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TotalPlay for DUMMIES


Natasha

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Hi.... me again... the techno-:(). Total Play installed----- phone /basic (Spanish) TV / 40 mgb.  At the moment, many glitches later, working well... and TV (TP and FIrestick) images FABULOUS ---- clear, sharp, and pop right out at you like 3D.  Happy!

OBSERVATIONS TO THOSE CONSIDERING:  (based on MY experience from Sunday Aug 29 - Tues Sept 2, the day the phone actually changed over. I get yours may have been different.... no need to belabour!

(1)  Was referred by a friend. This earned both of us a  discount.  BUT.... guy who called me Sunday played games until I  read emails from her to him, etc. WORSE is he gave me some info that tech guy next day said was totally incorrect.  His comment:  Those guys are only salesmen.  They have no idea about real installs  / problems related to.  He also flat-out lied about a couple of things that led to much confusion for a day  or 3.... but who's counting.... plus some serious    confusion and frustration on my part. Like I said --- DUMMY.

(2) Install guy tried to push stuff on me I didn't want (eg mesh  thing, more  mgb, etc), plus could not do the 2nd (upstairs TV) for reasons that were never made clear on the phone  the night before.  When I finally understood,  it was disappointing, but I couldn't in good faith be drilling holes in main floor ceiling/   upstairs tile floor in a rented house. So until I get an antenna (IF Guad news reaches my particular location  -- apparently a problem according to Steren) no TV upstairs any more.

I can live with that, but is a warning to others  .... be sure you  completely understand how this works, including limitations.  You need a cable from the modem direct to a "box" at the TV, and would have needed another one for over 50 feet even if feasible (reasons not) for TV # 2. I was under the (mistaken) impression TP TV receives receive the signal via wifi like the Firestick does.  NOT.

(3) My base unit portable telephone has to be directly connected to the modem.  He  insisted  modem and phone had to be right beside TV in corner of LR. NOT feasible.... cats would have had a field day plus bad location for phone. His argument? Phone to modem "connection"  from my phone was too short.  Had to unplug that unit and demonstrate the line was more than adequate for office location.So modem is in office where it was before. WHY should I have had to do that?

(4) Install guy who did my friend's phone number changeover with Telmex did hers from start to finish. Sales guy on Sunday said YES, they would too. WRONG. You personally have to contact Federal Communications people & confirm you want to change providers. They send you a PIN number...  then installer told me to wait until it happened.  Lucky I got nervous in a couple of days.... got in tough with TP, who said " oh, no no" ---guided me thru' setting up "micuenta" and then thru'  applying (PIN no. etc) for the change ("portabilidad").   Good news is phone changed between that date --Aug 31 -- and Sept 2.

(4) The remote for the TV portion is.... for people like me.... a    nightmare..... as is the process to go back and forth from TP to Firestick.  Have it now, but took visit to friend's house because installer, when giving g directions as I wrote them down left out a bunch of steps 😒. Apparently you can phone and get "tech support"  and someone will walk you thru it, but after a LONG time on hold I gave up.

CONCLUSIONS TO DATE :  Would we do it again..... yes.  But really would have preferred to avoid a minefield of problems for 4 days running. That's why I'm posting today.          

IF you want details about any/all  above, send me a PM with email or phone and I'll be happy to talk.

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Thanks for the vote of confidence!  Your faith in me was better than my own.

Phone:  800 510 0510    Of course there's a menu. 😒They DO offer service in English if needed but they're faster if you have some Spanish. I find this line better than trying to go to their web site.  Good luck!

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18 hours ago, CHILLIN said:

Natasha. Knew you could do it! Do you have phone number for TotalPlay? I want to find out if they can do a multiline commercial install for my friends at Quality Care. This would involve a multi line PBX, which they already have.

sent you a pm this morning.

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BE ADVISED IF CONSIDERING     Learned today that land line phone to land line phone is free, as is with Telmex, for Canada and U.S.  BUT land line this end to cell phone those two places is NOT free.   That includes anyone who lives here but maintains their US cell phone number, so you end up calling a "long distance" connection.

