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Vonage I participate in several Usenet groups - I posted the below message there last
I participate in several Usenet groups - I posted the below message there last week, looking to find some answers about my crappy phone service with Vonage. I was directed by a fellow Usenet member to this forum, so here I am. Perhaps I can get some help here, other than the explanation of "throttling" and the general, "yeah, cable companies suck" I was receiving in Usenet.
I just *really* want to get my quality back on my Vonage service - I don't want to be blackmailed into TWCNY's phone service. I think, just on principle, I'll go back to regular land line phone service, first.
I have TWCNY tech's coming *again* on Tuesday - not that I think this will help at all. Is there anything I can point to specifically to make them finally believe that it's *their* problem and not Vonage's problem? I know Vonage is not to blame, here.
My original usenet massage is below, and after that is my Boston test scores.
(Original Usenet message)
So I have Vonage.
All summer my phone worked wonderfully, you couldn't tell the difference between the Vonage service and a regular land line telephone. I got Vonage service, even though I had Time Warner Cable, Road Runner, and every other thing Time Warner offered, because Time Warner, at that time, didn't offer digital phone service "in my area".
Now, the story is quite different. My phone rarely works. It hasn't worked reliably since winter hit, which also coincides quite nicely with the date of Time Warner offering their own digital phone service ($10 a month more expensive than Vonage).
When I go to use the phone, most of the time it will say "Unable to make a call, try later", or, when someone calls me, I can hear them (faintly), but they can't hear me, or if they can hear me it sounds "Like you are underwater". The reception is choppy, staticky, and "popping".
I've called TWCNY twice to come and fix it but, of course, they say "too bad" after checking the bandwidth on the TV and declaring it "fine". It's not their service, so they have no responsibility to troubleshoot it. I've gone through support on the Vonage website (it's rather hard to call them when the phone doesn't work), and other than some software upgrading they've
done on the router, they blame it on "bandwidth issues".
I tended to not believe the "bandwidth issues" excuse until last week when I got a phone call from someone in TWCNY's business department. She left me a message (I've been letting a lot of calls go to messages - at least I get the messages, rather than the "can you hear me now" syndrome after picking up the phone). She was calling because my account had been referred to her because of "high internet throughrate usages", and she wondered if I was
running a home business, and if I was, then she wanted to "UPGRADE MY BANDWIDTH", and take the "restrictions" off of my account.
Now, excuse me, but what the hell???
Number one: Why do they monitor my usage? And why do I suddenly get thrown to the business department if I go over some "limit" that I didn't even know was in place?
Number 2: If I'm paying for "high speed beep beep" cable internet service, why would they have "another level" they could upgrade me to? And is this why my phone doesn't work? If I stay off the internet - will that leave more "bandwidth time" for the phone?
Number 3: This makes me put on my tinfoil hat and think that I was right to assume that once their phone service was available, they somehow "took away" some of my bandwidth to force me to switch. Is this even possible or am I being paranoid?
Number 4: Should I just capitulate and pay the extra $10.00 a month for their service, and then at least have the satisfaction of them having to fix it if it breaks? Although it would Kill me to have them blackmail me into it.
Number 5: What is the correlation between the weather and the phone? When it's nice out, the phone is "better" - not as good as it was in the summer, but "better". Are cable lines affected by cold? All of our lines are new except for the "drop" from the telephone line - all the cable inside the house was done before we drywalled, all brand new cable. Could the "drop" be the problem?
Number 6: I went across the street and called the lady back from the business department and she song and danced me right out of thinking that there was ever "another level" - she made it sound like it was just a "designation on my account" and that there was no other "level" available, and I was getting their premium service. But I have her message saved, the one where she offered to "upgrade my bandwidth" and "take restrictions off my account", even though she said "well, this is my cell phone number and I don't have your account in front of me, and I don't know what I could have been referring to...." and she also said that accounts get referred to her
for "high throughrate usage" at this time of year because their accounts are monitored by the IRS, and "high usage" usually corresponds to "home business" and the IRS wants to know this information. Huh????
So, is this a vast conspiracy? Does the IRS really get some kind of
insider's info from the cable company as to who is running a home business? Did the cable company steal my bandwidth to blackmail me? Does Vonage work better in warmer climates? Do I need to switch to TWCNY and just let it go? Or should I upgrade my tinfoil hat instead?
(end original message)
My stats:
Malone NY
Broadband Linksys RT31P2 Router - not wireless.
Surfboard 4100 Cable Modem
(Both have had software updates in the last 6 weeks)
I have also gone to the Vonage Dashboard and adjusted the Bandwidth saver to all three different settings with no change in quality.
Boston results:
MOS Analysis From You TO Boston
MOS 3.6 / 5.0
(Best with G.711 is 4.4)
Degradation Sources
Codec 0.57 41.6%
Latency 0.00 0.0%
Packet Discards 0.81 58.4%
Packet Loss 0.00 0.0%
Codec G.711 (PCM at 64kbps,
20ms RTP payload,
80kbps IP BW)
Round-Trip
Latency 127 ms
Packet Discards 3.1%
Packet Loss 0.0%
Loss Periods Min: 20 ms
Avg: 20 ms
Max: 40 ms
Random Loss
Jitter Min: 0 ms
Avg: 7 ms
Max: 46 ms
Signaling Quality Post-Dial Delay 63 ms
Call Setup Time 63 ms
Media Delay 156 ms
MOS Analysis FROM Boston To You
MOS 3.7 / 5.0
(Best with G.711 is 4.4)
Degradation Sources
Codec 0.57 44.6%
Latency 0.00 0.0%
Packet Discards 0.71 55.4%
Packet Loss 0.00 0.0%
Codec G.711 (PCM at 64kbps,
20ms RTP payload,
80kbps IP BW)
Round-Trip
Latency 127 ms
Packet Discards 2.0%
Packet Loss 0.0%
Loss Periods Min: 20 ms
Avg: 20 ms
Max: 40 ms
Random Loss
Jitter Min: 4 ms
Avg: 8 ms
Max: 58 ms
Signaling Quality Post-Pickup Delay 72 ms
Call Setup Time 76 ms
Media Delay 108 ms
Thanks
Kate
Read The Full Thread: TWCNY vs Vonage
• Is that test done on a totally quiet Internet connection (ie. computer hooked
• Hi -
Yes, that's a "totally quiet" internet connection. My computer is hooked
• Am I the only one finding that IRS comment very odd, and suspect? What in the heck
• I use Earthlink for my high speed speed service which is supplied
through the
• Well, just to add more Twilight Zone to it - When I called TWCNY again this morning
• No problem, email it to webmaster at this site.
• Done, Thank You.
Kate
• http://www.vonage-forum.com/images/voice-message.wav
72FLH posted "I participate in several Usenet groups - I posted the below message there last" on 03/03/2006 |
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