Best/worst Phone Adapters?

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:21 pm Post subject: Best/worst Phone Adapters?

I'm sorry if this has been previously addressed, I did a few searches and didn't come up with any post comparing phone adapters.

Which phone adapter is the best? worst? & why? Which one is the smallest (for travelling)? Which one has the best sound quality? (I'm currently using ISDN for my voice calls, how will the sound quality compare?) reliability? and what's the best way to get ahold of these phone adapters?

Also somewhat off-topic... realistically, how much am I looking at per month after taxes & fees if I go with the $25/mo plan? I'm in Florida if it makes a difference.

Thanks,
About to take the plunge..

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:57 pm Post subject: Re: Best/worst Phone Adapters?

VonageTPA wrote:

Which phone adapter is the best? worst? & why?

I don't think this can be answered definitively. Do you want an adapter that is also a wireless router, a wired router, a cordless phone system?

VonageTPA wrote:

Which one is the smallest (for travelling)?

PAP2 I think. (4" x 4" x 0.6")
VT1000 is close but I don't think it is available anymore.

VonageTPA wrote:

Which one has the best sound quality? (I'm currently using ISDN for my voice calls, how will the sound quality compare?)

Sound quality is primarily affected by your broadband connection quality and the codec. If you have a good connection expect quality in between a good mobile phone and a good analog line.

VonageTPA wrote:

reliability?

I haven't seen data on this, but we have seen a lot of dead router reports on this site for some of the linksys products.

VonageTPA wrote:

and what's the best way to get ahold of these phone adapters?

It depends on whether you want whatever Vonage is going to send you or you want to pick up a special purpose device. It also may depend on whether you care about getting a rebate and in the event of trouble having to ship the device back to Vonage. Store return policies may also impact your decision.

VonageTPA wrote:

Also somewhat off-topic... realistically, how much am I looking at per month after taxes & fees if I go with the $25/mo plan? I'm in Florida if it makes a difference.

$24.99 + $0.75 FET + $1.50 Reg. Recovery = $27.24

Vonage is required by the Federal government to collect a 3% Federal Excise Tax (FET) on all communication services which is then remitted to the IRS.

The Regulatory Recovery Fee is $1.50 per phone number. This is a fee that Vonage charges its customers to recover regulatory-related costs it incurs. These costs may include, but are not limited to, Federal and State Universal Service Funds (USF), 911 fees, E 911 fees, local number portability costs, CALEA compliance costs and other regulatory-related fees and costs. In addition, the Regulatory Recovery Fee covers similar regulatory costs incurred in foreign countries. Your total Regulatory Recovery Fee reflects a $1.50 surcharge for every phone number you have, including primary voice lines, second lines, fax lines, Toll Free PlusSM numbers, SoftPhones and Virtual Phone NumbersSM.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 3:06 pm Post subject: Re: Best/worst Phone Adapters?

scerruti wrote:

VonageTPA wrote:

Which phone adapter is the best? worst? & why?

I don't think this can be answered definitively. Do you want an adapter that is also a wireless router, a wired router, a cordless phone system?

Good questions... I have plenty of Cisco routers laying around and a few WRT54GS for fun. So, I guess I'd be interested in the best stand-alone phone adapter & possibly a phone adapter w/wired router for when I travel. (yes, I do lug a WRT54GS with me when I travel...go ahead, say it....geek)

scerruti wrote:

VonageTPA wrote:

reliability?

I haven't seen data on this, but we have seen a lot of dead router reports on this site for some of the linksys products.

Features are nice, but reliability & sound quality mean the most to me.

scerruti wrote:

VonageTPA wrote:

and what's the best way to get ahold of these phone adapters?

It depends on whether you want whatever Vonage is going to send you or you want to pick up a special purpose device. It also may depend on whether you care about getting a rebate and in the event of trouble having to ship the device back to Vonage. Store return policies may also impact your decision.

What is Vonage currently shipping out for adapters?

scerruti wrote:

VonageTPA wrote:

Also somewhat off-topic... realistically, how much am I looking at per month after taxes & fees if I go with the $25/mo plan? I'm in Florida if it makes a difference.

$24.99 + $0.75 FET + $1.50 Reg. Recovery = $27.24

I wish Vonage would post this as such... not that this bothers me compared to how much Verizon tacks on the bill... ends up working out to about 20% extra.

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 3:24 pm Post subject: Re: Best/worst Phone Adapters?

VonageTPA wrote:

scerruti wrote:

VonageTPA wrote:

Also somewhat off-topic... realistically, how much am I looking at per month after taxes & fees if I go with the $25/mo plan? I'm in Florida if it makes a difference.

$24.99 + $0.75 FET + $1.50 Reg. Recovery = $27.24

I wish Vonage would post this as such... not that this bothers me compared to how much Verizon tacks on the bill... ends up working out to about 20% extra.

Actually they do. If you use the start up cost calculator on their site it gives you the exact start up cost plus the monthly cost. The only variables are the plan and if you live in NJ and they prompt you for those.

And the desciptions of the fees I posted came out of their help system.

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 3:47 pm Post subject: Re: Best/worst Phone Adapters?

As far as sound quality, I believe you are going to experience more variation due to your broadband connection and configuration than you are due to the device. One question you might want to be asking is, "do the devices handle QoS differently?" I don't know the answer to that.

All of the products all come from Linksys. There have been a bunch of recent complaints that the WRTP54G was shipped with bad firmware and doesn't work correctly out of the box. But, as far as reliability goes you would need to know the distribution of the models shipped versus distribution of units failed. I have not seen those numbers anywhere.

Therefore it really does comes down to features. If you want wireless then you want to buy from a retailer. If you have all of those extra routers laying around then you want to take advantage of the trade in program and get it free.

If you don't want wireless then you probably want to go to a store and pick up a PAP2 for its size. I don't know if you can ask Vonage for a specific router, I think they are shipping PAP2 and RT31P2.