DSL/cable w/Vonage in PI for US to Philippines communication

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 03, 2007 Posts: 7

Hello all,
I racked up some huge Vonage bills due to repeated calls to a cell phone # in the Philippines at .23 cents a minute. I don't want to do this anymore. I've tried to do the calling card thing and I just don't want the hassel, I don't think the savings is worth it anyway. So .. I just ordered another device and the residental 500 minute service. I will send it over there for her to hook up to either a DSL or a cable internet connection. Since we will be talking Vonage to Vonage I figured having a minute limitation was a non-issue - for now anyway -unless this phone gets used by her family then I'll suck up a another 10.00 a month/the 24.99 unlimited plan to avoid a rapid accumilation of 3.9 a minute when they go above 500 minutes calling their family members in California - for now I'll see if I can get away with the 14.99 plan and hope she guards this phone from her family that is the size of a small village Eek

) Who am I kidding I'll probably have this upgraded within a month anyways once this gets going. Anyways I have a few questions if anyone could help me I'd be thankful!

- Will this work best on cable or dsl (broadband) in the Philippines
- Has anyone else actually done this? if so could you recomend a company over there? Any tips?
- I happened across Greendot.com and DSL is 2500 pesos about $56 a month if I understand the website correctly, is this a typical fee or are there better deals? This seems a little steep.
- User doesn't have a landline, does anyone know the costs of installing a cable or running a dsl line to a house there?
- Most importantly - have I been stupid and wasted my money on a device that won't work on their internet services? Legal issues, VOIP prohibitions, etc.
- Anyone that has done this, have you set up to make payments from your Mastercard from here so the user at the other end doesn't have to contend with making the payments? If so, what companies there can support this? Greendot looks like they do not.
- Is there a way I can restrict this device to only call my number or other numbers I designate (see my earlier comment about other users)
More info:
- the location is Pozorrubio, Pangasinan
- User doesn't have a computer, we plan on her running the cable or wire to the device directly
- The assigned number to the new Vonage device is a U.S. number with my area code

Thanks in advance for any help that someone smarter than me can provide! Very Happy

Posts: 7 · Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:29 am Post subject:

did a similar inquiry on which has the best service as well as the best unit but did not get any replies so far. This other forum might help and it has local members from the area you specified.

http://www.pinoydsl.net/

Tried last february but I can't get the router adapter to connect or provision then tried a different adapter after 3 months and got it to work but there was always an issue on drop and one-way calls. It was sweet when it works. I had to subscribe to the premium residential DSL service and prioritize VIOP calls on the network traffic. It boils down to the Internet Provider. Mine was schizophrenic (PLDT). I have fewer problems on short duration calls but on long chats, I average about 7 drop calls per hour and an occasional echo.

Posts: 4694 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4694

I can't answer your questions about service over there, but I have two suggestions. First, if she knows someone using the internet service who does have a computer, then have her run the forum VoIP test and post the detailed results here. That will help answer the questions. Second, make sure that her family doesn't use the phone to make calls to locals over there. That would be an international call and you could run up quite a bill. Better yet, I think you can go into your account page and set it to block international calling.

Posts: 52 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 10, 2007 Posts: 52

Read the TOS and you find a nice little article about Vonage not supporting overseas use of the service. With that said, it should work, unless that country prohibits VoIP, the ISP blocks VoIP traffic, etc, etc.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 03, 2007 Posts: 7

Thanks to all for the help so far

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 17, 2007 Posts: 1

Let us know how you got on. Have you tried Bayan tel

Posts: 14 · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:48 am Post subject: Vonage Use in Philippines...

Hi Everybody! I've been using Vonage in Metro Manila, Philippines since December 2006, and I have only had less than 1% problems, overall.

Vonage's call centers are located in Philippines, too. Also, if you're a call center agent working in Philippines for Vonage, please send me a private message. Thanks.

-- Marcos