Gimme the straight dope on quality

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jan 02, 2005 Posts: 13

Hi all,

I intend to sign up for Vonage service this coming week and was wondering if some current users could give their overall satisfaction as far as quality goes.

My local provider has been gouging me for far too long ($200/mo) for poor service, including dropped calls, no dial tone, etc. I am looking forward to kissing them goodbye.

I have also recently gotten cable internet service (256dl, 128ul). Will this be sufficient? I know Vonage says you only need 90 in each direction, but i've also heard the more bandwidth, the better the call quality.

All responses are appreciated.

-Bill

Posts: 227 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 10, 2004 Posts: 227

Willy2005,
Welcome to Vonage! The call quality (my experience) is excellent. People on the other end are quite surprised when I tell them and or remind them that I'm using Voip. You are correct that more bandwidth cannot hurt. I would suggest you go to http://www.testmyvoip.com and run their test to test your connection/latency. This will give you an idea of how your bandwidth will hold up using Voip. Good luck.

Posts: 13 · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:27 pm Post subject:

The Vonage voice quality is excellent. Others have had problems with the Linksys RT31P2, but I have not. I do hear a SLIGHT airy "wind" sound, but only because I really listened for it from others' complaints.

I did have Verizon VoiceWing for all of 24 hours before cancelling. I think the quality was better because they sent me the Cisco ATA, but even they didn't want it back. They're only shipping out the Linksys boxes now. They couldn't port my number (which was actually a Verizon POTS line) and were more expensive. So, I went with Vonage.

One GOOD thing about the RT31P2 is that it is a router. You SHOULD put it as the next device after your cable or DSL modem. It has QOS, which will prioritze the voice traffic over any other Internet traffic. So, yes, more bandwidth means better call quality, but QOS will also make sure nothing else is hogging the bandwidth.

Posts: 176 · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:46 pm Post subject:

I notice that my Vonage connection is louder and clearer than my Verizon POTS ever was. No dropped calls, no problems at all, and I have the Linksys RT31P2. So I got a router and ATA for less than $30 after the rebate.

My phone bill doesn't make me wince anymore!

No one that I speak with can tell the difference. I have 3067 down and 240 up through my cable modem. Doesn't affect surfing at all.

Posts: 22 · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:58 am Post subject:

We have had Vonage since 12/27. So far it has been great. No dropped calls or anything. We have experienced no internet problems. I don't know what the internet speeds are but when I went to www.testmyvoip.com it registered as just below 5 (I think) which is pretty good. I was a little hesitant about going to Vonage but am happy with it - as is my wife.

Posts: 16 · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:30 am Post subject:

Overall I have been pleased, but the voice quality is not as good as a "land line". People on the other end of the phone complain about choppy sound quality on about 1/3 of my phone calls. I do realize that the problem is with my ISP and not the Vonage service itself.

Posts: 281 · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:34 am Post subject:

I have to agree with the others here. My Vonage connection is great! Few blips here and there, but it's on the ISP end and not on Vonage's end. (I can prove this as I work for my ISP as a network administrator Smile

Yeah it's great... 2 of my friends just signed up for it last week, and they are loving it as well!

Posts: 70 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 17, 2004 Posts: 70

From one Bill to another..... don't hesitate another day. Make the change, you won't regret it. I ran my POTS & Voip lines together for a month & couldn't find any reason why to stay with the Verizon landline. I've had occasional calls where I can hear an echo but nothing but great sounding calls in the last month or so.
I have a 3meg down/ 1 meg/ up broadband connection ($35/mo). Recently my cable provider is offering a free for one month test of a 6 meg. down/1 meg. up connection ($50/mo.). I'm going to check it out but don't expect to keep it. I'm sure surfing speeds will be nice but not sure I can justify the additional rate.

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jan 05, 2005 Posts: 19

I've only had Vonage less than a week, but I've experienced minimal problems. Phone dropped a call twice...but those were both to the same person within minutes of one another so Vonage might not be at fault. I've used around 500 minutes thus far and that's the only thing I've noticed.

Sound quality is great. Everyone I talk to is amazed and says it sounds clear as can be.

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 04, 2004 Posts: 12

I agree with everyone else - good phone quality and you simply can't beat the prices. I was hesitant at first (over 9 mths ago) but I'm really glad I switched... I can't knock it!