VOIP: Questions and Opinions

[Fenris]

So I have been looking into swtiching phone service to a VOIP (namely Vonage or Lingo). And this forum always has very knowledgable persons hanging about, so I thought I would ask around here.

Does anyone have it? Do you like it? Has anyone had problems with the system? What should I know before I sign up?

I have read the web pages for the above companies, so i know about the 911 system and such. But I a, more concerned with the day to day use and convenience, cost etc.

Thanks all for your help.

Fenris

 

[Dimwhit]

The thing to watch out for with Vonage in particular is regarding the dialing. My friend has it, and they have to dial area codes even when they're calling local.

You might research a bit and see if there are any VoIP companies local to you who can give you better service.

That said, it seems to work fine. If I didn't just ditch my land line completely for cellular, I'd go with VoIP in a heartbeat.

 

[Krieg]

We are switching over to Time Warner's VOIP in about two weeks. They are offering a package deal with digital cable, roadrunner & VOIP for $99 a month which will save us about $30 a month compared to our current situation with Cincinnati Bell.

I'll be happy to post my experiences as soon as we make the switch.

 

[Fenris]

Dimwhit,
I live in Southern California, you have to dial a new area code to call across the street. My cell phone, home, and work are all in different area codes. So that part isn't a problem, especially with speed dialing.

Seems like people are trying it. No one has screamed NOOOOO! yet.

Any other comments or experiances?

 

[devilish]

Have had Vonage for many months now.

Here's my issues:

911 - you know about. I don't have a standard address so I don't have
this set up yet. Not a big problem, unless I have a heartattack in my apartment
and someone tries dialing it.

Quality : Good quality UNLESS you also have the cable modem as
your internet access. Took me a while to figure out why on some
phone calls, people would say "Are you ok? Your voice sounds like it's
in slow motion." and I hadn't yet opened the scotch bottle up that
evening. Turns out, in my case at least, you can't have the computer
and phone up at the same time (or, what I do, is tell the firewall to shut
down traffic while I'm on the phone.)

Cell Phone numbers: Big issue -- for some reason, if I call cell phone numbers
that are turned off/roaming, it won't switch over to their voice mail -- just
keeps ringing. I end up having to use my cell phone to call them back to
leave messages (?!?)

Not portable : Can't use the phone ports in my apartment. I've heard that you
can, if you go outside and disconnect it from your phone companies main line.
The phone company, even if you're disconnected, still sends a charge through
your phone lines --- if you plug in the VOIP modem, it could blow the modem.
If you disconnect it, then you can use any port in the house (I just can't
get access to it.)

Dropped line: Whenever my local cable company decides to scramble up
my ip addresses, I have to reboot the VOIP modem -- no dialtone and calls go
right to voicemail. Maybe once every 2 weeks. Annoying as all hell.


On the plus:
Love getting notified at work when I get v-mail --- they send the .wav file to you.

Ultra Cheap! I only pay $16 a month where with SNET I was paying $60.

Was able to carry my phone number over!

Overall: If comparing apples to apples, I'd say the service sucks compared to
what you get from the phone company. But, the price tag makes up for the
aggravation. You get what you pay for. So, I'm reluctanly ecstatic!

-D