Might be making the switch to Vonage.

SlickVic78 · #1 27th Jan 05, 09:10 PM

Hello All-

I know quite a few of you use Vonage and was wanting to know what you thought about their services. I am currently using MCI and for the price I am paying with them, I could get 2 months with Vonage! I know their service comes with Caller ID, but does it also come with Call Waiting ID - which will show you the name/number of the person who is trying to get a hold of you while you are already on the phone?

My biggest concern at this point is getting 2 phones set up on one line. If you use Vonage, how are you hooking up more than 1 telephone to the line? I need to be able to hook up a telephone in my room, and a telephone in another room down the hall. I guess one way is to get a new phone that supports 2 phones to 1 base. What are some other reliable ways of getting this to work?

Thanks,
-SlickVic78

wase4711 · #2 28th Jan 05, 02:27 AM

as you said, get a cordless phone with a base and as many handsets as you need; I have a base with 4 handsets, so i can use the line in 4 different rooms...
Yes call waiting/caller ID is included...
And, its a good idea to have one land line or a cell phone available, cause if you lose your high speed connection, you will have no phone service..

war59312 · #3 28th Jan 05, 04:30 AM

Well I was going to go with AT&T but now I am thinking I will go with Vonage too.

Unless of course someone knows why I should not? Seeing as Vonage is cheaper and AT&T does not even disclose what the full price really is. Though u do get a month free but not really important. Cause i know thats just their little trap to pull you into buying their service. Besides not as many free extras either.

Well on second thought. Been reading reviews and what not. Vonage is great but Packet8 looks even better and cheaper:

https://www.packet8.net/about/residential.asp

And its the highest reated overall and it has all the same featuers and only one i found that offers ENHANCED 911 which I want.

SlickVic78 · #4 28th Jan 05, 07:09 AM

Hey Will,

I did see an ad for Packet8 but wasn't quite sure what/who they were. Great find... Cheaper than Vonage, but - are they reputable? That is the question...

-SlickVic78

Leech · #5 28th Jan 05, 07:47 AM

Can you get your land line and vanage number to be the same ??? I have been thinking about this as well. The only thing I don't like is that eash additional line cost the same as the first ..

SlickVic78 · #6 28th Jan 05, 07:55 AM

Hello Leech,

You mean port your home number over to Vonage? You can check if this is available for your number from the Vonage site. I checked mine, and I am able to take my existing number over to them.

But now I am looking at this Packet8 deal. For $19.95, you get everything that Vonage offers for $24.99... Decisions... I have never heard of Packet8 until now, so who knows if they are a reliable service...

Is anyone here using Packet8? Obviously, I would go with the company that is reputable...

-SlickVic78

Leech · #7 28th Jan 05, 08:24 AM

Thanx for the info slickvic. What I mean is can you use the same phone number on both services. I found the answer out, the way they set it up if you have dsl (which I do), is, they give you a new number so you can keep your current number to use the dsl connection. I'm not sure what the price diff would be to keep the current line and add this. I am going to look into it.

I did some research and found that Verizon and ATT have this service as well:

Att's service is $29.99 | http://www.usa.att.com/callvantage/index.jsp?
Verizons is $34.95 | http://www22.verizon.com/ForYourHome/VOIP/VOIPHome.aspx

This with internet would run around 60.00+ a month, for my home business this would be perfect. There is no mention of how much each additional line cost though, I am guessing the same as the first line. When vonage first came out they gave you additional lines with all the same features as the first for $5.00 extra. I guess since more people are getting it they changed things.

As for the service you mentioned, I just looked at it and it looks pretty good. I like the virtual office package they have ...

war59312 · #8 28th Jan 05, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlickVic78

Hey Will,

I did see an ad for Packet8 but wasn't quite sure what/who they were. Great find... Cheaper than Vonage, but - are they reputable? That is the question...

-SlickVic78

Here is a recent review from PC Mag:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759...129TX1K0000530

Its the highest rated by PC Mag too.

Also I have learned it is pretty new, around June 2004.

http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/2413

http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Packet8...2.html?tag=tab

Some are a little harsh. lol

And some of the info they said were neg. no longer apply. Like the 911 service. They have that now.

And they say hardware fee but thats really bs cause its just your router really unless you want to go the video route which I dont so.

Also I just found a coupon. Save $10 - $20 off Activation Fee. Dont know if it still works since have not bought yet.

Coupon:

Gateshare

I dont know though might still go with Vonage. Waiting to see what u do. hehe

wase4711 · #9 28th Jan 05, 02:09 PM

well, I heard about packet 8 after I signed up with vonage, but havent heard anything about their quality...Vonage works all the time for me..
You can adjust the quality of Vonage calls by using their "bandwidth" adjuster;
Keep in mind with lots of uploads and downloads, you may lose a bit of sound quality, ESPECIALLY while UPLOADING!

You can get a 2nd Vonage line for 9.99 per month; I have that as my fax line....
I think you have to "say" its a fax line, but I also make calls from it..

KingCobra · #10 28th Jan 05, 02:51 PM

As many already know I have Vonage and have had it for sometime. As for Packet8, never heard of it until now. If I understand correctly you have to use a special phone? I wouldn't want to buy special equiptment and how often do we really use video phone tech. After all the person on the other end needs it too in order to see you.

Make sure if you want Vonage to allow Vonage to cancel your current landline phone in order to allow the transfer of your current phone number to the Vonage account. Learn from my mistake, don't start small... just get the unlimited account. I had to pay $9.99 + the unlimited price to upgrade within the first week from the smaller plan to the unlimited plan.

I use the one base two cordless phones Uniden model #DX17286-2 for around $39.99 and I'm very happy. We also have a cell phone that we have the Vonage account setup to forward to automatic if our cable internet should go down. We also have it setup to forward automatic to the cell phone if we don't answer the home phone within three rings. By doing this we leave the house and never have to worry about missing calls. Our voice mail on the cell phone works as our answering machine when the call is forwarded so no need to use the voice mail feature from Vonage or even an answering machine at the house. It wouldn't surprise me if Vonage dropped their unlimited price again sometime soon to stay ahead.