Can I use VoIP at home and a prepay service outside with same number?

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Level 1

6 points

Can I use VoIP at home and a prepay service outside with same number?

Hmm... After doing a ton of searching over the net, I cannot seem to find a simple answer to this.

I want to setup to a prepay plan for my daughter. After doing a lot of research I have settled on using a used AT&T iPhone 4 with the Straight Talk plan from Walmart. But ther is one problem. Straight Talk uses the at&t network and we have no reception at home.

So I would like to phone automatically switch to using wifi when at home, just like it does for data. From what I understand, this means getting a VoIP system going somehow. But when I go to the app store the number of VoIP apps is bewildering. I would like to use something that will make it completely transparent, ie keeping the same iPhone number, being able to text msg and all. Is that possible? Can I do that with a known quantity like Skype or vonage? Is there some extra hardware required? Can I keep my number? Any other recommendation?

My ISP is Cox communications and my wifi is through an Aiport Extreme.

Thank you for any help in this rather confusing issue.

Bo.

iPhone 4

Posted on Sep 30, 2012 8:01 AM

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Answer 1

Bmachine Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 4, 2012 11:46 PM in response to Bmachine

No info at all?

Hmmmm, maybe this simply does not work.

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Answer 2

stidmatt

Level 1

5 points

Mar 10, 2013 11:29 PM in response to Bmachine

yes, you can. I was extremely frustrated by having to jump through all sorts of hoops. I made a blogpost on this which you will find useful: http://stidmatt.blogspot.com/2013/03/forwarding-iphone-calls-in-3-easy-steps.htm l

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Answer 3

Bmachine Author

Level 1

6 points

Mar 11, 2013 9:09 AM in response to stidmatt

That looks very promising. I will have to try it.

Thanks stidmatt!

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Answer 4

KiltedTim

Level 10

195,189 points

Mar 11, 2013 9:15 AM in response to Bmachine

Take a look at Google Voice. The service is free. You will have a number people can call that you can have ring through to multiple phones if you want.

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Answer 5

stidmatt

Level 1

5 points

Mar 11, 2013 9:17 AM in response to KiltedTim

That's exactly what my blogpost says to do. The problem I was having was automatically forwarding my calls when my phone is not available, which is a simple code I found on another blog which I linked to with clear instructions on how to set up the whole process.

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Answer 6

Mar 11, 2013 10:30 AM in response to Bmachine

I second Tim's recommendation for Google Voice. You can have it foward to the prepaid number if you don't/can't answer it over WiFi. It's very simple to use. So, you could just give out the Googe Voice number. It's very simple to use.

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