Yes, there is a previous topic started on this. In 2007. With no responses. So I’m trying again.
Does anyone have experience with this company and their VoIP systems? If yes, I’d love to hear about them.
Thanks!
I’ve used Ooma for many years. No complaints.
That’s good to hear! I’m trying to overcome a massive deficit in technical knowledge all at once, and Ooma seems like a decent option for my 2 residential phone lines. Impartial opinions from Dopers are invaluable!
Yes, it simply works as advertised. If you are a Luddite, you’ll be pleased to know that it also works for faxing.
LOL, not that much of a Luddite, but that is indeed good to know. 
My biggest concerns are if I need 2 separate Ooma services to deal with 2 separate phone lines, and where the hell does everything plug into?
I know I need their Ooma Telo unit, but what else? Where does that plug into? Special adaptors for my existing phones? That plug into where?
I know also that I need to port my existing phone numbers and to not cancel shitty CenturyLink service until that is accomplished.
I will soon also have a smart cell phone, first one ever, with yet another number. Or should I just port my personal phone number to the new cell phone, then jump on my new ISP’s wi-fi when using it at home? Gaahh! So many questions!
Any other tips?
I tried 2 differents voips over a decade ago. At the time both were terrible. One was AT&T and the other Vonage.
No idea how voips are today.
Back then there was often an echo, and basically problems if people were speaking at the same time.
Sorry. Not much help.
Those issues seem to be substantially eliminated with the new speeds of gigabit fiber. I talk to lots of folks who use VoIP exclusively with no such concerns.
If you say so, Pops.
That’s “Moms” to you.
Also, my only reason for having no cell phone (except a Go phone) to date is no cell service at my home. Believe me, I’ve missed having one!
We had an Ooma for a while. Worked fine, but eventually realized there was no need for a land line at all. Cell service at home is mediocre at best, but our phones can call over WiFi (T-Mobile, if it matters). Haven’t had a landline for several years now, and don’t miss it at all.
I’ve had Ooma for probably 15 years; it’s been very reliable.
We only have 1 line. We plug our old 4-handset cordless base station into it, but I think there are other options.
This is exactly what I hope to do, too, if I can port my existing land line phone number to the new cell phone. Like you, I barely even now have access to cell service, and that only for the last few months. I also didn’t have wi-fi better than satellite until about a week ago.
I will probably still have to use Ooma for my business phone line. It rarely rings as most of my clients are trained to email, but keeping that number is important.
I’d like to do this, too.
ETA: I really appreciate everyone’s responses. I realize this is very old technology for many, but as someone who has lived in The Sticks for decades, it’s new for me.
As to wiring …
If your house has existing telephone wiring in the walls, then it’s pretty simple. Ooma (or any other VOIP vendor) will give you a small box with a larger RJ-45 network receptacle and a smaller telephone RJ-11 receptacle. And a power connection port with matching wall wart.
Plug a network jumper cable between your router and the OOMA box. Plug the wall wart into a 110V power outlet & connect the power cable to the Ooma box. Plug a telephone jumper cable between the Ooma box and any one of the phone jacks in your house. That will make all the phone jacks in your house live with old fashioned telephone using whichever phone number you and Ooma have set up.
Then plug as many old fashioned telephones as you want into those other phone jacks in your house. Same with old fashioned cordless phone base stations; plug them into your phone wall jack(s). Those “look” like conventional telephones to the phone system and the comm between base station and portable handset is some separate (usually primitive crappy lo-fi analog) radio stuff.
Some of the more advanced VOIP boxes use WiFi, not an RJ45 cable, to connect the VOIP box to your router. Same idea though.
This is a wonderfully helpful post. Thank you! It all makes sense and is kind of how I guessed the set up would be.
I will have to hope Ooma offers the WiFi option in lieu of the RJ45 cable. All the phone jacks are located well away from where my WiFi router is, with no easy options to run the cables out of sight to it.
Maybe my best option is 2 cell phones with existing numbers ported over and piggybacked onto WiFi? (Thinking out loud.) Seems a lot easier, and as @Twoflower points out, then who needs Ooma?
I also see where cell phones can offer 2 numbers, too. I’m starting to see I may solve all my problems with just the new cell phone and the right options enabled. I think I’ll explore that first before going any further with Ooma.
Thanks again to all for your responses!
I’m sort of a Luddite, so I only know what I do. I have a home phone that can connect to my cell phone via bluetooth. So when my home phone rings, I can answer it on either the home phone or my cell.
Right now, the only reason I keep the Ooma and “landline” is because the old landline phone is much more comfortable to use. Also, I can fiddle with my cell phone while I’m talking on the other phone. Probably time to drop it, though. It’s handy for when I misplace my cell phone and need to call it.
No echoes whatsoever with the Ooma.
I don’t remember how I hooked up the Ooma when I got it, just that the instructions were relatively simple to follow.
This would be my reason, too. It’s easy to tuck the phone between shoulder and face. Cell phones don’t lend themselves readily to this option, and I hate how people sound when they use the Speaker option. What’s the point of talking on the phone if the sound is so distorted you can’t hear what’s being said?
Exactly! Much easier to maneuver, and much better sound quality (especially pressed up tight against your ear).
IMO there are few things more uncomfortable than holding an old-fashioned landline phone handset between scrunched up shoulder and cocked over head. And your arm on that side becomes pretty well useless too, due to needing to keep that shoulder stationary.
Trying to talk on a mobile phone held to the head is a different sort of exercise in frustration, especially once your hearing is going, as mine is. The only place you can hold the phone to hear takes your phone’s mike too far from your mouth.
IMO the key to happy mobile phone use is a good Bluetooth headset / earpiece. I now use this one, but I’ve had many other varieties:
The sound quality you hear is great, the sound quality the other person hears is great, and, ref @needscoffee, you can readily fiddle on your mobile phone while talking on it. No need for some clunky second phone hanging around.
Maybe you have a longer neck than I do, but I don’t find holding a phone against my ear with my shoulder cumbersome. Some handsets are shaped better than others.
I can be so boneheaded. I finally figured out that where I’d gotten stuck with all this plugging in. I am so indoctrinated into thinking I need CenturyLink’s internal infrastructure in my house that I was trying to figure out how to plug the phone line from the phone base unit into the existing phone jacks from the Ooma box. Umm, duh. My WiFi doesn’t give a shit about CenturyLink’s internal phone jacks. I just have to plug the phone line from the phone base unit into the Ooma box. The phone base unit can be positioned anywhere I like in the room, bound only by how long the phone line is.
Well, that’s pretty easy, isn’t it? 
When I have a blind spot, I don’t mess around!
@LSLGuy, I like your bluetooth earpiece. Looks like I can pair it with both my new cell phone (supposed to arrive on Wednesday) as well as my existing Panasonic home phone set, if I want. I may invest in one of those. Thanks for the suggestion!