| jswift2000 |
| I just wanted to pass this along to anyone who hasnt heard about it. www.vonage.com is VOIP (voice over IP - TCP/IP is a networking protocol) and works with your cable modem and DSL. It gives you inlimited calls in the country at any time for 39.95 a month or unlimited calls in your area code and 500 minutes long distance for 24.95 a month. We chose the 24.95 plan and were able to reduce our phone bill by $70/month. We kept our SNET phone line for the alarm. You can check your voice mail via the web, have call forwarding, call blocking, check who you called and who called you, etc. Very cool and I wanted to pass it along to my fellow mdxers. You will need a RJ-45 jack (a network connection), which are a snap to wire and punch down. This works with any phone and vonage will send you the cisco voip router. |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by jswift2000
I just wanted to pass this along to anyone who hasnt heard about it. www.vonage.com is VOIP (voice over IP - TCP/IP is a networking protocol) and works with your cable modem and DSL. It gives you inlimited calls in the country at any time for 39.95 a month or unlimited calls in your area code and 500 minutes long distance for 24.95 a month. We chose the 24.95 plan and were able to reduce our phone bill by $70/month. We kept our SNET phone line for the alarm. You can check your voice mail via the web, have call forwarding, call blocking, check who you called and who called you, etc. Very cool and I wanted to pass it along to my fellow mdxers. You will need a RJ-45 jack (a network connection), which are a snap to wire and punch down. This works with any phone and vonage will send you the cisco voip router.
Good luck and let us know how it goes. One of my co-workers in Maryland had it for a while, but returned it due to the amount of dropped calls. Hope you have better success. |
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| FatBoyMDX |
I've had it now since April, and it has been really great. Unless we go somewhere with poor High-Speed service, I don't think we're going back
we have had some MINOR issues where portions of the call is garbled or cuts out b/c of poor internet connectivity. But that has only happened once or twice to me, only this last week. |
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| Maik |
Verizon offers a similarly priced plan, Freedom Plan. For $65 per month, unlimited local and long distance anywhere in US or Canada. Also comes with all the bells and whistles such as call forward, caller ID, conference call, etc.
I used VOIP extensively a couple of years ago, and experienced all kinds of problems, including droped calls, echo, and delay. I presume that the technology has advanced to the point where these are no longer issues.?. |
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| FatBoyMDX |
quote:
Originally posted by Maik
Verizon offers a similarly priced plan, Freedom Plan. For $65 per month, unlimited local and long distance anywhere in US or Canada. Also comes with all the bells and whistles such as call forward, caller ID, conference call, etc.
I used VOIP extensively a couple of years ago, and experienced all kinds of problems, including droped calls, echo, and delay. I presume that the technology has advanced to the point where these are no longer issues.?.
Vonage's plan is only 39.95 a month for unlimited local long distance and bells and whistles. IF you've already got high speed connectivity, definitely a better deal. VOIP has definitely come a long way in the last few years. I can barely tell the difference. I haven't had any dropped calls or echos and noticeable delays. If you really tried, you may be able to notice a delay (e.g. have the other party count 2 as soon as you say 1). But it is not noticeable under normal converation, and better then my cell phone. I think Vonage has a 30 day trial. . also, if you decided to go for it, definitely get a referral from someone on the board. You and the referring person both get a free month. |
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| Maik |
I missunderstood the ad. At $40 a month it is a better deal than Verizon.
I may just give it a shot.
Thanks |
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| jswift2000 |
| Weve had it since april as well and ive only experienced two dropped calls. All my calls are crystal clear and I dont think I would ever go back. The best thing - the wife can talk all day long to her friends and it doesnt cost me anything extra. :2: |
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| BklynMDX |
quote:
Originally posted by jswift2000
Weve had it since april as well and ive only experienced two dropped calls. All my calls are crystal clear and I dont think I would ever go back. The best thing - the wife can talk all day long to her friends and it doesnt cost me anything extra. :2:
Can you give us a preview on how it works? Equipment? Are old phone lines used? Pricing after fees/taxes?
Thanks. |
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| FatBoyMDX |
Its great. . .
You receive a Cisco box that plugs into your hub. If you don't have one, you can pick one up for free.
The Cisco box can hold 2 lines. . . I think they're using the second one now for an optional fax line for a discounted rate. All you do is plug the box into the hub, and your phone into your box, and you're done.
