Wi Fi Handset

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 14, 2005 Posts: 1

"The service will be available for free to any Vonage customer. Handsets can be purchased starting Tuesday from the Vonage Web site for about $80 after an instant rebate."

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5992450.html

Posts: 605 · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:58 am Post subject:

thats a decent price for the handset. Would be great for use at work I suppose. Most hotspots are not public so I see no other use for it.

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Sep 08, 2005 Posts: 19

Customer Service just told me that they are aware of the "oversite" of not offering the phone to existing customers, and that a method of purchasing it on the Vonage web site will be offered "soon." It will also be available in stores at some point in the future, too.

Posts: 215 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Nov 24, 2004 Posts: 215

it is only available for new customers at this time .. it will be available for existing customers soon

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:00 pm Post subject:

jdr30 wrote:

it is only available for new customers at this time .. it will be available for existing customers soon

Despite comments that this was an oversight, it should be obvious that this was intentional.

Vonage is using these devices to attract new customers. The ideal customer is the person living in an apartment or complex with free WiFi. This customer will be using the phone primarily as a POTS replacement and not a mobile phone alternative. (College students?)
Vonage pays a lot for new customers, existing customers are free. The best return on investment would be to attract as many new customers as fast as possible.
Existing customers are more likely to attempt roaming with the devices (since they already have Vonage) and will be more of a drain on support as the kinks are worked out.
There are probably a limited amount of these devices available before Christmas. Once the initial demand is gone and there are plenty on the shelves expect them to be available to existing subscribers.

Posts: 282 · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:00 pm Post subject:

scerruti wrote:

jdr30 wrote:

it is only available for new customers at this time .. it will be available for existing customers soon

Despite comments that this was an oversight, it should be obvious that this was intentional.

Vonage is using these devices to attract new customers. The ideal customer is the person living in an apartment or complex with free WiFi. This customer will be using the phone primarily as a POTS replacement and not a mobile phone alternative. (College students?)
Vonage pays a lot for new customers, existing customers are free. The best return on investment would be to attract as many new customers as fast as possible.
Existing customers are more likely to attempt roaming with the devices (since they already have Vonage) and will be more of a drain on support as the kinks are worked out.
There are probably a limited amount of these devices available before Christmas. Once the initial demand is gone and there are plenty on the shelves expect them to be available to existing subscribers.

Not to argue with your your points, but it doesn't seem to me that a wifi phone is a very good standalone POTS replacement. Why not just get an adapter and use as many (and your existing phones) as you like? The entire "marketing" strategy seems out of touch with what this phone would do best - supplement an existing service both at home, but more importantly, for occasional or frequent travelers. The problem I see is that if the wifi phone is the only phone in the house, you have no extensions and if you take it with you, there is no phone at all. Just my thoughts and opinion, but I really can't see picking that as a new account solution.

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:44 pm Post subject:

ChrisFix wrote:

[

Not to argue with your your points, but it doesn't seem to me that a wifi phone is a very good standalone POTS replacement. Why not just get an adapter and use as many (and your existing phones) as you like?

The average user with free WiFi access in their home

typically only needs a single phone
has no ethernet port into which an adapter can be plugged

These people have come to the forum repeatedly and are given instructions on installing a wireless bridge. Now they have the option of just purchasing this unit.

Typically people who have free WiFi are living in apartments, if you have roommates wouldn't you rather have a separate phone number and account anyway?

The idea of roaming around with this phone, except possibly in the very few areas with municipal WiFi is a bit optimistic as far as I can tell. Two things need to happen before that will make sense;

integration into a standard mobile phone for use when not in a hotspot
ability to configure the phone for use with hotspots that require logins or accepting terms of service

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 29, 2005 Posts: 5

ZipZilla wrote:

This is probably Vonage having a limited number of handsets...so they're offering it to new customers only. Also, I hardly see them offering a rebate to existing users.

You're on the wrong side of the dime, my friend. If there's a shortage it's because it will/has been discontinued. The F1000 has been out for a long time now.

I think it's simpler than this. Vonage wants customers who just want to have plug-in phones! Wifi oddness is a headache to less tech-savvy users. Give the average person a device which looks and works like a cell phone and they'll expect it to work where a cell phone would.

You can pick up some snazzy wifi Voip phones that work for $6/month service pretty easily. That's cheap. Trying to absorb the cost of the support for the average joe using those... well, maybe not so cheap.

-Phil

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 12, 2005 Posts: 8

i have 2 routers in-line at home (my Vonage and a wireless Linksys) which causes me all sorts of issues which I won't go into here (mainly because they're sad PS2 gaming headset issues!). Being able to get rid of my non-manipulatable old Vonage router and just use my Linksys with a Wi-Fi phone would be great for me and I imagine a whole subset of people that haven't mentioned this yet. And I certainly don't think it's unintentional that existing customers weren't oiffered this right away. I personally think Vonage are a bit "naughty" when it comes to treatment of existing customers.

Posts: 282 · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:29 pm Post subject: Re: would work for me

septic22 wrote:

i have 2 routers in-line at home (my Vonage and a wireless Linksys) which causes me all sorts of issues which I won't go into here (mainly because they're sad PS2 gaming headset issues!). Being able to get rid of my non-manipulatable old Vonage router and just use my Linksys with a Wi-Fi phone would be great for me and I imagine a whole subset of people that haven't mentioned this yet. And I certainly don't think it's unintentional that existing customers weren't oiffered this right away. I personally think Vonage are a bit "naughty" when it comes to treatment of existing customers.

I'll argue that the better solution is the standalone ATA (PAP2) connected to you LAN. Allows a normal home phone experience, with all your existing phones and doesn't mess with your router.