Why is Vonage so cheap?

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 21, 2004 Posts: 13

I get this question every time I tell someone about the Vonage service. I'm signed up for the Basic 500 Plan, and just paid my first bill (a whopping $16.94). I couldn't be happier with the service, and I've been telling everyone that will listen. But, they always have the same question: "Why or HOW can Vonage be so cheap?!" I don't know how to answer them.... anyone?

Posts: 110 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Mar 06, 2004 Posts: 110

Tell your friends that all the calls are actually manually connected via huge switchboard operations using prison labor in China.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 3

Its so cheep because:

1) you need a $45 a month broadband connection to use it
2) their customer service employees are in Bangalore, India and are paid $1 an hour
3) they don't answer their phone anyway
4) they only accept credit card payments
5) the service is unreliable and they make you sign away all your rights in order to enroll

Sorry, but its crashed three times today, and this isn't unusual. Wait until you need to make a call and you get no dial tone. Blink blink blink blink.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 3

Vonage would be an incredible deal if it was regular phone service you were getting. Its not.

I can't prove that Vonage customer service is outsourced to an Indian company, all I know is the two techs I spoke with had thick accents and difficulty understanding me (I was raised in the suburbs of New York). In order to talk to a tech I had to wait several hours for a callback. The tech that called back told me to reboot my cable modem, voice adapter and router. I'm fairly certain that was the extent of their script because it was the solution for everything. No matter that everything except the adapter was working just peachy.

The agreement I signed stated that Vonage was not responsible. For anything. Including no dial tone for extended periods of time even if it was due to their server being overloaded, which seems to be exactly what is happening. I don't recall ever having to sign an agreement like that with a land line, wireless or broadband provider.

I've ten years experience designing network equipment installations and I have an in depth understanding of networking and protocols. The problem has been / is with the Motorolla adapter and / or Vonage's server. The Motorolla adapter really impressed me when I first installed it (in a positive way); after using it for three months, its impressed me even more that Motorolla would risk its reputation by releasing an untested product so widely, risking damaging their reputation and leaving them open to future litigation.

Does Moto work for Vonage or what? I know I am not the only person who is having A LOT of difficulty with this piece of equipment. While I was writing this the Voice Adapter went offline again -- that would be the sixth time today. Blink blink blink blink.

I think its important that people who are considering this service have accurate information about it. All I found when I was researching it was stuff that seems in retrospect to have been placed by Vonage employees. This service is not reliable and should not be used where you need a reliable phone service. Its only worth $15 a month.

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 21, 2004 Posts: 13

Thank you Moto for the response to my original query. When you try to explain Vonage to people, it DOES sound too good to be true, and that's where some of these skeptical-type questions come from. You provided some concrete info that I can share and hopefully dispel some of the skepticism.

scott, clearly you've had problems with your Vonage service - sorry to hear that. I have not experienced any of the problems that you described. I've had to call tech support twice, and both times I got through to a tech within 10 minutes. They did have rather thick accents, but I had no trouble understanding them, and they were extremely helpful and polite.
I've had my Vonage service for about 6 weeks, and in that time I've gotten the "4 blinks" on 2 occasions. I resolved it both times by unplugging the power cord from the Digital Phone Adaptor for about 30 seconds and replugging it. Works everytime so far. But it sounds like your Vonage issues are more complex than that.
As Moto pointed out, if you're paying for Broadband anyway, there's really no cause to complain about the cost. I used to pay MCI about $55/month on top of my cable connection - with Vonage, my phone bill is $17! Rather than looking at it as "you need a $45 a month broadband connection to use it", I look at it as taking advantage of my broadband connection - which I will never do without anyway!
I was also uncomfortable at first with the automatic payment from my debit card, but it's a small price to pay for such a satisfactory service (at least in my case).

Vonage is no different than any other service, in that it "works" for some people, but not for others. When AT&T stopped "working" for me, I switched to Sprint, and eventually MCI. I assume that you have tried everything with Vonage, and it's still not working for you. Might be time to switch!

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 26, 2004 Posts: 4

FYI

I doubt the Vonage CAll center is in India, for those of you who live in New Jersey, and have ever visited Edison, where Vonage is based, it has a HUGE indian population. People of indian descent are DEEP in that area.

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Nov 29, 2003 Posts: 17

I agaree Vonage is not perfect or even as close to perfect as my POTS is. But, I compare what my long distance bill would be if I used POTS for it and I am willing to put up with what in my case amounts to some sound quality issues. The line has been very reliable for me. I have had Vonage for about 6 months. I use it only for outgoing calls. I still have my POTS line and that is used for local (free) calls and incoming calls. I do not give out my Vonage number to people. On the other hand, I compared my long distance costs, Last month's =Vonage bill $40.00 (my wife called information once) compared to .07 a minute (the best rate available to me with a major carrier) at 2500 minutes $175.00 + $4.95 and fees for AT&T's monthly fee shows a savings of $140.00. Over a year thats $1680. I no longer care how long I am on the phone "to save money". Yeah, I'd say Vonage is a Great deal for me. Very Happy

Posts: 12 · Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 7:22 am Post subject:

I have never been happy with any POTS service I have ever had. There was always some extra fee or service charge tacked on that was totally not needed. QoS was also lacking (granted some issues could be b/c of line conditions in the building but this is doubtful) compared to my wireless service. I have only had this service for 1.5 weeks and have only had issues with the line being dead when I rebooted my firewall (yes, I place it behind b/c the MTA will not handle the traffic I put through my connection very well). I would say I am a power user and am always trying the latest technology. I do know that your connection may seem fine for your normal usage, but it might lack the ports/bandwidth/ISP service required for it to work correctly. My local ISP has their own Voip service now and they def. trim the service for their voice offering. I know they offer higher bandwidth to your home and another IP if you have their service. You can pay for another IP if you want (as mentioned in other articles on here about setup and traffic/port forwarding on the forums), but can only get more bandwidth by paying a ton more. Even the local telco was causing issue when trying to call Vonage directly. I would only get through on my wireless phone or 1 out of 5 times on my POTS line.

I have been using Voip for years in differnet forms with a greater increase in my video conferencing usage. There are always problems with new technology, but that is what makes it fun for some. While jumping on the HDTV bandwagon a few years ago I faced some issues with compatibility and content. Over time, things have gotten better and better. All I can say is, try and see ... things will keep getting better!

One thing though, why does Vonage cost more than most other Voip providers (excluding telcos and cable company offerings)?? I would love a $20/month unlimited plan offered by others or at least a $15/month unlimited local calling plan instead of the current rate plans on Vonage.