They don't recommend this, but I plugged the box directly into the wiring in the house. . . and I have access throughout the house, instead of only by the router.
My bill has been about 39.99-42 bucks. The only tax I have been paying is the FET tax, though on some months they don't charge it.
Free call waiting, free long distance, free caller id, free voicemail, free call forwarding, free call transfer (I haven't even used it)
The international rates are pretty good. . if you call one country in particular, you may be able to find good rates elsewhere. My best friend lives in Croatia. We used to call him for ten minutes and it cost like 60 bucks. I spent an 1.5 hours with him recently and spent 6.
I don't really have any complaints nor see any downside.
(If you do sign-up, make sure someone refers you! Hint, hint. ;) ) |
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| jswift2000 |
| What he said. If someone refers you (hint hint again), you will receive a month free. Not bad. |
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| cardingtr |
| I use VOIP for my longdistance only and exp. no problem at all. |
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| LarryC1116 |
| I have used Vonage for a few months now, both from GA and FL. It has been fantastic. |
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| BlueStreak |
| Another plus for this service is that recently, the FCC ruled VoIP is EXEMPT from intrastate regulation and tarrifs. Just another reason to call across the state, normally the most expensive land-line call to make, with VoIP. I bet the baby-bells are loving this. Better expand the data operations quickly, as the cash cow residential service is up for some real change. |
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| LarryC1116 |
The whole tax issue isn't so clear yet. Both CA and WI are going after VoIP providers like Vonage and Packet8 (by the way Packet8 is even cheaper than Vonage).
It is true that a VoIP network is cheaper than the traditional circuit switched networks that the Baby Bells grew. New technology is cheaper - simple fact.
Some other things to consider:
[1] emergency 911 service has to be a) registered (Vonage does this, not all do) and you need (b) power
[2] the VoIP services have more moving parts, they need both electrial power and IP to both be working
I am a big fan of Vonage/VoIP as an additional phone line.
I still want the reliability of Ma Bell as my primary provider. |
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| laborlitigator |
| I'm really interested in getting Vonage but I've got about 7 phone in my home. How do I use all the phones? If I plug this next to my cable modem, how do I get service for the other lines? |
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| Robyjo |
quote:
Originally posted by laborlitigator
I'm really interested in getting Vonage but I've got about 7 phone in my home. How do I use all the phones? If I plug this next to my cable modem, how do I get service for the other lines?
LL--take a look at #6 on this page. The wireless phone jacks is a convenient solution for someone like you that has an established number of phones already...
Rob:31: |
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| jswift2000 |
RobyJo,
How do you like the vonage? LL, you will love it. Imagine your wife beaing able to talk on the phone for as long as she wants and you never pay for a phone call. :2: |
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| neide |
I just got my Vonage equipment. They've not yet transferred my old phone #, so I'm not using it every day. But I hooked it up over the weekend and my a call to my parents (2500 miles away). The quality was the same, if not even a little better than my POTS phone. Not bad at all.
As far as wiring is concerned, another option is to use a multi-handset cordless solution. I've got one from Siemens that works really well - although there are lots out there. The thing that makes these good for this solution is that the only require one base to be plugged into a phone line - so that would make setting up Vonage easier for some. |
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| Robyjo |
quote:
Originally posted by jswift2000
RobyJo,
How do you like the vonage?
JS2K--We really like Vonage, though it's a bit of a PITA while we wait for our number to switch over from the POTS line to the Vonage line. But I can say for sure we'll see some savings with our long distance bill.
Segue--MCI, SBC and AT&T (and probably Sprint, etc.) now have all-in-one packages, where you pay for everything with unlimited calls--but the cheapest of these plans I've seen is $48.95. The only advantage to these is you're using the telephone line that works when the power goes out or when the cable service provider is 'enhancing' the system again, 911 works like it always did and you have multiple phone jacks. I guess you DSLer's don't have to worry about the cable outage issue...but the only real issue I forsee is when the cable connection goes down (hopefully rarely), and Vonage has call forwarding specifically for when it detects your cable has gone down--nice feature!
OK, longwinded segue over.
Rob:31: |
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| neide |
quote:
Originally posted by Robyjo
The only advantage to these is you're using the telephone line that works when the power goes out or when the cable service provider is 'enhancing' the system again, 911 works like it always did and you have multiple phone jacks. I guess you DSLer's don't have to worry about the cable outage issue...but the only real issue I forsee is when the cable connection goes down (hopefully rarely), and Vonage has call forwarding specifically for when it detects your cable has gone down--nice feature!
