Broadband Phone...
Can You Really Travel With It?

What Is This Broadband?

In simple terms it's utilizing the power of the Internet to transmit your voice. Internet technology has evolved to include VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol. It merely converts your voice into a digital signal, sends it over the Internet then translates it back into a readable voice transmission.

The nice thing about a broadband phone is it works just like a regular phone. You can get a bundle of added features too, like call waiting, caller ID, voicemail, etc.

Probably the main attraction is the ability to communicate long-distance and potentially save money. Your call travels over the Internet; therefore, you don't have the added "long-distance" fees. This is a plus if you conduct a lot of long-distance calling.

Challenges Using A Broadband Phone...

You do need to review your plan, there may be associated fees if you go over a specified talk amount or call from a different zone.

You also need a "High Speed Internet Connection", DSL, Cable, or Satellite. You'll have those associated fees.

Broadband does not replace a cell phone. You can take your broadband phone traveling with you; however, you do need an Internet connection for it to work. In that sense it's very versatile. If you travel and have a high speed internet available, take your phone equipment with you, plug it in at your destination and "Wha La", you can talk just like you're at home.

With the constant improvements on cell phones and the capacity for large coverage areas, "long-distance" is no longer long-distance. Merely pick up a cell phone and dial, nearly anywhere, with no long-distance fees.

We've found the voice clarity is not 100% yet. You may find lapses in the transmission or voice skip-overs. As technology improves this too will improve.

The costs vary too. It does pay to shop around, just like you probably have with a cell phone. You'll pay for a variety of features. The more "Bells & Whistles", the higher costs.

Keep Your Landline...

We've opted to put the broadband phone on hold, at least for now. It does not meet our traveling needs as well as a cell phone. Regarding long distance, we do not use our local phone company, we use OneSuite.com and MasterBell.com. They provide cheap calling cards. We make several calls to Spain and pay some $0.02 per minute. It's hard to beat and there's no monthly fee. We just pay for what we use.

Until technology advances on the broadband phones, costs come down, we will continue using our land-line, cell phones combined with calling cards. They work well with the abundant amount of traveling we do.

Please contact us with new information regarding a broadband phone, we'll pass the information on.

Craig Dahl - The Travel Expert
Senior Editor

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