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How do I get nettalk to respond? Number port...

Hi, I decided to try switching from Vonage to Nettalk. I bought the DUO WIFI with the year of service. So far, got everything to work, though it was a pain to do.

So now I want to port my number, but the website says it is unavailable. What? I call Vonage, it is available for transfer, they gave me a number that nettalk can call if there are issues. Yet, I can't even get to the port part because the first page says the number is unavailable.

I have an open ticket, but that doesn't seem to be worked on or looked at.

If NetTalk won't help me, I guess I'll have to return the device. My friends are curious if this is going to work out too, before they consider nettalk... not having it work would be unfortunate.

Any idea how to get them to actually look into this?

The thing is, there was nothing to tell me to go somewhere first to check my portability. Regardless, if Vonage says it is available to be ported, isn't that enough? E.g. they are ready to let it go, so, NetTalk should go grab it.

My first 7 are 423-207-4***

Voipo will not be cheaper though... $150 for 2 years is more than $80 for two... Also, I've never heard of them, who knows of their service quality, if they will be here in 2 years, etc.

I never said anything about if they would be worth it, just a reply to his "they would be cheaper" comment.

What would be your choice (remember though, retaining the number is important).

As cb14 said.

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I suggested Voipo partly because it is most similar to your current service with Vonage, where you are just plugging in a box. Voipo has many more features, though.

The services such as CallCentric and Voip.MS are BYOD.

Brent ... Here are some facts that might help you.

Landline phone companies (POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service) and Cellular providers and CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) and even Beeper companies are assigned blocks of phone numbers by NANPA (North America Numbering Plan Administration) ... throughout the US & Canada.

Phone numbers were originally assigned by NANPA in 10,000-number blocks ... but years ago, when it was discovered that thousands of tiny local phone companies were using only a small fraction of their allotted numbers, NANPA began reducing the assignments to 1,000-number blocks.

Each 10,000-number block (e.g., 201-248-0000 to 201-248-9999) is linked to a specific Rate Center, an actual physical location in a town or village where switching equipment is located ... whether the block is assigned to a single carrier or subdivided into 1,000-number blocks among several carriers.

Each Rate Center may serve one or many Exchanges. For example, the Pompton Lakes NJ Rate Center serves several towns in Northern NJ ... Pompton Lakes, Riverdale, Wayne with numerous Exchanges: 973-831-xxxx, 973-835-xxxx, 973-248-xxxx, 862-377-xxxx and 14 others).
»www.localcallingguide.com/lca_ex···h=126430

An entire Rate Center (10,000 numbers) may be assigned to just one carrier (PSTN, Cellular, Beeper, CLEC). For example, the entire 561-338-xxxx exchange is assigned to AT&T Landline in Boca Raton FL; 513-200-xxxx belongs exclusively to Sprint (Cellular) in Cincinnati; 715-318-xxxx belongs exclusively to Level 3 Communications (CLEC) in Eau Claire WI.

Or a Rate Center may be divided among many carriers (PSTN, Cellular, CLEC): 410-202-xxxx shares 1000-number blocks with multiple carriers.
»www.localcallingguide.com/lca_pr···&nxx=202

VoIP providers ... such as VOIPo, Voip.ms, CallCentric, Future-Nine, Anveo, Ooma ... and less respected MagicJack and NetTalk ... obtain their telephone numbers (DIDs = Direct Inward Dialing) from separate entities called CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier). VoIP providers essentially "lease" the numbers from CLECs, assigning the numbers to their customers.

Some of the CLECs which provide DIDs are Level 3 Comm, Bandwidth, XO, Peerless, Global Crossing, PAETEC, USLec, Broadwing, Telcentris, RNK, YMAX. (A few of these CLECs have been taken over by larger CLECs.)

In order for your new VoIP provider to obtain a new number (or port in an existing number from another provider), your new VoIP provider must do business with a CLEC that has a "presence" in the phone number's Rate Center.

For example, if you have a Vonage number in Storm Lake IA, you might not be able to port your number to NetTalk because they do not have a relationship with a CLEC in Storm Lake. Other VoIP providers ... specifically those who get numbers from Level 3 Communications, one of the largest CLECs in the US... can port the number to their servers. In fact, NetTalk is lacking number availability in thousands of Rate Centers throughout the US.
»Re: NetTalk lacks area codes in many places, and issues no list.

If you provide us with your location (city & state) and the area code and exchange (first 6 numbers xxx-xxx) of your phone number, we may be able to offer suggestions in selecting a quality VoIP provider.

In the meantime, check out the reviews and ratings for the most discussed VoIP providers here: »/gbu

Thanks for the replies and valuable info.

Well, I'm not worried about the heavy lifting of obtaining a box and configuring it myself. I am quite technical, simply not completely versed in this side of things.

I have no problem getting an Obi and picking a provider. The only reason I went for Nettalk at the moment, was for my wife. With comparable services and quality as Vonage at a $30+/month discount, it seemed like the way to go.

