After getting my latest bill from Comcast and seeing the price I am paying for a home phone I rarely use, I decided to port my Comcast phone number to Google Voice. Well, not exactly that path. Since Google Voice can only accept numbers ported from cell phones at this time, I had to port it to a pay as you go cell phone first, then to GV.
I chose a Verizon prepaid phone that came with 10 minutes of talk time included for a total price of $14.99. It took about 48 hours to port my Comcast number to the Verizon prepaid.Then I ported my number from Verizon to Google Voice, which Charges $20 for the porting service. This was very fast, taking less than 24 hours.
The final step was adding an awesome device to my home network called an OBi which cost me $40 at Amazon. This device connects to your home network, and then you connect your home phone to it which enables your Google Voice number with your home phone. Extremely simple to setup, nearly plug and play.
I’ve had this setup running for nearly two months now and it’s worked flawlessly. The whole setup ran me about $75, a one time cost that will pay for it self in about 3 months of usage. I love the benefit of being able to flag and block telemarketer calls in Google Voice. Most of all, I feel great giving Comcast less of my money.
Update: I have had this setup running for nearly 5 months now without a hiccup. If you are sick of paying comcast for bogus phone service, make the switch!
