Can I bring my Ooma on travel abroad and use it?

[oompa]

I will take a vacation to the Philippines for a month. Can I bring my Ooma with me so people can call me to the same number? I was just told that using my cell phone I will be charged an arm and a leg.

I know I have to make sure of 2 things though:
1) adapter for 110V and
2) high speed connection.

What are the potential problems?

What is the minimum requirement for broadband speed to make Ooma work? Is this a bad idea?

[niknak]

Lots of people do exactly what you want to do which is take your ooma with you. Yes, you need a high speed connection and a power converter and you should be good to go!
Happy travelling!

Bare minimum you need is about 200 kbps up/down
Other factors influence voice quality, however any decent high speed connection would be a good candidate to try it out abroad.

Please note that in some countries it is illegal to use VOIP - I doubt this is the case in the Phillipines - mostly this restriction is in countries with state-owned telephone services

[oompa]

Please note that in some countries it is illegal to use VOIP - I doubt this is the case in the Phillipines - mostly this restriction is in countries with state-owned telephone services

I believe Vonage also exists in the Philippines. So, I guess VOIP is OK.

Thank you for quick reply.

I hope it is just a plug and play and I do not need to setup something on a PC.

[scottlindner]

We did sign an agreement that we wouldn't move the Ooma system unless we notify Ooma first. I suspect this is due to E911 support.

Does Ooma give us a way to update our E911 information for situations like this?

Scott

[bw1]

We did sign an agreement that we wouldn't move the Ooma system unless we notify Ooma first. I suspect this is due to E911 support.

Does Ooma give us a way to update our E911 information for situations like this?

Scott

Yes, on the Account tab in the ooma lounge, there's an "edit account" link that will allow you to change your service address. No need to contact support.

[scottlindner]

We did sign an agreement that we wouldn't move the Ooma system unless we notify Ooma first. I suspect this is due to E911 support.

Does Ooma give us a way to update our E911 information for situations like this?

Scott

Yes, on the Account tab in the ooma lounge, there's an "edit account" link that will allow you to change your service address. No need to contact support.

Awesome. I didn't know that was used to update the E911 location since it says Account Information and Billing Address. I guess it is the Account Information that is used.

Scott

[voipdabbler]

One thing you may want to check on is whether you'll have any issues with customs in the Philippines or any other foreign country where you may be staying, even for just a few days. Taking the Ooma hub with you on foreign travel does make it subject to custom's searches in those countries where you'll be exiting the airport and possible seizure if customs officials are unclear what it is or if there are local restrictions on VOIP, such as the Middle East, or simply restrictions on bringing unlicensed VOIP equipment into the country. When I worked back East, my job required foreign travel and I witnessed a number of unhappy people at various foreign airports who had had items seized. Checking before you travel may save you a lot of frustration in the long run.

[locosman]

Can you leave the Hub at home and just travel with the Scout?

If I plug the Scout in when I travel, will both the Hub ring (at home) and the Scout ring (at the hotel)?

Thx!

[Aveamantium]

No, the scout has to be physically connected to the hub to work.

[locosman]

Yeah, sorry -- I figured it out when I saw that there's no LAN connection on the Scout.

Also, I use ADSL in my house, and didn't realize that the Scout only works if you don't have the ADSL filter plugged in (like I do on my Tivo).