Vonage?

[joyridder]

Was Just browsing (http://www.vonage.ca/) and wondered if anyone has this, or would try it to save a buck. I heard that it was not as reliable when Internet traffic was busy and breaks up calls. :dunno: Let me know what you think:thumbsup:

[Zero102]

I'm on Vonage.
If you are using bittorrent, your voice quality will go for a toss, but other than that I am very happy with it.
The only problems I have had recently were with Shaw and not Vonage.

Only problems:
They bill you from the day you sign up, and the shipping costs are pretty dumb.
But, if you call and complain about being billed for time you can't use, then they will refund it. I got a free month out of it instead, so it offset the shipping charges a little bit.

[joyridder]

Originally posted by Zero102

The only problems I have had recently were with Shaw and not Vonage.




What sort of probs? Hassle of dealing with a company when changing services?

[FiveFreshFish]

If you want to cancel before your contract is up, there's a $50 charge. Customer service is outsourced to the Philippines and perhaps other countries.

That's what I heard from a co-worker anyway. His advice: Avoid at all costs.

[frostyda9]

I use it and it's alright. It's cheap, but I use my cell the majority of the time anyway. The quality is usually ok, but sometimes it's a little bit scratchy. I just used it 5 minutes ago to re-activate my copy of Windows because I changed a DVD drive. Fuck you Microsoft!

[westbeach]

dudes.. there is a better site.. all long distance for free...

www.skype.com download it and then you can talk to ANYONE in the world for free.. Anyways.. Yeah thought i would share..
Cheers...

[Zero102]

Don't get me started on skype.

My problems with shaw were that my connection kept dropping out, or my ping times would spike to 500-1000ms. It really fucked up my calls when this would happen. I live in an older part of Vernon and the cable infrastructure here is pretty sketchy. It wasn't vonage's fault, but my biggest problem was that my phone wouldn't work.

There is a cancellation fee if you cancel in the first year, they told me 12 months, and there really is no contract.
Also you have to pay return shipping for the equipment if you cancel in the first year. After that you get to keep it, or sell it to somebody else who wants the service?

They say you can't fax with it at all, CIA said the same thing and I could fax with them. I need to send some forms to my mortgage company, so I am going to try to fax then over my VOIP later this week, if you want I'll let you know if it works.

Also, if you are investigating VOIP services, there are lots of sites out there where you plug your computer into the phone line, and it makes a test call to one of their servers to evaluate the call quality. These are good indicators of how good your VOIP service is. Get people on the services you are investigating to try these sites out.
I plan to try mine when I go to fax those forms.

[sputnik]

Shaw Digital Phone > Telus > Vonage > Skype

At the end of the day its basically "you get what you pay for".

The thing that I especially dont like about Vonage/Skype is that you are dependant on your internet connection in order to use your phone.

[joyridder]

The only thing that would "attract" me to Vonage would be the cost. I have used Skype before and its not that bad. With Vonage depending so much on Internet connection, I would be rather pissed if I could not use my phone when I needed too. I have had Shaw for about 3yrs and have never had issues with the service, except the cost at this point because I don't really use it as much as my cell...
Thanks again for the feedback... :thumbsup:

[ronaldo]

i use vonage at home and it works perfectly fine, if your set your router settings up properly to give priority to the vonage device at all times than your ok. occasionaly i get a lil static on the line, and if i do i just hang up and call back 2 seconds later and its as clear as any traditional telephone. vonage is awesome i have no complaints whatsoever

[483hp]

Vonage is ok for the price. The line is very noisy and sometimes doesn't ring when someone tries to call you. I'd go with Shaw instead. A lot of people prefer the service after switching from Vonage.

Vonage tech support is outsourced to India in the evenings. Never got any decent solution from them. More or less arguing with them why something doesn't work. If you call during the day, you get someone in North America and they actually know how to solve your problem.

[Arthur Dent]

I had it - worked fine. Wife didn't like it for call quality. Takes a good hour to cancel it (plus the $50).

[CRXguy]

I've had it for almost a month now and no complaints, so far. I don't notice anything different in quality versus your traditional phone line.

[alloroc]

Any more comments on vonage?

It looks pretty attractive.

[Aftrmath0]

its cheap for the product that you get !! the price is definitly right... you just need to decide weather you think its for you!