VOIP customers

[The Pol]

Hey, any of you all use a VOIP? Voice Over Internet Protocol... say like Vonage, VOIP, Sun Rocket, Via Talk... what has your experience been??

Pol

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I use Packet 8. It's $25/month for unlimited domestic calling, and it works great! I've even used it when I was overseas to call back to the states with no issues at all.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

I have my phone over my cable and it works fine. Is't though my cable/ISP so it's pretty seamless. I'm happy with it.

 

[Erbium:YAG]

I've been using Vonage for a couple of years now. When I first got it, I would occassionaly have a problem where in the middle of a conversation, the person I was talking to, would suddenly not be able to hear me, even though I could hear them perfectly. I went to my local cable company (Comcast) and changed out my cable modem for the latest model. I haven't had a problem since. The only drawback to having VOIP, is if you have a power outage, your phone goes out with it. This is where it's necessary to have a cell phone. If you have a cell phone, even if the power goes out, you can have all calls automatically rerouted to the cell. All the other features available at no additional charge are also great. In my case, I used to pay at least $100 a month between local and long distance; so it was obvious for me to switch over and pay a flat $30 a month with Vonage. What I'm waiting for though, is for Verizon to lay their fiber optic lines (FIOS) in my neighborhood. Then I'll be able to get phone, internet and TV broadcasting for one low flat rate.

 

[mikehartigan]

I've been using Vonage for a bit over a year. Early on, I had problems with echoes, bad connections, etc. Felt a lot like a poor cell phone connection. After two or three months, the problems all went away. When I'm using it, I'm not even conscious of the fact that it's not a traditional wired phone line.

 

[uuurang]

Sunrocket for the past year. $9.99 limited(actually it's $10.54 now that the govt. gets it's piece), billing has been a pita since I get overage charges for stuff I shouldn't be. Had some problems with latency. Drove me nuts trying to diagnose and fix. Then one day it was fine again and I was happy.
Turns out that charter cable upgraded the system in neighborhood. Musta added a blade which increased upload integrity fixing problem.
Yes, very good call clarity. Also there is a fail over, sim-ring, works if your cable goes down, will forward call to 2nd phone or cell.

www.dslreports.com helped me a lot

Also, if you get good mos scores with this link voip should be all good
http://myvoipspeed.visualware.com/

 

[z987k]

vonage for almost a year now, love it.

 

[Cheesefood]

I might get Skype. One of my friends raves about their service and it's BAC.

 

[djamwolfe]

Ive had Vonage for over 3 years now -- and I have to say I love it. Ive only had problems when I had a separate fax line (it never worked right) But as far as voice quality, I cant tell the diff. between it and a standard phone line. I also like that you can see up to the minute logs and voicemail online.

 

[rdwj]

I had Comcast's offering for a couple months before I took it out. I had nothing but problems and it seems to be more the norm than the exception for Comcast. If you need more than one line, don't bother.

My voicemail worked occasionally, they frequestly dropped calls, the sound quality sucked and my caller ID never worked. Other than that, they were great.

 

[MriswitH]

We use Nuvio at work and are actually switching over to VoIP of North America. Both systems seem to have worked quite well so far. We've been using the former for about a year and a half and the latter for about 3-months now.

 

[sirsloop]

lol... funny to see a thread about voip on here...

I actually worked at vonage about 4 years ago and have been with voicepulse for the last 3 years, currently a network engineer there. You could say I have a pretty unique perspective on this market.

FYI, those of you with Vonage service. I'm not sure if you are aware of the current Verizon law suit, but ol Citron got himself in a pickle this time. Vonage stock is at ~$3.25 which is down from $17.25 in under 1 year!! At this point, the price is under what Citron's shares were bought at. He's losing money in the company now, and the company has yet to report a single profit (ever). The Verizon lawsuit is over patent violations which means Vonage will have to pay a royalty to continue in service. Its something like "pay 5% or turn off your phones."

 

[The Pol]

Okay guys (and gals) I just recieved my VIA TALK router and wow... I connected three cords as shown in the instructions and BAM, it works perfectly! The call clarity is MUCH better than what I have with Verizon (sorry Verizon) and there are SOOO many cool calling and voicemail options it is rediculous. For the record I have Verizon FIOS for internet and it apparently works very well with thier system. Oh, did I mention it is about $9 a month for unlimited local and long distance?

