What are your thoughts on Vonage? good/bad

I wanted to see what you guys think and have experiance with Vonage service.

Or for that matter any Voip service.



Thank in advance!

 

Aren't they having 911 issues? Can't comment on Vonage. I was thinking of getting a usb phone.

 

I may subscribe to VoIP in the future, but it will not be Vonage, even if they provide the best service imagineable. I am totally fed up with their ads, in particular:

1. "People do stupid things, like pay too much for their telephone service." Thanks, I really enjoy being called stupid. Not to mention the annoying music.
2. "No nerds". Yeah, well on a good day, I'm a nerd. On a bad day, I'm just stupid.

 

I agree, there ads are pretty pathetic.
I really dont like them either.

 

Yeah, I would have to agree that they need to fire the ad agency creating their commercials, but as far as the service, it is great.

I've had it for about three months and have had two or three phone calls with bad sound quality. Everything else has been great...I can't tell a difference between a landline and the VOIP.

I haven't had any problems on my network due to the increased bandwidth usage, so I'm definitely happy.

And oh yeah, you can't beat the price.

 

First off my primary phone now is a cell phone from cingular(I would never recommend) and for work I handle(take care of) a couple of telephone switches using analog, digital, and voip.

A couple of things I've noticed.
1) Cingular sucks(in my area) horribly and their regional support barely holds a high school degree.
2) VOIP - nice but a couple of problems, virus cause phone to drop or "warble", 911 services(what happens when you loose power...the phone goes out too), and lastly the voice quality sucks IMO
3) with all of our advances POT lines have the best sound, extremely reliable, and cheap for basic service 10-15/month.

BTW, yes I prefer corded POT lines over all services(cept real digital phones...non-voip digitals).....can't beat the clarity and relability.

 

Thanks guys,

I am trying to get a job as a vonage field sales rep and figured it was best to ask the geeks so I can get an idea of what i could encounter in the field etc. and some general all around info.

 

I have Cingular as well and don't have any real problems. I used to live on an military base and the signal wasn't as good there...maybe too much interference, but since moving, the service is fine.

As far as VOIP being affected by viruses, that is of course true, however if you are set up properly (hardware firewall, software firewall, antivirus, spyware, etc...) then you shouldn't ever get a virus. Like I stated previously, I can't tell a difference between the voice quality of VOIP and landline. With Vonage you can adjust the amount of bandwidth that it uses, between 30 and 90 kbps. I have mine set at 90 kbps and the quality is great. I am also able to use the Internet while on the phone with no noticeable slowdowns with either. It is absolutely true that your service will be out if your power goes out, though if you have a cell phone this is less of a concern. Also, I haven't had any reason to call 911 in my life, so it's not one of those things I do with any regularity. If my power went out and my cell phone didn't work, I would simply go to a neighbors. If their phone doesn't work, the world is probably ending in which case the 911 operators won't be answering any calls anyway.

As far as landlines costing $10-$15 per month, I have never seen this. Here in Florida, Verizon is the main phone utility. They only offer "basic" packages that start at $30.95 per month, i.e. you can't just get local service. When you compare what you get with this basic package (no long distance) with Vonage or another VOIP provider, IMHO it is no contest.

Just my two cents, your results may vary.

 

but in theory if you had a UPS backup then your service would still work with vonage.

fl humidity = running around in the heat with sweat pants and then sticking your head between your legs.


I wont miss it. heh.

 

I guess that would work if you had the UPS for your VOIP router and phone...I wonder if anyone has done this and had it work during a power outage, or if there's something we aren't thinking of.

Yeah, the humidity sucks during the summer, but the Fall is great. It's nice and sunny today, though cool enough to wear a long sleeve shirt....about 70 degrees farenheit with a little breeze.