# VoIP Provider recommendations



## capegator (Sep 14, 2007)

Looking to discontinue the land line and go VoIP. All the family has cell phones, so we don't utilize the land line much but would like to keep the current number with VoIP service. I'd like to choose a provider that would offer free equipment and install and charge a reasonable monthly rate for unlimited use. We don't need international service. Anyone happy with their service and can make a recommendation?


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## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

When I got Vonage, I ordered an adapter from Best Buy for $50 and got a $100 rebate (this kind of deal varies, but is fairly common). Their unlimited rate is $24.99 but I went for the 500 minute plan for $14.99. The service is great and they will email an audio file for any voicemails I receive.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Skype has worked great for us. Total cost per month would be $6. You would need to run it on a computer or some of their dedicated phones.

www.skype.com


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## yuppers519 (Aug 6, 2007)

I Have used verizon voicewing and i think it sucks to put it politely. Now i use vonage and it is the best phone service i have ever had so far. For 24.99 a month call anywhere in the usa. Voicemail in your inbox. Go to your account page and you can start stop change alot of your features. You can have your cell phone ring simultanously with your home phone. Set how many times your phone rings before going to voicemail. plus alot more


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Personally, as much as I loathe Verizon I would never go with VoIP. In some eyes, the whole E911 thing may be overblown, but if I had to, if the one time I needed to call 911 and it got routed incorrectly, what that could potentially cost, is no comparison to the peanuts you save. And not many of these VoIP companies seem to be stable financially. SunRocket was super cheap, one day their customers had phone service, the next day they didn't. Vonage has an iffy future, and I'd rather not do business with a bunch of no name mom and pop providers that you have no idea if they will be around when you wake up tomorrow morning. The closest thing I'd ever go with is Digital Phone from TW, being a Verizon basher and a TW Fanboy it makes sense and since the broadband and phone are run on two different channels, internet bandwidth would not be affected by phone use. It may cost more than the dinky VoIP providers, but 911 works without a hitch and I have a pretty good feeling the nations second largest cable company isn't going to go bankrupt over night.


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## funhouse69 (Mar 26, 2007)

This is really hit or miss and potentially depend on your ISP. I had Vonage and didn't have any problem at all except my Direct TV DVD's would not dial out / connect through it. This obviously was a while ago but it did cause me to switch to FIOS Phone Service.

I've also had VoIP through Speakeazy, they were the best DSL Provider I've ever had but their VoIP was a little lacking. 

So if you don't go with the VoIP that your ISP offers you can run in to latency issues which means drop outs in conversations or a very annoying echo to name a few. 

I would see what your ISP offers first and give it a try since they will more than likely be able to bundle it in with a package. If that isn't possible or they aren't any good then give Vonage a try and see what you think. Remember to try it at all times of the day as network traffic can make a huge difference in the call quality.


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## exieramos (May 18, 2007)

I'm in the same boat with the OP. My family use their cell phones almost exclusively. The only thing we use our "Land Line" (actually its COX Digital Phone service) for is to ANSWER calls-which is not very often since most incoming calls, according to Caller ID, are "Unknown" and 800, 866 & 877 numbers which are a dead giveaway to telemarketers. COX doesn't give bundle pricing to subs who don't have their bundle which must include TV. I only have their Phone and Internet service. I have D* for TV and would never switch back!  . Cox charges me $35/ month for a package that gives me unlimited local calling and 5 cents/min on long distance calling in addition to their Control Package (Caller ID, etc). Vonage could give me a much better phone package that includes all of COX's phone control features and more with their current promotion of $9.95/month for their standard ($24.95) service. Vonage is also able to port my current phone number so that is a big plus. My only concern is that the service may not work with my FAX machine (occasional use) and my D* HR-20. I've heard that this may not be an issue anymore? The other issue is Vonage's viability. They are apparently running out of money (due to the lawsuits they lost with Verizon) and have a big note due soon for which they may not have the funding to pay off due to the financial crisis we are currently in. So if anyone has any suggestions on other VOIP providers that would work well for us, please chime in. Thanks!


