Home-based phone service

Aug 29, 2018
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Hello,
I've recently discovered that my 85 y.o mother is being gouged by AT&T, wherein she's been paying $50/month for landline service, which provides her with local calling only!! Who pays that much for phone service these days and doesn't even get any long distance with it?! She is paying a separate long distance provider, GTC, 3 cents a minute for long distance calls.

AT&T's answer is their unlimited home saver plan (WHPI) for $20/month, but they're asking $200 for the box, which I find equally absurd. I asked if it would work with a pre-purchased one in the same way you can buy your own internet modem, but was told no.

Ideally I would set her up with VOIP like I have for $14/month - unlimited everything, every feature you could want - the problem being that that requires a wired ethernet connection. Both my mother's basic cable and internet (via WiFi) are provided complimentary of her living facility. Unfortunately VOIP won't work with a WiFi signal (please correct me if I've been told wrong about that).

So would it be worth it for her to order the cheapest (wired) internet service we can find for the purpose of being able to have VOIP? Will it cost her less in the long run? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Glenn
 
You can't just order a separate internet service if she is living in a facility, it would require work at the building, running/splicing wires, and all would cost as much or more than standard phone service. Would she be able to use a standard cell phone? MetroPCS and such all have pretty cheap plans for 30/40 a month.