How much do you pay every month for all
of your personal communications? That includes, but is not limited to, smartphones
with data plans, land lines, Internet, cable TV or satellite TV, wireless tablets
and computers. Life in 2013 practically requires some degree of connectivity, but
many people are paying for way more of it than necessary. I absolutely need a high
speed Internet connection because of publishing RF Cafe (14 Mbps for $44.90
per month). Since most of my personal communications are via e-mail, phone service
is not a high priority so my cell phone is a
TracFone that I pay under $100 per year to use (mainly when away
from home). Since there is no time for TV, any watching is done via the Internet
- it doesn't matter if shows are a week or month old - so no cost there. I like
using an old-fashioned telephone with a handset at home, so a landline is also used.
Up until a couple months ago I was paying the local phone company $27 per month
for basic local service (no long distance, caller ID, messaging, etc.).
Compared to a national average of around $150 per month for
smartphone
ownership, maybe $60 per month for Internet, and and average of $85 per month for
TV. That's a lot of moola just to be entertained and talk to a
friend. My expenses pale in comparison, but I'm always looking for ways to save
even more. So, I looked into VOIP telephone service to shed the $27 per month landline
bill. For a mere $40, I bought a little modem that plugs in to my Internet router
and my house telephone wiring that, along with Google Voice, provides me with a
monthly cost of $0 - and that includes local and long distance anywhere in the U.S.
and Canada, voice mail, caller ID, and call blocking. Early VOIP systems had a well-documented
delay associated with the speech, but after many instances of talking to people
on other land lines and on cell phones, I cannot detect the slightest amount of
delay. In fact, even with the landline I would notice very annoying delays from
some people's cell phones.
As can be seen in the photo
below, my modem is an
OBi100 VoIP Telephone Adapter and Voice Service Bridge, which
I bought on Amazon.com. Installation could not have been simpler: plug the OBi100
into the router, plug the OBi100 into the house phone wiring, plug the AC adapter
into a receptacle, sign up for a Google Voice account and pick a phone number, fill
out a short form on the OBIHAI
website, done. It took maybe 10 minutes for the entire process.
Sporters of tinfoil hats might be commenting to themselves (any anyone who might
be listening) that using Google Voice is a stupid move since they now have access
to all my conversations. Right, and before that I would have had no concerns about
my communications being monitored and recorded. Have you seen the photos of the
gigantic, leviathan
data centers the government has both in operation and being built?
NSA has had ECHELON
in operation for decades. Here is my advice to everyone, whether you are a conspiracy
goof or not: Do not say anything, write anything, or visit anywhere (physical or
on the Internet) that you do not want known. You are being monitored by cameras,
RFID, credit and debit card usage, cell phones, WiFi systems, cell phone usage,
Internet websites, land line telephones, bank transactions, stock transactions,
postal mail addresses, firearms and ammo purchases, the types of clothing and food
you buy, your toothpaste brand, and just about everything else. Be afraid. Be very
afraid.
Posted April 22, 2013
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