Goodbye Vonage

[LePaul]

Had em for 2.5 years.

It was convenient to get voicemails on the website (and emails stating I had missed a call while at work).

But...

Phone would sound echo-y despite all bandwidth efforts

People would hear "beeping", as if a touch tone number had been hit.

Anytime you called the service center, you had a 30 minute plus hold time, and someone who clearly struggled with english.

Just trying to close the service required me to converse with a woman whose english was beyond bad, and continued to offer me all sorts of reductions to stay.  No. No. No.

I have no idea if this bundle Im doing with TimeWarner will be that much better.  But I can reach them locally, they speak ennggglisssh and the hold times are seldom more than 5-10 minutes.

Anyone had Vonage and dumped em?

[BiGBMAW]

yes...
but we had to use over satellite...I knew it wasnt going to work ..but pops in law needed a phone with no other way....It sucked..echo effect.


Now he has layed 6,000 feet of phone line with 10 foot sections of conduit..now hes land lined

[Eagler]

never had vontage but have had digital phone from our cable co since it came out. Very reliable and clear.

[Denholm]

I wouldn't recommend Internet Phone to anyone. There are always some types of issues with local emergency services (911).

[Airscrew]

Never had vonage but we've been using Lingo for at least 3 years now (or 2 1/2, cant remember)  never had an issue, except when the cable goes down (Time Warner) $29.95 a month, free long distance in the US, Canada and Europe

[xbrit]

Never tried Vonage but in the visually impaired society the program they use is "Skype". My wife uses this on a regular basis for conversing with her visually impaired buddies all over the US and we have never had a problem with it. It gives you the same type of connection that Vonage uses but only costs $30 a year- last time I checked. Also with Skype no need for extra hardware she uses my headset.

[Airscrew]

Originally posted by Denholm
I wouldn't recommend Internet Phone to anyone. There are always some types of issues with local emergency services (911).

I havent seen that as an issue.  we've had to call 911 twice in last two years or so, no problems.  I remember about a year or so ago something going around about phone IP services had a drop dead date to get thier phone services compatiable with 911 services.

The only draw back I've noticed is when the power goes out I lose phones, but we all have cell phones so its not a big issue.  maybe someday I'll get a battery backup but except for when somebody stole our meter loop and we were without power for about 3 days it really hasnt been that big of a deal.  I can count on one hand how many power outages we've had in the last 8 years (4) most lasted about 15 to 30 minutes and one that was about 2 hours long.

[Vipermann]

We are currently using Vonage and haven't had many problems. There was an issue in the beginning with drops, echoing, and people on the other end not being able to hear us. Fixed it all with a new router that has QOS. Haven't had any issues since, but I'm probably going to be switching to the local cable companies offering once it's available since it'll probably be cheaper.

[sluggish]

I had vonage for almost two years and the only issue I had was when we used the phone while uploading files (I had a 256k up and 3m down).  Once I figured out not to upload during phone calls I was fine.  The local cable provider (Charter) charges $40 a month for their voip service and vonage after taxes costs around $29.  This is a moot point however since even though they run their fiber optic right through my property at my new house they refuse to hook me up...

If I remember correctly Skuzzy is a HUGE proponent of voip...

[john9001]

who is vonage and why was he PNG'ed?

[USRanger]

I recommend the Time Warner Package.  The digital phone service is great.  Crystal clear and the name & number of who's calling shows up on my TV screen.

[Airscrew]

Originally posted by USRanger
I recommend the Time Warner Package.  The digital phone service is great.  Crystal clear and the name & number of who's calling shows up on my TV screen.

I get that with Lingo,  (Lingo - Phone, Time Warner - internet, Dish Network -TV)

[majic]

Originally posted by sluggish


If I remember correctly Skuzzy is a HUGE proponent of voip...

Really?  I thought it was the opposite.

[BluKitty]

Cut the land line phone ... go mobile.  I haven't had a land line in years.

Only reason for a wire/fiber is high bandwidth ... which a 64kb voice channel doesn't need.   If your worried about 911, get a GPS enabled device, or something.

[Mr No Name]

I had vonage for 15 months - 3 months longer than my agreement with them.  They claim that I terminated 2 weeks early (In spite of sending them emails with payment dates, etc...)

They call me LITERALLY 10 times a day trying to collect 200+ dollars from me... I offered to mail them the router that i bought at best buy but they didnt want it...


They drive me nutzo