you decide who to go with - they run over Verizon's network.

BritishGuy36

Yes you can call any number using GV - but of course [non-North American] cell numbers are more expensive to call than landlines - you will find that's the same for all VOIP services too.

What I like about GV is that you can use your cell when you need to, but as anotherlimey said, you can use it with other phones too. Just use your cell when out and about, and when sat at home with a nice landline and computer you can use the web-based GV console to manage contacts, calls and text messages (I LOVE being able to text from my PC using my full sized keyboard and the recipient receives it as from your mobile phone number - also everything you do on the PC syncs automatically with your android phone). Add your land line as a forwarding number, then you can have inbound calls to your GV number ring your landline and you can initiate outbound calls from your GV number from the console, your landline rings, you pick up the phone, then the remote party is dialed and you can talk to them on your landline - but the caller ID the other party sees is still your same GV number. The call management features are second to none.

GV is free so there's no reason not to try it - and I'd do so before you give your cell out to any contacts or have business cards printed, so that if you decide to go with GV you can just give out your GV number instead.