VOIP SunRocket Internet Phone Service $199 for 15months = $13.27/month

[ElCapitanAmerica]

Originally posted by: agrall
Has anyone known these Uniden phones to be interfered with by wireless networks? I had some "dead air" calls a couple of days ago, but also had some where the other party said I was "breaking up". I'm wondering if that was related to the same issue, another issue, or possibly interference with the network.

I was having serious issues with the uniden phones interfering with my linksys wireless G. It could be mine, or maybe some other wireless device around my house.

The phones are nice, but people say I break up on the other end, and I'm pretty sure is the phone because I had to switch back to my motorola one and it's pretty clear.

Anybody have any hints as to what do to in these cases? Would getting a 5.8 ghz phone be better, or can i tweak my wireless router by changing the channels? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Robor]

Sorry but I'm bailing again...

I signed up on Monday and was promised overnight shipping on equipment that never arrived. I didn't get an Email regarding shipping info and I have never been able to login to my online account to manage it. All I get is the, "your account will be activated shortly..." page. Also, I didn't get a response to the Email sent on Friday regarding my 'lost' equipment and the fact that I still can't log in to access member services online. Come to think of it, this is one of the reasons I left Sunrocket last time - poor customer service. I'm done unless Sunrocket responds with an offer I can't refuse. This down time has taught me I can live with just a cell phone.

 

[DoozerM]

Originally posted by: Sparky19692
Ok I've read until my eyes can not take it anymore. just a few questions before I sign up.
1. I read of issues with the caller ID in the beginning, ie if there not in your contact list or have SR the name will not come up.
I have caller ID on my TV set so that would be a BIG issue.

2. There current promo is for 15months or. 2 free phones. are the phones worth more than $48.00?

1. Caller ID works as it should. My wife and I love SR's caller id because if you wish to override what is sent by the local exchange carrier, all you have to do is put the person in your contact list and update the name accordingly. My parents caller id says 'Mom & Dad'....

2. Do they still have the free phones as an option?

 

[DoozerM]

Originally posted by: Robor
Sorry but I'm bailing again...

I signed up on Monday and was promised overnight shipping on equipment that never arrived. I didn't get an Email regarding shipping info and I have never been able to login to my online account to manage it. All I get is the, "your account will be activated shortly..." page. Also, I didn't get a response to the Email sent on Friday regarding my 'lost' equipment and the fact that I still can't log in to access member services online. Come to think of it, this is one of the reasons I left Sunrocket last time - poor customer service. I'm done unless Sunrocket responds with an offer I can't refuse. This down time has taught me I can live with just a cell phone.

I feel your pain Robor..... Their CS is not the best, and PATIENCE is the best way to deal with those idiots, although you really should be dealing with the sales folks for this issue. Actually, try dealing with those idiots while your wife yells at you about not being able to make a phone call.

I look at it in this humorous way. True enough, that to bail before receiving your gizmo, would short change you on all of the 'potential' problems you will get once you turn it on. 'Potentially', it might never work. You've been bruised so many times up till now, I wouldn't blame you. However, putting the 'potential' problems aside, I say go through with it, because as you say, you have already decided to give up. So now you should no longer get upset at the issues that come up and you can patientily see this through to completion. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to give up, but my techie side has urged me to solve the problems, since so many others have had great experiences. Also, I want to prove my wife wrong

 

[Sparky19692]

Originally posted by: DoozerM

Originally posted by: Sparky19692
Ok I've read until my eyes can not take it anymore. just a few questions before I sign up.
1. I read of issues with the caller ID in the beginning, ie if there not in your contact list or have SR the name will not come up.
I have caller ID on my TV set so that would be a BIG issue.

2. There current promo is for 15months or. 2 free phones. are the phones worth more than $48.00?

1. Caller ID works as it should. My wife and I love SR's caller id because if you wish to override what is sent by the local exchange carrier, all you have to do is put the person in your contact list and update the name accordingly. My parents caller id says 'Mom & Dad'....

2. Do they still have the free phones as an option?

When I go to the link from this page they doSR Promo so I guess my only thing is I have 1 GE 2.4 phone now that is a POS
and would like new phones without having to shell out anouther $100 bring my cost up to $299 if the phones are any good.
I don't have wireless in my house and there is cat5 everywhere so i don't think I'll ever have it. so are the phone worth it?

 

[TheTony]

Sparky19692:

Yes, the Unidens are decent phones. I've had mine now for a couple months and nary an issue with them. They're fairly feature-rich for being free. I've never had an interference issue between them and my D-Link wireless, so I've been pleased. They're definitely a step up from anything in the < $50 range in most retail stores.

