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Broadband: Broadband Phone Service
Bad Day with Vonage
by carydf - 8/28/05 12:58 PM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444We've had Vonage for about 6-8 months. Worked up until a month ago. the problem is not really with Vonage but with ISP. Vonage made changes to the service that affected fax support. Eventually I figure it out with no help from Vonage. The folks at Vonage customer support in India are unable to do anything more than read from a script. At times they are unable to speak english. If you are lucky enough to get to 2nd line support in the US the connection is very poor. Surprising for a phone company. When they get frustrated in the US they hang up. Then you have to go thru India again, repeating the exact same staeps you took to get to 2nd line support. I will try other VOIP providers. I do not mind over seas CS but I do mind very bad CS.
att callvantage
by guitarmaninks - 10/14/05 4:06 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444Has gotten much better than when I first got it as far as not breaking up and is now a very rare occurance...I did have a problem with my inbound calls going automatically to my voice mail and not ringing through...the online help responce was was longer than the 48 hours stated.When they did get back to me I was told they could not help and I needed to call AT&T.
Once I talked to a tech it was an easy fix....that is the only problem I have had in the last seven months and it is hard to beat $33.00 a month as my total phone bill for unlimited USA and Canada.
VONAGE
by rlowe26 - 10/14/05 4:17 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I have had Vonage for about 8 months now, and I have found it is works fine on some days, and no so good on others. If you have a Home Security System, you can forget it. Vonage and any Home Security System are not compatible. I have had the Security Personnel out to my house on several occasions trying to fix the problem, which is, if the alarm goes off, the Security System will not call the Security Company to let them know someone has broken into my house. Also, everytime you call VONAGE Helpdesk, you get someone from Bangledesh, India. I am not prejudice, but I also need to understand more than 50% of the conversation. I am a Network Engineer by trade, and have been for over 10 years, so I do know what I am doing. Anyway, I am getting rid of VONAGE and I have already signed up for Sun Rocket. I have talked to a Friend and fellow Network Engineer, and he has not had a moments problem with the service, his Home Security System, and the best thing of all, the Helpdesk is Local in Winchester, Virginia. I will let you know how it works out.
Vonage experience
by eJohnW - 10/14/05 4:58 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I have been with Vonage for most of this year along with two other co-workers who signed up at the same time. One of them has gone back to a traditional land line and the other and I are still using the VoIP.
Generally for me it has been acceptable. I have only had to call their customer service once, when I installed a new router after my existing one took a surge from lightning. It took some time to finally get someone who could help me and spoke acceptable English. I have since put my router and cable modem on a UPS in hopes of still having phones in a power outage.
One other problem that the co-worker who is still using Vonage has experianced is that his dial up modem on his TVo system cannot make a connection to update the programming schedule. He has worked with both vendors without reaching a resolution. I suspect that all modem services such as alarm systems as indicated in another post would experience the same problems.
Bottom line, I would do it again. I am saving about $50.00 a month over the land line phone charges. This savings offsets the occational inconveniance of broadband interuptions which can affect the quality of service. Just remember you are going from a single source of service with a land line, to multiple sources for the same service.
eJohn
http://www.pbase.com/ejohnw
TIVO and Vonage
by petebags - 10/15/05 7:00 PM In reply to: Vonage experience by eJohnWYou can bring your TIVO back on service by getting off of the telephone connection and installing a simple wireless network with an adapter for TIVO talking to a wireless access point on your Vonage provided router. See TIVO for compatible hardware.
I use a Linksys WUSB11 adapter connected to TIVO and a WAP54G Access point connected in the basement to my RT31P2 router. Advantage is yu get daily program updates and can download your PC stored Photos to your TV.
Not That Great
by kris_m - 10/14/05 5:23 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444My parents and sister have Vonage and while they're both paying much less per month than they were with Verizon, I don't think either one is all that thrilled with their service. The sound quality is not all that great. Whenever I call either, there is an echo quality to the sound.
The biggest problem is that your phone service is reliant upon your broadband service. If cable goes out, as it does frequently especially in foul weather, then you are without phone service. My parents & sister have had to set up their phone so that if cable is out their phone calls get forwarded to their cell phones. That's an inconvenience if you're one of those who doesn't keep your cell phone on all the time or if you're one of the few who don't have cell phones.
I thought of switching but until all the kinks get worked out, I'll stick with a stand-alone service like Verizon. 
