Just switched to Vonage
 

Hi all. I just switched my phone service from Bellsouth to Vonage. Vonage is a Voice over IP (VoIP) service. It uses your broadband internet connection. For $24.95 a month I get unlimited minutes, free long distance, voice mail, caller ID, email-voice mail, etc. If you have a speedy broadband connection, I strongly suggest switching to Vonage. I am not affiliated with Vonage in any way. I just really like the service.

I've used Vonage before (we have a few Vonage routers at work we take on overseas business trips), but I was curious how the E911 thing ever got worked out (or if it's still in process). Do they give you documentation on how 911 calls work or what to do in case of a power outage?

Those are two pretty big things keeping me from switching to VoIP - as I'd love to, the voice quality is great.

I've been using Vonage for the past year or so. It's been perfect.
I pay $16.74/mo.

Regarding 9/11 service:

I considered the fact that 911 might be a bit sketchy and that loss of broadband or power would cause loss of service. And as I live in S. Florida, Home of the Hurricanes, that's something to consider, but I have two cell phones, so I'm not too worried. But for somebody who has frequent broadband outages, Maybe Vonage isn't a good idea. Comcast cable for me is like 99.5% stable over a year. I highly recommend Vonage. And, remember, you get a 14 day free-trial. I love Vonage. Bellsouth can kiss my hairy ass.

That interests me as well. I'm in the northwest, so no hurricanes. But when good storms come through, our freaking cables goes away. Hell, if a moth flies by the cable can go out. I have a cell phone, but it would not be my first reach in an emergency. Hmm...I'm waffling. I'll probably stay with my old land line for now.....(i'm sure that dates me...)

HiddenEgo, I understand your waffling. I think it's a case by case kind of deal. There is some risk with Vonage. Keep in mind that all modern cell phones have GPS built into them. That's the way the NeoCons track us.

I have had Vonage for the past 4 months. I love it. Having a fixed phone bill every month no matter how much I cal is a beautiful thing. The 911 thing shouldn't be an issue in the coming months. The FCC has mandated that all the VOIP services have to upgrade their systems so that 911 operators can determine your location when you call.

Qwest keeps bugging me to return and I keep telling them to fuck off. I love it.

I've had Vonage since March '05 and I couldn't be happier. Every now and then (because I fiddled with my router's settings) the voice will get messed up a bit, but only when I am using all of my upstream bandwidth.

As for the 911 thing, Hash_Browns and I both have cell phones, so unless we have another NE U.S. blackout, I doubt we will have much of an issue not getting ahold of 911. Our cell phones have the GPS thing built in that they can figure out where we are, should we need to use it.

Vonage is the shiznit...
 

Well, it's MOSTLY the shiznit...

Switched to Vonage about a month ago, after finally getting fed up with Sprint's rates & extremely poor customer service. The final straw was a three day period where we had NO phone service, but perfect cablemodem/internet.

To combat power outages (and assuming they're local & not completely regional), simply hook your cable modem & vonage router up to a Uninterruptable Power Supply. If you get a decent UPS, you should have enough juice to get through most outages. This assumes, by the way, that your cable provider doesn't get shut down by the outage as well.

Also, it's kinda cool how you can unhook your TNI from the outside service & connect your vonage router to an inside phone line. This allows you to use all of your regular phones/outlets!

We've had a couple of glitches/lost calls during the past month...but nothing more troubling than the cell service in the area. All in all, a very good experience!

Now that is a good tip - something I hadn't even thought of, as I'd only used it in a "Here's a room, we need to set up a few desks, two phones, laptops, etc." situation, as opposed to residential. That would make life a lot easier, having it run to all phones in the residence.

I got Vonage a few months ago and like you I live in SOuth Florida and i also have comcast. i found that it is so much cheaper thatn shitty old Bellsouth. I am still disappointed that Broadband access has to be so expensive. Imean 50 for a months worth of internet access. It seems like highway robbery to me.
Still I am completely satisfied with VONAGE. I think it was the best money I spent in a long time. I pay 25 a month and like being abelt o talk on the phone as long as i wnat for one price. no matter how much I talk I always budget the same amount for my phone bill.
I have found comcast to be alittle less reliable in my area however and the cabel sometimes about once a month or two goes out for a day or two. I also have two cells so it doesnt bother me too much. It's going without the internet that gets me a little pissed, becuase my TiVo gets program updates through my home wireless network. and I hate not having up to date info for tivo. thats how i miss hockey games and stuff.
Well anyway Vonage is a great buy especially if you make long distance to Canada or even is you just call in the USA. the whole 911 things works out fine. youjust have to register your addy with them when you move. not really a big deal

florida0214, I also have Comcast, but my service is pretty much 99% stable. I've had Vonage for about a week now and I just love it. I've disconnected the Bellsouth line coming into my apartment, took two minutes to find and quickly disconnect. Now every phone jack is Vonage-enabled. I've had one call that didn't ring on my phones but I later found a voicemail from. That's not too bad. And being able to check voicemail from email, the Web or the phone is cool. I actually pay for higher speed Comcast, about $65 a month, but cutting my $45 to $70 a month Bellsouth phone bill down to a stable $25 Vonage phone bill makes me happy happy happy. I highly recommend Vonage. Remember, you have a 14 day free trial.

