Well it's been over 2 weeks with no update....
The POTS line is in and we are looking at VOIP providers again. Right now I like AT&T CallVantage but with one issue - they only support 10 digit dial. What does that mean? To call your neighbor next door requires area code + number - 10 digits. Why AT&T has not gotten in-line with other VOIP providers, I could not tell you. We are still debating who to go with and waiting on Chase to process the charge back to Via-talk since they could not provide service and after 3 weeks still no refund. I guess that was expected dealing with a New Jersey company. Bunch of crooks live in Jersey.
The major home improvement projects are done. Quick hit list:
- Complete tear off and new 30 year roof system
- Complete tear off of old cedar shake on addition and replaced with matching vinyl
- New skylight in the addition
- Seal all holes, install baffles, and blow in 12" of insulation into the attic
- New 95% efficent furance with direct vent and new 4" chimney liner for hot water tank
Lessons learned:
- ALWAYS GET EVERYTHING IN WRITTING and I mean EVERYTHING
- Cleanup, Cleanup, CLEANUP. While the guys did great work, cleanup sucked.
- Keeping a wife and 2 kids hostage in the house for 4 days causes marital hell when you get home from work.
- Watch them like a hawk and question, Question, QUESTION. When/where they can skimp, they will.
We scored some improvement in air flow for cooling/heating in Z's room but it's still not up to par. I bought some window film to install in his room that blocks 70%+ of heat coming in and keeps 55%+ on the heat in the room instead of going out. The HVAC guys are back Wed for some more duct work and patch some holes they made and didn't tell their boss. Hopefully the combination will help.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Well Sunrocket is dead.
Lucky for me my $99 for 1 year was up end of Aug so not much lost. The phone is still working but rumor has it being killed COB today so we'll see.
For now I got Verizon porting my number back to a POTS line and they are coming to finish the install on the 27th (next Friday). I went with a basic unlimited local, no regional/long distance. I'll use the cell for that. This will allow me to watch the VOIP market and see where the dust settles.
Another VOIP provider is going out end of Aug, allo.com. Seems like there dropping like flies.
I'm leaning to going with AT&T CallVantage. It's $24.99 a month for unlimited but I would get a $5 discount for being a AT&T Wireless customer. Add the $2.50 for FCC and e991 fees and your at $22.49 a month for unlimited local/regional/long distance. Their services has been rated number 1 for voice quality for 3 years now and AT&T is not going to close it's doors overnight and if they where not making money on something this long, they would not be in it.
I think VOIP as a whole is going to be in trouble. Vonage while gaining 166K members in Q1 of 07 lost $77 mil. Their stock price at the end of the other day was sub $3. That's getting close to getting de-listed from the Exchange.
Other providers like Packet8, Viatalk, etc will all start feeling it soon. While the technology is getting there, the WAF or Wife Acceptance Factor is not. Also with the big bell's and cable companies offering all in one service deals with one bill and Americans getting lazier by the second, these little guys are not making the numbers they need.
Let's look at SunRocket special deal I had. $99 for one year. Unlimited calls and long distance (no international). $99 across 12 months is $8.25 a month. Seeing as my family averaged around 700 mins a month, that's .01 cents a minute. Now figure that Sunrocket needs to connect to legacy providers, have a fat Internet pipe to handle the traffic, staff, electric, etc, .01 cent a minute is not paying the bills. You can see why they failed.
I'll report back as I get more info.
Lucky for me my $99 for 1 year was up end of Aug so not much lost. The phone is still working but rumor has it being killed COB today so we'll see.
For now I got Verizon porting my number back to a POTS line and they are coming to finish the install on the 27th (next Friday). I went with a basic unlimited local, no regional/long distance. I'll use the cell for that. This will allow me to watch the VOIP market and see where the dust settles.
Another VOIP provider is going out end of Aug, allo.com. Seems like there dropping like flies.
I'm leaning to going with AT&T CallVantage. It's $24.99 a month for unlimited but I would get a $5 discount for being a AT&T Wireless customer. Add the $2.50 for FCC and e991 fees and your at $22.49 a month for unlimited local/regional/long distance. Their services has been rated number 1 for voice quality for 3 years now and AT&T is not going to close it's doors overnight and if they where not making money on something this long, they would not be in it.