This is totally  a 180 from what the Sunday night guy told me. NOT a deal breaker for me....can use Skype or the few can call me from there -- but for some it might well be.

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11 minutes ago, Natasha said:

BE ADVISED IF CONSIDERING     Learned today that land line phone to land line phone is free, as is with Telmex, for Canada and U.S.  BUT land line this end to cell phone those two places is NOT free.   That includes anyone who lives here but maintains their US cell phone number, so you end up calling a "long distance" connection.

 

I am assuming that, when you use the term 'land line' you are referring to your new TotalPlay phone which is an Internet (VOIP) phone and not a land line. I make this distinction because, if I am right, your terminology is confusing to others and your message might be misunderstood or misconstrued.

If I have assumed wrong, then I apologize and disregard...

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What I MEANT: 

(1) I transferred my TelMex land line 10-digit phone number to TotalPlay. That way was able to preserve the original phone number becasue was necessary. SO yes.... I guess it's now a VOIP connection.  (working to wrap my head around that)

(2)  Telmex offers free local, long distance (Mexico, US and Canada) ..... and those calls can be to landlines or to cell phones.

(3) TotalPlay offers free calls within Mexico ---- local, long distance AND cell phones, up to 2,000 minutes per month in each category. But foreign cell phones are NOT included.  You have to pay to call them from Minute 1...... and it's per minute, not per   "x" seconds like Skype is.

(4)  Just confirmed via on-line chat with TP -----people can call me (from their foreign cell to my phone number) and as long a their provider allows it to happen, there is no charge to me on this end.

Rick, you must remember..... I'm a tech dummy floundering in a sea of new info.... so no apology required. You just helped me make my message clearer to others..... I hope

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  • 2 years later...
On 9/4/2021 at 1:02 PM, RickS said:

I am assuming that, when you use the term 'land line' you are referring to your new TotalPlay phone which is an Internet (VOIP) phone and not a land line.

This is correct. To many people, "land line" refers to POTS -- plain old telephone service -- delivered over copper wires. Most of us grew up with this. Works when the power's out because the copper carries enough power to ring the phone. POTS service still exists in Mexico, but no longer does in the U.S.

A clearer term in this case would be "house phone."

We're thinking we may buy a house phone, something we never expected to have again, just because Mexican society often still connects a phone number with a place, an address, and not a person who may not be home, like a cell phone. We'd only use it for delivery people, etc.

And our TotalPlay Internet comes with a VoIP number and service, we just don't have anything connected to the RJ-11 jack on TotalPlay's base station.

I assume that any house phone I plug into it will come to life with no further steps. Probably get a cordless phone, probably with a second handset for downstairs.

What I'm less clear on are so-called "WiFi phones" meant for use as a home phone. Do they often have an RJ-11 jack as well, or are they a different, wifi-only animal? Anyone been down that road?

LQ

 

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Wi-fi only with a hub that connects to your router either via ethernet or now just by wi-fi. We have two such phones. One is a Clear Choice phone connected by ethernet that has the closed captions screen that my wife prefers to use.  The other one is an Ooma that connects via wi-fi that still has the same number we have had in Houston since we moved from there to Mexico. We ported it a couple of times from previous wi-fi setups that we had in Ajijic and PV. Works pretty good with the usual hiccups that cell phone service has, namely the caller moving from tower to tower as they drive along.

 

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On 1/26/2024 at 8:03 AM, pappysmarket said:

Wi-fi only with a hub that connects to your router either via ethernet or now just by wi-fi.

Thanks. That's what I reckoned.

A pair of ordinary cordless Panasonics was cheap enough, so we'll start there. I have business-class Ubiquiti network gear now, so when I later experiment with wifi-only voice, I might try their solution first.

(This new Unifi gear is worlds better than the consumer stuff, especially with dual WAN. Never going back.)

LQ

 

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