Vonage

podperson

Hi all,
Apologies if this has been covered already. I'm currently with Virgin Media for home phone and broadband - I'm fairly happy with the bb (I tend to download quite a lot so need a no limit service) but the phone bill seems to get higher every month so am looking at changing. Have just started looking into Vonage but am wondering if people could share any experiences with them as there seem to be rather mixed reviews. I guess my main queries would be:
How is the call quality?
Can you just use a normal phone or do you need to buy a special one?
If I'm using the broadband connection quite heavily, eg downloading, will this affect the phone connection?

Any advice much appreciated.

asbokid

podperson wrote: »

Hi all,
Apologies if this has been covered already. I'm currently with Virgin Media for home phone and broadband - I'm fairly happy with the bb (I tend to download quite a lot so need a no limit service) but the phone bill seems to get higher every month so am looking at changing. Have just started looking into Vonage but am wondering if people could share any experiences with them as there seem to be rather mixed reviews.

I've never used Vonage but have got some experience with VOIP. The call tariffs from Vonage don't seem very competitive. There are numerous VOIP providers other than Vonage, e.g. the providers who re-sell the betamax VOIP services, and they seem to be the most keenly priced...

compare the VOIP tariffs here: http://backsla.sh/betamax

I guess my main queries would be:

How is the call quality?

It's always a subjective judgment, but the technical specification for VOIP is that a T1 channel (64Kbps) is the norm. By comparison the analogue circuit-switched telephone network allocates around 10Kbps for a voice call. So in theory, VOIP calls should be better quality, although I've never noticed that in practice!

I've never had cause for complaint over VOIP call quality when the protocol is used properly.

Can you just use a normal phone or do you need to buy a special one?

There are three methods for making VOIP calls..

i) a softphone - this is a piece of PC software that uses your PC microphone and speaker for VOIP calling.
ii) a dedicated VOIP hard phone - these are favoured in the call centres of telesales companies
iii) an Analogue Telephone Adaptor (ATA) and a "normal phone"

An ATA is an ethernet device which you connect to your broadband router. It allows you to use make and receive VOIP calls without the need for a PC. The telephone that you connect to the ATA can be any "normal phone".. ranging from a standard corded phone to a DECT cordless base station to a voice answering machine, etc..

If I'm using the broadband connection quite heavily, eg downloading, will this affect the phone connection?

Yes, if you max out your broadband connection, this will affect the quality of a VOIP call. To avoid that problem, you would need to prioritise VOIP traffic at the router, if it has such a facility, and most routers do not.

Any advice much appreciated.

Take the plunge and move to VOIP! We essentially pay nothing for our telephone calls now. Lots of the VOIP providers will let you try out their service for free, either through a callback service or via a softphone client. Of course, it's possible that the VOIP providers are artificially prioritising those free trial calls to improve the call quality and to lure you into subscribing!

synapse321

I have had vonage for over a year.

They started off ok and I opted for the 4i plan whereby you get

33 hours free to India.

Now I feel they are oversubscribed on that plan and have admitted

there is no more capacity or lines to India.

We get two ring tones, calls cut off get, charged for the call when it just rings, having to repeatedly re dial for a spare line.

I probably will cancel the service if this goes on.

Nick_[D]vB

asbokid wrote: »

It's always a subjective judgment...

In this subjects experience the Betamax VOIP services are unusable because the call lag / latency is so high you will find yourself either talking over each other or having to say "over" after every sentance! I tried to raise this point in another thread but it was mysteriously deleted...

baby_frogmella

Not sure if this can be classed as a VOIP service but I've got a Vodafone sure signal unit connected to my broadband router and I get crystal clear call quality (as good as a landline) on my 3G mobile phone.