Kris
Get your broadband problem fixed
by TCorley2 - 10/14/05 5:31 AM In reply to: Not That Great by kris_mVOIP only works well when you have GOOD broadband. If you have echo, notify the VoIp provider as they can supress that. If your cable is bad in the rain, your cable needs repair. Why pay for bad service... demand new lines.
VoIP works for me!
by TCorley2 - 10/14/05 5:26 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I have switched to Vonage and I have cable broadband. I find the service acceptable, the features bountiful and the price fantastic. I replaced one Verizon line with minimal usage that averaged $60 / month with one unlimited voice line plus a 500 minute fax line for a total of $39 / month. I take advantage of the call forward feature, that can be set via the internat from anywhere. I also have 2 TIVO units that use the fax line to make their calls. TiVo requires that vonage turn off echo suppression on the line. I also was able to transfer my old phone number with no problem.
Remember that without power, you have no phone... but my cell serves as my backup.
GlobalLinx VoIP
by SuzanneM - 10/14/05 5:29 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I for one am a GlobalLinx user. I have a "videophone" and when calling another "videophone" we not only speak but also see one another. The service is outstanding and Packet8 also has other units, i.e., straight DTA box, Uniden all-house phone, and now a commercial product called Virtual Office.
My bill each month for unlimited local/us/canadian calling is $22.05... that's with taxes...
Vonage
by jrrichmond - 10/14/05 5:54 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I've had Vonage about a month. It's great. Things you should know. If you have an answering machine with your phone, Vonage voicemail won't work. Have a 5.8 ghz phone. Have cable or the faster DSL service. You'll love Vonage.
Been using Vonage for 3 months
by thosmartin - 10/14/05 6:13 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I wondered about technical quality of Vonage before I signed up. Now that I've been using it for a while I am quite pleased.
Had several calls with an echo on the line in the first month or so, but not since then. I use my Vonage line as my primary phone line, leaving SBC land lines for my wife who also works from home.
As I live in a different phone area code than my primary sales territory, the ability to choose any area code has worked out nicely; my customers percieve me as being close by. And when I dial out into my sales territory I only need to dial 7 numbers. Cool.
Reliability has been excellent. Probably more a function of my broadband connection which has proven to be very reliable for the year that it has been installed (Insight Cable. DSL not available at my home).
Best of all, I never have to think about spending long distance money when I pick up the phone, so I never have to make that "do I really need to make this call?" decision when it comes to contacting a customer, or my brother who lives 2000 miles away.
Don't forget the UPS
by mlg0171 - 10/14/05 6:35 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I've installed Vonage in three corporate apartments at out-of-state project sites with a lot of success. The project managers who travel there can call headquarters and their own homes without racking up a huge phone bill for us. We use the $25 unlimited plan. I'm planning to use the $15 500 minute plan at my house.
I also helped a co-worker who switched from landline phone and dial-up internet to broadband and VOIP for the same price! In his case, Time Warner's VOIP was the best price, bundled with his cable TV and broadband.
In any case, be sure to put your network equipment (modems, routers) on a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). Don't get the cheapest and don't load it up with other equipment. On the typical UPS, some receptacles are only surge protected, but not backed up by the battery. Be sure to put the network equipment in the receptacles that are on the battery side.
VOIP - Home Security systems
by lliu0528 - 10/14/05 6:55 AM In reply to: Don't forget the UPS by mlg0171I didn't see anyone mention problems with home security systems tied in with their phone lines. My provider would charge $165+ to reconfigure from land lines to Voip. Something to consider.
Vonage and ADT
by petebags - 10/29/05 2:05 PM In reply to: VOIP - Home Security systems by lliu0528ADT wont work with Vonage..noway..no how. ADT tries to sell you a backup cellphone system called Call Guard..quite expensive and would not work in my location(near Baltimore)..not close enough to their tower!!!
VOIP/Vonage is great, so long as....
by dcis_steve - 10/14/05 8:26 AM In reply to: Broadband Phone Service by steward444I've been with Vonage since the first year they offered their service. I was skeptical at first so I didn't port my existing phone number but instead took on a new number for the Vonage service. Anyway, Vonage has been great, so long as you have good and reliable broadband service. If you're considering switching to a VOIP phone (I recommend Vonage), you should first consider how reliable your cable or dsl service is. If you'd consider it so-so, I would avoid switching your phone to VOIP of any kind. If your service is great however, then you'll be really glad you made the switch.
I've sold how great Vonage is to many of my friends who have switched and all have had great experiences. However, my mom recently switched and has not had a positive experience, but that's because of her extremely unreliable comcast service.
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