Aug 3, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
If you sign up for ViaTalk and you want to throw a referral my way use the following link.
http://viatalk.com/tools/checkavail/broadband_phone_availability.php?ref_id=51164
The person who referred me gave me his phone number to use as a referral when I signed up but they wouldn't accept it. Make sure you use the email function on their site to invite friends. From there you could build a URL like I did. :-)
You can also make some pretty funny referral pages by messing around with the URL in the email.
Try these
Dude!
Expatriate
Aug 2, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
Today a mortgage company left me a recorded message. I am on the do not call list so I thought it was interesting that I got this call 1 day after my number ported to viatalk. I suspect its just a coincidence but would love to know if other SunRocket or ViaTalk customers got a call today.
This mortgage company could have paid to become affiliated with SunRocket so they could legally cold call us. Oh the conspiracy theory. :-)
The call was from 18663035008 (CHL Financial Services). Leave a comment if they cold-called you.
Aug 1, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
Just FYI. I never received an email when my number port was completed. My only indication was that my phone stopped working. As mentioned in my previous post, when this happens do the following
- Log into viatalk using your ported number and existing password.
- Goto softfone config and get your new password
- Update your device with new number and password.
Also.. for some reason Brendan (ViaTalk) CEO started answering questions on the DSL Reports forums. I would have expected him on the ViaTalk forums. :-\ His thread is here
Jul 31, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
The ViaTalk people told me that my number would port on 7/31 (14 days after my order) but I was skeptical. I checked my email throughout the day for confirmation and password.
The mail never came but when I got home my phone was dead. I quickly went to the ViaTalk site to see if my new password was available. I needed to log in with my ported number (and the password I used with the temporary number).
I jumped into the softphone config screen and was happy to see my SunRocket number and a new password. I logged into my AC-211-SR, updated the information, rebooted and was making calls with my old number in no time.
Finally something has gone right. Now I can activate that credit card I got in the mail the day Sunrocket died.
Jul 27, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
Murphy has been riding me hard lately. He started out tame and has been getting progressively worse.
- April. Wife runs over nail. Turns out there are 2 nails in her tire. They try to sell me a new tire but I convince them that it is fixable as they are over 90 degrees apart.
- May AC stopped working on my car. $250 to change the temperature sensor. What a rip off
- Early June Maia got lice
- Early July. Lice is back and Dani has it too.
- Mid-July. Sunrocket closes leaving me with no phone.
- Late July. I notice my front tire is starting to shred. I replace the 2 front tires. I get home and notice one of the back tires is ready to blow. I buy 2 more tires the next day
- One week later my wife hits another nail and drives the tire a little too low. Now I need to buy her 2 new tires. Hole was also close to the sidewall so it may have been a lost case anyway.
- My 3 year old Midas muffler is rusting through already. I'm sure they are going to try to sell me everything from the cat back. Hey, at least the muffler is free. :-\
- My new phone provider ViaTalk is proving to be a piece of junk. In theory my number will be ported on Tuesday. With my current string of luck I bet it doesn't happen.
Jul 27, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
People who know me know I can't stand general motors cars. In college I got a GM Card and I ended putting my mom on the account so she could use my points towards a GM car.
I don't claim to know anything about design but I find cars like the Aztec hideous. Also quality of GM cars has been historically low. But as my 1996 VW GTI ages I've decided I really need to start looking for a new car.
What do I want? A light all-electric car. Sorry, I don't want to spend $100,000 on a telsa. I don't think an affordable all-electric will be available before I need to stop putting money into the GTI.
Compromise? A small and sporty clean diesel. (torque is more important in urban areas than horsepower). Oh wait. Car companies think Americans don't want diesels.
So that leaves me with a small sporty car that runs on gas. I don't want a hybrid. Maintaining and carrying 2 drive systems seems wasteful to me.
How about another GTI? No way. I love the car but after 11+ years I need something different. Cooper? Tempting but its soooo small. I really like hatchbacks.
I noticed that GM is bringing the Opel Astra to the States this year under the Saturn nameplate. They are throwing out the diesel option but it still looks nice. It looks a lot like the Dodge Caliber but a little better. Chrysler has great designers but I think the blew it with the Caliber. I think the issue is that they try to use designs that work well on big cars on the compacts and it just doesn't translate.
Maybe I'll just have someone bring me an Opel Astra Diesel from Europe. ;-) I think this rant is done.
Jul 19, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
This is a blinding flash of the obvious. I feel really stupid for not doing this sooner.
My Local Number port from SunRocket to ViaTalk is supposed to go through on 7/31. 14 days after they received my request. I was hoping a VOIP to VOIP transfer would be faster.
With Packet8 claiming 5 days to tranfer number I was tempted to switch because I really need my old number back.
While I contemplated canceling my ViaTalk order and Switching to Packet8 I decided to sign into sunrocket and see if call forwarding would work. AND IT DID!
I hope the SunRocket forwarding continues to work until the end of the month. At least I won't miss anymore calls while I'm waiting for the number port.
Jul 18, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
I like supporting the little guys so I signed up for ViaTalk after SunRocket dumped me. Before VOIP I was using Cavalier instead of Verizon.
I can't comment too much on the ViaTalk quality since I just got it working last night but if you sign up use my referral code. 51164 :-) Sorry. I figured it was worth a try and my Gizmo reconfiguration notes may save you time.
I'll post more details on trying to get 27 months of ViaTalk for $200 and my number porting progress soon.
ViaTalk was giving 2 years of service for $200 but they switched it to 15 months and up to 12 additional months for people coming from SunRocket. One operator said I would get 27 months but another made it sound like they would buy out the time I have left with SunRocket.
Either way this is the best deal out there. I hope they stay in business.
Jul 17, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
Hoping this helps someone out there. I'll update as I get more information.
Since Sunrocket canceled our accounts with no notice and no refund I figured they would not mind if we continued to use their gizmos as we moved onto new VOIP providers.
There are various sites that tell you how to get into the gizmo as admin so I'm not putting that information here.
Since it tool me a lot trial and error to get ViaTalk working with the AC-211-SR I figured I would document my settings on my wiki.
Here is the link
AC-211-SR_configuration_for_ViaTalk
Jul 16, 2007
Published by Tony Primerano
Its been so dry this summer that I saw my 1st Asian Tiger Mosquito last night. Last year I suspect they were out by May. These things are much faster than normal mosquitoes and they are sneaky too. They seem to intentionally stay out of your line of sight.
The Maryland page about these mosquitoes does not mention Montgomery County but I have seen them for at least 2 years now.
http://www.mda.state.md.us/plants-pests/mosquito_control/_asian_tiger_mosquito_md.php