I think VOIP as a whole is going to be in trouble. Vonage while gaining 166K members in Q1 of 07 lost $77 mil. Their stock price at the end of the other day was sub $3. That's getting close to getting de-listed from the Exchange.
Other providers like Packet8, Viatalk, etc will all start feeling it soon. While the technology is getting there, the WAF or Wife Acceptance Factor is not. Also with the big bell's and cable companies offering all in one service deals with one bill and Americans getting lazier by the second, these little guys are not making the numbers they need.
Let's look at SunRocket special deal I had. $99 for one year. Unlimited calls and long distance (no international). $99 across 12 months is $8.25 a month. Seeing as my family averaged around 700 mins a month, that's .01 cents a minute. Now figure that Sunrocket needs to connect to legacy providers, have a fat Internet pipe to handle the traffic, staff, electric, etc, .01 cent a minute is not paying the bills. You can see why they failed.
I'll report back as I get more info.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
You got VOIP? You need a router that can handle QOS.
You have an older Linksys WRT54G or a Buffalo router?
If so, you need Tomato http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato
Once I got all the settings right, the wife can make/receive phone calls all day/night long while the neighbor and I surf the web, I download torrents, and remote proxy in from work. Works great.
Got any questions, leave a comment and I'll respond. Just don't be like the Yeti and try to load it on a Netgear and almost brick your router.
You have an older Linksys WRT54G or a Buffalo router?
If so, you need Tomato http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato
Once I got all the settings right, the wife can make/receive phone calls all day/night long while the neighbor and I surf the web, I download torrents, and remote proxy in from work. Works great.
Got any questions, leave a comment and I'll respond. Just don't be like the Yeti and try to load it on a Netgear and almost brick your router.
Well it's been some time since my last post :)
Well here's the story for this blog. Things have changed since the start so here is the 10,000 foot view:
Fast forward to today and the changes:
My life, it's back as well. (Work on avg 43-45 hours a week now, no after hours calls)
My money, it's down some since I took a pay cut when I got a new job but with some changes, new technology (gotta love VOIP), and money smarts the bills get paid, the roof is over our heads (and getting replaced soon to boot), and food on the table even though M can be a PIA about eating. His new kick is saying certain foods are "disgusting!".
So why the title, Lite A Fire To Your IT Guys Scotch? Well at the time and still now I'm a IT guy. The fire, volunteer fire fighter, go figure. Scotch, well it's good. Underlying theme, piss off your IT guy and you'll pay :)
My posts will be random at best from this point foward. Rants, likes, dislikes, etc. Keep an eye out and feel free to comment.
C
Well here's the story for this blog. Things have changed since the start so here is the 10,000 foot view:
- Blog started while I worked for a major Health Insurance company in Buffalo,NY. I was over worked (60+ hour weeks on salary), on-call 24/7 (7-10 calls/pages during the night), and really hated my job.
- I was also an active member of a active volunteer fire company and when I wasn't working, I was on calls/going to drills to make quota to maintain active status.
- I was on child number 2 (2 and 9 months at the time) and not getting any sleep between work, fire, and kids.
Fast forward to today and the changes:
- New job working for a large regional bank.
- No longer a member of the fire company.
- Kids are now 3.5 and the other going on 2.
My life, it's back as well. (Work on avg 43-45 hours a week now, no after hours calls)
My money, it's down some since I took a pay cut when I got a new job but with some changes, new technology (gotta love VOIP), and money smarts the bills get paid, the roof is over our heads (and getting replaced soon to boot), and food on the table even though M can be a PIA about eating. His new kick is saying certain foods are "disgusting!".
So why the title, Lite A Fire To Your IT Guys Scotch? Well at the time and still now I'm a IT guy. The fire, volunteer fire fighter, go figure. Scotch, well it's good. Underlying theme, piss off your IT guy and you'll pay :)
My posts will be random at best from this point foward. Rants, likes, dislikes, etc. Keep an eye out and feel free to comment.
C
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
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