Anybody using VoIP?

S

SATX Horn

Guest
Currently with SBC, been comparing prices between telephone services, some of the VoIP companies have some incredible rates. Vonage is $25 a month unlimited long distance.

I'm wondering what the sound quality and reliability is like. Two issues, I have a monitored alarm system and I really like SBC privacy manager (it rejects non-caller ID calls and either gives the caller the ability to announce who they are or go to voicemail without ringing me first).

Any thoughts?
 
Been using vonage for quite some time, and it's been great. Only catch is if the power goes out, but then again, that's what cell phones are for.
 
I have had Vonage for about a year with first Comcast and currently TimeWarner cable modem service. I have been very pleased and also like the ability to check my calls and voicemail online. My only real complaints are that sometimes if my internet service goes on the fritz for an hour or so then I don't have phone service...and don't know it. I guess that would be true with a landline as well, but the stability of service on the landline is probably better. But this has only happened a couple times in a year. Also I have had a few times where the quality is very poor, but that can be traced to multiple computers and a Tivo running through the same router. 99% of the time it is fine, even with everything running. However if you're downloading files on both computers and the Tivo is accessing its network...the quality will drop out a bit on you. Oh yeah and 11-digit dialing (have to dial 1+ area code, even if its local) is kind of a pain at first but no real big deal.

I would pay twice my current bill just to not have to deal with a damn phone company.

Nick- is there anything special you do to connect the vonage to the rest of hte house? I tried it at my last place but could not get it to work correctly. All you do is run one phoneline from the vonage to the phone jack and then plug in a phone in any other jack in the house, correct? I think when I did it last time it would let me hook it all up, but as soon as I made or received one call I would have to reboot the Vonage box. I live in a different house now, so maybe I will try again.
 
Let me second that last question. How exactly do you hook up the system so that all the phone jacks in the house work? That would put me over the edge on VoIP.
 
you have to make sure that your land service is disconnected from the house wiring. there is a box on the side of your house that you open and simply unplug the rj-11 jack running from the phone company.
 
I have been using Lingo for a year and have no complaints. If you travel, it is great, as you can take the router with you and plug it in to the hotel broadband connection to make and receive calls at the hotel. I took it over to SE Asia with me over the Christmas holiday and was able to make and receive calls from my hotel room using my local number..
 
1. Can someone shed some light on how Vonage functions with a monitored Home Security System? I'm assuming if you get Vonage to all phone jacks, the alarm system would be online there as well.

2. Anyone have any comments on Vonage vs. Time Warner VoIP? Wondering if I shouldn't just bundle my phone with the cable and road runner for a lower total rate.

Thanks everyone....I think I'm sold on this as well.
 
1) i guess that would work, although it would be as reliable as the cable service and the power service (unless you have a ups). that's a good question for Brinks or whomever the security is.

2) time warner won't save you much by bundling all those services together. last time i looked, the digital phone was $40/mo IF you also subscribe to roadrunner AND digital cable. otherwise it is $45/mo. vonage is about $30/mo after fees.

the latest consumer reports rates phone service and they have a small section on voip. their consensus was that most of the testers would not give up a land line for various reasons, namely reliabilty and 911 service.
 
ok some really dumb questions here so please humor me...

1. They don't have an area code for where I live, but supposedly can pick any area code I want?

2. When people call me that are local, but dialing this different area code... do they now get billed for a long distance call?

3. When people call me that actually are long distance.. do they get billed at a different rate than before?

???
confused.gif
 
I have Packet8. It is basically the same as vonage. There are 2 ways to hook this up to mulitple phones in your house.

1. Buy a phone system that you can add mulitple wireless handsets to.

2. You can also utililze the phone jacks in your house. What you need to do is plug the ATA into your dsl/cable router. then you plug the phone jack from the ata into a wall outlet. this will ring all the phones in the house. This will NOT work if have still have an active landline.

Anyone that has a broadband connection should try Voip. Vonage/ p8/Lingo are all about 20-30 a month for unlimiting call to the US/Canada. I'm not sure about Vonage/Lingo, but p8 will give you an area anywhere. they also offer virtual numbers. for example, I'm in houston and have a 281 area code for my p8 phone. Lets say my family lives in Denver. P8 will sell me a denver area code/phone number for 4.99 a month. this will allow my family to call me toll free.

Vonage/P8 all offer call waiting, caller ID, conf. calling call forwarding etc. It's a great bargain. P8 is 19.99 a month. After taxes it's 20.55. For 20.55 a month I get a local phone number with unlimited US/Canada calling and all the extras like call waiting. I can also take the ATA (about the size of 2 decks of cards) with me anywhere. So if I decide to go on vacation to Vegas, I can take my ata and plug it into the hotel network. I basically have a 281 area code number in vegas. These voip companies are great for military families. If I had family in Iraq, I could get packet8 with a local houston area code and mail the ata to iraq to make local calls to/from iraq. Of course you have to have a broadband connection
 
You just have to unhook the SBC line at the wall outside your home in the network interface box. Then run a standard phone line from your Vonage box to the nearest jack, and then the Vonage dial tone should be on all the other jacks in your home, as long as you have unplugged the SBC line. Make sure you've done this before plugging the Vonage line in. There are instructions on the Vonage website too that are far more detailed.
 
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