Are you overall happy with vonage/?/

Posts: 51

baldrn wrote:

I have the choice of going with either Charter or Vonage. Both will cost the same, I know with Charter I won't have call forwarding and will have to dial the area code for EVERY number I call. I don't like that.
I've read thru a lil of the forums here and see mixed reviews. I see problems, but you don't hear from the people that don't have a problem.
Thanks

Hi, I have been with Vonage since last October and on the whole we are very happy with it, mind you we are both computer and teck capable what I mean is we can trouble shoot most problems if we have any. We only had one major one and that was the adapter decided to go on the blink after a couple of weeks, we just phoned up and they sent us a new one. We bought all new phones and have enjoyed it ever since. We even took our Vonage adapter(travel with Vonage) away with us to Puerto Vallarta and our laptop of course and plugged it into the high speed internet service in the unit and we had use of our home telephone when in Mexico, which was a blessing because the calls from there using their system is so expensive. So the bottom line is, YES, WE ARE VERY HAPPY WITH Vonage AND THE COST. We are in Canada so we are on the $20.00 plan for 500 minutes anywhere in Canada and the States. Suits us down to the ground. We hope it continues to improve, we don't have much competition here I think only Shaw and Rogers, but in my area it's only DCCNET. Just the thought of going back to Telus makes us screem!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually just going out today to hook up my friends Vonage and four new phones. Good luck. P.

Posts: 64 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 24, 2006 Posts: 64

My take:

As long as you’re reasonably tech savvy and have a good Internet connection, there’s a very good chance you’ll like Vonage.

I’d echo what NateHoy said, pretty much.

Test your Internet connection quality first!!

I’ve been using Vonage for 2 years, 5 months. My experience has been good enough to recommend it to friends and relatives. I also use Skype for my geekier acquaintances. I’ve been using Voip for over a decade – used to be calling to a dynamic IP address e mailed to me using Netscape 4.x with a plug-in. Vonage makes it so it’s transparent to the person at the other end you’re using Voip.

I’ve been “lurking” on this BB for some time and decided to get a username so I could reply to posts.

I have used Vonage in two different houses and plugged it into the hard wiring of the house in both cases. (After disconnecting the PSTN drop at the NID, of course – there’s a whole forum called “hard wiring.”) It worked fine. It supports multiple phones, both wired and cordless.

I have a wired and wireless router with multiple devices (desktop, laptops, networked printer, etc.) No problems except for the need to reboot a device every couple of months.

I also have to access a network at work using VPN, which works fine through the Vonage adapter.

Call quality is generally good, although you’ll occasionally get static. Just hang up and try again. Calls almost always sound better than cellular and usually as good as or better than a conventional land line. If you’re using a cell for long distance, you can use Vonage for LD and perhaps switch to a cheaper cell plan.

Current Setup:
Cox>Motorola SB5120>Motorola VT1005V>Netgear WGT624 v2>devices

I’d echo the advice to get a simple phone adapter or one that’s a wired router only.

I’ve taken the adapter and a cheap phone while traveling and as long as you have decent Internet access, Vonage works fine. You can connect to wireless networks by bridging through your laptop.

Main problems have been Cox Cable out of service. Where I currently live no one offers naked DSL and wireless is significantly more expensive than cable. Worst outage was 2 days. Had Vonage network availability number set to forward to my cell, so minor inconvenience.

I had to call tech support a couple of times and I agree that Tier 1 seems to have not too well-trained people working from scripts and long waits. And you sometimes had to call more than once. That said, the problems were resolved.

I can’t get a number in the area code I’m currently in, but I probably would have kept my old number even if I didn’t have to. No E911 here either. One of my relatives had to call 911 for real using Vonage (near Pittsburgh) and it worked well.

Posts: 48 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 48

I have had the good and not so good.
In one town, service was great and seamless. I moved and the service is much lesss than desireable. Who do I blame, I really don't know.

Now, my need shave changed to the point where I have no need for the unlimied LD so I will be dropping service. I will send a registered letter to Vonage advisign that my serive is to end on X date and that I understand that i will pay for another month pastthat date. heck, thatois what the agreement I signed states, so I live with it. I will then have a few 3extra pieces of equipment laying around.

All in all, that is life.

Gburg

Posts: 48 · Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 8:34 pm Post subject:

A guy who owned a tire store once told me that a bargain is only a bargain in the mind of the buyer. Said another way, you get what you pay for.

