How to switch to VOIPO from Verizon FIOS?

**bbinnard** · 08-23-2012 09:42 AM

My house has Verizon FIOS which is awesome service. But their "Digital Voice" (VOIP) phone service is expensive. So - how to switch from that to VOIPO? Here are my 2 questions:

1. FIOS has a box (called an ONT) inside my house that has fiber-optic cable input and 2 outputs - coax cable that runs my TV set set top boxes and my Actiontec wireless router, and a 4-wire connection (I think; could be 2-wire) to my home's phone wiring. My wireless phone system/answering machine is connected to one of the 4-wire jacks in my house.

I understand that VOIPO will provide me with a small box (the ATA) that will plug into one of the RJ45 ports on the back of my router. But how do I connect my house phone jacks to the ATA? Can I simply run a standard phone cable from it to an existing phone jack? What about the connection between the Verizon ONT and my phone lines - do I have to disconnect this?

2. My plan would be for VOIPO to switch my existing landline number from Verizon to VOIPO, and I am assuming this switch would happen at some unspecified time. So how to tell when I have to make the connection between the ATA and my home's phone wiring? When there is no longer a Verizon dialtone?

Thanks for your help on this. THe VOIPO service sounds great and the price is really attractive, so I am looking forward to making the switch.

**christcorp** · 08-23-2012 02:48 PM

Yes, the way you currently have your phone line coming out of the fios box and "Feeding" your home jacks is exactly the same way you'll do the voipo adapter box. Just PRETEND that the jack on the voipo adapter box is the SAME JACK that's on your Fios box. No change at all.

As for switching service, voipo will handle it all for you. As far as YOU switching over, there are a couple ways to do this. What I recommend is this. VoipO I believe will give you a temporary number while the "Porting" (Changing your number from one provider to another provider) is happening. Once you have the voipo box connected and it's working fine, I plugged a phone into my existing phone line and FORWARDED my calls to the new voipo line. Then, I just used the new voipo line. You still get all your calls. Then when it's ported over, your temp line becomes your real line. And you don't have to worry about UNFORWARDING the line, because that's done at the phone company, which you no longer will be using.

But mind you; I've had VoipO since DAY-1. "Literally". So that's been about 5 years. I'm sure that Tim and VoipO have streamlined the process much better now. So either call voipo and ask them directly or PM the voipo folks here. But as a customer who has had VoipO for the last 5 years, and have been using voip and been working in the voip and telecom business for more than 30 years; I can tell you that VoipO is the BEST voip provider I've ever used. Of course your individual mileage may vary. Voip is internet/isp/network dependent. So combinations of network, ISP, and internet connection/routing may require some tweaking. (Which voipo can help you with). Most times however, it's simply plug and play with no issues. Once you are up and running, all is good. Best of luck. mike...

**bbinnard** · 08-23-2012 05:23 PM

christcorp:

Thanks for your great idea on how to handle the cutover from Verizon to VOIPO. The call-forwarding idea is not anything I had thought of and makes perfect sense. So thanks for that.

My wiring question however is still a question. As I said, the ONT box provides coax and telco connections to my home's internal coax and telco wiring. The problem is that these 2 ONT connections are outside, near the peak of my home's 2-story roof. Getting up there would be a real challenge.

What's not clear to me is when to make the connection between the VOIPO box and one of the small baseboard telco boxes that is close to my router. Of course I can do this easily any time, but my sense is it would not be a good idea to do it with the Verizon phone service still active. But then how to verify the new VOIPO service works OK?

Even if I do wait until the Verizon service is switched over, is it OK to leave the ONT connected to the telco wiring the way it is now? Or do I have to figure a way to break this connection (presumably by taking the cover off the ONT and disconnecting the telco wire that goes to my home telco.)

**christcorp** · 08-24-2012 10:32 AM

Ok, got it. Yes, you can plug the phone jack output of the voipo adapter into a jack in your home, and it will BACK FEED to all the other jacks and you can plug regular phones in those jacks and it will work. No problem.

