cable/phone/internet

[kalle1212]

Any advice on providers such as vonage, direct TV or even better Time Warner Cables deal where you get all three for one price?

Im moving and need all new hook ups.

[comm402]

The only one I know anything about is Vonage. I have a friend that has it and her phone is forever cutting out. They also have 911 issues and just settled a lawsuit. Here is part of the article that was posted at dispatch monthly online on 1/30/07.

 

VoIP provider Vonage Inc. has agreed to pay the state of Texas and five other states $500,000 to settle the states' lawsuit brought in 2005 over deceptive sales practices for VoIP residential service. The state had contended that Vonage did not adequately explain to customers the limitations of VoIP when customers dialed 911, and thereby offering a reduced level of public safety.

[DaveL]

I have Vonage and use it for my home office. It works great and has no issues. The whole 911 issue is not a problem anymore. In fact it is now a hassle due to the lawsuit. You have to verify your address several times and acknowledge several times that you understand how it works. But for the price and the features you can't beat it. If you can get it as a package deal through your cable co go for it if the price is right.

[MandaJo111]

I have had Vonage for over a year now and I would highly recommend it.

 

The 911 issue you are speaking of is no longer a problem (has not been since I got them over a year ago). You simply have to type in your address when you set up Vonage so that when you dial 911 it knows where to route it to.

 

I love being able to call anyone I want to for however long I want to for about 30 bucks a month with tax. When I had Bell South I was paying over $90 for the same thing. With Vonage I have voice mail, call waiting, caller ID and all of the other options for the same low price. I have recommended it to many people now who have switched. The only problem that you may have is that they do not have local numbers in all areas yet. So check your number on vonage.com first to see. This is not an issue for me.

 

I actually still have my phone number from Mississippi (because I wanted to keep it). I like that I can travel anywhere and take it with me. My husband was overseas all of 2006 and had it with him. As long as there is high speed internet he could call me from his (we both had a plan) rather than paying outrageous (2.99 a minute) long distance fees. Speaking of long distance, if only one of us had Vonage, it still would have only been 5 cents a minute rather than the 2.99 a minute charged by bell south. He leaves for Iraq in May and we will be getting him the new little unit that hooks on a key chain. It is completely portable and you can use it on anyone's computer -- even internet cafes without installing anything.

 

I have never had a connection issue. I have crystal clear calls and I have used mine in several states now. More than likely the internet company that this person is using is slower than most. Your friend can go on vonage and check her upload speeds to ensure they are high enough. If not, a simple adjustment of bandwidth will fix her right up!

 

I know either Best Buy or Circuit City had a deal on vonage a few weeks ago where you could buy it and get a 100 cash back plus the free router and free month of service.

 

My recommendation would be to do your phone separate from the actual cable plan. That way if you move it is not linked to them. With vonage you can take it with you anywhere.

[labgeek]

I have Vonage ... and we have used 911 on 2 occassions with no problem. I'd have no problem recommending it to others and have on many occassions.

[comm402]

I have had Vonage for over a year now and I would highly recommend it.

 

The 911 issue you are speaking of is no longer a problem (has not been since I got them over a year ago). You simply have to type in your address when you set up Vonage so that when you dial 911 it knows where to route it to.

Huh, thats funny because they just had a 911 problem in the past week with a call being routed to Canada. The only reason I even know about it is because it was posted in the radio room I work in. The report also said they are only 94% compliant with giving their customers E911 service. They even operate a call center for their customers who do not yet the service.

[MandaJo111]

I have used 911 though them and have never had a problem. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the person put in the wrong address or forgot to change the address. Since you can take it with you, you would need to have the appropriate address in the system when you travel otherwise they would be routed to your address on file.

[Sunshyne]

We have had Vonage since we moved in October. I love it. I love that I can see who we called too just by logging in to their site. Sometimes I forget if I called somewhere or not. lol The price can't be beat.

 

We haven't had to call 911 yet. I know they have our right address though as they asked me to verify it at least 5 times. My only problem occurs when the power goes out or when Comcast does (we have our modem through them).

 

But we have cell phones, so it's not a huge issue. I went to a friend's to log in to my account and call forward all incoming calls to my cell. It was very easy to do. Only once have I had bad reception. I called my dad and he said he couldn't hear me. At the same time I was uploading some huge picture files to my computer. I paused the upload, and immediately he could hear me.

[Trixie423]

I've been thinking about Vonage too. I would love to hear some more feedback on it.

[MandaJo111]

We have had Vonage since we moved in October. I love it. I love that I can see who we called too just by logging in to their site. Sometimes I forget if I called somewhere or not. lol The price can't be beat.

 

We haven't had to call 911 yet. I know they have our right address though as they asked me to verify it at least 5 times. My only problem occurs when the power goes out or when Comcast does (we have our modem through them).

 

But we have cell phones, so it's not a huge issue. I went to a friend's to log in to my account and call forward all incoming calls to my cell. It was very easy to do. Only once have I had bad reception. I called my dad and he said he couldn't hear me. At the same time I was uploading some huge picture files to my computer. I paused the upload, and immediately he could hear me.

 

Did you know that you can set it up to automatically forward to your cell when there is an outage of any kind (be it cable or power). I have mine set up this way. If the power should happen to go out, all of the calls go straight to my cell. Just go to your features section and set it up under the section that says Network Availability Number. That way you don't have to run next door to forward them.

[Gurnee Al]

I've had Vonage for over a year and it works perfectly with my Comcast high speed Internet. Never had any service or billing problems.

[Ripn]

Sunrocket is an cheaper alternative to Vonage.

I have SR set to simultaneously ring my cell so I never miss a call and is much cheaper than Vonage . I got 2 years of unlimited phone service for $199.

Yes, you can get the triple play packages from Cable or DSL, but they will not be the cheapest way to go. TimeWarner usually has specials of $99/month for cable, internet & phone...but they will go up to about $150/month after the special is over.

[kmcnabb108]

Thanks guys! This is a good post! i think I'm going to check out the Vonage package!

[Sunshyne]

Did you know that you can set it up to automatically forward to your cell when there is an outage of any kind (be it cable or power). I have mine set up this way. If the power should happen to go out, all of the calls go straight to my cell. Just go to your features section and set it up under the section that says Network Availability Number. That way you don't have to run next door to forward them.

I didn't know that! I just set it up. Thanks a bunch!

[MandaJo111]

I didn't know that! I just set it up. Thanks a bunch!

No problem, you can also set it up to ring at multiple locations at once if you wish. IF you are waiting on an important call and are not sure you will be by the phone but don't want to actually forward the calls you could do this.