If you'd rather not take my word, Amazon has reviews.

 

[georgepa]

sparky-

Caller ID works right off the bat. It did not work with name at the very beginning (about a year ago) but they fixed that. At that time all had to use a workaround that involved the Contact List. One had to plug the persons name into that and they would show up with their proper name. No more. Caller ID comes up properly. The Contact List can now be used to refine your incoming Caller ID, personalize it even more, as mentioned by DoozerM.

Phones: Definitely worth it. Don't use their link, use the official Sunrocket link for the 2-phone deal

http://www.sunrocket.com/sign_up/signup.do?tcd=Def34w3

Better yet: Try getting the 15 month deal AND the 2-phone deal combined. I called them last week from my cell in the car and pretended to be a new signup. I told them that I heard that I could sign up for the 15 month deal and still get the 2 phones. I said: "If I get that deal I am sold." He put me on hold for a minute (probably to talk to a manager) and then came back ready to give me the 15 month deal with the 2 phones included. Try it. Not sure if they can still do that, but worth a try or two. Free 800 calls, after all. Be sure to call for SALES.


Robor-

I like Doozer's suggestion. I would just run with it. Worst case scenario is you get a couple more phones out of it. Have you tried to call their SALES department in Canada? They seem more competent than their counterparts in the Phillipines and can probably see this thing through for you. Must have been a missipment if they show that your package has arrived at its destination.

agrall-

Sometimes the 2.4 GHz phones interfere with a wireless network, sometimes they don't. The best way to explain it would be to think of the GHz bandwidth as a spectrum. The devices in question (as well as most microwaves, which cause interference at 2.4GHz) are occupying the same spot on that spectrum, 2.4 GHz. However, there may be a small difference when you look further into the spectrum. For instance, your Uniden phones may be on spot 2.401 while your wireless router is on 2.399. Good chance that you won't get interference. If both are right on 2.4 you probably will get some interference.

 

[azoomee]

Well, post dead air upgrade and the SR phone seems to be working like a charm -- whoohoo!

Gotta love $17/mo.

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: azoomee
Well, post dead air upgrade and the SR phone seems to be working like a charm -- whoohoo!

Gotta love $17/mo.

It's nice, isn't it?

I can hardly remember the days of paying Verizon's prices for a landline.

 

[azoomee]

Originally posted by: astrosfan90

Originally posted by: azoomee
Well, post dead air upgrade and the SR phone seems to be working like a charm -- whoohoo!

Gotta love $17/mo.

It's nice, isn't it?

I can hardly remember the days of paying Verizon's prices for a landline.

You're telling me, I was paying $75/mo to verizon, now $17 -- woohoo!

 

[agrall]

Originally posted by: georgepa
agrall-

Sometimes the 2.4 GHz phones interfere with a wireless network, sometimes they don't. The best way to explain it would be to think of the GHz bandwidth as a spectrum. The devices in question (as well as most microwaves, which cause interference at 2.4GHz) are occupying the same spot on that spectrum, 2.4 GHz. However, there may be a small difference when you look further into the spectrum. For instance, your Uniden phones may be on spot 2.401 while your wireless router is on 2.399. Good chance that you won't get interference. If both are right on 2.4 you probably will get some interference.

Thanks. I understand frequencies and everything... I'm wondering what the phones operate on versus what my network operates on. I'm also wondering if it might be worth picking up some 5.8 GHz phones to avoid the problem completely.

I was hit by the "dead air" problem and the "breaking up" problem at the same time. I'm still wondering if they were related or completely different issues.

 

[Robor]

Well, I still don't have my Gizmo yet but at least I can log in and manage my account. I'm just going to wait on the Gizmo and see how things go once it arrives. I'm stuck with my cell phone until then. No biggie.

I'm not even worried about the phones. I've got 5.8 Uniden's that I'll be using anyway. The 2.4's I got with my original Sunrocket registration messed with my wireless too much.

Will report back...

 

[INSANECANE]

Just signed up today.



Anxiously awaiting the gizmo thingy to get here. :beer:

At least I know where to come for answers to any problems that I may have.

Thanks all.
:wine: :beer:

 

[astrosfan90]

Hey, we're glad to have people to give us something to do during the day. Work is boring.

What plan did you go with Insane?

 

[GTFan]

Well the free phones that I was supposed to get with renewal didn't show, so I called Sales again yesterday. According to the guy I talked to, they're supposed to credit you 50 Rocket rewards points and then redeem them for the phones. She didn't do that but he went ahead and gave me the 50 points. I told him to hold the phones, would order myself, but instead I think I'll use the points to get 2 Amazon $25 certs since I don't have a use for the phones right now anyway. He said that they're supposed to redeem the points for the phones instead of letting the customer choose but I guess they're not too strict about that.

