arstechnica.com— A large-scale VoIP study from Keynote Systems concludes that VoIP audio quality is improving, and in some cases exceeds that of the traditional phone network
Sep 22, 2006View in Crawl 4
I recently started using SunRocket after seeing some of their ads.. $17/mo ($199/year) beats Vonage, and their quality has been great so far. I thought I would have to fool around with the settings on the adapter they sent me, or my local setup.. but it worked right out of the box, plugged into my switch/wireless router and I had phone service. There's a ton of extra services, like being able to receive voicemail via email, which are pretty useful too.
Vonage sounds just about as good as a cell phone, not bad but not POTS by any means. We've all had the experience when you are on a VOIP phone, or just a cell phone and the other person is on a different digital technology, you both experience a delay, since you are on competing services/technologies it is compounded. The cadence of normal conversation becomes odd. Its not a deal stopper, but you can't beat two copper wires connecting you to the PSTN. At home our normal phone is POTS. I did need a second line for my home office, and Vonage has fit the bill. I speak on both daily, and POTS rules so far as sound quality goes. IP rules for low cost. Read the article though, they specifically mention cable operators VOIP service that sounds so good. Long story short, they route the voice traffic to maximize VOIP traffic, and therefore voice quality. The kicker in this is net neutrality might make this impossible. If an ISP were directed by law to route all traffic equally, they couldn't offer simple VOIP traffic prioritization. As you know prioritizing a little VOIP stream doesn't hurt your overall performance, but not letting VOIP take priority DOES make VOIP suffer. I'm not saying that net neutrality is bad, I'm saying the issue is deeper than it appears at first.
The best voip, in my opinion, is Packet8. They build their own hardware and software to work together. Vonage farms out everything to third parties. I've had Packet8 for 2 years now and the service is very stable with better quality (requires less bandwidth due to better packet compression). $19.99 - buy through an agent, not direct with Packet8, to get best deal off up-front cost. Such as <a class="user" href="http://www.telebay.com">http://www.telebay.com</a>
Being a regular user of both Skype and Vonage, I'd rate Vonage's more *consistent* when calling other people on the PSTN. I've had widely varying results with Skype, even on local calls. Sometimes the delay on Skype is a copmplete killer. I rarely, if ever, have that trouble with my Vonage equipment.It might be a factor of hardware vs softphone, but that's worth noting if you're considering a VoIP service for your full time phone (like I use).
my biggest issue with Vonage and other VOIP services was the mobility factor. if i was on the road for work or just visiting my brother for the weekend, their wasn't an easy way to take my VOIP with me. i ran into this company <a class="user" href="http://www.VoiceStick.com">http://www.VoiceStick.com</a> that allows me to not only use the soft phone on my pc or my brothers without installing any software, but i have a handy tone that can connect up my whole house VOIP or i can take that with my and use the phone in my hotel as long as i have a internet connection. My life has gotten way easer.
I've been using VoIP for 3 yrs now and I find it surpasses a *traditional phone* service. Everyone is seems to be worrying about when the power goes out or cable internet goes down. With the service I have I just simply have it set that if the call can't go through for any reason it automatically forwards to my cell phone. Not a problem. It has never failed me. I think it will eventually become 'mainstream' as far as phone service goes. Just my opinion. Lots of questions answered here...<a class="user" href="http://www.squidoo.com/voiptalk..." rel="nofollow">http://www.squidoo.com/voiptalk...</a> about when, how, and where you may already be using VoIP without even know it. As far as sound quality goes, I honestly cannot tell the difference.
Yes, You are saying right voip audio calling is improving day by day and i also use axvoice internet phone service and got a huge benefit from them.I only Say one thing Axvoice is great company for audio conversion.
rfeldbauerSep 23, 2006
I recently started using SunRocket after seeing some of their ads.. $17/mo ($199/year) beats Vonage, and their quality has been great so far. I thought I would have to fool around with the settings on the adapter they sent me, or my local setup.. but it worked right out of the box, plugged into my switch/wireless router and I had phone service. There's a ton of extra services, like being able to receive voicemail via email, which are pretty useful too.
g0dzzillaSep 23, 2006
You should try www.Broadvoice.com. They have free Enhanced 911 service.I am just a happy customer.
aerotiveSep 23, 2006
The thing about VOIP is that it f**king sucks.
