From: Steve Petersen (email_suppressed_at_lugwash.org)
Date: Wed 03-Nov-2004 02:24:45 PM EST
I've also had good experience with Vonage; I didn't look around, but
took *Wired* at its word--they gave it a good (=suspicious?) plug.
Another plus is that $15/month really means like $16.50/month, not
$25/month after fees etc., as with SBC. Though I hear that phone
companies have been complaining about this disparity, so that may
change. I also like the easy billing to the credit card.
Incidentally it's pronounced to rhyme with "FAUN edge".
One friend pointed out that in 9/11-like circumstances neither cell
phones nor VoIP will work, so that's a bit of a concern perhaps.
[snippy political comment rethought and cut, in the interests of keeping
one corner of my life politically unpolarized]
Steve
Richard Herrell wrote:
> Other notes:
>
> The Good:
>
> 1. With my Vonage phone number in Hartland my home in Livonia, my family
> and friends in Brighton can use seven digit dialing to call me for free.
>
> 2. The $15.95 plan, in addition to my cell phone, gives me more minutes
> than I need.
>
> 3. I never get solicitation calls.
>
> 4. The sound quality is much better than cell phones, and reportedly
> better than some older analog lines.
>
> The Bad:
>
> 5. There was a lot of verbage about 911. 911 does work, but not as well
> as regular 911 (or so I gather)
>
> 6. You really need to keep a cell phone around in case of a power outage.
>
> 7. DTMF ("Press 1 to continue") didn't work for me for several weeks.
> It's fixed now.
>
> 8. The VOIP adapter is $60 up front, and it only comes with a 30 day
> warranty. After that, if you break it it's $100 to replace it.
>
> 9. Just because someone else has VOIP, you may not necessarily be able
> to talk for free. That only works between Vonage customers (This may
> change soon)
>
> 10. Sometimes, very high network traffic in your local network can cause
> audible slowdowns and cutouts in your conversation.
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard
>
> Joe Stump wrote:
>
>> Neal,
>>
>> I use vonage and it kicks ass. Here are a few of the features you may not
>> know they have, but make it worth it:
>>
>> 1.) Whever your vonage router goes, your phone number goes (ie. on the
>> road in hotels, etc.)
>>
>> 2.) You can get your voicemail forwarded to your email as .wav
>> attachments.
>>
>> 3.) You can get a "virtual phone" for a small fee routed to your
>> computer.
>>
>> 4.) You can get multiple area codes routed to your phone.
>>
>> 5.) You can buy a WiFi VoIP phone (they exist) and use your vonage number
>> as a WiFi cell phone.
>>
>> 6.) http://www.joestump.net/475691731 (WiFi'ing your Vonage router ...
>> sort of).
>>
>> 7.) You can do upgrades/downgrades/buy services/etc all through the web.
>> Their control panel is top notch.
>>
>> Things I don't really like:
>>
>> 1.) Voice quality is not as good as a land line.
>>
>> 2.) Electricity or Internet goes down and so does your phone (though
>> Vonage does allow you to set a "network outage" number that vonage calls
>> are routed to if it can't find your router).
>>
>> --Joe
>>
>> --
>> Joe Stump, PHP Developer
>> http://www.joestump.net
>> How would this sentence be different if pi equaled 3?
>> --
>> *** Sent from [e-mail suppressed] *** http://www.lugwash.org
>> to unsubscribe: `echo "unsubscribe" | mail
>> [e-mail suppressed]`
>
> --
> *** Sent from [e-mail suppressed] *** http://www.lugwash.org
> to unsubscribe: `echo "unsubscribe" | mail [e-mail suppressed]`
-- *** Sent from [e-mail suppressed] *** http://www.lugwash.org to unsubscribe: `echo "unsubscribe" | mail [e-mail suppressed]`
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed 01-Dec-2004 01:00:01 AM EST