Anyone use Vonage VoIP ?
 

I just ordered Vonage VoIP service for home biz use.
Does anyone have any experience with their service?

I get the new wired router; for $9.95 shipping; 1st month service free to try for 30 days....before comitting to 1 yr.
After that it's 24.95 for unlimited local & LD in USA; CN & PR....
Only downside I seeis obviously if the cable or power go out....

I have Lingo. The frst few months were bad. Router would drop the Lingo Conx. Had to reboot it. There were echo problems from land to cell conections. land to land was ok.

Now all is good. Not sure what they did, but I have not lost the Lingo conx for several months, I cannt hear any echos, my wife has stopped biching about the chity phone service and I'm a happy boy.

Life is good.

Good luck with Vonage.

I got Packet8 internet phone service. It's pretty good and only $20 a month.
The only gripe I have is they advertise unlimited calls in the US and Canada. As it turns out Calls to Canada are not Free, there is a charge for them.

I've been meaning to call about that but I don't really care all that much and I'm too lazy.

Danny

Its the Next Big Thing. For us tho, cable is too unreliable. It quits during storms and even heavy winds. :rolleyes:

My same sentiment...so I dumped my cable service and did Verizon FIOS for broadband and video. Never lost the network connection. Video artifacts on occasion when traffic peaks, but otherwise, superb.

I'm waiting to see if FIOS plans to offer the same service as Vonage...always cheaper when you have a bundled package...

I've had Vonage for about a year and have no complaints. It's $60 per month cheaper than the same package/features offered by my local telco. I have a pretty solid high speed cable connection and can't tell the difference in quality compared to my old phone service.

I have one of those phone systems that has one base unit and will accomodate up to 8 additional extensions/handsets. I have 6 cordless handsets...and each simply sits in a charging base and plugs into AC power.

Lance;

Good to hear some feedback.
I just got the router and hooked it up yesterday.
I like the idea of add ons like virtual phone #'s (or area codes).
Wish they had one for Nederlands....

I am also thinking about making the switch to vonage. I have T1 in my area, and as of now, am currently using it. I would like to make the switch, as two lines are cheaper than the one that I just have now. How is the consumer service??? That is the thing that I am worried about, if I do not quite get it to work, or if it has problems, I want to be able to make sure that it will get fixed.

Also, how would this work if I have an alarm system?? I know that they use the telephone line to connect to the network, and want to make sure that this is compatible. Please let me know if you find out. Thank You.

Uh So far I had to call in to them 3-4 times and they were there pretty quickly and helpful to get the router hooked up...Don't know about alarm systems and this. It's not hooked up to anything but my adelphia modem and my PC...

The flow chart is....Cable modem -> PC-> Router-> Telephone.....

We've moved about 1/2 of our business lines to Vonage. Some days are better than others, but we do see a savings as we have the unlimited long distance as part of our package.

Recently, our local phone company has started offering better bundled services and even some unlimited package options....it's getting more competitive.

Vonage tips...
 

Have had them for about a year & a half.. Will quickly share some useful tips I've found (and experienced) by doing a LOT of research:

