OBi110

Telephone service can be very expensive or very cheap depending on how you configure your system for making and receiving calls. Some people use a mobile phone only, while others piece together a variety of services: a landline for reliability, a smartphone for mobility, Google Voice (4 stars, Editors' Choice) for free calls to other Google Voice users or any number in the U.S., and so on. What Obihai's OBi110 does, unlike many other VoIP devices, is bridge together all those services. What it doesn't do is offer its own complete service. You have to bring your own service to OBi, whereas other VoIP device manufacturers, such as Vonage or YMax magicJack, typically charge a monthly or yearly fee for the service end. For some, this makes the OBi110 very attractive, because Google Voice is free for calls to U.S. numbers.

The OBi110 is also highly customizable. Connect it to your router, and you can configure where and how you make phone calls, using Google Voice, for example, to receive free calls on a traditional phone handset, or calling out from a mobile app on your iPhone or Android phone, routing through OBi or Google Voice so that your mobile service provider doesn't charge you for the call. The catch is, it takes a good amount of time, concentration, and online tutorial videos to set it all up. But the payoff might be worth it.

Admittedly, the OBi110 is not for everyone. It's best suited, in my opinion, to tinkerers, DIY enthusiasts, self-learners, and really anyone who likes having granular control of technology. OBi110 gives you a lot of control over how calls route across several services and devices, but you do have to work for it.

If instead you're in the market for a VoIP service that works with a traditional handset phone and is much more plug-and-play ready, we recommend NetTALK DUO ($50 street, 4 stars), our Editors' Choice for consumer VoIP, which is inexpensive, reliable, and very easy to set up. Another good but expensive option is the Ooma Telo ($250 direct, 3 stars), which is more complex than NetTALK but offers some of the same call routing/bridging benefits of the OBi110, including support for Google Voice. Integration with Google Voice is a huge selling point for both Ooma and Obihai because Google has made the service totally free for calls within the U.S. through 2012. As sophisticated and stylish as the Ooma Telo is, the high upfront cost is tough to recoup, even with free U.S. calls for the rest of the year. For 50 bucks, the OBi110 is pretty cheap, comparatively.

Set Up and Features
Setting up the OBi110 took me a long time. In working with other VoIP devices that connect to phone handsets, I've learned that a thorough and illustrative instruction guide?one that helps you do your own troubleshooting?is indispensible. The one I received wasn't very thorough, although an Obihai company representative said a new set of instructions is in the works. Video tutorials help as well, and you'll find plenty of them for OBi110 with a Web search.

The white and gray plastic OBi110, measuring 1.2 by 4.2 by 4.5 inches (HWD) has two telephone jacks, an Ethernet port, and one power connection point on the back. The Ethernet port connects to a router. The power obviously goes to an electrical outlet. One of the phone lines lets you connect a telephone handset, while the other?which is optional to use?can connect to a landline telephone wall jack for those who want to keep an existing landline but route it through the OBi device.

During setup, you should connect all the lines in the order specified in the instructions, saving the power for last. Once all the wires are hooked up, indicator lights on the top of the OBi110 will hopefully give you the A-OK to proceed.

Next, you'll need to surf over to OBiTalk.com to create an OBi account, register your device, and get a special dialing code that allows your OBi110 and phone to make contact with OBi's servers. Several of these steps were not clear to me, but like I said, the company is revising its setup instructions.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/_A82MC2ArMU/0,2817,2398852,00.asp

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