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

[imported_troyconrad]

SunRocket appears down for me, the first time in a few months (that I've noticed anyway.) Incoming calls get the fast busy and don't forward to either my cell or voicemail.

I rebooted the gadget, my (downstream) Linksys router, and my DSL modem for good measure. (All are on a common X10 appliance switch) to no avail.

Amazingly, even their web site is acting very, very odd. It loads slowly or not at all, and images appear corrupt.

I though maybe the SunRocket site has rendering problems in the new FireFox 1.5B2 so I switch to IE 6 and I'm seeing similar problems there.

The first time I logged in (in IE) I got a screen of binary garbage. Not HTML, CSS or any ASCII-like programming language. Just seemingly random binary data.

I tried logging out and back in again and got the normal member area.

A few minutes later I tried again and got this:

Thank you for registering your SunRocket Account. Your account will be active shortly.

Once your account is active you may log into the Member Account Manager on SunRocket.com to view your new SunRocket services. After you have installed your SunRocket equipment, you will be able to use the Member Account Manager to:

Activate and configure your Voicemail
Select your feature settings
View your account details
Access your payment history
View your Call Logs
Manage your personal contacts


While you are waiting, you are welcome to browse our site. The moment your account is ready, we'll notify you.

Over the past 10 minutes or so, logging in seems to be alternating between showing me the the normal members area and the message show above.

Incoming calls still get an (immediate) fast busy, but I notice that I can now make outgoing calls. Dialing 0 now works, and there's an automated message saying there are "I see that we are experiencing service difficulties in your area which we hope to resolve shortly..."

:-(

 

[astrosfan90]

Troy, did you try calling customer service to see if they could help?

Strange that you had these problems yesterday. I haven't hit the website in a few days, but my phone was working fine incoming and outgoing yesterday.

 

[lazarus000]

any way you can setup an emergency power source of some kind to run the gizmo and cable modem so you don't lose your phone service during temporary power outages?

 

[ttown]

Originally posted by: lazarus000
any way you can setup an emergency power source of some kind to run the gizmo and cable modem so you don't lose your phone service during temporary power outages?

Ya, a standard/basic UPS should be able to power gizmo,modem,phone,router long enough for any power outage i've ever had. Those devices should be low power (but I haven't really researched it) -- and so not require anything special.
I have a 500VA Belkin UPS but haven't had to test how long it'll hold up.
If you are prone to longer power outtages, then you might consider a larger one.

It's been a while since i've seen a hot-deal on a UPS.... but if you're patient, you should be able to find one for $25 or less. I got mine on clearance, with coupon, for $10.

edit: kind of like THIS at newegg, but better prices can be had

 

[lazarus000]

Originally posted by: ttown

Originally posted by: lazarus000
any way you can setup an emergency power source of some kind to run the gizmo and cable modem so you don't lose your phone service during temporary power outages?

Ya, a standard/basic UPS should be able to power gizmo,modem,phone,router long enough for any power outage i've ever had. Those devices should be low power (but I haven't really researched it) -- and so not require anything special.
I have a 500VA Belkin UPS but haven't had to test how long it'll hold up.
If you are prone to longer power outtages, then you might consider a larger one.

It's been a while since i've seen a hot-deal on a UPS.... but if you're patient, you should be able to find one for $25 or less. I got mine on clearance, with coupon, for $10.

edit: kind of like THIS at newegg, but better prices can be had

Thank you very much for the info

i'm new to VOIP and would rather not go phoneless during every power outage blink.

we usually have a couple each year where we lose power for an hour or two.


i was hoping with the low power usage that a UPS should last several hours.

 

[Hulk]

Hey guys getting ready to sign up.

How is faxing working for you?

Any problems with conference calls?

About how long to get a connection after dialing on average?

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: Hulk
Hey guys getting ready to sign up.

How is faxing working for you?

Any problems with conference calls?

About how long to get a connection after dialing on average?

I've not tried faxing or conference calls, so I'll let someone else field those questions, but when I dial out, it's usually no longer than a split second to connect. International calls take slightly longer, maybe 1-2 seconds in my experience. There are times when this will take slightly longer, local and international, but never more than a few seconds.

 

[upss]

Hi georgepa,

At one time I recall you mentioned you had some sort of a "Fix" for users that had problems sending and receiving Faxes. My Fax used to work fine until last couple months or so, now I cannot send or receive any more. I called CS and they really could NOT help me accept to say that they are "working on it". I am wondering if you could elaborate on this "Fix" and hopefully it can help me and other users.

