Calling Voiply

I’ve maintained our home landline* though we don’t use it much, bundled with our Spectrum internet service. Aside from still being linked to old legacy accounts like our grocery store’s and Shell card rewards program, I’ve also kept it partly for sentimental reasons since I’ve had the number since the 1990s. I half joke that the only people who really still call it are my mother-in-law and spammers.

I actually did nearly drop the line a few years back. When I called Spectrum to indicate I was thinking of canceling, they offered a two-year bundled monthly deal with my Internet that brought down the overall monthly cost to below $100, so I kept it.

The bundle deal recently expired at around the same time we learned that our homeowner’s association had recently entered into a contract with a new local high speed internet provider that, by the end of the year, would provide us new residential data service at a greatly reduced rate. Given that we would be eventually canceling our Spectrum service, I thought it might be an opportunity to also completely cut the cord with Spectrum and move to another—and, more importantly, cheaper—VOIP phone provider.

Above: Voiply adaptor

After some cursory research, I considered Vonage, Ooma and Voiply. Frankly, all offered comparable prices and features. That said, I subsequently discovered that Vonage (the only one of the services I’d heard of previously) had become more focused on business customers rather than residential; and while Ooma technically offered a “free” monthly plan (except for taxes), you had to purchase the equipment (ranging anywhere from $69.99–$99.99, depending on where you purchased it), whereas Voiply provided the equipment for free. While I recognize Ooma may offer the “cheapest” plan over the long haul, I liked the idea of no upfront start up cost. Ultimately, I went with the three-month renewable Voiply plan that came to approximately $8.95 per month and, if you pay annually, as low as $7.46 (with no contracts). Given that I was currently paying $30/month for my Spectrum line (and I know someone who pays $60/month with AT&T!), that was more than an acceptable savings!

And, of course, part of the onboarding process with Voiply was the option of porting my current home phone number. (It’s important not to cancel your service before the number is ported or you will lose it). A happy surprise was that I didn’t have to call Spectrum afterwards as I anticipated to separately cancel the service—when my number became active on Voiply, I received an email notice from Spectrum that my service agreement had been updated and the phone service removed!!

For the record, I placed my order and created my Voiply account on July 1—which included the order to port my number—and received the equipment on July 6. The number was ported and became active on Voiply on July 8.

Though I was aware of the features, one that surprised me was that the number automatically forwards to my mobile phone via the Voiply app!! I learned this in a very critical manner on the very day the line became active—I was out at a family event and someone called our home number to reach us, and I picked it up on my cell phone. Had the line not been activated and had I not installed the app, I would not have received what turned out to be an important phone call!

By the way, the service works very simply: there is a small separate “black box” that serves as a conduit between the router and the phone, connected to the router via a provided Internet cable and the phone via the regular phone line. Both the app and the online account allows you to manage many of the features (which also includes call forwarding, calling out from the number from your mobile device, and even being able to use text to a degree!)

Anyway, I’ve only just got it, but I’m already sold—if for no other reason than due to the great savings in price for the service.

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* "Landlines" are no longer truly the analog landlines of old—most are now digital-based or, more accurately, VOIP lines, or (Voice over Internet Protocol)   

New Scanner!

A Brave New World—Cutting the Cord

Over the recent three-day holiday weekend, my family and I cut the cord and cancelled DirecTV, which I've had for about 15 years. In its place, we signed up for YouTube TV, a streaming app that carries live broadcast TV just like cable or satellite but delivered over the internet (to be clear, this app is different and separate from the regular YouTube streaming app for its videos). We run the app through each of the Amazon Firestick plugged into our three TVs, though the service is available on certain smart TVs and streaming devices (so be sure to check).

Partly because our monthly bill for DirecTV seemed to go up in price every year, I'd been contemplating a change for awhile. But of course we still wanted to have live broadcast TV, and the alternatives when I did my research a year or so ago didn't quite seem to meet our needs, especially when it came to DVR capability, so we waited on pulling the trigger.

Mind you, we've been otherwise satisfied with our DirecTV service. But with the addition of several relatively less expensive streaming platforms to our household (including Netflix and Amazon Prime), the $158 monthly cost of DirecTV seemed out of whack with our actual viewing habits. While it varied within my household, I myself was probably spending only about 30 percent of my television viewing time, if that, on DirecTV. And our plan didn't even include any additional premium content like HBO, Showtime or sports packages.

When I researched it again in January, I learned that YouTube TV had fairly recently launched in 2017 in a more limited fashion and has continued to expand and mature. I looked at the reviews and comparisons to its main competitors (which include Hulu Live, Sling, Roku, DirecTV Livestream). At the end of the day, YouTube TV looked the most appealing: it had the most channels and about 95 percent of the channels that we watched and wished to retain, including TCM, WeTV, Bravo, IFC, and the Food Network. And because subscriptions are based on zip code, we get all our local stations except for one (more on that below).

