Anyone of ya'll use Vonage?

[Jetsi]

Wish I had read this first

I am fighting with a problem with my Vonage phone now. Service has been really good until last week. Now all of my incoming calls are dropped after 20 seconds or so, then I have to call them back.

Strangely enough, if I make a call and someone calls me, I can switch to them and the call doesn't get dropped.

While I was rebooting the modem and my router, someone called and the call was forwarded to my cell. And IT dropped in 20 seconds as well. So I know the problem isn't with my firewall.

Numerous calls, and spending many hours on hold, and no response. I wonder how quick they will try to fix it when cancel my account with them and go to traditional phone lines.

BTW, your operating system shouldn't make a difference. You will have to get a switch or router, so you can divide your broadband between your computer and your phone. So the signal doesn't go to your computer (unless you had 2 ethernet ports on your computer, then you could make the phone come out of that . . . . hmmmmmm).

So, to make a long story short, if you don't have any need for customer service, the phone works fine.

Jetsi

 

[chili]

packet 8

I have VOIP through Packet 8, or 8x8 and like it. The coolest feature is virtual phone numbers which is a second number that you get to pick from any area code. So mom and dad can call the kids from city A and it is a local call for them.

 

[goaliemn]

I've had it for over a year. I absolutely love it Great sound quality, and I have multiple numbers in multiple cities so friends can call me for free.

If you haven't signed up yet, PM me your email address and I'll have vonage send you a link where you get a month for free and I get 2 for the referral

 

[Captain Overs]

I thought Vonage was that feminine itch product?

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

We've sort of had Vonage for over a year, and our customer service is excellent!

Our high speed physical cable is Time-Warner, but we use Earthlink as our high-speed INet provider.

Earthlink started carrying Vonage, which is how we signed up. Our customer service is great because all of our customer service needs are done by Earthlink.

We don't use it much, except to call Canada, and a few other long distance places that our cell phones are still expensive for.

We used to pay $40/month for our landline, and about another $100/month for long distance. Now we pay $25/month total, saving us about $115/month, which almost covers our 3 cell phones.

You can pick any area code number for your phone, including Canada (if not now, at least soon). Additionally, you can add any phone number for $5/month.

Here's how that could help you:
You live in N. Dakota (I know you wouldn't really be THAT insane, but this is just an example-Who needs -100 degree wind chill!), and your mom lives in NY. You get a ND number so all of your friends (you have to pretend here that other people actually would live in ND also) can call your phone as if it was a local number. Then, you pay $5/month extra with a NY number attached to your service. That way your mom can dial the NY number and it is a local call for her also! Your girlfriend just moved to DEN? Smart! Get her a DEN number and she gets a local call to you also (it won't last long, though-who would want to date a guy who was crazy enough to live in ND?).

The 911 thing is being upgraded, and it will soon work exactly like any other 911 call. For now, you do have to verify some stuff to get it set up and working properly.

Also, we paid the extra $40? to have another piece of hardware, so that we can use our high-speed connection AND call on the VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone at the same time.

All of the people we've called have said they don't notice any difference in quality, except maybe it's better.

It's neet getting to listen to your voice mail anywhere in the US via your computer! You can save the messages on your hard drive if you wish!

Cliff
YIP

 

[chazman]

Also, we paid the extra $40? to have another piece of hardware, so that we can use our high-speed connection AND call on the VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone at the same time.

I think this is a misleading statement. I can call anytime I want and use my cable internet connection without any special extra piece of hardware. You don't need to pay extra to use your internet and the VOIP at the same time.

Maybe you need to expain your situation here further.

Chaz

 

[goaliemn]

I think this is a misleading statement. I can call anytime I want and use my cable internet connection without any special extra piece of hardware. You don't need to pay extra to use your internet and the VOIP at the same time.

Maybe its an earthlink thing.. they may have gave him an extra IP for his VOIP equipment.

I know my vonage box is also a router/firewall so I put my equipment after it.

 

[Cpt. Over]

Hey ya'll! Also take a look at lingo, at lingo.com. The beauty of lingo is it does the same as vonage, but it is $19.95 a month (1st month free) and you call WESTERN EUROPE UNLIMITED in addition to the U.S. and Canada. I've had it for a while and have been very happy. The customer service is very courteous and responsive (it's in Canada) and the company is in Virginia. It is packed with features. The one I like is, three way calling. I call my parents in Pennsyvania and flash them on hold, then call my sister in England. We all talk for awhile (unlimited), then I'll hang up, but my parents and sister are still connected through my lingo service and at no cost to them. The call to England is like talking to her in the next room (very clear). I also have the service routed through my computer fax and no problem for sending and receiving faxes. The lingo service comes with a little box. This box, if you like, can be taken on overnights to hotels that have high speed internet access. Plug the high speed eternet RJ-145 jack into the box and the hotel room phone into the box and you're making calls to Western Europe, the U.S., Canada. The telephone number you have will follow that little box. So if someone were to call that number, the hotel phone would ring. Pretty cool. Let me know if you have any questions. The reason I went with Lngo instead of Vonage is Vonage advertises all over and passes that cost along to the customer. And I like the Western Europe calling and the price is cheaper. Also I like to support the quiet underdog. They do a referral program of $25.00 credit for you and me. Hope this helps.

https://www.lingo.com/
https://www.lingo.com/resources/popups/popup.gif

 

[Plug]

I've had Vonage for about 2 months now with no problems. I have Comcast cable for internet and TV along with Xbox live and everything works great. In fact scheduling just called while I was on this thread, no problem.

The only problems I have had is when Comcast has issues and they are usually pretty quick to respond, no more than a few hours.

 

[Singlecoil]

Back to the alarm system question. I'm moving and planning on installing an alarm system and vonage.
Why can't the alarm system dial out over vonage?
Or is the issue that if your power is lost, vonage won't work?
I don't know that much about it, but it seems to me that if you have some sort of battery back-up for your internet and vonage systems, your phone should still function, no?

Thanks.