Imagine a phone that works anywhere on the globe while retaining its own phone number. Imagine a phone that uses encryption, strong encryption, to secure your communications. Imagine a phone that costs one American cent to operate throughout the United States and Canada, which competitive prices around the globe... well I'd like to introduce you to the Grandstream HT802 paired with the VOIP.MS Internet phone service. In addition to all this, is that you have the option of using an uncompressed codec for your calls, which means that it can be used to communicate with FAXes. As a bonus you can program in your own Called ID name to be whatever fun name you feel like being known as.

The GrandStream HT802 is a two phone line to VOIP Internet phone appliance with the two phone line plugs being on the one side, and an Ethernet port on the other side. This means that anywhere that has an active Ethernet port you can just run a wire from the GSHT802 to that Ethernet port and you've got a live phone that, on the surface, runs no differently than a standard phone line. You pick one of the two lines up, dial in the number you want to call, it gets routed, and you're connected to the person who you've called.

The cost of this device, also known as an Analog Telephone Adaptor is $70 CAD or $55 USD, which can be purchased from Amazon or BestBuy. A friend of mine named Flex introduced me to the world of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocols,"

PHATstar has setup a port on Flex's https://2600.network where you can give it a call and connect to our Teleporter service, which functoins as a redirect from the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) to a BBS Gateway where you will be presented a menu of BBSes that you'd like to connect to, and you can direct your communication path from the Teleporter Gateway to any of the systems listed of the assortment of BBSes from the options. For those of you who want to test this system out without using POTS to connect to you may access the system over the Internet using the following site:

telnet: teleporter.phatstar.org:7777
telephone: 778-716-PHAT (based out of a VOIP line homed in British Columbia

Just imagine being able to have the best of a landline and a cell phone. You get a phone that is dirt cheap with global portability.

I hope that this steers you well, cheers!
-warmfuzzy

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competitive prices around the globe... well I'd like to introduce you
to the Grandstream HT802 paired with the VOIP.MS Internet phone service.

I have an OBi202 into which I have a hooked a 1973 era Western Electric touch tone phone. This device was great, and for some reason they discontinued it.

I wonder if the Grandstream is a functional equivalent. If so, I may pick it up just for backup.

What's kind of cool about having a VoIP line with its own number is you can configure a bunch of things (like how fast the dial tone is) which you never could with a POTS phone. In the case of the OBi202, you connect to it via a web interface and set it up that way.

Worth doing. VOIP.MS is charged as you use it, and currently there are no monthly fees. You sort of fill it up with dollars, and you won't be charged until you use that much phone service.

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warmfuzzy wrote to All <=-

Imagine a phone that works anywhere on the globe while retaining its
own phone number. Imagine a phone that uses encryption, strong encryption, to secure your communications. Imagine a phone that costs
one American cent to operate throughout the United States and Canada, which competitive prices around the globe... well I'd like to
introduce you to the Grandstream HT802 paired with the VOIP.MS Internet phone service.

oh, man - I was hoping someone had created a portable wifi VOIP handset
with VPN... :(

Now, that would be an awesome device!

I'm starting a consulting business and was looking for an option for
phone service. Google voice works, but it's just so... boring. I was a
telecom manager back in the day, should really play more with VOIP
instead.


... Do something sudden, destructive and unpredictable
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Fissile Syntax wrote to warmfuzzy <=-

I have an OBi202 into which I have a hooked a 1973 era Western Electric touch tone phone. This device was great, and for some reason they discontinued it.

1973 is a long time ago, phones have gotten much better. No wonder they
discontinued it. :)

I just gave my wife a beige 2500 set (touch tone desk set) to give out
as a White Elephant present at her holiday party, and it was a hit with
the hipsters she works with.

If I make some more room on my desk and get VOIP, I'll find a black
2500. I've had several over the years. I made a Microsoft word template
for making the phone number slip that fits under the little window,
I'll need to see if I can find it again. It wasn't that hard to
duplicate.


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poindexter FORTRAN wrote to warmfuzzy <=-

oh, man - I was hoping someone had created a portable wifi VOIP
handset
with VPN... :(

Thinking about this, it sounds like I need to get an iPod Touch, a
VOIP.MS account, and call it a day. :)


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Those of you who will us the grandstream HT802: just for future reference. one day you will pick up the phone and it will say "phone not registered" and you will go crazy because nothing changed. so for some reason you have to go into the config menu and change it from getting an ip address from the DHCP server to a static ip and reboot and it will work again. but then in a few days you will pick up the phone and it will say "phone not registered" again and you will have to change it back to the way it was and reboot and it will work again. Why? i dont know. but no where else will you be able to find this information and all the tech support wont understand you.
other than that, good little machine.

Osito

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