Closed AccountSep 23, 2006
Vonage sounds just about as good as a cell phone, not bad but not POTS by any means. We've all had the experience when you are on a VOIP phone, or just a cell phone and the other person is on a different digital technology, you both experience a delay, since you are on competing services/technologies it is compounded. The cadence of normal conversation becomes odd. Its not a deal stopper, but you can't beat two copper wires connecting you to the PSTN. At home our normal phone is POTS. I did need a second line for my home office, and Vonage has fit the bill. I speak on both daily, and POTS rules so far as sound quality goes. IP rules for low cost. Read the article though, they specifically mention cable operators VOIP service that sounds so good. Long story short, they route the voice traffic to maximize VOIP traffic, and therefore voice quality. The kicker in this is net neutrality might make this impossible. If an ISP were directed by law to route all traffic equally, they couldn't offer simple VOIP traffic prioritization. As you know prioritizing a little VOIP stream doesn't hurt your overall performance, but not letting VOIP take priority DOES make VOIP suffer. I'm not saying that net neutrality is bad, I'm saying the issue is deeper than it appears at first.
bradbaxterSep 23, 2006
The best voip, in my opinion, is Packet8. They build their own hardware and software to work together. Vonage farms out everything to third parties. I've had Packet8 for 2 years now and the service is very stable with better quality (requires less bandwidth due to better packet compression). $19.99 - buy through an agent, not direct with Packet8, to get best deal off up-front cost. Such as <a class="user" href="http://www.telebay.com">http://www.telebay.com</a>
dontaskerSep 23, 2006
I work down town and have access to alot of free wifi networks so i was able to use a wirless VoIP phone instead of a cellphone when i go to lunch. I just have it connect to an Asterisk server at home and call out from there.<a class="user" href="http://asterisk.org">http://asterisk.org</a> - software<a class="user" href="http://voipstore.atacomm.com/Shops/ViewItem.aspx/27934028032-43924385024.htm">http://voipstore.atacomm.com/Shops/ViewItem.aspx/27934028032-43924385024.htm</a> - phone (battery life isn't the best but i only use it when i'm at lunch or running around)<a class="user" href="http://voipstore.atacomm.com/Shops/ViewItem.aspx/27934028032-35768056832.htm">http://voipstore.atacomm.com/Shops/ViewItem.aspx/27934028032-35768056832.htm</a> - gatewayThe best part of all this is that there are no monthly fees other than my landline :)
bradleylandSep 23, 2006
Being a regular user of both Skype and Vonage, I'd rate Vonage's more *consistent* when calling other people on the PSTN. I've had widely varying results with Skype, even on local calls. Sometimes the delay on Skype is a copmplete killer. I rarely, if ever, have that trouble with my Vonage equipment.It might be a factor of hardware vs softphone, but that's worth noting if you're considering a VoIP service for your full time phone (like I use).
sms021May 12, 2008
my biggest issue with Vonage and other VOIP services was the mobility factor. if i was on the road for work or just visiting my brother for the weekend, their wasn't an easy way to take my VOIP with me. i ran into this company <a class="user" href="http://www.VoiceStick.com">http://www.VoiceStick.com</a> that allows me to not only use the soft phone on my pc or my brothers without installing any software, but i have a handy tone that can connect up my whole house VOIP or i can take that with my and use the phone in my hotel as long as i have a internet connection. My life has gotten way easer.
carolky123Sep 18, 2009
I've been using VoIP for 3 yrs now and I find it surpasses a *traditional phone* service. Everyone is seems to be worrying about when the power goes out or cable internet goes down. With the service I have I just simply have it set that if the call can't go through for any reason it automatically forwards to my cell phone. Not a problem. It has never failed me. I think it will eventually become 'mainstream' as far as phone service goes. Just my opinion. Lots of questions answered here...<a class="user" href="http://www.squidoo.com/voiptalk..." rel="nofollow">http://www.squidoo.com/voiptalk...</a> about when, how, and where you may already be using VoIP without even know it. As far as sound quality goes, I honestly cannot tell the difference.
jimitrottJan 29, 2010
Yes, You are saying right voip audio calling is improving day by day and i also use axvoice internet phone service and got a huge benefit from them.I only Say one thing Axvoice is great company for audio conversion.