Vonage

[LoKyBuckeye]

Anyone use Vonage? I was looking into it for our new house (now that constrction is almost done). I was curious if anyone has used it? Obvious the down side is thet if you lose your power or broadband connection you'll lose service but we'll always have our cell phones as a back up. I think right now we are paying 70/month on our phone bill and their plans start at 24.99/month.

www.vonage.com

 

[AkronBuckeye]

Just My Opinion...BUT.....

I think thats the way to go....My wifes mother has RoadRunner and Cabletv with Time Warner her bill was 95 bucks a month
for both , now she went and got herself the Time Warner package that includes the phone service also .... She now has Road Runner and Digital Phone and Cable TV Her bill for all 3 is 117.00 a month

Plus they threw in a 3 month trial of Digital Cable for her..

AND The Install was FREE .....She also says you Keep your Original Phone Number

I called and the Phone service wont be available to us till June

And when its ready We will be doing that also....

 

[Alan]

I actually just went with Lingo.....All you can eat phone service for $19.99 a month with the second month free....

They sent the router to my house in two days and it took me 5 minutes to set it up.....The quality of the voice (voip) is just as good...

 

[Steve19]

Over the next three years, this industry is set to explode. VoIP is for real and it will soon be very possible to make calls anywhere in the world for almost nothing. Beware, however, of over-investing in equipment right now. This is in a real state of play and its gonna be a bit like personal computers in the early 1990s. Lots of changes for the next three years or so.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

LoKy... not using it myself.. but not hearing/reading good things at all about Vonage, per se.. many start up glitches... shaky customer support... even problems with key essentials like 'misplacement' of 911 calls (which have resulted in significant law suits pending) - in fact, not sure 911 is even integrated into the emergency phone network.. do your homework...

Verizon is positioned to own the telecom market.. and has the best tower network by far.. coupled with recent acquisition of MCI bodes well.. Their plan is about $10 higher that Vonage.. but their infrastructure and system stability may very well make it worth it

again, not speaking from personal experience... there's many many lawsuits and congressional activity going on with this technology... like the fact the price advantage is a result of not paying taxes on the service... but legal beagles are disturbed that they can't tap the lines if need be so there are security fights coming... especially homeland security... and there's no means of local regulation like land and cell...

let us all know if you make the jump... I've been curious just didn't want to be the guinea pig

 

[BIATCHabutuka]

i have vonage. i like it.

911 is an issue. they actually say that your 911 calls don't go thru the regular 911 network and it is forwarded to someplace else and somehow someway 911 gets it. their 911-like service also needs to be configured specially. easy to do but still an extra step. this isn't much of an issue for me, but if it were i could always program my phone with fire, police, and ambulance. fuck them poison control bitches.

voice quality is awesome. virtually no difference. my brother heard an echo of himself on his phone whenever he would have a hard syllable. i turned down my phone volume and it seems to have solved the problem.

unlimited minutes makes for no hassle.

no bill to pay, they just charge your card.

free voicemail.

if your broadband goes out, you can automatically have the calls transferred to any other number (like your cell).

you can take vonage on the road with you and have your home phone with you while you travel.

 

[sandgk]

LoKy... not using it myself.. but not hearing/reading good things at all about Vonage, per se.. many start up glitches... ..

let us all know if you make the jump... I've been curious just didn't want to be the guinea pig

Heaven forbid you let someone perform experiments on live customers in Princeton .. :)

 

[bucksn'boobs]

My German buddy uses skype for international calls and loves it. Virtually free international and domestic I believe.
http://www.skype.com/

 

[kinch]

I have some friends in Argentina and Holland that love skype too, I've used it with them and it works well. . .

About vonage:

I would have a traditional land line if you have kids. I don't have any - but when we had the blackout up here we were fine at first - we had cell phones. However, as we couldn't charge them you have to be careful with your calls, and you will have many to make in such a situation, and may soon be left with absolutely no phone service should you need it.

If you don't have kids, I wouldn't worry about it so much. . .

 

[CleveBucks]

The cell phone charing problem could be solved with a DC car charger. They're so cheap these days, makes sense to have one.

As for VoIP, I know a few who have Vonage that say it's great. Expect glitches and bugs though, until they become a bit more mature.

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

thanks for all the info guys....

I do have kids so the 911 is something I'm concered. I'll have a security system in my house that will be monitored. Monitored security systems work off your phone line, but if I don't get a phone line it canl be monitored by cellular service and I will have access to police/fire/ambulance with that as well. Power outages won't bother me becuase I have a 5000w generator that I can power things up with to charge phones etc (I learned after last years hurricanes that I better get one).

here's what their web site says about 911....

Vonage Lets You Dial 911

Because Your Safety Is Important

Vonage offers 911 Dialing to all our customers . When you dial 911, your call is routed from the Vonage network to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for your area. (What is a PSAP?) There are several important differences between our Emergency Services dialing and traditional 911 Dialing that you need to know:

* Vonage 911 Dialing must be activated
* You must tell us where you are
* Vonage 911 Dialing connects you with general emergency services

911 Dialing Must Be Activated

911 Dialing is Not Automatically setup for use. You may decline 911 Dialing if you wish, but we STRONGLY urge you to activate 911 Dialing. Even if you don't plan to make 911 calls from your Vonage line, there may be others who do. You can't plan in advance for all situations. For example, a residential line could be used by babysitters, young children, in-laws, and others who may need to make 911 calls. If you decline 911 from Vonage, no one will be able to call 911 from your Vonage line. Don't compromise your safety. Register today.

 

[kinch]

The cell phone charing problem could be solved with a DC car charger. They're so cheap these days, makes sense to have one.

If only I had a car. . . I guess you would probably be fine with this if you live in Ohio. . .

If you have a generator, you are pretty set. Do you have a bomb shelter too?

Man you guys are freaks. Cars, generators. . .

Do you have rations? Bottled water? Twinkies?

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

.... no bomb shelter (yet :) )

The reason for the generator is mostly because of the Hurricanes. The house we are having built is about 20 miles North of Punta Gorda... that's where Hurricane Charlie made land fall last year. We drove around the area two weeks ago and 10 minutes from our house there are still people living in FEMA trailers in their driveways because they had so much damage to their houses. If we have a power outage for any legnth of time we'll be prepared. We had no power last year for Charlie and it can get pretty unbearable in August with no fans or nothing cold to drink. There is not much developed around our house... only 3 other houses on the street right now but room for about 50.... if we lose power I don't think we'll be first on the list to get up and going.

 

[kinch]

LoKy:

Wow, I didn't even notice the Florida part. Definitely good to be prepared (especially with kids. . .).

My mother-in-law (and I am the rare lucky guy to have a totally cool one :) ) just got a generator after an ice storm in western Ohio, kinda in the middle of nowhere. FEMA even paid for it in the end. Very cool to have. . .

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

and I am the rare lucky guy to have a totally cool one

It's good that you have a cool mother in law... I have one with mad cow disease

FEMA has done a lot of good things for people downhere... the devastation was so bad that they are still trying to help people out.