Thanks!

 

[RideFree]

upss,
I know that Geo. has answered your ? somewhere in the previous umpteen hundred posts but you hardly want to spend the weekend reading 'till you find your answer.
He's probably gone for the weekend. Hold tight.

 

[RideFree]

Observational Update;

I have lamented for quite some time now about having to re-boot the Comcast modem as many as several times a day. However, in the past week or two, there may have been only one occasion where the modem connection went down and required intervention.
I have also noticed that SunRocket's up-time has recently improved. I can not recall one interruption in service for the last two or three weeks. Coincidence? Or a MIB theory?

 

[Robor]

Well, I'm officially done with Sunrocket. After placing my Gizmo inbetween my cablemodem and router a few weeks ago I've had more intermittent internet outages than I've had the entire time of having Roadrunner (10 years). The incoming callers complaining about fast busy signals continue and I've had people call me while forwarded and said they never heard a ring - just silence until I picked up or they got my voicemail. I've got my phone forwarded to my cell and have disconnected my Gizmo, for good this time.

To anyone thinking about using Sunrocket - don't do it for anything more than a 2nd phone line or something to play with. When working "properly" the voice quality is average at best (this told to me by friends and family) and I have 4.5Mb down / 350Kb up broadband. Also, the intermittent outages and bugs will drive you crazy. There's a reason it's so cheap - you get what you pay for.

Edit: After some reading of reviews/experiences of VOIP providers I decided to give Vonage a try. I'm now waiting on my device to arrive then my number to be ported over. I will post my results here.

 

[loup garou]

Wow Robor, that sucks. I've had nothing but good experience with SunRocket aside from my troubles getting my package waaaay back at the begining of the thread, some problems calling large companies and being disconnected while on hold (fixed), and the couple big outages they gave reward points as compensation for. Otherwise, clear calls and no complaints from callers.

 

[STiSev]

Robor's review scared me.

Can I use VoIP in a place with no Internet? My mom's work has a telephone line, but no internet access.

 

[georgepa]

Well, Robor's experience is not at all common. While I don't doubt that it happened to him nobody else here, even those at various time critical of the service for occasional outages like GTFan, appear to have any of his problems. Uptime has been good for a good while and everybody gets through whenever they want to call me. It is probably something that a gizmo exchange would have fixed for Robor, but that's water under the bridge.

UPSS-

I sent you a PM with the info.

 

[bulletpr00f]

Here we are again with "not all common story" .. Just like you Robor, I threw my gizmo away with all the pain it brought to my life ~1.5 month ago. I'm not sure if Vonage is the answer but getting rid of SR is absolutely the right choice!!

Originally posted by: georgepa
Well, Robor's experience is not at all common. While I don't doubt that it happened to him nobody else here, even those at various time critical of the service for occasional outages like GTFan, appear to have any of his problems. Uptime has been good for a good while and everybody gets through whenever they want to call me. It is probably something that a gizmo exchange would have fixed for Robor, but that's water under the bridge.

UPSS-

I sent you a PM with the info.

 

[GTFan]

The service works for most people. For a few, it may not work well for a variety of reasons. As with anything in life, if it doesn't work for you after giving it your best shot, move on. Some folks on BBreports like to keep slamming the service, long after they've given it up (some having never tried it, go figure). That hasn't happened here all that much since jim4554 left. It's best to just move on and try something else.

It works fine for me when it's up, and as George said, I'm certainly not one of their defenders. I hope their recent uptime streak continues.

 

[astrosfan90]

Sorry to hear that Robor.

Again, to second others, my problems with SR have been limited to the couple of major outages for which I was rewarded (and tbh, I never noticed because I wasn't home for them anyway or didn't use my phone that day). The connection has been outstanding, call quality not only great for local calls, but for calls clear around the world to South America, Russia, or Australia. Well worth the extremely low price for me.

To answer you question, STiSev, no, you can't use VOIP without an internet connection.

 

[jjm]

I realize that people have had varying experiences with SR, but as Robor suggested (and others have too), it is not reliable enough yet. It is vital that you have another land line or cell if you want to use SR. And don't even think about it for business use. It is best suited for people who want a new toy to play with and people who can afford to tolerate less reliability than they would probably accept with other phone services. For those considering it, just go in with the right expectations.