I do have an email to Voipo and Callcentric to see if my number can be ported (423-207-4*** btw). Personally, I don't care about the number that much, but my wife does. Plus, updating uncountable locations/companies/offices/gov agencies, with a new number from what she had for many years, is quite daunting.

Personally, I don't care about customer service that much, since anything on my end I can handle. As long as *their* end is fine, I should be good.

Hence if NetTalk could get our number, for roughly $80 for two years, that turn key solution would make my wife the happiest.

The cost for voipo and callcentric + obi seems comparable to eachother. Except the initial callcentric cost of porting the number. voip.ms would be out, given that lack of porting. Googlevoice's lack of commitment on price after 2013 is scary, wouldn't want to jump through hoops and have to go another way right after setting it all up.

Also, if it doesn't work seamless for the foreseeable future (with any solution I go with) for my wife, she would probably say she'd rather pay the higher rate and stick with something she considers 'known'.

Thanks again for your help. I was originally going to go with another solution than NetTalk, but see reasons above. Guess I'm back at looking at that route.

Oh, and after voipo was suggested, I did a search on them. Definitely a number of people unhappy with them. 'Poor quality but impossible to get a refund. Threatening emails to return the box, yet still charging for service', etc.

Before someone replies to me in a huff, I didn't say those things about them, just other people have online when I looked for reviews.

Ok, using that ^^^LocalCallingGuide^^^, I get:

423-207 Midway (Washington) TN 4806 LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - TN
423-207-4 Midway (Washington) TN 4806 LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC - TN

So, is this good, bad, ugly? Does this help with porting options or only new number?

Regards, Thanks, Brent

Brent --- Your Midway (Washington) TN number is highly portable since it currently appears to be assigned to Level 3 Communications as the CLEC ... one of the most ubiquitous CLECs in existence.

Regarding NetTalk ... all I can say is BEWARE!   I hope you've checked out their reviews: »User reviews - NetTalk.  The "C+" for Reliability and "C" for Tech Support should be considered when making your choice.

You might be interested to know that practically all of the "good" providers mentioned by me and other posters have far superior feature sets to those of Vonage (at no extra cost) ... »/gbu ... so your wife would probably be exhilarated by your choice from the "good guys". She will never let you live down a poor choice such as NetTalk.

Regarding VOIPo, out of 171 reviews where the poster rated this provider, 147 were "good" and "24 were "bad". The average reviews show "B+" and "A-" across the board ... and the recent upgrade to their website is not yet reflected in the 6-month average of a "B".

I have used VOIPo for several years as my exclusive home phone (no landline) in my Boca Raton residence and have not experienced any problems with service, support or billing. (My wife is very happy with VOIPo ... and she has a Masters Degree in Computer Technology!   I only have a measly M.D. degree.)   VOIPo is for those looking for a plug and play option ... device supplied by the vender.

I use both Voip.ms and CallCentric in my New Jersey home (again, no landline) and find both providers' reliability, support and features to be excellent ... with fair pricing.  Voip.ms & CC call for setting up an ATA (BYOD) ... which is quite simple since the directions are on each provider's website ... and folks on this Forum can always help.

I'm not huffin' nor am I puffin'. I'm just calling for a caveat emptor moment/pause/consideration before you jump into something that most of the knowledgeable folks in this Forum know will disappoint you and your wife.

I guess my wife and I have three points of interest: Keep the number. Cost. Easily fixed if it goes down (e.g., a power cycle rather than setting it up again... more a concern for her than me).

I have no problem with using my own box and setting it up. As I said, the only reason for a plug-and-forget option was for her. As for free features, not really a concern. We barely use what we already have.

For porting, I didn't think voip.ms did that...?

So, it sounds like an Obi and call centric would be better than voipo, or roughly same? Any reason to look into ooma or aveno?

Thanks again.

Point #1 "Keep the number"
Porting to a "good" provider (one who is very unlikely to go "out of business") ... and the porting system itself ... will satisfy this issue. I have never lost a number to a company that went out of business (SunRocket, NetZero, StanaPhone, RNK)! In fact, I was able to port out numbers even after some of the providers shut down.

Point #2 "Cost"
The fixed cost for a company such as VOIPo can be pre-determined by which plan (annual or monthly) you select. Variable costs for a BYOD provider depend on your plan selection. You may choose a plan with a monthly fee for the DID of 99 cents to $1.95 plus a monthly E911 charge, with the option of inbound/outbound per minute charges for actual usage.

Or you may choose a fixed monthly somewhat "unlimited" inbound calls plan while paying by the minute (or fraction thereof) for outbound calls.

The plans can be seen on the various providers' websites.

Point #3 "Power Cycling"
The settings are put into the device (ATA) by you (for BYOD) or the provider. They are kept in the device's memory, even if the device loses power. When the power comes back you are up and running.

Oh, by the way, the "good" providers all have a "failover" feature. If your home setup is unreachable ... ISP is down, your power is down, your router overheats, your microwave explodes ... incoming calls are automatically forwarded to a pre-selected destination (cellphone, etc.)

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I have no experience with Anveo or Obi ... but others speak (actually, type) highly of them. I personally use ... and think highly of ... CallCentric, Voip.ms and VOIPo.

