# An alternative to AT&T????



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

I am at the end of my rope with AT&T. Since they took over Bell South I have been getting phone calls from them EVERY DAY trying to sell me additional services. I have a small business line in the house. This same line is hooked up to my Dish receivers. I want to leave them, but I need to find something that would be compatible with satellite. I have told them to quit calling, but, since I have an "ongoing" business relationship with them it does no good. I would like to make the business relationship no longer "ongoing". :nono:


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

Richard King said:


> I am at the end of my rope with AT&T. Since they took over Bell South I have been getting phone calls from them EVERY DAY trying to sell me additional services. I have a small business line in the house. This same line is hooked up to my Dish receivers. I want to leave them, but I need to find something that would be compatible with satellite. I have told them to quit calling, but, since I have an "ongoing" business relationship with them it does no good. I would like to make the business relationship no longer "ongoing". :nono:


Wow hard to believe they won't stop calling once you've told them to stop, talk about poor business practices. I work for a phone company myself and if one of our customers tells us not to contact them regarding promotions and services they go on our internal "do not call list" which keeps them off our calling lists for two years. If i'm not mistaken any company that you do have an ongoing business relationship with is allowed to contact you even if you're on a national or state-wide do not call list. However if you specifically tell them to take you off their marketing list they are supposed to honor that.

Now as for a solution that's a bit trickier. Since you have Dish obviously you probably don't want to turn to cable for phone service. Does at&t offer a service that allows you to block specific number's from calling you? If so use their own technology against them. Sure they probably have more than one call center so there might be multiple numbers that need to be blocked but before too long you'd probably get them all. Other than that does the only thing I can think of is something called "naked dsl". I know it's not offered everywhere but in some areas phone companies will sell you dsl service over a phone line that doesn't have a dial tone. Then you can use your dsl line to hook up Vonage or one of the other VOIP phone services. As for which of those works or doesn't w/ Dish, that's a question for others here w/ experience with such things.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

Even in my rural area I have at least two other local hardline phone providers from which to choose. Have you checked the yellow pages?


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> Since you have Dish obviously you probably don't want to turn to cable for phone service. Does at&t offer a service that allows you to block specific number's from calling you?


I have cable for my internet service and the lowest level of basic programming for a small rental apartment attached to the house. The caller is hiding their number so I can't block it. They are from AT&T though as they have all my phone billing information, level of services, etc. I am a small business service customer so the national do not call list does not apply.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Have you tried to call the customer service number and tell them your tail and you want to leave them if they don't stop, maybe they'll be more open to doing something about it. If that's the only AT&T service you have any thoughs of going with a VoIP telco provider and getting rid of them completly?


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Tried calling them this morning and they are closed on Saturday (at least the small business dept. is). This all started as soon as AT&T bought out Bell South. AT&T had previously been just as obnoxious about trying to get me to sign up for their long distance service, calling about every week for quite a long period of time. Would VoIP work for the Dish modem? If so, I would jump in a flash (assuming I could take my number with me). I don't even use the phone and have all incoming calls forwarded to my cell phone. I do use it for fax though, so I would need a line that works for fax also. Also, we are talking about the number that is listed in the yellow pages for my business and it is the number that everyone calls me on. I am gradually training everyone to call my cell rather than the land line, but it's not done yet.

So, the requirements break down to:
1. Keep the phone number
2. Works with Dish modem
3. Works with Fax
4. Has call forwarding capabilities.
5. Has NO relationship in ANY way with AT&T (formerly Bell South).


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Richard King said:


> Tried calling them this morning and they are closed on Saturday (at least the small business dept. is). This all started as soon as AT&T bought out Bell South. AT&T had previously been just as obnoxious about trying to get me to sign up for their long distance service, calling about every week for quite a long period of time. Would VoIP work for the Dish modem? If so, I would jump in a flash (assuming I could take my number with me). I don't even use the phone and have all incoming calls forwarded to my cell phone. I do use it for fax though, so I would need a line that works for fax also. Also, we are talking about the number that is listed in the yellow pages for my business and it is the number that everyone calls me on. I am gradually training everyone to call my cell rather than the land line, but it's not done yet.
> 
> So, the requirements break down to:
> 1. Keep the phone number
> ...


