Vonage ~ Is it too good to be true?

I've joined something called Talk Talk and I get free calls to the States, Canada and Australia.

Anyone fancy a chat? :wink:

By a remarkable coincidence, the Feb Consumer Reports rates customer satisfaction with wireless carriers. Somehow, Vonage didn't get rated. Sorry. With 18 markets rated; however, Verizon is top in overall satisfaction in all markets, with something called T-Mobile usually second. AT&T and Nextel tend towards the bottom. Six carriers are rated.

Roger you gotta link to that? I'm trying to get off Alltell but its the only thing besides sprint we got down here =[.

I don't think Vonage is a wireless carrier, Rog. It's an alternative to a land line.

Indeed, Vonage is no wireless carrier. They offer a VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) solution for use with your broadband Internet connection. Swimpy, there is no "catch"...Vonage is a respected company & has been around pretty much as long as VoIP has. They aren't necessarily the cheapest but they have a great (!) feature set & good quality.

CNet Reviews has an excellent section on Internet phone service ( http://reviews.cnet.com/Internet_Phones/4520-9140_7-5131535-1.html?tag=ont.poph ) where they explain the technology & review all the big names in the business. Check it out.

Thanks, Monger. I'll check it out. If they are true to their word regarding price, it is considerably cheaper than what I'm paying now for local and longdistance.

No need for a catch. I pay $40 ($55 including Tax, Voicemail, caller ID, 3-way etc.) for a wireless that offers unlimited including long distance in the U.S. from Metro PCS. Only downside is; it doesn't work when I travel.

Just a note to update this thread. My son just got Vonage. So far he's liking it. He pays $14.99/mo for 500 minutes. Local and long distance are included. If he goes over 500 minutes, he pays a per minute charge. I think it's $0.05/min. I would have to change my phone number if I got it now. I think I'll wait a bit to see if they add my exchange to their list of numbers.

The upfront costs (if you already have broadband) are about $60 for a router and phone adaptor. Not sure how extensions work.

Sure don't, Tyrus. I get the magazine and won't pay extra for online. I'll try to remember to pull out what details there are from NM when I get home this evening.

I have a friend that works for 8X8 who does VoIP service under the company name Packet 8. I think it's worth it if you are always going to have boadband internet. Remember if the power goes out so does your internet and therefore so does your phone service.

What's cool is that you can take your little voip box anywhere in the world where there is a broadband connection and it works exactly the same as if you were at home.

T-Mobile carries my cell phone.

Tenoch, I did not know that about portability. Nice feature.

Not much help, Tyrus. No NM listing. Phoenix is the closest listed city, with Alltel exactly in the middle and sprint one position lower. In the oil and gas business around Farmington, Alltel is about all there is. Nobody else has the tower locations like Alltel.

An update:

I signed up for Vonage. The start up costs are about $60, but the month charge for my package is $14.99. that includes 500 minutes per month, local and long distance included. If I go over the 500 minutes, which I'd have a hard time doing, I pay $0.03/minute. I also get call waiting, voicemail, caller ID, 911 and other features that I probably don't need. The neat thing about the voicemail is that I get an email telling me that I have a voicemail and what number it is from.

All you need is a router and broadband internet service. I got to keep my phone number. Not everybody can, but the number of area codes they have available is increasing all the time. The 911 is different from the phone service, so if you're thinking about signing up, read this part carefully.

So far I can't say anything bad about it.

i got packet 8 now. unlimited local and long distance. same startup price as vonage, but 19.95 a month and my e911 is 1.50 and it goes directly to the local police station with my personal info.

Cool! Do you have the videophone?

Nah. the video phone is pretty sick, my friend has it. it would be cool as a second line only, because you can't plug a cordless phone to it for voice only calls.

One word of caution with Vonage. They've come under fire for not carying 911 with their basic service, it's an extra you have to tack on.

Vonage Call Quality
I was wondering if anyone actually has Vonage service and can share their experience with call quality. I chose to go with Broadvoice service and have had them for about 5-6 months now. I chose them over Vonage because they included unlimited calls to US, Canada, Europe, parts of Asia, and Australia. As I have friends in several countries, these free calls tipped the scale on my decision to Broadvoice. All this for about $25.00 is an absolute bargain.

As I have Comcast high speed internet, and my connection seems to be very decent, I figured it would be worth trying out.

My main complaint is call quality. Sometimes it is perfect and crystal clear. Other times it seems to be like you are on a cell phone with a bad connection. It also seems that if the other person is speaking, I have to wait until they are finished before they can hear me. It does not seem to be full duplex, as we are both not able to speak at the same time. I have really gotten used to this now, but wonder if Vonage service is pretty similar or much improved. It seems like it would all be the same to me.

Anyone else able to share their experience with Vonage with me?

Thanks!