Vonage New User First Impression

Posts: 4 · Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:02 pm Post subject: Vonage New User First Impression

Hi everyone. Just recently picked up Vonage due to a plug from my brother and thought I'd add my two cents to how it's going so far for me.

Got it connected and setup with no problem. Purchased the Linksys PAP2 adapter from Best Buy, got home and had an account activated online and was up and running in less than 30 minutes.

Initially I was getting line noise when I made calls: background hissing, static, running water, wind-like sounds. But after visiting the forums and searching the topics I was able to apply the fix I read about in several posts and all si well now. I inserted into the second phone port a normal RJ11 adapter plug from a unused phone line, cut off one end and spliced the wires and twisted them together. (Shorting) That instantly removed all background noise and now there is literally no difference in sound quality between my Vonage line and my Verizon line. Thanks to all who provided answers on the forums for this fix. I didn't have to contact customer service at all and it took all of 15 minutes to resolve.

At the moment I'm a happy camper with the service. At 25 bucks a month compared to my 60 bucks a month using Verizon,(Combined local and long distance service) I think I'll stick with Vonage! Lol

Posts: 129 · Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 1:23 pm Post subject:

So far so good here. It wasn't until I came across this forum today did I know that there was a way to eliminate the hiss. According to the Vonage website, it says that the hissing (er. static) is due to the analog phone. They should acknowledge this in their Knowledge Base. It would be helpful.

I was paying Verizon $54.95 plus "tax" for a grand total of $75! Yowzer! I now have the Vonage $15 plan, which I think will be more than enough, That's a big savings!!

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Feb 05, 2005 Posts: 10

New user here, also. I'm very impressed so far. Using the Motorola VT1005 behind my router without any problems. Although I've read some horror stories about Vonage customer service, my experiences with customer service have been positive.

A very happy camper.

Posts: 448 · Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:02 pm Post subject:

Glad to hear folks are sailing on calm seas. I'm still a Vonage proponent, but the shine is starting to tarnish quickly. Today's story....

A couple weeks ago we had a router w/background noise, they shipped another unit, it was worse, we informed Support that we were sending back the replacement and keeping the original. They responded back that was OK.

First thing this morning, I noticed we had no phone service. From other posts here, first thing I thought of was when the RMA period was over, they probably deactivated the original unit (the one we kept). I was right.

9:00 a.m. - Called support. After a 40 minute wait, I got a rep who opened a ticket and told me it would be resolved in 30 minutes-- an hour, tops.

Noon - Still no service, so I called again. This rep said the first one put the request in the "wrong queue", but he fixed it so it should only be a little while longer-- within the hour.

4:00 - Still no service.

4:30 - First rep called. Said he's been "working on it all day" and that it was resolved-- said to power cycle the router. That worked, service was back on.

So "30 minutes-- an hour, tops" really means 7 hours. Grrrrrr...

Posts: 56 · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:54 pm Post subject:

How did you fix the noise and hissisng?

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:58 pm Post subject:

http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic2356.html

Posts: 4 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:40 pm Post subject:

Hi everyone, checking back in after roughly a month of using Vonage. So far service is still going "OK", but I have noticed a few blips on the radar and was wondering if anyone else has experienced similar issues. Occationally while using the phone, I'll hear a very loud pitched squeal, almost like a fax machine line, during my conversation with the other party. I've also experienced overhearing other people's conversations during my own while on the line. So, other than those two occations, all has been well. Anyone have anything similar happen to them? At this point, I'm still monitoring the service and not ready to completely relinquish my Verizon line. Your thoughts....

Posts: 188 · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:18 pm Post subject:

I am still happy with Vonage myself. Did have one problem today. Cut got off a 20 min call. Disconnect...not sure what the cause was. Did have a power surge that last about a min or so but that was way after the call. Other than that no major issues here. Knock on wood. Smile

Posts: 126 · Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:49 am Post subject:

Yeah ever since my number transfer, and since the "outage" ive been doing well myself. Every now and then ill have small issues, but nothing I can't handle myself. So far.... so good.... We shall see after the year mark.

Posts: 2

I am very satisfied with my Vonage service.

I use: Comcast Broadband; Linksys Cable Modem; Linksys 8 port router; supplied Linksys RT31P2 phone adapter. I also have a D-Link wireless adapter running off of one of the Linksys ports. All is working well.

I've had my Comcast Broadband service for a year plus and was somewhat reluctant to plug the RT31P2 into the existing router, but I did and everything came up fine...no additional configuring necessary.

My family basically lives on cell phones so our home line is really only necessary for the security system and all those various accounts tied to that number. I cut my Verizon service to the bear minimum and still paid $37 a month.