Anyone use VoIP? (Vonage, CallVantage, Skype, etc)

[samberman]

re: VoIP -- I use AT&T Callvantage

I've been using AT&T CallVantage since it's inception with no problems. Friends and family don't even realize I'm not on a regular land line. Love the features. Love the price. You will too! Of course, if you're worried about a power outage for phone service, you might also be worried about a power outage for computer or refrigeration service. Get a small power backup from Costco and be prepared. You might end up being the only one with phone service -- When the hurricanes came in Florida, it knocked out traditional land line service. Guess what? AT&T CallVantage was still up--because, it didn't knock down power!

[Russianwolf]

I've been on SunRocket since last May I had problems with the service from my ISP when I first signed on after Cox replaced the download to my home and stabilized my internet connection that ended the problems with SunRocket. If thereis a better deal on telephone service than the $199 a year (2 years when on special around holidays) I don't know about it.

I'm on sunrocket and I occasionally get calls that sound like bad cellphone reception. For the price I'm paying it's worth it IMO.

Maxparot- Comcast just took over our cable/internet. Did you have to request them to stabilize your hookup and pay them or what was the circumstance. If they could do that and it get rid of the few bad calls, I would love it more.

[ScottGolden]

Just to add my 2 cents.

As a side business, I do menu faxing for pizza places and delis.

I started with land lines but the costs were ugly. 1 month with a new customer and I started down the voip path.

I went cheap and got MyPeople. This was the worst service I ever received. 30% of my calls failed. The employees were very polite but they did not have a deep understanding of what was happening with voip. Level 2 and level 3 support were a little better but not able to solve my problem. Then they told me they hit me with a disconnect charge in my '30 day' trial period. At the end I had a 3 dollar credit with took 120 days to get to me.

Then I switched to Vonage. I'm happy as can be. All my FAXs go thru all the time. There are about a million other features that I don't use with Vonage so I can't speak to about them but the core system (dial tone and call quality) just works.

To be completely candid, I do work as an independent consultant to Vonage, but did not when I started with them.

Scott

[Garasaki]

We got Vonage a few months ago.

I find the quality of the calls to be noticably worse then our old land lines. But not bad enough to keep use from sticking with Vonage and saving a whole bundle of money every month.

[maxparot]

Maxparot- Comcast just took over our cable/internet. Did you have to request them to stabilize your hookup and pay them or what was the circumstance.

My problems happend as Cox took over CableAz. I was having issues with the cable modem disconnecting. Since both companies advertise an always on connection I had their tech support technician to my home 4 times replacing splitters, cables the modem itself and finally to fix the problem the main downlead to my house.
Since the original install and modem were provided by CableAZ they are completely responsible.

During the switch on my TV service the new convertor boxes blew out 2 video capture/tuner cards. I had the head tech support trainer at my home to troubleshoot that. Even though he flatly stated that Cox wasn't responseable for my equipment he did replace both cards stating it was a present for making them aware of possible problems with new technologies and their system.

I felt I got great customer service even though it to a while to resolve.
But since they took over the rates for TV service have increased dramaticly so I'm looking into satelite service for the TVs

[heavydutytools]

I have used Vonage for about two years (mostly for outgoing long distance calls). It does not see heavy usage , only about 25 to 30 calls per day - mainly so our main # does not get tied up as much) . So far the sound quality has been superior to our Verizon land line. I haven't noticed any hiccups while uploading either , though I seem to remember that high quality only requires 90 kilobits up.

[theminor]

Sunrocket is good. I've had it for about 6 months now and I love it. If you are going to make the switch to voip, be sure to do your homework. It will inevitably require some work and knowledge of computers/networking, etc. is almost a requirement. With most it takes some tweaking of your setup before getting things set up just right. Sunrocket tech support has helped me with issues, but I found www.sunrocketforum.com to be the best resource. After going through some suggestions there, the call quality is great for me.

If you are willing to put the time in up front to figure out the tweaks, you'll save a ton and gain some great features with voip. My wife hated it at first due to the problems, but now that its all fixes, she loves it.

[sparkeyjames]

I have had Vonage for a little over a year now and love it. Cheap rates great service. Have never had even one small problem. (well except when my ISP has a hiccup.) Just make sure your ISP is ok with voip services other than theirs and that your internet service stays up lots more than it is down.