When I had Vonage they were able to port the phone number from the POTS line. Don't know about E* STB's but it worked with D* STB's (the D* Tivo boxes took a bit of tuning to get them to work). As for FAX Vonage has a FAX service addon, it worked on that 2nd line, don't know about it working on the main line. Yep, call forwarding and has nothing at all to do with AT&T. One thing I don't know about is if they would continue to list the phone number in the yellow pages if you ported it off of AT&T.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> One thing I don't know about is if they would continue to list the phone number in the yellow pages if you ported it off of AT&T.


I would probably have to pay additional charges to remain listed in the YP's. Since I rarely get business calls anymore on the line that wouldn't matter to me at all and I would probably not re-up for the next edition (although I may jump into a different classification in the next book).


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## cnmsales (Jan 9, 2007)

Why dont you just put your self on the national no call list, that way next time you call you can tell them to remove you from there list or your reporting them. Heck you could probably tell them that without actually being on the list and they would remove you.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

Again, do you not have any other local providers?

If so, why are you not considering them?


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

cnmsales said:


> Why dont you just put your self on the national no call list, that way next time you call you can tell them to remove you from there list or your reporting them. Heck you could probably tell them that without actually being on the list and they would remove you.


It's a small business line. Only residential lines can be on the DNC list.  Also, the DNC list excludes those that you have a current business relationship with. Double


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

paulman182 said:


> Again, do you not have any other local providers?
> 
> If so, why are you not considering them?


I'm trying to find one, but it appears that there are no land line alternatives here, that must be why they call this place Zero Beach.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Why not give Comcast digital voice a try? From what I know about cable telephony, it should meet your requirements. A relative of mine had his job transferred from here in Buffalo to outside of DC, he has Comcast phone service and loves it.

We have anonymous call rejection turned on. If you're number is blocked on caller id, you have to hang up and dial *82 so I can see who's calling. Although given it's AT&T that's calling you, not sure if they have around this or not.

On a side note, it really is amazing how AT&T was broken up, a bunch of Baby Bells were created and now we're down to three major ILECs, and on the wireless side, 4 major wireless providers.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Richard King said:


> It's a small business line. Only residential lines can be on the DNC list.  Also, the DNC list excludes those that you have a current business relationship with. Double


And even if you cancel all services with them, DNC allows contact for a few months after. 

What they should have is their own opt out of marketing list. I endeavor to get on that list every time I set up a phone line with any company. The sad part is, on a line I had installed recently the CSR asked me the magic question ("Can we market other AT&T services to you?") I replied NO and he still made a pitch for all sorts of add on products. Silly.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> Why not give Comcast digital voice a try?


I've never seen that promoted here which leads me to believe that it's probably not available. I'll do some checking though.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

They called again this morning!!! What a bunch of jerks.


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## premio (Sep 26, 2006)

Richard King said:


> I am at the end of my rope with AT&T. Since they took over Bell South I have been getting phone calls from them EVERY DAY trying to sell me additional services. I have a small business line in the house. This same line is hooked up to my Dish receivers. I want to leave them, but I need to find something that would be compatible with satellite. I have told them to quit calling, but, since I have an "ongoing" business relationship with them it does no good. I would like to make the business relationship no longer "ongoing". :nono:


Get one of these http://cellantenna.com/BaseStation/cellular_base_station.htm.

Pay $9.99 a month for the 'extra' family talk line with cingular and you're good.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

premio said:


> Get one of these http://cellantenna.com/BaseStation/cellular_base_station.htm.
> 
> Pay $9.99 a month for the 'extra' family talk line with cingular and you're good.


Now THAT looks interesting. I am with Verizon, but it looks like they have a unit that works with them. Time to investigate further.......

By the way, after they called this morning I called the Small Business CSR and told them that I NEVER want to hear from them again and that to them I DON'T exist and they are NEVER to call me again. They said they would set that up. About 4 hours later I got a call from AT&T to see how my experience with the customer service department went. I hung up.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

The link seems to be down at the moment ...

Check with your provider. Many have rules against stationary installations of wireless phones. Especially if you are using free mobile to mobile minutes to get around using a landline at a fixed location. I suppose they are more lenient about this than they once were (since many have dropped landline and call solely on a cell phone) but it would be worth reading the contract.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Premio: Have you used one of these devices before. I was on the web site a few minutes ago looking at it, but now the web site is deceased and I can't get on.  If you have one are they reliable? I notice that CNet has a review saying that the product only works with a limited number of cell phones and brands. Do you know if this limited list has been expanded recently? Thanks.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Richard ... was it this one (as previously posted)?
http://www.phonelabs.com/


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

From the Cellantenna.com faq (the site is back up)....


