Lingo VOIP
Not sure if Lingo counts as a toy, but it’s certainly a gadget. For $19.95 a month you get unlimited calls to the USA, Canada and Western Europe. For Brits Abroad in the US this is a great deal. I got Lingo in November and it’s working out just fine. Basically, you get a box. This box has two ethernet sockets, a phone socket and a power socket. You connect the box to your cable/DSL modem on one of the ethernet sockets, your PC on the other ethernet socket, plug in a phone and plug in the power. Wait about 30 seconds as the box comes up and the lights flash. When you see the VOIP light, you can pick up the phone and you have dial tone.
Of course, with a nerd score of 97, I couldn’t possibly settle for the default config, now, could I? I have mine configured with a static IP, sitting on an ethernet switch, which is connected to a wifi bridge, which is talking to my wifi router, which in turn is connected to the cable modem. And it still ‘just works’. I’ve been using it as my home office phone for three months now and the only problem I’ve had is when I’m sending large email attachments, the PC steals all the upstream bandwidth, and the person on the other end of the call can’t hear me. However, that’s a ‘feature’ of my particular setup - if you go with the default, the Lingo box is able to prioritise voice traffic over data and you won’t get this problem.
Bottom line - if you’re paying more than $20 a month for long distance/Western European calls, you need one of these. And if you write a comment with your email address, I can refer you to Lingo and we both get $25 off our bills. Can’t say fairer than that, now, can you?
Comments
Prasanna
Well, I use a similar setup as you do, but with Vonage. They do provide a 2 month free for a referral, and the new customer will get one month off! :-)
Superpat
I did consider Vonage, but it was free calls to Western Europe that did it for me.
Dennis Webb
Lingo sounds good to me, as long as I can keep my current phone #, I can use several phone jacks, and quality is good. I may try it soon– just a little leery of the 39.95 disconnect fee if canceled in months 2-12, but it may be worth it, anyway.
Superpat
Sent you a referral, Dennis, so, if you do decide to take the plunge, it’s there for you.
Jim Kelly
Use that referral and signup for Lingo through LingoRebate.com to get an additional $20 :-)
JB
Superpat, Just signed up for Vonage with a Linksys WRT54Gp2 and want to change to Lingo for the Western Europe calls. Do you know how I can change while still using the Linksys WRT54GP2 for Lingo? Do not see retailers offering Lingo packages with wireless routers in my area. Thanks, JB
Superpat
Hi JB - I asked Lingo exactly that question in February - this is what they said:
You could try sending them an email and see if the situation has changed - the prospect of taking a customer from Vonage might pique their interest.
Meg
Would love a referral- and also have a query- have read that vonage is portable and one need only bring converter and phone for use while traveling abroad- that vonage doesn’t care where you hook into to internet. Is the same true for lingo?
Superpat
Hi Meg - sent you a referal as requested.
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