[PLUG] VoIP question [RESOLVED]

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

OK so then the Ziply 5th generation modem is basically doing exactly the
same thing that a Vonage or Ooma box would be doing - it's converting a POTS
phone into a VoIP phone.  So it's essentially a VoIP phone line you are
paying for.

Is Ziply charging you a $15 month fee for the box rental and a second fee
(maybe $15 maybe something else) for the phone line itself?  Or is it just 1
fee?

What is interest to me on all of this is that my understanding is that the
ONT itself has a RJ11 port that can act as a "POTS" line.

When Ziply started deploying fiber they were Verizon and called it FIOS and
if you wanted it, they -required- you to give up your POTS line.  For
example my parents are in that territory and they even have an old copper
Ziply monument out back that the neighborhood phone lines go to and there
was an underground copper line from that monument to the back of their
house.   When they got FIOS, Ziply /Verizon at the time disconnected that
underground copper line and replaced it with a fiber line into their garage
where they mounted the ONT and then from there they tapped into the POTS
line in the house and ran Ethernet.

But, the cost for the POTS line did not change, just the delivery.

What it appears to me, is that Ziply is sidestepping the PUC tariffs which
require $40 for a residential subscriber POTS line by simply designating it
as a VoIP line and instead of terminating the POTS line on the ONT they are
terminating it on a "next generation router" that is plugged into the ONT.
Then they are charging some less-than-$40 fee for the POTS line

Is that what's going on?

Ted

-----Original Message-----
From: PLUG <plug-bounces at lists.pdxlinux.org> On Behalf Of Rich Shepard
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2025 11:54 AM
To: Portland Linux/Unix Group <plug at lists.pdxlinux.org>
Subject: Re: [PLUG] VoIP question [RESOLVED]

On Thu, 13 Feb 2025, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:

> Are you saying then that you have a Panasonic telephone with a POTS 
> connection that is plugged into some kind of Ziply box and they are 
> only charging $15 a month for?

Ted,

Yep. There's a wire with RJ-11 plugs on each end that connect the phone base
to the Ziply 5th generation modem. That modem is then connected to the ONT
with a cat6 ethernet cable and RJ-45 plugs. The Ziply modem has wi-fi turned
off.

Rich