Vonage broadband phone?

[SField]

I want a house phone and someone told me this is good? I hate headsets and stupid **** you put in your ear so basically I want a normal ass phone that I can talk for a long time on. I routinely have 3 hour cell phone conversations and I'm sure it's just frying my brain.

Is this vonage **** good? Is getting a regular AT&T or whatever account better?

 

[Xericx]

Service is fine. However, their customer service is absolute **** and they charge you money to cancel. After I signed up, I had problems with the install and their outsourced tech support frustrated me (hang ups, incompetence, etc). Since then I have promised NOT to recommend it to people based on this. I still have my lines...but whenever anyone wants a recommendation, I steer them away from it. I have used SKYPE and it is much cheaper than VONAGE and the quality is great. I actually use Skype for my direct business line with an efax number (through myfax.com). Since I'm travelling frequently, I use this alot. www.skype.com You can buy phones that you can use....I love using the computer headset on the computer...the clarity is TOP NOTCH and you can use it anywhere you have an internet connection and the skype platform installed (laptop, for instance). some connect to your USB some can connect directly to an internet phone. I pay maybe 6 bucks a month for a phone line with unlimited calls in the USA. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_e?...+phone&x=0&y=0

 

[SField]

But skype doesn't give you a phone number??

Vonage is really that bad though?

 

[bbaquiran]

My fiancee uses Vonage for work. We're in the Philippines and she's a virtual personal assistant with clients in the US. Connection quality and reliability is fine. Can't comment on customer service.

 

[Xericx]

Originally Posted by SField

But skype doesn't give you a phone number?? Vonage is really that bad though?
Sure, you can buy a phone number...that's figured into my costs. I was able to get a (310) number in LA....I have vonage, but I'm only using it so my DirectTV receiver can call for the daily call. I should disconnect it, but I have had the numbers on there forever and people have that #...... I use Skype as my home phone...the conferencing feature rocks on it. I'm always on the computer though...I bought a WIFI Skype Phone (Netgear) to use in wireless internet areas...it works "ok", I've used it internationally but get better connection using a laptop. If you're not particularly computer savvy, I'd probably go with Vonage. I just want to drag their name in the mud a bit due to some poor experiences with their customer service in the past... http://www.wehatevonage.com/index.php#start apparantly others have had the problem. I would recommend Vonage for use as above...I've set up Vonage phone and faxes in other countries (Mexico and the Philippines).

 

[Xericx]

For vonage, as far as call quality, its about par with a cell phone. early on when I was using extensively, some said my voice sounded robotic....you could tell if someone was on vonage.

Skype, if you have a headset (like a gaming headset), its clearer than a landline.

 

[Xericx]

You can set up a skype account for less than 20 bucks...loaded with some minutes...or a month to month....the difference between vonage is that you don't need hardware to buy and order nor an "activation" or a "contract". you can just use your computer setup......and there is no contract. you can even pay through paypal I think. You can have your new phone number up and running within 10 minutes of you reading this. 1. http://skype.com/allfeatures/subscri...ubscriptionTab Unlimited calls to USA and Canada is 3 bucks a month. 2. then... you can buy a phone number...its $30 for a year...when you have a monthly subscription..... http://skype.com/allfeatures/onlinenumber/ 3. Then you buy a headset or use a computer microphone and speakers. You can get a phone designed for Skype too...check amazon or skype.com. i don't have one...i might buy one later though...but I prefer the headset...I have a Plantronics.... I have Skype installed at my office computer, my home computer and my laptop. As long as I can get online, I can make and receive calls. I also have a Wifi skype phone for travel use...it isn't optimum, but it works ok. I was in Mexico last week and was using the portable phone.

 

[jgold47]

I use vonage for my work line (I work from home), so when I move for the 10th time this year I can keep taking my service with me. I am on a uverse connection, and I love it. No complaints. I have a hard wired phone, and a cordless and no one says anything to me. On vonage, there is a setting via their web site that allows you adjust how much bandwith you use for the voice quality. Since I dont really do that much data intensive stuff on my network, I have mine jacked all the way up, and I dont get a complaint that isnt because of the phone.

All that for 35 a month (including fax line)

 

[Mr T]

Vonage and I had a brief affair two years ago. I absolutely hated it. Quality was subpar and they had the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Read some online reviews and take your chances if you are feeling adventurous. They are famous for refusing to cancel your service. I had to pay to cancel, but I would have paid twice as much to be rid of them.

 

[jgold47]

I should also say that this is my second go round with vonage, the first time was about 3 years ago, and I had no problems cancelling that account.

Do you sign a contract? I didnt think you had to?

 

[whodini]

I've had vonage for close to two years now and I've been happy with it. I've had a few dropped calls but then my internet can be pretty ****** at times so I feel inclined to blame that. Never dealt with Customer Service. Before that I had SunRocket which was pretty horrible and closed its doors after a year of service.

I'm still looking around for another provider as I'm not totally satisfied with Vonage's call forwarding. It's not "instantaneous" as claimed as a call will ring once at my house before forwarding to my cell.

My problem with skype is my computer is not always on and I simply do not want to rely on it instead of a simple router device. It's also probably my internet again but while the voice quality is good on skype I get a lot more echo/voice delay vs. vonage.

 

[Mr T]

Originally Posted by jgold47

I should also say that this is my second go round with vonage, the first time was about 3 years ago, and I had no problems cancelling that account.

Do you sign a contract? I didnt think you had to?

No contract, but if they give you a router you must pay for it when you cancel. Vonage is well known for continuing to bill you for months after you cancel so keep your cancellation confirmation and keep an eye on Vonage.

 

[dshin]

I had Sunrocket for a couple yrs but they went out of business. There were some hiccups in service here and there but overall it was great, much cheaper than a normal phone line, super cheap int'l calls. and their customer service was great.
After Sunrocket went under, i've been with Packet8. Service has been great so far.

 

[rxcats]

I had Vonage for 3 years. I had two lines; one for telephone and one as a dedicated fax. Initially I had occasional dropped calls, but this seemed to improve over time. The fax line was always unreliable.

Several months ago I started investigating other VoIP services. The one that seemed to have the most positive feedback is VoicePulse. I switched to their service because I was interested in all of the call filters offered and I could keep my current phone number. The voice quality is great. VoicePulse says on the website that they don't support fax, however I have a second line for my fax machine and have never had a problem either sending or receiving faxes. Check out the voice filters on their website. You set up certain numbers to get a "this number is out of service" message; I did that with an annoying BofA number that wants to sell me insurance. It also has telemarketer block; it drops any calls made by automated telephone dialers. You can filter which numbers you want to ring through and which ones you want to go staight to voice mail. There are many different options.

http://www.voicepulse.com/default2.aspx