As an aside, my wife has complained about voice quality since the day I got the service. I know some people seem to have had better luck with the voice quality, but it is very obviously lower quality in my experience.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: STiSev
Robor's review scared me.

Can I use VoIP in a place with no Internet?[/g] My mom's work has a telephone line, but no internet access.Simple answer = no. Broadband is a required element of VoIP.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: Robor
Well, I'm officially done with Sunrocket. After placing my Gizmo inbetween my cablemodem and router a few weeks ago I've had more intermittent internet outages than I've had the entire time of having Roadrunner (10 years).

two things, Robor
1. Don't cancel S/R until you've got Vonage lined up to receive the order for the number transfer.
2. I have not reviewed your other posts but assume that you tried the Gizmo after the router...


My experience with S/R was great for the first several months and totally exasperating until about a month ago. Since that, not 1 problem that I can attribute to S/R. Sorry yours wasn't better.

 

[georgepa]

Jim-

Most people have cell these days. Thus, VOIP can be used as a landline replacement with the caveat that occasionally the cell may have to be used instead. I agree that VOIP is not that good for a business line. A lost order because of an outage deletes any savings. In my case my customers call me on the cell, always have. They don't even know my home number. But, as a home phone replacement it probably works well for about 75 to 80% of all people. The savings are enormous, in my case over $1000 per year. IMO the "toy" remark could not be further from the truth. Of course expectations differ and demands differ. My wife and myself on weekends use the VOIP line extensively. We found voice quality to be excellent and added features that landline providers don't even have very satisfying. Others travel very much with work and have multiple cell phones, their landline is barely used, yet they are paying a lot of money for a service they use next to never. Perfect case for VOIP and not uncommon a situation at all.

Are occasional outages inconvenient? Sure. But it hasn't been a problem lately, SR probably got their hardware upgrades in place and stabilized, finally.

I used to have cable TV. Sure, "uptime" was very good but some of the channels were snowy and had streaks (without chance of improvement) and high prices went even higher every year in this monopolized market. I decided to go with DirecTV Satellite. All digital, lower price, more channels. Occasionally I have to live with the inconvenience of an "outage" (when there is a big storm coming through,) which can be especially frustrating when a big game is on. But the advantages of the service outweigh those times. I look at SR VOIP the same way (provided there is cell as backup, but who has high-speed internet in their home but no cell phone?)

Bullitproof-

It should be obvious to you that you and Robor are exceptions. Look at this thread community, or better, think logically. If service was completely unusable for everybody SR would not be growing or in business. Some can't use it for whatever reason because of their particular setup which may cause interference. Most find it working well for them, a true alternative to landline.

We all are in the same boat when a national outage hits. We are definitely not even in the same ocean when it comes to service quality and usability outside of any outages. My experience has been nothing short of astonishing. I never thought I could ditch my landline, save a ton of money and get a service with better quality and included features than my old Verizon landline.

 

[bulletpr00f]

Nobody needs to listen to me or georgepa. Please go to dslreports and read the reviews/ratings for yourself. The ranking for SR (third at the bottom, not last though .. 🙂 ) speaks for itself. This is kind a like a bad football team claiming they are a good team and yet they are to win a single game 🙂.
Here is the clickidy click

Originally posted by: georgepa
Jim-

Most people have cell these days. Thus, VOIP can be used as a landline replacement with the caveat that occasionally the cell may have to be used instead. I agree that VOIP is not that good for a business line. A lost order because of an outage deletes any savings. In my case my customers call me on the cell, always have. They don't even know my home number. But, as a home phone replacement it probably works well for about 75 to 80% of all people. The savings are enormous, in my case over $1000 per year. IMO the "toy" remark could not be further from the truth. Of course expectations differ and demands differ. My wife and myself on weekends use the VOIP line extensively. We found voice quality to be excellent and added features that landline providers don't even have very satisfying. Others travel very much with work and have multiple cell phones, their landline is barely used, yet they are paying a lot of money for a service they use next to never. Perfect case for VOIP and not uncommon a situation at all.

Are occasional outages inconvenient? Sure. But it hasn't been a problem lately, SR probably got their hardware upgrades in place and stabilized, finally.

I used to have cable TV. Sure, "uptime" was very good but some of the channels were snowy and had streaks (without chance of improvement) and high prices went even higher every year in this monopolized market. I decided to go with DirecTV Satellite. All digital, lower price, more channels. Occasionally I have to live with the inconvenience of an "outage" (when there is a big storm coming through,) which can be especially frustrating when a big game is on. But the advantages of the service outweigh those times. I look at SR VOIP the same way (provided there is cell as backup, but who has high-speed internet in their home but no cell phone?)

