[dawho9]

OK, so I had this great plan all figured out. We currently have a Qwest bundle of services (home phone, cellular, DirecTV and DSL). My cell phone I had was over three years old, contract for both my wife and I had expired so I thought of the following great plan:

- Switch to a family plan for cell phone through Cingular in June and get an iPhone
- Switch over to Comcast Cable Internet
- Switch to Vonage
- Keep my DirecTV

(Note: One feature that Qwest has as our local phone service is a one number service that my wife absolutely loves. So if her cell is on and someone calls our home number, it rings to her phone first. In an attempt to keep the same functionality, I was thinking make the switch to Vonage as they have that service. Of course, for vonage to work I need internet and can dump my home phone. But I cannot have DSL through Qwest without home phone service so my need to switch Internet companies.)

So getting rid of our local home phone isn't an option as we have two small children at home and they need to be able to dial 911 on something, so we cannot make the jump to only using cell phones.

So I had this plan to do all of this in June. Bad thing happened last week. My old Qwest phone broke. And I really mean broke, into three parts. So what should I do?

I cannot get a new phone with Qwest as that will result in a new contract. I cannot wait until June to get a phone as that isn't an option. I'm afraid to pick up a Cingular contract now in the hopes that they will have some sort of discount for new customers and those buying an iPhone (I can at least hope).

Any suggestions to my dilemma?

Also, does anyone have Comcast voice service? I ask because I found that for high speed internet its $59.95 per month (a lot more than I was paying for Qwest DSL) without phone or cable TV service. Since I have absolutely no intention of giving up my DirecTV, I could go Comcast voice instead of Vonage to bring the cost down. (Haven't priced it out to see if the cost is better/worse with this strategy). What I'm wondering is if Comcast has a single number feature like Vonage does. According to their web site you can setup up to six numbers to ring when someone calls your home phone number, this solves our Qwest single number service problem.

Thanks,

Richard

[G4ME]

whats wrong with just a cell phone and internet.

don't really see advantage with VOIP or any land line for that mater when i get so many free minutes with my cellphone.

oh and TV is the biggest waste of money in the world.

[alligator]

Keep your wife's phone on Qwest and you switch to Cingular. Then try the iPhone. If it doesn't work, sell the plan and the phone and go back to Qwest.

[mac128k-1984]

Sounds like you have only two alternatives, one renew your contract with qwest or sign up for cingular plan.

There's no way for you to get an unlocked phone on ebay to hold you over till June?

If it were me, I'd renew with qwest especially since you and the wife seem happy with it, wait on the iPhone for a couple of reasons. First being an early adopter you'll be paying the highest amount for the phone - remember how much the razors were going for when they first came out and now look how much they're going for. Second you're going to be on the bleeding edge, do you want to take chances of incurring design flaws or bugs? I think its safest to wait a year to let Apple shake the bugs out and the price gets reduced

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by G4ME 

whats wrong with just a cell phone and internet.

don't really see advantage with VOIP or any land line for that mater when i get so many free minutes with my cellphone.

oh and TV is the biggest waste of money in the world.

While I agree with you, you obviously didn't read his post.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by dawho9 

- Switch to Vonage

This could be a problem for two reasons.

The first is that Verizon is trying to get Vonage for patent infringement. There is talk that if Verizon wins, it might be enough to put Vonage out of business. I'd wait AT LEAST until we know for sure Vonage will survive or not.

So getting rid of our local home phone isn't an option as we have two small children at home and they need to be able to dial 911 on something, so we cannot make the jump to only using cell phones.

The second reason is that 911 service may not work as well with Vonage. I seem to remember there being problems with VOIP and E911 services in general (where the 911 operator can see your home address).

Look into it to see if E911 service is available through Vonage. If your children are truly small, if something happens they may not be able to give their address over the phone.

[Mithras]

You should be able to pay out-of-pocket for a Qwest phone without renewing the contract. Just find the cheapest one possible.

[Rumor]

You can get a full package from AT&T.

DSL
Cellular (Cingular)
Home phone
Television (DishTV)

Check out if their bundle is available for you, as it would save you money. Having multiple providers cost a lot more.

[Mastrap]

Buy a cheap unlocked phone and use it until June.

[Mrjinglesusa]

eBay - QWEST, Phones w o Service Contracts, Phones w Service Contracts items on eBay.com

[dawho9]

Rumor, great idea on the ATT bundle. I will look into that and if that doesn't work off to eBay we go.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[mac128k-1984]

Originally Posted by dawho9 

Rumor, great idea on the ATT bundle. I will look into that and if that doesn't work off to eBay we go.

Thanks for the suggestions.

The problem you still face is getting the plan now means you'll not be able to get the iPhone which is what I thought you wanted

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 

The problem you still face is getting the plan now means you'll not be able to get the iPhone which is what I thought you wanted

Actually, Cingular has an upgrade clause. You can upgrade once within your contract for the new subscriber price without having to extend your contract.

I looked into when I was thinking of purchasing a Treo 650.