How to switch from FIOS VOIP to VOIPO

[bbinnard]

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.

[FloridaMatt]

The general scenario would go like this:

connect the ata to your router, connect a phone *directly* to it, verify that you have dial tone. You will have a temporary number until (if) you port.

Note that Voipo does not officially support connecting the ata they supply to your home wiring. Nonetheless, it seems to work for many. DO NOT AT ANY TIME connect both the ata and the ONT to the house wiring. But you should make sure your phones work over house wiring with the ata. Do this within the 30-day money-back period.

When ready to port, follow voipo's instructions. They will tell you when it is scheduled to happen.