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29 Comments
- bbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I've been using Vonage in NYC for over 2 years now and find quality to be as good as POTS for calls inside the USA and Canada. Calling outside the USA has noticibly lower call quality but I really don't care as long as I can hear and be heard. I have the call quality set at the middle setting. I think the low setting is the default. This is on 5mbit cable.
- darvian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5All depends on your ISP. Charter here in SC has short "temporary" outages which drops calls at least once a day.
- vertigoblue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5my vonage rocks, you just have to know what your doing...
- futureb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4obviously depends on your connection. but that doesn't mean vonage itself sucks. i'm pretty happy paying 25 bucks a month w/ free long distance.
but vonage isn't long for this world. they're just trying to add subscribers before selling themselves to comcast, verizon, etc. - blankartist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6I can tell you right now, it's not Vonage (in Canada). They bite.
- sameerb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Dear Friends
Im tired of seeing this arguments and counter arguments of people favouring one voip service to another. To be honest, the quality of voice calls depend only upon the codec used. what vonage or for that matter any VOIP service provider gives is its just gives your IP location and the port info to reach your phone to the calling party, once that is done the voice quality depends upon the codec used by the voip adapter used at either ends. the best voice quality is if you use G711 and the least bandwidth consumption is for G729.
If you really want to test if your voip service provider is upto standards is call a regular PSTN and see how good the voice is, then the call is going directly through the voip service provider and you can see how much bandwidth they are allocation to you. - radu79, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Use Skype then :)
The quality of Skype, at least for international phonecalls (computer to computer) is much better than the one of a normal international call. - EasY_TargeT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4until they make the 911 service work like my regular phone, or better ill stick with them
- bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Being 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). - G0dzzilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I use Broadvoice and I have no problems. And I have changed ISP several times. I even moved from states and the Broadvoice continues to be rock solid. (Please, READ ON ... don't digg me down just because I like them and you had no luck.)
I've also heard that people had a really hard time to get broadvoice to work fine.
I actually think their ISP is not the problem. I would say their network is the problem based on my tests already. People don't have Internet just for phones, of course. But it is rare to see somebody with broadvoice and a router (gateway) with QoS. - chithon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I have been with Vonage for over two years now... I would never switch.
Call quality is perfect. (ISP is cable)
On the 911 issue...
My father had a heart attack when he was at my house... I picked up the phone.... dialed 911... said "My father is having a heart attack"... she said "Rescue service is on the way sir".... 2 mins later a fire truck pulled up in my yard.
You just have to spend 10 seconds when you sign up filling out a web form on your location.... it is really that simple. - cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No VOIP doesn't mean Vonage or such, but this is specifically what the article is speaking about.
- dontasker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I 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.
http://asterisk.org - software
http://voipstore.atacomm.com/Shops/ViewItem.aspx/27934028032-43924385024.htm - phone (battery life isn't the best but i only use it when i'm at lunch or running around)
http://voipstore.atacomm.com/Shops/ViewItem.aspx/27934028032-35768056832.htm - gateway
The best part of all this is that there are no monthly fees other than my landline :) - TokenUser, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3VoIP does not necessarily mean Vonage or your ISPs "digital telephone service".
We use a private VoIP network to connect workers around the world via Cisco based VoIP hardware. To anyone looking at the switchboard, or calling our company, I could be sitting in the home office in SoCal, instead of sitting around telecomutting from the east coast. When we initally installed the system, we had to add "noise" to the line. The crystal clear silence was taken as being a disconnected line by many employees, rather than a pause in the conversation.
Its not perfect, and there is still packet loss, but the human ear adapts nicely to fill in the blanks. - trimtab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I get the same SIP quality as the uninformed pay for Vonage. And I get it for free using the same hardware Vonage customers had to purchase, but unlocked so it works with other SIP services. Free or a penny per minute outbound pay as you go with NO MONTHLY FEES. Except if I want a inbound regular phone number. That it costs less than $3 per month.
Hardware was $100.
Vonage is for suckers. Look at http://www.gizmoproject.com/ - sms021, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1my 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 http://www.VoiceStick.com 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.
- TokenUser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1REALLY? Did you Read the article??
"For the purposes of this study, "digital cable VoIP providers" refer only to the services offered by the cable companies, not to services like Vonage that simply plug into their networks."
NOT TO SERVICES LIKE VONAGE.
My comment wasn't so much about the article as about the comments regarding Vonage from the posters that a.) didn't read the article, and b.) think VoIP is automatically either Vonage or Skype. - G0dzzilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't understand why you mod me down.
Vonage and Broadvoice have e911 ...
I happen to have Broadvoice. Is that the reason ? - bradbaxter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The 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 http://www.telebay.com
- carolky123, on 09/18/2009, -0/+0I'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...http://www.squidoo.com/voiptalk... 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.
- Moviespo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The concept of VOIP is good because it's cheep, however I really don't recommend because sometimes you can call someone and get the wrong number or even if your friends call you they may get the wrong number for a day or two. That was my experience till I got my telephone put back in.
It was kind of like the Twilight Zone where the woman keeps getting a call from her grave. Can you hear me now?
Then I tried Skype untill I found out I could not make a call unless I purchased free skype minutes.... How do you purchase free minutes?
If your internet goes down for the day then so will your phone and cable. tweedlly dee as as tweedlly dumb. - cliffzdude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Vonage 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. - aerotive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1The thing about VOIP is that it ***** sucks.
- RonaldLewis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1The best consumer VoIP service I've experienced is AT&T CallVantage. The call quality seemingly exceeded that of any POTS service I've had. I "tested" their service for about 8 months, and I was also a Vonage subscriber for over two years. There was no comparison between the two in features, quality, etc.
Anyway, I canceled both, and used Asterisk for everything. Couldn't be happier. - EasY_TargeT, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3@1aa2
learn to use reply - blankartist, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I've tried Vonage with both Telus (DSL) and Shaw (cable). It still sucks. It's *not* the ISP. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of options up here. :(
- G0dzzilla, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1You should try www.Broadvoice.com. They have free Enhanced 911 service.
I am just a happy customer. - rfeldbauer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0I 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.
- 1aa2, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1@blankartist
Yea I agree with you, I've tried Vonage also and it sucks
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