If you have Comcast, read this

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 8

[quote="vonagebest"]I will do my best to help but it is VERY frustrating when someones service is not working and they immediately blame Vonage. [/quote]

I can't speak for anybody else here, but my only (and continuing) criticism of Vonage is that I have been totally unable to get anything but a busy signal after following thorugh the voicemail prompts, and have gotten no reply at all to multiple email requests (on the same ticket #).

Obviously, this is the fault of management, not the individual service reps, but for all practical purposes, it is my experience that Vonage offers no customer service at all, and I suspect I am not alone in this experience.

As for the technical difficulties I've had, I understand that they may or may not be Vonage problems, but when the only symptom observable to me is lack of phone service, Vonage is going to be the first company i try to contact. I would love for a Vonage rep to tell me that the problem is with the ISP or some of my hardware - then it would be narrowed down. Unfortunately, I have yet to have that conversation.

For other readers here keep score on the Toshiba modem issue, I replaced my old Toshiba with the SB5100 on Saturday. I've made a few good calls since then, but since my Voip problems have not been entirely consistent, I will have to wait a few more days before I say the problem is fixed.

I've seen no difference in my less-than-stellar testyourvoip.com results.

Posts: 4 · Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 8:46 pm Post subject:

So far, (knock on wood), Comcast looks like they have fixed the problem in my neighborhood of Foster City. I now have low ping rates.

PingPlotter shows my only packet losses (20-50%) are going thru one hop of Level3.net in San Jose.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 09, 2005 Posts: 6

In the northern DFW area. Been a long term Comcast customer. Started using Vonage with a Linksys PAP2 device. Was plagued by call problems. Went through several weeks of being bounced between Linksys, Vonage and Comcast. Ran PingPlotter via Vonage instructions. They attributed problem to dropped packets in Comcast network. After contacting Comcast, they ran diagnostics and, of course, found no problems. Was nearly exhausted, so I switched to a Linksys RT31P2 router. Now the calls just randomly drop. When I try to recall the number, I just get a busy signal. Have found if I call another number (my cell phone), the call goes through. I immediately hang up and I can now call the original number I was on. I really hate to give up the Vonage service as I have child in college 900+ miles away. You can imagine the long phone calls we have. Well, I think I'm just about at the end of my rope and patience, with no hope of a resolution.

Posts: 112 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 17, 2005 Posts: 112

What modem are you running?

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 09, 2005 Posts: 6

I run a Motorola SB 4220 (SurfBoard) cable modem. According to the Voip Speed Test, I get 4.23 Mbps upload and 306 Kbps download. My Linksys RT31P2 router is at firmware 1.26.01. I have a Uniden PowerMax 5.8Ghz telephone system. Although the problem may be related to Comcast, I have doubts because I don't see other connectivity related problems (ie. surfing the internet, Instant Messaging, downloading software patches, etc.). I have read assorted articles (Time) that have concerns with Vonage since it uses the public internet. As such, the quality of the connections may be suspect. Perhaps this is more of the issue and Comcast is getting the blame for problems beyond their control. Regardless, the individual User has almost no hope of navigating through the complex support structure to get any appreciable help. Vonage passes me to Comcast, Comcast passes me to Vonage. I even tried to use Linkisys and they turned a deaf ear. Contrary to the many forum comments, I've had good response from Vonage...I simply can't get my problem solved. I want their service, but the call quality is driving me to another solution.