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Incidentally, Voip.ms does indeed port numbers to their service ... as do VOIPo, CallCentric, Anveo, Future-Nine and others.

Thanks again.

I guess I need to break out the speadsheet and do a number comparisons for 1year/2year for the options available... eg obi100+callcentric, voipo, voip.ms, etc.

I think she's more concerned about the number and cost. BTW, you already did answer my 3 points, I was just re-iterating them. Thanks for the long reply again, but I got almost of that info from you already

Your thoughts: if it comes down to BYOD+Callcentric or BYOD+voip.ms vs. voipo (since you use all three)?

btw, Our minute usage was probably less than 200 last month.

I would suggest the OBi202 as your ATA (four SIP lines and 2-Phone Port) and tons of features unmatched by ANY ATA on the market).

I would start off with a Google Voice account set up on SP1, a Free Callcentric (SP2) and Anveo Accounts (SP3). If you make a lot of International calls you could use CallWithus on SP4 or one of the 8 (!) gateway accounts on the Oi202. Callcentric also has a Free DID. Test for a month and see which provider you prefer. I personally like Anveo for various reasons.

I setup my Friend with a OBi110 more than 2-years ago and Ported her Tmobile@Home DID to GV directly and have Anveo for e911 (SP2 - $0.80/Month). Also have CallWithUs setup on one of the Gateway accounts for International calls to a few select destinations. Her Total monthly (Domestic) cost: $0.80!

Also have Callcentric setup through GV for incoming CNAM via Anveo. Any incoming fax is done through the Free Callcentric DID and sent via SIP URI to Anveo, which captures the FAX and email it to her. Outgoing Fax is upload to Anveo and sent from their Web Page or sent from a Fax Machine connected to the GV (SP1). Your options are limitless......

If I had a need, I would do as you do. As it stands, our needs are very basic. One provider, small amount of minutes, easy to manage (my wife won't have a clue what to do if I get hit by a truck, with your solution), port the phone number.

Thanks for the input, but the extensive features and setup you have done are way out of the park for us. We need a Honda Civic, and you are suggesting a Jet Plane.

Thanks.

For what you need an Obi100 it's more than enough and it's cheaper than 202. Regarding which provider to chose you can calculate based on how many incoming/outgoing minutes you're using in a month; you can give us the numbers if you want and we can recommend one for you.
In no particular order the providers recommended here will be good for what you need: Anveo, Callcentric, FutureNine, Voip.ms (alphabetical order).

You mentioned paying $30ish for vonage, have you considered calling them?

There are some threads about vonage offering a $9.99/month plan for life if you call and say you want to port/cancel.

We only use a couple hundred in a month. I looked at callcentric and if I did a number port + unlimited minutes + an obi100, it would be about $25/month for a year (e.g. devide the cost of the obi and the port by 12, add to the monthly rate). Right now, Anveo, Voipo, and Ooma look like the best rates following the above logic.

CallCentric offers pay-per-minute options for both inbound and outbound.

If you are such a low-volume user, it does not pay to use any type of unlimited plan, nor a 500 minute plan.

So I'm looking at something like:

a) Pay-Per-Call Outbound, 150 minutes: 2.97

b) Pay-Per-Minute Inbound including DID, 150 minutes: 2.25 plus monthly of 1.95, total 4.20

c) 911 Fee: 1.50

So that's 8.67 a month. (Bigger users can do better with the flat-rate plans).

Now, IF you want to add the porting fee (25.00) and other startup fees (5.45) then divide that by 12, that's [30.45/12] thus 2.54.

And 8.67 plus 2.54 is a monthly of 11.21 equivalent.

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I'm just running these as an example, and to comment that for a low-volume user your number for CC was needlessly high. I'm not saying that CC is the best for your particular needs.

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I wouldn't say that factoring in the Obi cost is wrong. I know it is an asset, but also assets have depreciation (but that is another conversation).

The point in adding in the cost of the device and porting is to get an actual picture of what the total cost will be. You could equally say that buying a car will save you on your travel costs for vacation, and don't factor in the cost of the car because it is now an asset you own and can drive anywhere!

Anyway, thank you all for your input. I think you're all given me great information to move forward with.

Nice to have met you ... and glad the responses have been helpful.

May I suggest you register as a member in the Forums. It's free ... but allows us to recognize you when you return, especially if you are looking for specific setup help or advice once you finalize your choice of providers.

Caveats: Be aware that you must not cancel your current Vonage account until the port has been completed and you have confirmed that incoming calls are arriving on your new adapter. (Outgoing calls can be made from the get-go because they do not require a DID, so don't be fooled.)

Once the actual port completes ... transfer of your DID from Vonage's CLEC to the new provider's CLEC ... Vonage automatically cancels your account, as I recall. You can confirm this with Vonage after the port completes. Vonage will transfer you to the Cancellations Department which will try every trick in the book to retain your account with offers to reduce your monthly cost. Don't succumb ... in fact cut them short by stating "The port has already been done ... so just cancel my account!"