 

[Glibbidy]

We use VOIP at the office, and it works flawlessly. Since I work for a telecom I get a huge discount on my voice and internet, and really haven't had a need to migrate to VOIP at home

 

[olllllo]

Injuction on new customers.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/06/1634225

 

[the_bird]

I was shocked to see a Vonage ad the other day; I couldn't believe that ANYONE would sign up with them given how perilous their situation is at present. I know that they had contracted out with another company to try and work around Verizon's patents, but if they can't bring in new customers...

Vonage has ALWAYS had a problem with customer churn, they'll be out of business before X-mas now. I wish I could find some shares to short...

 

[Glibbidy]

Vonage has ALWAYS had a problem with customer churn.

Churn is typically an issue with most telecoms at one point or another.

 

[the_bird]

Don't most telecoms experience issues with customer churn at one point or another?

I can't remember their exact numbers, but they were HUGE. It was a big deal when their IPO came out. I want to say around 5% - 6% per month.

It was a huge deal when they were spending $300 - $500 to acquire each customer, then losing them within two years.

 

[olllllo]

I have had Vonage from day one an have had no complaints. I have Verizon as well. If Vonage goes, I think I will just give up on a land line.

Verizon is pissing me off now. Their only saving grace is voice coverage.

Verizon locks down the hardware waaay too much by crippling features.
I had to hack my razr to get access to BT file transfers and web access through google. I now have the ability to transfer photos, ring tones and MP3s without using their network.

I hate the walled-garden approach to the web. Basically there is no middle tier for savvy customers that don't want to pop for a full blown business data plan ($60/month above and beyond voice).

They are building a business model with bling and gangsta features. I Haaate it!


If they bring down Vonage, i may have to drop Verizon. I've had it.

 

[sirsloop]

Vonage has always had retention issues. Even back when I was there they had 2,000 people a week canceling. Thats like 8 people answering the phone 24 hours a day for a month straight canceling people...

As far as "no problems" with Vonage. Every company has their growing pains. I remember REAL bad days at Vonage..... but every IT place has a few of those under their belt. Its the nature of the beast. Just depends on when you tend to use your phone and when the company tends to have issues.

 

[z987k]

Oh, did I mention it is about $9 a month for unlimited local and long distance?

Who's the provider?

 

[sirsloop]

viatalk charges you $10 a month for a 500 minute plan.. ONLY IF you sign up with a 2 year agreement. I'm not sure what kind of taxes viatalk charges... if they are like vonage, tack on another 10 a month in fees. If they are like voicepuIse its only 90c/mo in a truly mandated tax.

 

[david_42]

Tried it. Doesn't work with satellite DSL.

 

[The Pol]

My plan at ViaTalk is unlimited and was $219 for 2 years... just over $9 a month... I am very pleased so far with the service, the customer service and the tons of features.... Vonage is a sinking ship....

 

[sirsloop]

FYI, The CEO of Vonage just quit.... the ol ship is sinking!

 

[the_bird]

My only question on Vonage...

If this were an Australian company, would it be spiraling down the drain counterclockwise?

 

[sirsloop]

lol... there's no drain... the simply ripped the sink out of the counter and turned it upside down

 

[uuurang]

Sunrocket went under so I jumped ship to net2phone. I'm waiting to see if they will honor there offer to carry on the remaining of SR contract. Time will tell. Net2phone has been rock solid for the month I've had it.

 

[-Dan-]

Tried it. Doesn't work with satellite DSL.

Yes it does if you have a two-way system like a few providers offer

But back to VoIP. I have Vonage for about 8 months now and I am pretty satisfied. The only problem I have every now and then is the echo when calling to Germany but that's about it. I can just recommend it.

 

[uuurang]

FWIW...Boy, I just gotta say, I've been impressed with net2phone. Solid product, decent web interface and spot on service.

if you're looking for solid voip provider then this company so far has been stellar. Problem is they are not among the thriftiest. When I signed on after sunrocket debacle the U.S. & Canada package was $19.99. They've now up it to $29.99 . They do have good rates on limited plans, 500 min at $14.99 and per minute plan at $8.99.