Ooma Hub and Scout Internet telephony system

Cool Yule rating: 4.5 stars
Price: $400
Product Web site

Description: Ooma’s artistic packaging and cool product design grab you, but the buy-it-and-never-pay-for-service-ever (in the United States) reels you in. The ooma Hub is a sleek box that connects to your broadband service and provides two phone lines and a voice-mail interface, and the Scout connects a phone at a remote location.

Installation of the hub is a little tricky, as it connects between your modem and router. You have to remember to power-cycle your router after installation, or things can get screwy.

But the sound quality on the device is outstanding – it's the best I've ever heard on any line, wired or wireless.

The Scout is a bit problematic also, requiring a wired phone jack. Hey, ooma, how about wireless? Or, better yet, how about an ooma cordless phone? Or maybe being able to map the special keys on the hardware to button pushes on a phone? But, no matter, this is a great start. Put mine under the tree and add my name on the upgrade list.

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Cool Yule rating: 4.5 stars
Price: $400
Product Web site

Description: Ooma’s artistic packaging and cool product design grab you, but the buy-it-and-never-pay-for-service-ever (in the United States) reels you in. The ooma Hub is a sleek box that connects to your broadband service and provides two phone lines and a voice-mail interface, and the Scout connects a phone at a remote location.

Installation of the hub is a little tricky, as it connects between your modem and router. You have to remember to power-cycle your router after installation, or things can get screwy.

But the sound quality on the device is outstanding – it's the best I've ever heard on any line, wired or wireless.

The Scout is a bit problematic also, requiring a wired phone jack. Hey, ooma, how about wireless? Or, better yet, how about an ooma cordless phone? Or maybe being able to map the special keys on the hardware to button pushes on a phone? But, no matter, this is a great start. Put mine under the tree and add my name on the upgrade list.

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