Phone monopoly woes at new house- Vonage an option?

[Amused]

We are moving to an area that has a Verizon monopoly on local phone service. So I can't get the nifty all-in-one/flat fee plans like the Neighborhood.

I'm now considering Vonage, but I have some questions for those who have it.

I can only get Chicago area codes, so this will make it a toll call for anyone local who calls me. This is a major drawback.

Are there any voice quality problems like delay? Ever?

How can I hook it up to make all the jacks in my new home hot?

Can I run a fax on it?

Please list any other issues you've had.

Thanks 🙂

[edit] Another question. I see that the equipment costs $99 at Circuit City. Is there any hot deal to avoid this and get it free or discounted?

One more: Can I use normal phone line splitters with it?

 

[blackdogdeek]

iirc, during high traffic times, you may experience stuttering, delay or "all lines are busy" messages when trying to make calls.

 

[JW310]

Originally posted by: Amused
We are moving to an area that has a Verizon monopoly on local phone service. So I can't get the nifty all-in-one/flat fee plans like the Neighborhood.

I'm now considering Vonage, but I have some questions for those who have it.

I can only get Chicago area codes, so this will make it a toll call for anyone local who calls me. This is a major drawback.

Are there any voice quality problems like delay? Ever?

How can I hook it up to make all the jacks in my new home hot?

Can I run a fax on it?

Please list any other issues you've had.

Thanks 🙂

To hook it up to make all the jacks in your new home hot, disconnect the incoming phone line from the junction box where it splits off for all the jacks in your house, and then run a line from the Vonage adapter to the junction box. This should let you use the Vonage service on all of the phone jacks in your house.

Yes, you can run a fax machine on it. From Vonage's site:

Using port 1 on your Phone Adaptor, just plug a fax machine into your Phone Adaptor and fax. This means you have to unplug your phone line from the Phone Adaptor and then plug a fax line into this port. In this instance any fax call is treated like a standard phone call and fits within the residential rate plan you have selected.

JW

 

[Fiveohhh]

I'm now considering Vonage, but I have some questions for those who have it.

I can only get Chicago area codes, so this will make it a toll call for anyone local who calls me. This is a major drawback.

Its like a normal number so if its a LD areacode than it probably will be.

Are there any voice quality problems like delay? Ever?

I have problems if I'm dling something I just pause the DL. everyonce in awhile I get an small echo

How can I hook it up to make all the jacks in my new home hot?

Although not officially supported you can just plug the output into your punch down block(or probably straight into a jack)and it "should" work fine.

Can I run a fax on it?

I don't think so but you can get a seperate fax line for about 5-10 I think
edit: I guess you can just unplugg your phone and plug the fax in.

Please list any other issues you've had.

Just some occasional stuttering, ther service for me that I've noticed has only gone down once and that was for about 5 mins. Another thing is if you have a flakey cable connection than your phone will be flakey too.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: blackdogdeek
iirc, during high traffic times, you may experience stuttering, delay or "all lines are busy" messages when trying to make calls.

How often does this happen? Anyone have first hand experience with this?

 

[Fiveohhh]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: blackdogdeek
iirc, during high traffic times, you may experience stuttering, delay or "all lines are busy" messages when trying to make calls.

How often does this happen? Anyone have first hand experience with this?

I've never had it happen when their network is busy(but I'm not on the phone that often)

 

[Amused]

bump for more input...

 

[Amused]

I see that the equipment costs $99 at Circuit City. Is there any hot deal to avoid this and get it free or discounted?

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: Amused
I see that the equipment costs $99 at Circuit City. Is there any hot deal to avoid this and get it free or discounted?

I signed up online this morning and I didn't have to pay for the equipment. I had to pay first month and a 39.99 connection fee and that was it, it came out to 78.38


Directory Assistance $0.00
Anytime International Plan $0.00
Premium Unlimited Plan $34.99
Area Code: 321 - Apopka $0.00
Motorola Device $0.00
Activation Fee $29.99
Call Forwarding $0.00
Voice mail $0.00
Item(s) Subtotal: $64.98
Shipping & Handling: $9.95
FET Tax: $1.95
Regulatory Recovery Fee: $1.50
Grand Total: $78.38

 

[LuNoTiCK]

I would recommend going for Voicepulse over Vonage if possible. I would say Broadvoice, but they are still pretty new, so you won't know whats going to happen down the line.

Now, if you are going for Vonage, from the last time I heard it is cheaper to order it online, and using a referral (I think you can get a free month this way). This way you will not have to pay Circuit city or bestbuy or whoever $99 dollars for the startup cost.

 

[dabuddha]

Be careful on the Circuit City deal. They said theres a $50 MIR on the equipment. Theres also 2 months of free service. What they neglect to mention is the fact that you can only get one of the two options! The person who sold me my equipment even told me I can get both "deals." But a vonage CSR told me that if I mail in the rebate form, I'll only get one month free and I'll be charged for the other one. Bunch of damned crooks.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: LuNoTiCK
I would recommend going for Voicepulse over Vonage if possible. I would say Broadvoice, but they are still pretty new, so you won't know whats going to happen down the line.

Now, if you are going for Vonage, from the last time I heard it is cheaper to order it online, and using a referral (I think you can get a free month this way). This way you will not have to pay Circuit city or bestbuy or whoever $99 dollars for the startup cost.

Why Voicepulse? What do they offer that Vonage does not?

 

[LuNoTiCK]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: LuNoTiCK
I would recommend going for Voicepulse over Vonage if possible. I would say Broadvoice, but they are still pretty new, so you won't know whats going to happen down the line.

Now, if you are going for Vonage, from the last time I heard it is cheaper to order it online, and using a referral (I think you can get a free month this way). This way you will not have to pay Circuit city or bestbuy or whoever $99 dollars for the startup cost.

Why Voicepulse? What do they offer that Vonage does not?

You can decide yourself, they both offer trials. I think Vonage is 14 day while Voicepulse is 30 day. You can try them both out at the same time and see for yourself even. I am just going by other people's experiences, I heard that Voicepulse support is better and more reliable.

Heres a Comparisons page

Heres something about 911 from dslreports
The link and the text.

Re: [Vonage] Vonage vs Voicepulse
Mark, don't be confused on 911 service. Technically, none of the VOIP providers have it. They simply provide 911 as a speed dial number to the local agency's non-emergency number. For example, if you live in Cobb County or city of Marietta and dial 911 on vonage, you'll get sent to 770-499-3911 for Cobb County dispatch.

When calls go to the 911 centers this way, they do not get the automatic location lookup that enhanced 911 provides. In some States, it is illegal for a 911 Center to access the telco ALI database on a non-911 call.

Voicepulse is also cheaper. I however decided to try Broadvoice for $19.99 + 1.50 tax I think. If I don't like it I can switch to Voicepulse since they both use the Supira, you do have to pay an activation charge with Voicepulse and Broadvoice though and I think it's $80 for Voicepulse and I forget what it is for Broadvoice.

Voicepulse monthly charge if you want the $24.99 unlimited (27.24) after tax. You need a 1 year contract, but you get a 30 day trial.