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## yuppers519 (Aug 6, 2007)

Works with my hr20-700 for caller id and works with my fax machine



exieramos said:


> I'm in the same boat with the OP. My family use their cell phones almost exclusively. The only thing we use our "Land Line" (actually its COX Digital Phone service) for is to ANSWER calls-which is not very often since most incoming calls, according to Caller ID, are "Unknown" and 800, 866 & 877 numbers which are a dead giveaway to telemarketers. COX doesn't give bundle pricing to subs who don't have their bundle which must include TV. I only have their Phone and Internet service. I have D* for TV and would never switch back!  . Cox charges me $35/ month for a package that gives me unlimited local calling and 5 cents/min on long distance calling in addition to their Control Package (Caller ID, etc). Vonage could give me a much better phone package that includes all of COX's phone control features and more with their current promotion of $9.95/month for their standard ($24.95) service. Vonage is also able to port my current phone number so that is a big plus. My only concern is that the service may not work with my FAX machine (occasional use) and my D* HR-20. I've heard that this may not be an issue anymore? The other issue is Vonage's viability. They are apparently running out of money (due to the lawsuits they lost with Verizon) and have a big note due soon for which they may not have the funding to pay off due to the financial crisis we are currently in. So if anyone has any suggestions on other VOIP providers that would work well for us, please chime in. Thanks!


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

After 18 months with Sunrocket, who went Chapter 11, and 6 months with Teleblend, the company that took over their subscribers, I switched to Vonage 4 months ago. Got a free VOIP adapter and modem and haven't looked back. Service has been rock-solid and no issues with faxing, ADT, and HR2x CID (except CID/CW, which has never worked from day one). With the annual pre-paid plan, it's costing me $250/year total. /steve


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## ImBack234 (Aug 26, 2008)

Steve said:


> After 18 months with Sunrocket, who went Chapter 11, and 6 months with Teleblend, the company that took over their subscribers, I switched to Vonage 4 months ago. Got a free VOIP adapter and modem and haven't looked back. Service has been rock-solid and no issues with faxing, ADT, and HR2x CID (except CID/CW, which has never worked from day one). With the annual pre-paid plan, it's costing me $250/year total. /steve


I have vonage (over 3years) and I find it great. However I would not pay for annual service. Considering how sunrocket went and vonge is in trouble. But I have to say even having E* dialing in never had a problem.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

I recently moved and the area I moved to was not served by AT&T/BellSouth like most of Metro Atlanta, but by Windstream.

I took their telephone land line and DSL service of 3MB which was the fastest they offered here. 

The DSL line was miserable, the speed would literally bounce from one moment to the next. You could watch a web page start to load and then choke. As I make my living by depending on an internet connection, this was unacceptable.

I was forced to do something I had swore I would never do... become a customer of Comcast. I have their internet service and am very pleased with it, my speed is staying around 25+MB down and 2+MB up. Their service was expensive though compared to the dsl line, so I also cancelled my telephone service and went with Vonage. The first couple of days were shaky.. but their tech support people worked with me and now it performs flawlessly. Good pricing. Support was excellent.


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## gfrang (Aug 30, 2007)

I have Vonage and Magic Jack,Vonage i pay 15 bucks a month for 500 min,i think it is great except for fax. Magic Jack is 20 bucks a year, all i can say about that one is you get what you pay for.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

We've got VoIP Your Life and have been pretty pleased with it. Free incoming, 200 min. of outgoing for $14.95 a month. Ported old phone number without any problems although it took a few weeks. They gave me a discount of my first month's fees as a result. My guess is a lot of the service providers have the same service package (multiple options for v-mail, follow me, call forwarding, etc.).

Had some issues with echo, but it turned out to be problems with our ISP (Comcast) and some issues they were having with their aging plant. Once those got resolved, we were good to go!

John


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Vonage has been perfect for me. The E911 issue isn't an issue for me.


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## Bardman (Apr 23, 2002)

Another vote for Vonage here. I'm running two lines (one for home, one for wife's home-based business) plus a third phantom number for wife's business.