-Get the service with a new phone number and try it out, THEN port your existing phone number over. Just use it for outgoing calls (don't give anyone the number) and make sure you like it before porting your number. It's INCREDIBLY hard to get Vonage to switch your phone back like it was once they have your number. Also, some ports have taken upwards of 90 days if there are problems.
-Wait till your phone # is ported before cancelling your old service. If you call AT&T/SBC/whoever and make any changes, it will screw up the porting process
-Calls to Canada ARE free. Not sure what happened, but whoever mentioned they were being charged, call Vonage ASAP and have them fix it!
-There used to be a $40 charge if you cancel and don't return the ATA (adapter) that they send you. It's useless if you keep it, since it won't work elsewhere. Just send it back.
-If your ATA dies, they send you a new one and IMMEDIATELY charge the $40 non-return fee to your credit card for the old one. When you send it back, they credit you. Just keep this in mind because it is a shock when it happens. As long as you send the old one back, you're OK.
-Customer service has been non-existent for a long time. I've heard of 2+ hour wait times on hold. Send them an email to open a case, or (big secret here..) call them at 2am. Pick a weird time and you'll get right through.
-Definately play with the call routing feature. You can have it ring several phones at once, or one phone after another (ie. try my cell, then try me at home). It's useful to have your cell & home ring at the same time. Remember that whoever "answers first" gets the call, and this includes answering machines. So if you want all your messages stored on your home answering machine, make sure that if your cell goes to VM in 4 rings, you set your home VM to 3 rings! Otherwise the cell may take a message..
-Vonage VM is great.. it sends the voicemail to your inbox. You can use your cellphone's SMS address as your email address, and you'll get a text message that there is a voicemail waiting at home.
-Overseas calling free: If you have relatives overseas, buy them the Vonage service (your credit card & address) and ship them the ATA. Note: Vonage does NOT support this, nor do they want you to do this! Once they get the ATA, they can plug into broadband and have a local number in the US where you can call them toll free. Remember Vonage to Vonage calls are free and don't count towards your 500-minutes if you have the 500 min plan and not unlimited.
-Check how many minutes you use before selecting the 'Unlimited' plan. I thought I was on the phone a ton, but remember 1/2 of the calls are incoming and 1/2 are outgoing. I ended up using only 200-350 mins a month. So the 500 min plan was the best deal! You need to be on the phone 1000 mins (incoming/outgoing combined) just to run out of minutes in the 500 min plan. Remember that 1000 mins = 17 hours a month or 35 minutes a day! Toll free numbers, checking your voicemail, and Vonage-to-Vonage minutes don't count against this total!
-See if you can get an ATA that does NOT have wireless (or use your own wireless router). If the router dies, you won't have any internet OR phone! Keep them separate..
-Get a cheap UPS (500VA) from Office Depot or Staples and plug your Cable Modem, router, and ATA into it. I tested mine and I get about 4hours of phone time if the power goes out. Note that your cable provider or phone company may NOT have backup power on their end. So your cable or DSL line may drop if there is a power outage affecting your entire neighbourhood. I haven't had this problem.. the only reason the phone could die in the 1st 4hrs is because I don't have power for the ATA or modem!

Any questions, let me know and I'll be happy to help out...

Oh yeah..
 

Oh yeah..

Oh yeah..
 

Oh yeah..

Wire the ATA into line 2 of your house wiring.. see here for details:

http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html

Make SURE line 2 is disconnected from the phone company and labelled, so you don't blow up your ATA (there are details in the above article)

You can then plug a cordless phone (or get a cordless phone with extra handsets and leave one everywhere) into line 2 and that is your 2nd phone line.

You can do it also with line 1 and just replace your existing phone service. MUCH easier than having only one phone, and having it located in your computer room (ie. where the ATA is)!!

Alot of info...
What do you mean by.."THEN port your existing phone number over..."?
and why do you want to do this???

Also nice idea of sending the ATA to friends in Europe.
I have a GF in Netherlands and they do not have any virtual phone #'s there...yet.

Porting your number
 

There are 3 ways to set up Vonage service:

1. Use a brand new phone number. Your old phone # disappears when you cancel the service. Vonage gives you a new number in any area code you want.

2. Port your number over. Vonage sets you up with a temporary phone number, then puts in an order to have your old phone number moved over to them. For example, if you're with SBC, Vonage puts in an order with SBC to release the number to Vonage. Then you have Vonage service with your existing number.

3. My suggestion is a combination of the two. Tell them when you order that you want #1 above (a new phone number). Keep your existing service, so you have two phone lines with two numbers. WAIT until you're happy with the Vonage service, then call them and ask to have your old number ported over.

While you're testing the service, don't give out the Vonage phone # (since it's only temporary). Try to use the line for outgoing calls only and see how it works.

The logic behind this is #2 is not easily reversible. Make SURE you like the service before allowing Vonage to take over your phone #.

Neal