[tedkitch]

I've had Vonage from the onset and I've been very happy with it. My current Internet provider is Comcast via cable and I installed a $50 battery backup for when the power goes out. I have my VoIP adapter, cable modem, and router plugged in and I can make phone calls with no electricity. I also reverse wired my modem into the house wiring and all of the phone jacks in the house work with regular phones also. I have DirecTV and needed the phone lines for pay-per-view movies.

I've been very happy with Vonage.

[430752]

Works fer me

Had Vonage for three or more years, forget, but loooong time. Always worked great, never noticed a problem, no one ever said anything to me on the other end about quality being bad, and I always hear then as good as the copper phone company. So, I heartily recommend. We got the $15/mo+taxes/surcharges since we don't use phones much anymore anyway, both having office jobs and cell phones. We're lucky to use 30 minutes a month and Vonage was the only one offering anything cheaper than the 25/29.99 all-you-can-use service.

The only bad things are that about 3 months ago I had to replace the VOiP device which went bad, but after about 3+ years of service cannot complain and its only a $30-40 box. The other complaint is yes, if your internet service provider is down, or the lines, then the phone is down too. Or if you lose power. But, since everyone has cordless phones anyway, power down usually is problem for all.

We recently tried to swtich to Comcast (from which we get cable and internet) to their "triple play" to include VOiP, but they declined to honor the low offer as we're "existing" customers and thus no true cost savings. Still, I mention it since their VOiP device is noteworthy, at least as offered here in Jersey. 1st, it comes with a battery backup for "several hours" and promises you can still use with power out, if you need that. 2nd, they claim, and I've read from others its true, that they don't put your call out on the general internet (unless they don't have the service in remote parts) since they use their own fiber optic network around the country and allow it to piggy back on their other stuff. I was skeptical, but a google search of VOiP nerdy sites confirmed it, or at least from the random dozen or so threads I read on it by gear heads. This is good for two reasons: clarity (altho' never had a prob there) and also security, being less suspectible to hacking (altho' there I thought packet technology was kinda hack proof anyway?).

well whatever, my recommednation is to get VOiP. I'd get a bundle with a cable provide or etc if you could for even further cost savings, but if not then stick with a biggie such as Vonage. Definately worth it.

Curt j.

[Alex Franke]

You know, this has got to be the coolest woodworking forum on the planet. Thanks for all the input on this.

The folks at Sunrocket tell me they run thir "free year" deal for a day at a time araound holidays. So I'm going to keep my eyes open for that. At that price and with that "no strings" guarantee, I can just keep my old phone line while I try VoIP out to see if it's a fit.

[charger1966]

Well I have Von-age and with all the taxes and charges that add up my bill is $34. per month. The only thing I have noticed with it is when my son is on his computer and Uploading a game program the phone doesn't work very well. It breaks up and drops calls just like a cell phone. We have Roadrunner for our Internet and the only thing I can say is Keep the uploading to a minimum or do it at night when the phone won't be used as much.
Keep Making that Sawdust
Lance

[Alex Franke]

According to some folks at slickdeals.net, SunRocket will be offering their 2 years for $199 deal one day only on the 27th. That's about $8.30 a month, no strings attached. I think I'll give it try if the rumors are true...

[jziegler]

I would not really reccommend any VoIP service right now. Until the Vonage / Verizon suit has been settled, I have concerns. I've been a happy Vonage customer for some time now. I like VoIP (but still have a traditional land line as well). But, Vonage is the biggest, and they're getting hammered. If they go down, Verizon will just start picking off the others one at a time.

Just one more reason that I'm glad I don't use Verizon for my phone service, and have cable for internet. Of course, my local line uses Verizon lines, but I have service from another company..

Jim

[JR]

I tried to fin out what the details are regarding the Verizon v Vonage patent suit. It appears the main infraction was in relation to off-net dialing. This is when you connect to a land-line or mobile number. Your call is routed accross the internet to the Vonage gateway, which in theory would be close to the called party.

This may cause some short-term problems for Vonage, but is not a long-term threat, IMO. If Verizon somehow manged to patent off-net dialing in general, I'm pretty sure it's undefensable. There's loads of prior art on that sort of thing.

That leaves Verizon with some arcane implementation which may have been patented. With so many signalling packages available, I'm sure Vonage will be able to find a workaround.

JR