not quite clear: Is Vonage right for me?

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 16, 2004 Posts: 4

I need to add a second number for as little money as possible, and a friend has suggested Vonage's $14.99 account. He's never used it, but knew of some people who had. I've reviewed the website and read some reviews, but am still not positive it's the right thing for this situation. Here's the situation - what do you think?

What I want is a second number that can, when necessary, be forwarded to a cell phone (or any phone). I do see that Vonage says it can do that, so that's the first hurdle cleared. (I was about to do a cell phone account, but Vonage has a better price!)

Next hurdle - I don't plan to get rid of my existing land-line service. This Vonage number would be a second number, totally independent of the Bell line, just co-existing in the same house with it. I can do that, right? Vonage doesn't HAVE to piggy-back off existing phone service, right?

Next, I see in reviews that all phones must plug into the provided router. If I am satisfied with only using one phone on the Vonage number, since it's augmenting, not replacing, my primary service, do I still have to figure out a way to plug all my hard-wired phones into it, or can I just leave it with the one phone?

Hope these questions make sense. Thanks for any assistance!

Posts: 38 · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 9:27 am Post subject:

In your position, I would go for it!

Your Vonage service would be completely separate from your POTS service. There is no connection (unless you're using DSL, in which case your broadband signal is riding in on your phone line, but there is still no direct connection between Vonage and the telco.) As far as the telco would be concerned, if you're using DSL, you just have internet traffic. Both can co-exist in the same house.

The ATA/MTA comes with one phone jack. If you want to wire more than one phone into it, there are great instructions posted in this forum. If you only want one phone plugged into it, just plug it in! You don't have to use your home's wiring at all, but it is an option.

Hope you enjoy it!

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 16, 2004 Posts: 8

actually the current Telephone adapter Vonage is sending out has two ports-- One's supposed to be for dedicated fax; the other solely for voice calls. The second port could be activated to cater to voice lines as well; and that would eliminate the need of having a separate MTA for the second line which is very good for making your phone system integral in a sense.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 16, 2004 Posts: 4

Thanks for the replies. I should have made it clear that I have a cable modem with a pretty solid connection.

Somewhere this weekend, I saw a link to a page that was supposedly part of Vonage's site, that would assess the strength and speed of your broadband, to make sure you were okay for the service, but I got a "page cannot be displayed" response. It would've been good to get confirmation, but I'm pretty confident my connection's robust enough for it.

Does it matter what kind of cable modem I have? I'm using a Motorola Surfboard (SB4200) from the cable company - pretty standard. Should be fine, right?

When I set up service and get the equipment, I'm buying the equipment outright, correct? So, even if I'm not satisfied, or someday when I no longer need the service, there's no hassle of having to send that equipment back to them, right? Or is it more like a lease, where paying for it is part of my monthly fee, but they'll replace it if it goes bad?

In the experience of people here, how long does it take to be up and running with the service after online sign-up? Is there a way to do it faster? I saw Vonage on Amazon with an option to get the equipment the next day by paying extra shipping, but it looked like the $14.99/mo plan wasn't available through them. Is it possible to go buy the equipment retail and use Vonage's service? Just trying to get it going as quickly as possible.

Thanks again!

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 16, 2004 Posts: 8

Well usually after you place the order, Vonage claims that they can ship it within 5 to 7 business days theoretically;, but you know how it is with ground shipping-- since Vonage has this contract with UPS ground, it would take more like a week to get the telephone adapter. You already have an active account with Vonage after you sign up, you'd have a randomly generated telephone number, and you'd have a web account you can access-- thing is you have to wait for the telephone adapter.

And no you are not buying the telephone adapter outright; Vonage claims that they are sending out the telephone adapter for free, but they do charge you a $39.99 deactivation fee upon disconnection which is refundable if you ship the telephone adapter back. So the deactivation fee is basically just insurance that you'd return the equipment back to them after you disconnect from the service.

And yes, the telephone adapter could work with most cable modem's provided that they have provisions for ethernet connections.