Use the QOS settings on your router to prioritize internet traffic and voice quality won't be of concern.

Also, I can say that e911 is NOT an issue, as we had a situation that required a 911 call and ambulance was at the house before the call was done. (everybody is fine)


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

I'm actually using the Vonage Motorola 42xx router as my WAN router, so need in my set-up to tinker with QOS settings. It connects just fine to Verizon FIOS and I'm getting the full 10/2 service I'm paying Verizon for through it, according to speakeasy.net/speedtest. Great voice quality and no issues with faxes... so far!  /steve


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## pup154 (Aug 22, 2006)

Bardman said:


> Another vote for Vonage here. I'm running two lines (one for home, one for wife's home-based business) plus a third phantom number for wife's business.
> 
> Use the QOS settings on your router to prioritize internet traffic and voice quality won't be of concern.
> 
> Also, I can say that e911 is NOT an issue, as we had a situation that required a 911 call and ambulance was at the house before the call was done. (everybody is fine)


I have had Vonage for a couple of years now, with no problems and I am on RR Lite. Alarm system works fine through it.

I have a question though. Exactly what do you do with QOS settings in the router?


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

pup154 said:


> I have had Vonage for a couple of years now, with no problems and I am on RR Lite. Alarm system works fine through it.
> 
> I have a question though. Exactly what do you do with QOS settings in the router?


In theory, if your Vonage router was a "client" to your WAN router, you could use the Quality of Service settings in your WAN router to "guarantee" a reserved portion of bandwidth for phone calls, so that during a big file download, e.g., your phone calls won't cut out due to LAN traffic. I believe that 150kbps to 200kbps is sufficient for that.

/steve


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## pup154 (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks Steve.


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## shedberg (Jan 20, 2007)

I have Vonage using a cable modem and have been quite happy with it. I have no issues with the E911 - just make sure you set it up with your address.


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## AlbertZeroK (Jan 28, 2006)

We thought about switching over to Vonage or something else. But in reality, we had to keep the land line phone because we are foster parents. Also, I do work for dispatch centers in Sheriff offices and I know how unreliable e911 is, so I'd prefer to make that call from a land line any day (if you call from a cell phone, depending on where you are, the dipatcher may only get the address of the tower your phone is working on. ALWAYS give your address if you call 911 from a cell phone.)

Anyways, I removed the unlimited long distance from my phone, also dropped many of the calling features. My bill dropped from $70 to $31. I also put a long distance block on the line so you can't call long distance. Oh, we kept Caller ID - you know that's $8 per month! OUCH! But the wife said she had to have it.

So now long distance is after 7 and on the weekends on my cell phone.


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## Bardman (Apr 23, 2002)

Steve said:
 

> In theory, if your Vonage router was a "client" to your WAN router, you could use the Quality of Service settings in your WAN router to "guarantee" a reserved portion of bandwidth for phone calls, so that during a big file download, e.g., your phone calls won't cut out due to LAN traffic. I believe that 150kbps to 200kbps is sufficient for that.
> 
> /steve


yep, what Steve said!!

When I first got Vonage, I set it up with the vonage modem between the cable modem and the router... it caused issues. So I moved the vonage box behind the router and QOS'd it the required bandwidth and all is well.


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## rmnelson75 (Sep 24, 2006)

I just noticed that Comcast in my area (NJ) is offering Voice and Internet bundled for $50 a month.

I loathe cable, but my dsl is slow and I hate paying $40 a month for my basic phone service (advertised at 29.99 but 40 after taxes and fees).

Anyone have any advice on comcast net and voice in NJ? $50 isnt bad. The Comcast voice works with Directv and Alarm system so that is a plus. I know vonage doesnt play nice with Directv boxes. Having faster internet would help, especially with 1080p downloads coming.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

rmnelson75 said:


> I know vonage doesnt play nice with Directv boxes.


Not true in my experience.

At any rate, $50 month for both phone and internet isn't bad, assuming that's not just an introductory offer that will go up in price anytime soon. /steve


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