Topic: OT -- Vonage (Read 3868 times)

JimH · « **on:** March 17, 2004, 08:08:41 pm »

[This is not a paid announcement. It's more a matter of idle curiosity.]

Anyone using the Internet phone provider, Vonage, yet? I noticed that Best Buy is now selling it in some areas.

You can use a cable Internet connection to get phone service.

http://www.vonage.com

I'm thinking about it, but I have DSL service now.

KingSparta · « **Reply #1 on:** March 17, 2004, 08:30:31 pm »

More And More People Are Disconnecting there Reg Phone Service For Cell Phones.

You also do not get Tel-Marketing Calls.

Charlemagne 8 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 17, 2004, 08:50:19 pm »

Looks like you can use DSL, too.

Charlemagne 8 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 17, 2004, 08:54:13 pm »

... and you can even get around the USB DSL problem:

"You will need to switch your high-speed Internet connection from USB to Ethernet in order to use our service. If your computer does not have an Ethernet card, you can purchase a USB to Ethernet Converter to connect your computer to the Motorola Voice Terminal Device, and ultimately the Internet."

JimH · « **Reply #4 on:** March 17, 2004, 08:54:24 pm »

Yeah. I should have said that I get DSL from my telephone company, Qwest.

John Gateley · « **Reply #5 on:** March 17, 2004, 11:17:47 pm »

I've heard in the news that Qwest will offer naked DSL (DSL without an accompanying phone line). I'm excited about this.

j

dougc · « **Reply #6 on:** March 18, 2004, 02:15:07 am »

Quote from: JimH on March 17, 2004, 08:08:41 pm

[This is not a paid announcement. It's more a matter of idle curiosity.]

Anyone using the Internet phone provider, Vonage, yet? I noticed that Best Buy is now selling it in some areas.

I just received my adapter for vonage couple of days ago. I ordered it directly from them. So far, I'm impressed. I use it with a Timer Warner/Earthlink cable modem (3mb down, 400kbit up). Voice quality and latency are both acceptable. I'd say between a land line (best) and cell phone. Calls are completed quickly. I was able to send a fax out using the line without problems. Getting above 9600 baud is supposedly difficult. I haven't tried any modems other than the fax machine.

The billing system is impressive compared to anything I've seen from a typical telephone company. It has an almost realtime display of both incoming and outgoing calls with caller ID info. Voice mail can be sent to email (just notification or including the message in a .wav attachment), retrieved from the web site or via the usual call in methods.

It should work OK with most DSL lines, possibly better than cable since the latency should be less. They claim it only needs 90kpbs of bandwidth at the highest audio quality. This limit can be reduced if necessary. It does require ethernet.

Let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

Doug

kiwi · « **Reply #7 on:** March 18, 2004, 05:53:55 am »

Quote from: John Gateley on March 17, 2004, 11:17:47 pm

I've heard in the news that Qwest will offer naked DSL (DSL without an accompanying phone line). I'm excited about this.

j

Naked is good.... most of the time.... then sometimes, it is horribly bad!!!

Empyrean · « **Reply #8 on:** March 18, 2004, 06:11:07 am »

I've heard really good things about the upcoming BroadVox direct. Check it out at http://www.broadvoxdirect.com.

digineer · « **Reply #9 on:** March 18, 2004, 09:56:34 am »

Hi Jim,

Long time no see, its been awhile since I've been on here (you set up a biz discussion due to some comments I made -- to remind you). Saw your inquiry re Vonage. I've had it for about a year and LOVE it. $37/month (incl taxes) is a hella deal. It is definitely worth it.

I've had little to no problems with the service (primarily due to DSL issues, not Vonage issues) and the quality is supurb (considering that I have a severe hearing loss -- that's saying something).

My DSL service is 1.5/768 but bandwidth averages at 1.3/550, so my comments on quality presumes this as a minimum level. Hope this helps.

Also, on a sidenote, I am again on your site to see if MC handles TV recordings. I've been tapped to build a HD HTPC and I'm looking at several library/DVR apps like Snapstream and Showshifter and thought of MC. Been looking in your forums for info but have found nothing to answer my main question; will MC work with a EPG? Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction.

lise · « **Reply #10 on:** March 18, 2004, 10:29:23 am »

digineer,

I've been wanting the same thing. I'm trying to set up a digimatrix, and wanted to use Media Center for all my media needs, but it ain't gonna happen. The most basic functions aren't available, like scheduling recordings from the Theatre View interface. And even if you use media scheduler to program automatic recordings, you can't schedule a recurring recording to watch in the future, because the same file gets overwritten all the time. Not good.