My account shows that I'm back on the annual plan, but I have no idea when the new expiration is. You can't see it in the portal, right? Their billing process and info just sucks, no two ways about it.

 

[laketrout]

Originally posted by: GTFan
instead I think I'll use the points to get 2 Amazon $25 certs since I don't have a use for the phones right now anyway. He said that they're supposed to redeem the points for the phones instead of letting the customer choose but I guess they're not too strict about that.

So now you are down to $199 for 13 months with $50 free to amazon?? $149/13 months = $11.46/month. Woah...

 

[georgepa]

GTFan-

Their billing system needs work, no question. I am just glad I have ONE bill to deal with per year, and that's it. Then a year (actually 13 months now) of nothing.

You got a great deal, because the 50 points are quite valuable = $50, better than the phones.

If you think about it:

$199 for 13 months minus $50=$149 = $11.46 per month for 13 months.


I don't know who these guys are above paying $17 for their VOIP. Under $12 is a lot better, eh?

 

[gcy]

Got My Gizmo and works very well. No problem setting it up. I followed their suggested installation by putting it after the modem and the router after it. Sound quality is very good.
Thanks, Op. :beer:

 

[astrosfan90]

$11? I spend more than that on my commute to work every day! Good god.

I think I'm up for renewal here soon, come to think of it...I can't remember though, need to look.

 

[georgepa]

Astrosfan- all -


Ok, since this is a Hot Deals thread, the current best deals are:

For renewal: 13 months for $199 with 2 Uniden phones = $11.46 (if you adjust $50 for the phones)


For new signups: 15 months for $199 with 2 Uniden phones = $9.93 per month. If you take advantage of the additional $3 international call allowance, the price drops even further (for some by $3 per month.)


I don't see how the deal can get any lower, as with the free phones it goes way down, well below $10 per month. Maybe the 2-phone throw-in with the 15 months for $199 deal will not last. Then again, maybe we'll see 18 months for $199 before too long.

 

[Project86]

OK my stuff finally arrived and I'm up and running. Placed a few calls, things sound very good on my end. One person complained that I sounded bad on the other end, she was having trouble understanding me. This was a call placed to her landline. I'm not sure what the deal is, will have to test further.

I am on Comcast 6mb down/384k up, and am testing pretty much exactly at that level (speed actually went up 3-4% with the Gizmo installed... weird). My question is this: on the Gizmo, the lights for LAN and WAN are showing yellow instead of green. What does that mean? Please PM me as I'm having trouble wading thru to the end of this long post. Thanks!

Oh and by the way, can I get a UPS and just use it to power my Gizmo and my cable modem? Logic tells me I could (since the phone works when the computer is off) but I'm just checking.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: Project86
OK my stuff finally arrived and I'm up and running...the lights for LAN and WAN are showing yellow instead of green. What does that mean?

Similar to yellow snow.

Oh and by the way, can I get a UPS and just use it to power my Gizmo and my cable modem? Logic tells me I could (since the phone works when the computer is off) but I'm just checking.

Your logic is flawless.

 

[Project86]

Originally posted by: RideFree

Originally posted by: Project86
OK my stuff finally arrived and I'm up and running...the lights for LAN and WAN are showing yellow instead of green. What does that mean?

Similar to yellow snow.

Oh and by the way, can I get a UPS and just use it to power my Gizmo and my cable modem? Logic tells me I could (since the phone works when the computer is off) but I'm just checking.

Your logic is flawless.

OK yellow snow... do I need to do something to fix this then? I used testyourvoip.com and it rated me a 4.2 which seems pretty good. Clarity (at least on my end) is not an issue. But this evening I was calling a friend and the call got dropped 3 times in a 15 minute period... There's got to be something I'm doing wrong here!

Also, regarding UPS, what type would be good? I don't know much about them, and wouldn't wanna pay that much (which would defeat the savings of going SR!)

 

[DoozerM]

I have all of my equipment plugged into an APC Back-UPS RS 900. It afffords me hours of talk time in case of power outages.

 

[georgepa]

In regards to power outages and UPC: You can pretty much go with as low as a 250VA unit (CompUSA has those for about $29) if all you are plugging in is the cable modem, phone adapter, one powered phone and a router. That would give you hours of battery time. If you are going to tie in a computer and monitor as well, which drain power a lot faster, you may want to consider a 350VA or 500VA unit.