OK, longwinded segue over.
Rob:31:
911 Still works, you just have to register it with them. This is quite easy.
As FatBoyMDX said above, " They don't recommend this, but I plugged the box directly into the wiring in the house. . . and I have access throughout the house, instead of only by the router. ". I've read on some Vonage forums that everyone does this - and so have I. The main thing is to make sure the line from the phone company is disconnected coming into your house. This is quite easy to do, just open up your "side" of the phone companies box, and unplug the jack.
As far as power goes, I've always got cell phones. And besides, if the power goes out, my cordless phones don't work anyway. |
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| zafer |
quote:
Originally posted by laborlitigator
I'm really interested in getting Vonage but I've got about 7 phone in my home. How do I use all the phones? If I plug this next to my cable modem, how do I get service for the other lines?
What you do is unplug the incoming pots service line from the box on the outside of your house. Then plug the phone line output of the cable modem into a nearby jack instead of a phone, thus back-feeding the signal into your homes wiring. You can also use a single-line Y splitter jack right there also if you need a phone there too. |
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| Robyjo |
quote:
Originally posted by neide
911 Still works, you just have to register it with them. This is quite easy.
As FatBoyMDX said above, " They don't recommend this, but I plugged the box directly into the wiring in the house. . . and I have access throughout the house, instead of only by the router. ". I've read on some Vonage forums that everyone does this - and so have I. The main thing is to make sure the line from the phone company is disconnected coming into your house. This is quite easy to do, just open up your "side" of the phone companies box, and unplug the jack.
As far as power goes, I've always got cell phones. And besides, if the power goes out, my cordless phones don't work anyway.
Great idea on using the house wiring...I know you can register 911, but it's still not the same as when you dial from your pots line--routes to the PSAP, no location/phone number info (vonage 911 info). A power outage can affect a cell tower as well, if it's long enough and backup batteries are drained.
Rob:31: |
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| jswift2000 |
| 911, even though vonage supports it, and the alarm for the house is the exact reason why we left basic service on the pstn line. If we love cable or power, we still have a phone that works and the alarm still, well, alarms. :rolleyes: That was bad. |
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| cardingtr |
I use Packet 8. $19.99 a month, free unlimited calls to all US and Canada. You pay 29.00 first month and $20 there after. Its been 3 months and so far only 3 loss of dial-tones ever since.
It works the same way like Vonage. You signup online, they send you an adapter, then connect it after the router. |
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| zafer |
| If you VPN to your office, I've heard that you can't use Vonage, but can use Packet8 without any interference. |
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| neide |
quote:
Originally posted by zafer
If you VPN to your office, I've heard that you can't use Vonage, but can use Packet8 without any interference.
Hmm, I don't do it often, but I'm able to use Vonage and VPN at the same time. Probably has to do with whether you are using a router or not. |
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| Robyjo |
I use a VPN tunnel everyday along with Vonage. Works great! I think Neide is right about the router being the necessary.
I have noticed some latency on phone calls recently...choppy conversations... |
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| jswift2000 |
| I can VPN to work, talk on my vonage and the surf the web on another pc w/o interference. I have noticed some dropping with vonage but it may be our wonderful cable company. :rolleyes: |
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| zafer |
| Our Vonage service has been having outages since last Thursday. So far it hasn't worked today at all. Anyone else having issues? |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by zafer
Our Vonage service has been having outages since last Thursday. So far it hasn't worked today at all. Anyone else having issues?
Works fine here in Southern CT. |
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| Robyjo |
quote:
Originally posted by zafer
Our Vonage service has been having outages since last Thursday. So far it hasn't worked today at all. Anyone else having issues?
Yes to issues, no to outages, per se. We get the call in just fine but then after about 30 sec. of conversation, the line drops dead. I've reset the line (cycling power) a few times, but still seems to be doing it every so often...but it's when it does it that I remind my wife how much we're saving because of Vonage!
rob |
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| nightguy |
A buddy of mine wanted me to make the jump but we do get sporadic broadband outages. Plus I'd have to get a new router. We already get 60 minutes of free long distance plus free long distance on our cell phones.
But I would save $1.10/mo. if I switched. :rolleyes: Wait, I'm only paying $21.something before taxes. Is $25 before or after taxes ? |
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