> Q. Can a modem or fax machine be used with The Cellular Docking Station?
> 
> A. No. Standard analog modem operation over your cellular phone is too slow and error prone.


This contridicts what their promo material says. 

Edit... I guess it doesn't contridict. The unit only works with a USB fax and not a modem. So much for using it to have Dish call home.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

James Long said:


> Richard ... was it this one (as previously posted)?
> http://www.phonelabs.com/


Nope. I didn't see that previously posted though. The phone labs product makes no mention of modems in their info either


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

James Long said:


> Richard ... was it this one (as previously posted)?
> http://www.phonelabs.com/





> Q. Does the Dock-N-Talk work with modems, fax machines, security systems, credit card readers, TiVo, DirecTV, or other satellite TV systems?
> A. Digital voice networks do not support modem or fax tones. Older analog cellular service will allow use of modems and fax at very low speeds but is expected to be discontinued later this year. However, the digital voice networks do allow the passing of DTMF tones to transmit information to such as devices as IVR systems that require touch tones. Credit card readers, fax, TiVo ,DirecTV, or other satellite TV systems are not supported by digital voice cellular service.


I'm striking out.


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## DogLover (Mar 19, 2007)

Richard King said:


> I have cable for my internet service and the lowest level of basic programming for a small rental apartment attached to the house. The caller is hiding their number so I can't block it. They are from AT&T though as they have all my phone billing information, level of services, etc. I am a small business service customer so the national do not call list does not apply.


I'd try Vonage. It should work well over your cable internet.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Previous thread: Phonelabs Dock N Talk
Yeah - it won't work as a modem for E* products.

Vonage will - you could probably get a free or dirt cheap VOIP service if all you wanted was a connection for E* stuff. (Even if E* eventually allows ethernet reporting instead of phone line there are a lot of people with non-ethernet receivers as a second location.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

premio said:


> Pay $9.99 a month for the 'extra' family talk line with cingular and you're good.


"Cingular" is now AT&T also...


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Just thought I would report back... Not a peep since their call to see how my "experience" was with the customer service department. To quote Frankie Valli, "Silence is Golden."


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## kashmir56 (Aug 7, 2007)

Richard King said:


> I am at the end of my rope with AT&T. Since they took over Bell South I have been getting phone calls from them EVERY DAY trying to sell me additional services. I have a small business line in the house. This same line is hooked up to my Dish receivers. I want to leave them, but I need to find something that would be compatible with satellite. I have told them to quit calling, but, since I have an "ongoing" business relationship with them it does no good. I would like to make the business relationship no longer "ongoing". :nono:


We have D*TV in our home, my daughters apartment & on our sailboat from our home account (5 receivers).
Our ATT dsl drags like a rabbitt. We added Comcast Cable internet for $8.00/month more than we were paying for the DSL alone and it also includes digital & analog basic cable (over 200 channels). It is all repitition to my directv service, but I plugged it into my video card on my desktop giving me additional means to record new fall shows in addition to the HD & standard DVR's in the house.

We have T-Mobile family plan my faves with 5 phones for my wife, myself, and my 3 youngest children (only 2 live at home). I upgraded to the new wifi package at a $ 20/ month increase. This gives us unlimited nationwide calls when calling from a wifi connection.

I will be dropping all AT&T services in the next few days, have added benifit of cable channels, 4-7 times faster internet connection and still be saving a minimum of $80/month.
If you have any questions email me ([email protected])
Larry Jones
St Augustine, FL


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## ld323 (Sep 13, 2007)

Richard King said:


> This same line is hooked up to my Dish receivers.


What do you mean by this? Does satellite TV need a land-line to function?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

A land line is not required to watch satellite programming ... although both D* and E* have that requirement in their rules.

E* limits certain functions on their receivers if one does not have a land line (being able to upgrade service and check your billing via the receiver ... and being able to order PPV through the receiver). E* also charges $5 more per month on dual output receivers as a "penalty" for not connecting a phone line.

(I'm sure D* has PPV limits as well ... perhaps a subscriber can chime in?)


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