I had some problems with Vonage early on but they were solved by reading these forums and a few kindly souls here who offered help.

The worst part of Vonage is technical support. OTOH, I called the New Jersey center directly once and got truly outstanding service. My issue was handled by a knowledgeable individual that would not end the call until he heard me say, "everything is okay" after he had placed several test calls to this 'phone.

Whatever problems I've had with Voip are minor in perspective of saving something in excess of $50 a month.

I retain minimum POTS service, in part for "guaranteed" 911 service, my connection to an alarm system and a remote, security gate. Still, I'm saving more than $600 a year and have excellent--not perfect--LD and local service over Voip and Vonage.

No, Voip ain't perfect--Comcast has been down once or twice and sound quality has been poor upon occasion --but I sure like the $600 I'm saving.

Posts: 57 · Full Forum Member Joined: Sep 03, 2005 Posts: 57

First of all, I am VERY happy with Vg after a period pf struggle.

Just want to respond to someone's comments about people's high expectatipns. I just want to say that people are entitled to their high expections, expecially you are trying to "steal" customers from traditional telcos whose phones almost always worked.

When I was working for a cable co and in the process of launching digital phone, our goal was to try the hardest to have the customer have the same experience as their old phone. Because people's old phones always worked and as a competitive strategy, we strived to have people to notice no difference in phone qualities. The only difference we wanted people to notice is the smaller phone bill, everything else is as good as their old phone. That is how you win in this competitive market.

If you call VG, I am pretty sure that's how they feel as well. But they do a very bad job at it. They have no service on the ground as the cable cos do, and they have such lousy phone support as well. If I were them, I would drasticly scale back on marketing expense and beef up customer service. That's where the money needs to be spent now. People will come if they have confident in your product and support.

Posts: 51 · Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:33 pm Post subject:

Picsman wrote:

A guy who owned a tire store once told me that a bargain is only a bargain in the mind of the buyer. Said another way, you get what you pay for.

I had some problems with Vonage early on but they were solved by reading these forums and a few kindly souls here who offered help.

The worst part of Vonage is technical support. OTOH, I called the New Jersey center directly once and got truly outstanding service. My issue was handled by a knowledgeable individual that would not end the call until he heard me say, "everything is okay" after he had placed several test calls to this 'phone.

Whatever problems I've had with Voip are minor in perspective of saving something in excess of $50 a month.

I retain minimum POTS service, in part for "guaranteed" 911 service, my connection to an alarm system and a remote, security gate. Still, I'm saving more than $600 a year and have excellent--not perfect--LD and local service over Voip and Vonage.

No, Voip ain't perfect--Comcast has been down once or twice and sound quality has been poor upon occasion --but I sure like the $600 I'm saving.

Hi, I agree with you and Libbyloo; Excellent but not perfect and love the savings. However, the tek support is terrible, I have referred two people, both have signed up and I was referred by one. I have spoken to tek support, goodness knows where I have written many emails to the effect I have never seen one free month show up, my outgoing calls show up as either out of Province or Private, have called tek support and he gave me a case number said I would hear back in 48 hours, this was three weeks ago. I GIVE UP. I am in Vancouver and would like to speak to a Canadian Tek support or even someone in New Jersey, no such luck! I am out of ideas now, but still like the savings but QOS and static on lines and dropped calls, can't report the problems because nothing happens when I do. However, would like to get a free month from the two I have referred.

Posts: 70 · Full Forum Member Joined: Nov 28, 2005 Posts: 70

Please note that Vonage deals with hundreds of voice and email messages a day stating pretty much "Vonage gave us lousy service, I had to spend many hours getting nowhere, so I ain't paying".

Vonage will just throw the TOS at you, claiming...whatever....and that the charges are valid. You will also be given contact info if you need to pursue the issue further: Customer Service (Email or phone).

Good luck.

Posts: 29 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 26, 2005 Posts: 29

I have been with Vonage well over a year and it has been generally a smoth ride. The exception would be when my dependable Motorola adapter died and Vonage replaced it with the horrible Linksys 300 that was hell on earth while Vonage went through a series of new firmwares. Thanks to them finally getting it close to right and more importantly Natehoy's help in setting up a real router and just using the Vonage suppled model as an adapter has again smothed things out and made me a reasonably happy customer.

My only remaining complaints are the continually riseing price and more importantly still not having E911 and having to pay for it! As far as tech support is concerned------------------------