Especially appealing was the "unlimited cloud DVR," where they keep an unlimited number of recordings for 9 months (versus reportedly 30 days on Hulu Live).

While the DVR feature is great, I discovered that YouTube TV also operates like an on-demand streaming service. So although I showed my wife how to "record" all scheduled episodes the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, I also noticed that if you searched and found a show in the system, you could still stream on demand recent past shows anyway! (Similarly, I had forgotten to record the premiere episodes of Doctor Who, but easily found the show available to stream on demand in the app). I presume this varies by show or network, but in some cases, we could find shows with many if not all past seasons and shows available! This goes way beyond what's possible through DirecTV satellite.

And, as a reminder, the YouTube TV app sits on the Amazon Firestick (and other smart streaming devices) alongside other popular streaming apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and more.

The only real hole in offerings we found was the CW network, the Cartoon Network (for my son) and one local channel, which also happens to be the local affiliate owned by the CW. I discovered, however, that we could access many Cartoon Network shows via Hulu, so adding a $5.99 Hulu plan (or $11.99 sans commercials) was an investment I certainly could live with since we were saving nearly $110 with the cancellation of DirecTV.  (Heck, we can even add other premium channels, like HBO Go, as needed, again for a fraction of what it would have cost through DirecTV—and without a contract, so we're free to add and cancel those subscriptions at any time!) As for the CW, it has its own free app, where you can access all of its shows. (The service compiled together all the episodes of its Crisis on Infinite Earths series that crossed over properties like Supergirl, the Flash, and the Arrow, so I was able to access all the episodes.)

In addition, I learned that many people have found a workaround for getting their local stations through an antenna—today, these are digital/HD devices, not the cheesy rabbit ears from back in the day, which plug into the cable connection on the TV. Stations are required by law to still broadcast their signals over the airwaves so that people can still access local stations for free. Since you can find these antennas for as cheap as $12 (and most under $40), this is a reasonable workaround for the one local channel I'm not receiving. (Update: I never got this to work, presumably due to signal issues).

I should add that earlier in 2019, I also switched my phone and internet service from AT&T to Spectrum, to save money and for faster internet speed. With the cancellation of DirecTV—which was purchased in 2015 by AT&T—I'm almost completely out of the AT&T ecosystem. Only my mobile device remains with the company!

Review: Kindle Fire HD

Between owning an iPhone and a laptop (as well as a desktop iMac), I have felt little need for a tablet. In recent months, however, my interest in having an ebook reader that would also allow me to read digital comics piqued my interest. Since I purchased a Kindle for my wife last Christmas, who was very happy with it, I thought I’d get a color Kindle Fire HD. As I was just about to make my purchase, however, news about the iPad Mini broke, which put my plans for the Kindle Fire on pause -- I decided to wait to see what Apple would have to offer....

Like most other people, however, the Mini turned out to have too high a price point at $325, compared to the Kindle Fire HD’s $199. I also realized that since I already own an iPhone, a traditional tablet like the iPad Mini was redundant. I felt it preferable to get something that complemented my iPhone rather than essentially duplicated it by getting a more dedicated e-reader. At the last minute, I also did comparisons with the Nook and the Google Nexus since they were priced the same. I ruled out the Nook since Barnes & Noble’s future seems uncertain and the Nexus because it was primarily a tablet and, secondarily, an e-book reader. So, in the end, I settled on the Kindle Fire HD.

Having had the Kindle a couple of weeks now, I must say I’m happy and impressed. With its built-in wifi, it turns out the device is robust and has more of the features and capabilities of a traditional tablet than I anticipated: I connected to my email, calendar and contact list accounts with no problems; it has a web browser; I downloaded many of my existing personal finance apps on it like Mint and ClearCheckBook; it can stream Netflix, YouTube and other videos—I can even stream them to my TV using a mini-HDMI connector; and, apparently, it can even run Skype for videoconference calls!

I've already downloaded several books and magazines, as well as several digital comics, which look great on the high-def color screen. With its 7-inch screen size, the Kindle is light, portable and easy to carry around.

Having said that, it’s important to note that the while the iPad Mini and the Kindle Fire HD certainly overlap and compete in many areas, they also fill very distinct niches. As I said earlier, I primarily wanted an e-book reader, with apps (and especially gaming, which is where other traditional tablets excel) a low priority. The reviews are right on: you really need to make a decision based on your needs. As I said, since I already have an iPhone, an iPad would have been a bit superfluous, so I'm glad I got what is primarily a dedicated e-reader that also performs nicely as a traditional tablet on the fly. The Kindle, of course, is also closely tied to Amazon's content and the user’s Amazon account, but that wasn't an issue for me since I already purchase regularly on Amazon.

While it may not fit everyone’s needs, the Kindle Fire HD is a great product.