Perhaps in a few versions... but it may be too late for me, given the financial investment I'll have to make in the meantime for another program.

xen-uno · « **Reply #11 on:** March 18, 2004, 01:02:30 pm »

Jim,

I don't know when you started your DSL service through Qwest but if long ago then your probably still using the Cisco 675 router (which Qwest considers old style). We just replaced ours down here with a ActionTec 1524...which allows "new style" DSL and a bump in speed from 640/640 to 1500/756 and a drop in the service cost from $66/month to $28/month (though our ISP (revealed.net) rates didn't change). The ActionTec was a PITA at first, because with the DHCP server enabled, it kept wanting to assign IP's to the LAN printers which use static IP's. I had dropped packets galore and heavy LAN congestion. Disabling DHCP and using static IP's on the comp's fixed it.

10^-27

Magicland · « **Reply #12 on:** March 25, 2004, 08:59:19 pm »

I've been using Vonage for nearly a year now, with no troubles whatsoever. I've even switched cable companies and states (moving from NY/Earthlink/Time-Warner to NJ/Comcast), the biggest problem was actually getting Comcast out to the house to hook up the cable modem. Once they were done, I plugged in my ATA, and my phone service was up and running. I've got phone numbers in two different area codes, for an extra $5 a month. The features just keep on getting better, with caller ID w/name now available nationwide (free). All the little extras that the phone company uses to jack up your bill are free with Vonage (Caller ID, Call waiting, Call return, voicemail, etc.). The internet interface is great too. Just point and click, and all my calls can be directed to my cell phone if I'm going out, or you can have them ring simultaneously at two locations, in case my wife might be home (or might not be). I've only had one occasion where I've lost service, and that was because of Comcast. The calls rolled over seamlessly to my cell phone like I'd set it to. The callers all thought they'd reached me on my home phone.

Bryan · « **Reply #13 on:** March 26, 2004, 12:08:30 am »

I've been using Vonage since last August and I love it. There were a few kinks, particularly with voicemail in the early days of availability here in Charlotte but they were worked out pretty quickly. I have RoadRunner and it's plenty fast enough for VOIP.

If you've used Net2Phone or Yahoo/MSN Messenger voice conference before, it's nothing at all like that. Sound quality is excellent.

You have to use 11 digit dialing for all calls but it doesn't take long to get used to that.

I got one of those expandable phone systems to use with it. If you get one without the answering machine then it will likely come with the voicemail waiting indicator light which works with vonage voicemail.

Customer service is top notch..

Go for it. It's a much better deal than POTS.

Bryan

TimB · « **Reply #14 on:** March 26, 2004, 11:46:47 am »

Quote from: Bryan on March 26, 2004, 12:08:30 am

You have to use 11 digit dialing for all calls but it doesn't take long to get used to that.
Bryan

Where I live we have to use 10 digits for local calls so this wouldn't be a big deal for us.

What ARE the downsides? There must be some!

-=Tim=-

dougc · « **Reply #15 on:** March 26, 2004, 12:19:10 pm »

Some downsides:

-Doesn't work if the power fails unless you provide your own backup and your ISP has backup if their power also failed.

-911 isn't as good as a landline. They'll get you to a local emergency center if you sign up for the free 911 service they offer but your address isn't automatically transmitted.

-Quality, while acceptable, is not as good as a land line.

-High speed modems won't connect. 9600 baud is about the best I've seen reported.

-The phone adapter only comes with something like a 30 day warranty. After that it's the owner's responsibility. I don't think they're horribly expensive but they're not generic $10 phones.

Doug

JustinChase · « **Reply #16 on:** April 05, 2004, 03:05:24 pm »

So Jim,

What did you decide?

Is the service any good?

JimH · « **Reply #17 on:** April 05, 2004, 03:52:59 pm »

I haven't tried it (yet).

ama_mmmc · « **Reply #18 on:** April 05, 2004, 04:00:36 pm »

can you use your regular phones, or do you have to buy special ones? And, does that make your phone lines in your house obsolete?

Drew

Bryan · « **Reply #19 on:** April 05, 2004, 04:07:37 pm »

Quote from: ama_mmmc on April 05, 2004, 04:00:36 pm

can you use your regular phones, or do you have to buy special ones? And, does that make your phone lines in your house obsolete?

Drew

Some of these questions and more are answered at their Learning Center section.
http://www.vonage.com/learn_center.php

There's another provider that you may want to check out as well. http://www.packet8.net/

JimH · « **Reply #20 on:** April 05, 2004, 04:17:13 pm »

Quote from: ama_mmmc on April 05, 2004, 04:00:36 pm

can you use your regular phones, or do you have to buy special ones? And, does that make your phone lines in your house obsolete?

You can plug a regular phone (or a phone line, I suppose) into the box you get.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: OT -- Vonage (Read 3868 times)

dougc

dougc