I signed up for this service today.. and for the first time in forever I'm going to have a phone at home... :) Maybe it will get me over my fear of talking on the phone... :) Heck it's cheap enough...

I have Bell Canada service which is $21/month. I was approached by several VOIP services, particularly Rogers, but hesitated on putting all my communications eggs in the same basket.

I recall from the blackout back in Aug/03, that the only service that worked was my Bell Canada service land line (not the cordless phones, but the Bell phone). My cell phone was out of service, as was my cable service.

Also, none of these voip services can match the cheap cost of my Bell sevice. Minutes are already unlimited, and long distance is not an issue for me, as I rarely make a long distance call. maybe 1 or 2 per year, amounting to approx $2.

Has anyone tried VoIP other than Vonage? The initial fees kind of get me. I've seen "free" offers from Sunrocket. They have great reviews as well as very poor reviews, not sure whether to sign up with them or not. Free activation, free phones (2 pc) and such.

Never tried anything other than Vonage. But I'm very happy with Vonage. I have heard people call talk radio shows saying Vonage sucks. I don't know, maybe it's case by case thing.

I've used Packet8. Seems pretty good, and the customer service was a bit better than Vonage, but the call quality was pretty lacking.

Just cut the wires leading into the house or what? Please explain!

THGL, bookmark this:
http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html

I got my Sunrocket package and got the two phones setup last night, pretty good sound quality. I'm going to try and do the whole house thing this weekend.

Sorry, sidetracked from the "real" topic - "Vonage".

thanks! very informative

Just to let everyone know that I successfully enabled all current house phones - 6 in all, to work with Sunrocket. See my post above for details. It was straight forward, easy, took one screw driver and all but 2 mintues. Now my answering machine picks up if no one answers, just like it should. I verified the hookup with my cell phone.

My experience with Vonage has been very good so far. I've had Vonage for a few months now and I really like it. As far as switching all the jacks in my apartment to Vonage, I only had to disconnect one line coming in then plug my Vonage router into a phone jack. Easy as can be. Some people might have more trouble, I don't know.

Full instructions are given on the vonage website

For me the iffy 911, and power outage situation are show stoppers.
Having worked in the Aircraft Industry for 20 years I’ve grown to appreciate system redundancy, and I am willing to pay a modest price in order to have separate voice and data capability (losing one does not mean losing the other.)
I also do not believe that Cell Phones should be considered a reliable back-up in emergency situations since the system tents to be easily overwhelmed during wide area emergencies (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.) When hurricane Katrina hit I had a difficult time placing a cell phone call to anywhere within 800 miles of the region. I live in California and I was trying to call family back in Texas.

Depending on your local bell packages, it may work to purchase a measured-rate landline for emergency use but use Vonage or other VOIP for normal use. We get measured rate lines for $6.37/mo ($15.95 after taxes(nice FCC charges, eh?)). That allows unlimited incoming with ~.05/min outgoing. Add VOIP for $15-25/mo and it's still cheaper than a standard landline with caller ID, call waiting, etc., if you need them.

That wouldn't work for me as I have spread Vonage all over the apartment. If I got a Bellsouth line, I'd have to swith my phone jacks back to Bellsouth. Then I would only have one Vonage-enabled phone. But for some, a limited landline might be a good option.

Is another pair available? Most residential telephone wiring has at least two pair.

Actually, cyrnel, I can't remember. It's not a big deal to me. I've got two cell phones with different carriers and Vonage. After Wilma, which was "only" a Cat 2 hurricane, everything, including my Bellsouth Landline that I still had was dead. And even if I had a generator, Vonage wouldn't have worked as my broadband was kaput.

I've had my ups and downs with vonage. On one hand my line at my school house is great and stable, I pay 20$ canadian plus tax a month for 500 mins in north america. Also, I can call my house for free because we have vonage here too.

On the other hand, the vonage at my house has frequent problems with echoing, lag times, etc. Mostly though I think this problem can be attributed to the fact that my internet here is not the greatest(rogers), or rather that the ping is unstable. It's a great service if you have the internet to back it up though. So nice and cheap.