Bullitproof-

It should be obvious to you that you and Robor are exceptions. Look at this thread community, or better, think logically. If service was completely unusable for everybody SR would not be growing or in business. Some can't use it for whatever reason because of their particular setup which may cause interference. Most find it working well for them, a true alternative to landline.

We all are in the same boat when a national outage hits. We are definitely not even in the same ocean when it comes to service quality and usability outside of any outages. My experience has been nothing short of astonishing. I never thought I could ditch my landline, save a ton of money and get a service with better quality and included features than my old Verizon landline.

 

[bostonkarl]

"Nobody needs to listen to me or georgepa. Please go to dslreports and read the reviews/ratings for yourself. "

/applause

This is spot on. There are over 100 reviews listed. Some good, some bad, some in between. There are, however, two themes that emerge.

1. SR had gone through some serious reliability issues. Many people still find the service and features somewhat on the flakey side. Again, I'm not making this up; read the plethora of recent reviews. Is this over? Who knows, but there have been several service meltdowns since I have been a subscriber. Folks here will authoritatively claim that SR is past all that; others will firmly state that SR is not. I advise a new subsciber to know what he/she's getting into.

2. SR has absolutely miserable tech support. For the rank-and-file SR subscriber, gettign through to Tier 3 tech support is arduous business. Tier 1 is basically useless. Again, I'm not making it up. Take a gander at the 100+ reviews.

In the end, is SR worth it? Any feature that a user doesn't need or use isn't of value to that user. If reliability is extreamly important, perhaps it might be a better idea to look elsewhere. (Don't bother flaming me; the 100+ reviews speak louder than any shrill flame post about this.) If bottom line cost is important, then SR is worth a closer look IF (and this is a big if) the user expects to spend a lot of time on the phone. (Parents with teanagers -- this might be godsend). For folks that don't need an all-you-can-eat plan, there are several very good 500 minutes plans out there for less. If international calling is important, SR offers darn good rates, but it is never a bad idea to shop around.

 

[jjm]

For those looking for cheap phone service, SR may be the answer. But note that even its supporters acknowledge it is less reliable than local POTS. If that is an acceptable trade-off for anyone considering this service, great. Others who might be expecting nearly the same service as POTS with lower cost will be frustrated. Just make sure you go in with the right expectations. SR will be less reliable than POTS - period. But SR sells itself as a straight replacement for POTS, never warning that reliability will likely be less than POTS. In my view, the reliability (and quality) have been consistently inferior, so the trade-off is not good for me. Others seem to feel differently.

 

[georgepa]

Funny how Bostonkarl shows up here once a month to "set the record straight" and complain about the "pesky pumpers" and then does not participate in discussion the rest of the month. I have never seen him give any kind of tech advice, either. Classic. :frown:


To those who it does not work for: Moving on is the best option. VOIP is a young technology. There will be hickups with all providers.

VOIPs by definition are not as reliable as POTS. If anyone thought it would be and is under that mistaken assumption, a reality check is in order. If they rely on absolutely "always on" dialtone for their family they need to run back to POTS in a hurry.

SR does NOT sell itself as a POTS replacement. In fact they make clear that IF you choose to make it your POTS replacement (as many have done and are happy with) then be sure to have some sort of reliable backup available, preferrably a pared down, measured POTS line or cell.

LOGIC needs to be applied. SR is growing even faster than before, most did not leave during the couple outages. Those who are with SR are plenty "primed" by various sites with the knowledge that it won't be as 100% reliable as POTS and that a backup is absolutely essential. It CAN'T be a solution for everybody. Nothing is. Just like people try different cell companies.

SR makes it extremely easy to try out the service. There is no shipping cost, no cancellation fee if it does not "feel right" and the phones they ship with it don't need to be sent back if the user wants to cancel for any reason. IMO it makes no sense to "warn" people to stay away from SR. He/she has nothing to lose, nothing whatsoever. Try it out. If it sounds good and "feels right," keep it. If it does not work, cancel, owe NOTHING and keep a $60 phone system for your troubles. Dire warnings to "stay away" smack of sour grapes, could prevent a potentially excellent experience, and, going with the HOT DEAL premise of this thread, try to tell people NOT to get a free phone system for just trying out a service to see if this works for them.