Fongo Home Phone vs. Buying ATA

[Don Corleone]

So I want to get set up to use FPL as my home phone service. But I'd like to know the differences between buying my own ATA + buying the config file vs. ordering the Fongo Home Phone. If I order FHP do I still need to pay 50$ to get the config file? What about the new monthly essentials fee that people are talking about, would I have to pay that in either of these scenarios? I also read posts from people talking about grandfathering those using FPL, so is this service not going to be offered anymore or changing somehow?

Would someone be so kind as to walk me through my options here and what the drawbacks advantages would be to each one? Ty.

[Jake]

With FPL you buy an ATA (~50$) and the config file (50$) and you set it up yourself (FPL may still be selling ATAs pre configured, but it amounts to the same apart from getting support for the ATA if you buy it from them) There is no monthly fees or anything else to pay unless you want to call non-free areas then you have to buy vouchers.

With FONGO home phone you pay a one time fee of 59$, then a monthly fee of 4.95$ ( "FREE HOME PHONE SERVICE" ). Again, if you want to call non-free areas you have to pay. You will get phone support for both the ATA and settings this route.

The only other differences are - if you have FPL you can set it up so it emails voicemails to you - if you have FONGO you can use a phone app with your account. I guess if you have the FPL config file then you can use a voip phone app with that.

In either case you can only have one device connected at a time, so either a phone app or an ATA.


The choices come down to - pay a little bit more to start with, or pay a little less but have monthly fees. Otherwise it is the same calling areas, over the same network.

[Don Corleone]

Cool, thx a bunch Jake!

[seagame2001]

easy if you know computer a lot then buy your own ATA

however if you don't know computer much then buy fongo ATA so you will get tech support from them

[FONGO_mike]

easy if you know computer a lot then buy your own ATA

however if you don't know computer much then buy fongo ATA so you will get tech support from them

Or if you have a minimum understanding of them, purchase it from FPL/DV, install it, and, if having any issues, use the forums and customer support to get it working properly