CAVEAT!!! There is 1 issue however. The junction box on your house where the NORMAL INCOMING PHONE LINE comes in, and then is connected to all the inside wiring to your jacks, MUST BE DISCONNECTED. In other words; you don't want your phone output of the voipo adapter going into the jack(s) of your house, and then being connected to the phone lines going BACK to the original phone company. Their connection could hurt your voipo adapter box. Now; by law; the phone company MUST give you an easy disconnect at your house so that you can DISCONNECT all your jacks/wiring FROM the incoming phone service. This is so you can be allowed to add jacks, troubleshoot problems, etc... Basically, so you aren't at the mercy of the phone company. This disconnect is very simple. It's usually a simple jack plugged in. It's possible that Verizon already did this for you because they brought fiber in and connected phone to your jacks. But you need to ensure this.

What you can do; being you're keeping your fios internet and tv, is keep the voipo adapter on 1 phone by itself until the cutover date. THEN, have Verizon come out and have them disconnect your inside house phone wiring/jacks from THEIR equipment. Then you simply plug into a jack and it will back feed the rest of the jacks. Just don't want to plug into a phone jack if the end of all the phone wires is connected to the phone company's equipment. It will cause problem. Hope this helps. Mike....

**bbinnard** · 08-24-2012 11:46 AM

Very helpful advice - thanks again.

The bottom line is, as I expected, that I must not have the VOIPO box connected to my home's telco wiring if the telco wiring is also connected to the ONT box. So that means I need to disconnect the ONT from my home telco wiring somehow or other.

My guess is Verizon is not going not be too willing to send a guy out here to do that. What I'll probably do instead is just take the cover off the ONT and disconnect the telco wire myself. I was here when the ONT was installed a number of years ago and as I recall it's pretty obvious what connections do what. So it should not be a big deal to take out the appropriate connection.

So now I have to call Verizon and find out what happens when I request cancelling my phone service. That should be a fun conversation.

Thanks again for all your help on this. I wonder why VOIPO doesn't put up some web pages that details stuff like this; my guess is there are lots of people out there who will be switching from major carriers and I don't think my situation is all that unique.

**christcorp** · 08-24-2012 02:00 PM

You really shouldn't have to call to cancel your phone service. That's what "Porting" does. It transfers the service from one provider; "Verizon"; and transfers it to another provider; "VoipO". Once the porting is done, that's it. Nothing further to do. Your next verizon/fios bill should be for internet and tv and NOT ANY PHONE. Nothing for you to do.

The only people that really need to get involved with the provider are those who have DSL WITH a phone number attached. Sometimes, depending on the phone company, when the phone number is ported away, they cancel the DSL service. (The phone number is also used for BILLING). Without a number, some providers don't know what to do. But for cable, fios, wireless, etc... customers, where phone is simply 1 feature of the service, you shouldn't have to do anything.

As for voipo posting some of this information, I don't blame them. You don't want to talk about connecting your voip adapter to your home phone jacks. There are 101 different variations and scenarios on how the jacks are wired in. VoipO can't be liable if you accidentally plug your adapter into a jack with 51 volts DC from the phone company. Also; you have to sell, which means it's website, to the "LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR". And unfortunately, the lowest common denominator is a customer who is an idiot. These are the people who think there should be a light in the gas tank so they can see if they have gas left. But instead, they use a bic lighter. No, info like this on the website is suicide for a company. A forum, like this, on the other hand is good. It allows those who AREN'T IDIOTS a place where they can come and learn. It's usually a dialog among users/customers with very little input from the company. Tim, Brandon, and other voipo personnel get involved quite a bit on this forum, but that's because it's still small enough of a forum and they can field the questions. But if the question gets too deep, or the individual is having a difficult time understanding, calling support and opening a ticket is still the most common answer. Anyway; welcome to the voipo community. Later.... Mike.....

**bbinnard** · 08-24-2012 03:51 PM

Good feedback again; thanks. But I did discover one nasty glitch: My Verizon FIOS "agreement/contract" says I have to pay a $220 Early Termination Fee if I cancel my phone service. This fee goes down by $5/mo until the end of my contract which is in May 2014. So now I have to figure out what the optimal cutover time would be. I figure VOIPO service will save me about $30/mo.

It's always something....