"Newegg" has the Obi 200 on sale through Thurs. Oct. 12th.------
"Get the OBi200 for Only $37.99 Thru Thursday, October 12!*"
Newegg Promo Code: EMCBRBR38
That seems a good price, and VoIP phone appliances are something I need to learn more about.
Is there more than one Obi model? If so, what are the important feature differences?
If you use an Obi, are you happy with it?
Yes there are several models for home and business. The 200 is the least expensive and most basic Obi device, which can be used to connect to a cordless phone and be set up with a GV#. I have both the Obi 100, which is no longer supported and which I have used for 5 years for free home phone service, and the Obi 200 for a relative. There is a general consensus that the Obi devices are the best ATA devices for voip phone performance. There are many great configuration features to these devices---- check out the link below, as well as the very informative Obi forum, for more info. The mentioned Newegg promo price is about 25% less than the normal price od $50. There was a problem with the Obi business people a year or so ago where they got much flak for trying to begin charging people $10 yearly for auto-updates, but forum members got around this fee by manually updating their devices.
http://www.obihai.com/
I'm using ooma which is easier but more expensive and requires payment for additional features - which I do not want to have to pay for. I've been thinking of one of these for a while. Anyone used both ooma and obihai + GV? Any difference in call quality? Calling with ooma has been as good as a landline. The cost keeps creeping up though. It was about $3 when I started a few years ago and is nearly $6 a month now. The main person I call has ooma if that makes a difference in call quality.
I have both Ooma and Obihai 200. Call quality is about the same. Just cancelled one Ooma Telo line with $5 tax per month and kept a 9 year old Ooma core which has no tax. With cell phone plan so cheap now I don't see the need to spend money on a VOIP landline. With Google Voice + Obihai I can also call Canada for free.
I might add for mmfacemm that when I used an Ooma about six years ago, one had to opt for the premium service if one wanted to use GV with the Ooma, at $10 a month. Using GV&Hangouts, I could get by just fine without a cordless home phone, but for some reason I like using the cordless phone and extra handsets with the phone's answering system. There are also some inexpensive cordless phones with bluetooth connection to cell phones, but I have tried this method and have experienced poor call connection and quality.
Yes I like having a cordless phone too. Easier for the rest of the family and that means less cellphones being used too. Ooma is fine for the basic stuff. I just started with ooma years ago and never got round to changing as it just worked.
I think having it "just work" is a major criteria for those of us reluctant to give up landlines!
For those using Obihai with Google Voice: I think my preference would be to tie the Obi into my existing home phone system, and use it just like a landline: It would probably be rare for me to want to use the forwarding feature of GV. Can I disable GV's voicemail system, and rely on my home phone system's answering system instead?