Any Experience with Vonage for Phone Service

I have Vonage. You have to have high speed/broadband. So if you have time warner or uverse or vios you can use it. It runs 31.00 with all fees/taxes.

Only issue I have had is that their site can be a pain to navigate when you want to talk with someone.

If you want I can send you a link that allows you to get 2 months free.

I like not having long distance bills - since all fsamily live every where else.

I don't have Vonage but I do have AT&T which I hate. I considered Vonage as well but have decided against it. I contacted AT&T and told them I was thinking about leaving AT&T and was giving them a last chance to offer me something that would make me want to stay. They transfered me to their "Retention Department" whose only job is to do whatever they can to retain unhappy customers' business. They have the power to set you up on discounted "plans" that regular AT&T reps can't. This way you can make a decision based on ATT's best offer as well as Vonage's.

We have been with Vonage for about 7 years now and love it! I have friends that live in Italy and Japan and calling them is a breeze except for the time change lol! Just go for it but do forward your phone in times of storms to a cell phone b/c like everyone else has said when the power goes out so does your phone.

I was a skeptic, but after rave reviews from several people we know, we switched to Vonage about 8 months ago and are very pleased! We all of the features we were paying much more for with Verizon PLUS unlimited free long distance to U.S. and Canada for $31.88 a month total, which is the monthly rate + tax.

Phone service does not affect your internet connecton AT ALL. The only downside we have found is if you need to call 911 (hopefully, you won't) the 911 operator will not know the location you are calling from and you will need to provide an address. Vonage tells you this up front.

Everything else is exactly the same...except our bill :) .

We have been with Vonage for over 3 years now and are VERY happy with it. Yes, you can be on the phone and internet at the same time, but it cannot be used with a traditional modem connection---it has to be used with a cable modem connection, like Time Warner, AT & T, or the like, so that it's connected all the time. Also, you have to remember that in the event of a power outage, you will have no phone service, so that's when we use our cell phones. Also, you have to have a good, strong cable internet connection, or you will experience distortions.

Best of luck!

I've had Vonage for my home based business since December and LOVE it. I've only had 1 problem and I just unplugged the base to reset it and haven't had a problem since.

You will not have phone service if you loose your internet connection but you can make and recieve calls while on the internet.

They also have awesome features that are included at no cost.

If you have any more specific questions, just send me a message.

It's a good service.It comes to around $31.00 with the extra charges.One problem if your cable internet service have a problem then your phone wont work.

T.,

Vonage is the best thing that happend to me since I have family scattered all over the world. I call most places in Europe for free, call Canada for free and all over the United States. I have had it for almost four years and I can't complain about their service. They keep introducing great features and their rates have been low and conistent since I signed up for their service. You can't go wrong with Vonage. "It's the best thing since slice bread" LOL

Flo

I have had vonage TWICE (I went back to "save") They are a pretty reliable service. The setbacks are that when there is a storm there is a GOOD chance you will loose service, if you internet is down for any reason you will NOT be able to use the phone. Yes, you need internet service, yes you can use the computer and be on the phone at the same time. The only other sickening setback is, they don't tell you that when you make any changes(upgrade or downgrade plans) to your plan, they debit your account automatically. AND if you withdraw/disconnect before a years contract time, they will debit your account a $39.99 fee, plus charge you for the modem (that comes free, most of the time)PLUS taxes automatically. Not to be prejudice but you can't understand many of the reps when you call the company, because they are all foriegn, and they are not thorough in their explanations, etc. The good features are that you can access voicemail online, which I love, see the calls you made and recieved and you can actually read your voicemails, they are all cool.

I have had vonage for over a year with no real problems. Yes, you can use the phone and the internet at the same time. So far we have been happy with switching to Vonage.

T.,

Don't do it!! My sister had Vonage and there were days at a time we couldn't get a hold of her. There was also an annoying beeping that was always on her line. PLUS she had to pay extra money to have 911 services. SHE loved it because it made her bill so much lower, but for the people who called her (or tried to call her), it was AWFUL.

Yes, you can be online and on the phone at the same time, but Vonage is not the way to go.

Try your cable company, or AT&T. They are much better.

As a matter of fact, I think Vonage has just declared bankruptcy...

Happy talking!
E.

We have Vonage and love it. You have to have high speed internet to have it, but if you do it's worth it. If you do get Vonage just remember that you won't have phone service if your high speed connection goes down. You can use the phone and internet at the same time. Also, there is something about having to register your number so that 911 knows where you are since with Vonage, your call can appear to originate from somewhere else. For instance I called poison control once and I was routed to the New York branch even though it should go to a local poison control. My husband delt with all the details so I'm not sure exactly how it's done. So basically, if you're tech savy it's worth it.

I had vonage a few years ago before I moved to TX. I really liked the service. At that time they were not hooked up with 911, but it looks like they have fixed that issue. The only reason why i didn't keep them when i moved here was because of the 911 and the fact that it doesn't work with your alarm system. Your alarm company would have to come in an install something in order for it to work. I have a friend who just kept her land line and got just the basic service so she could have the alarm connected. you might want to try that.

We've had Vonage for several years now and I love it. I have a couple things to expand upon with what some of the others have mentioned. In the event of a power outage or loss of cable service, you can set up your online account to forward your calls to a secondary number, such as your cell phone. You never miss a call. We have an alarm system with Protection One and they have wireless capability which doesn't require the use of a landline. The 911 details on their website are pretty sketchy, but again, just make sure that you register your current address in the 911 section of your online account.

Good luck.

I have heard that 911 calls with Vonage go through a middleman before they are routed to emergency services, and that if you lose your internet connection, you lose your 911. That's why we haven't tried it.

I have Vonage I have no problems with the service. You will need a broadband connection to use the Vonage service. If you are getting DSL from ATT it will go away if you cancel your line with them. If you are getting your connection so other method then it make great deal of difference in the budget to use Vonage. Your only down side is that if your internet connection or power goes out you will not have phone service which means no 911.
We made the decision because we both have a cell phone and 911 works from our cell.
Vonage has made great strides in correcting the 911 issues. We you call 911 it will show your address. I work for a small Telco and go to events that talk about 911 service Vonage is one of the leaders in making sure that IP phone service can reach the correct 911 agencies. You will just need to make sure that you register your address with them.
If you have any questions on Vonage or how their 911 works just send me a message. I would be more that happy to help.

I had Vonage for a while but had to cancel. And although I had to cancel, I totally recommend Vonage. My problems were with my internet connection. I never had clear calls (even though I had enough speed). Anyway, Vonage was VERY helpful, even placed a three way call so that they could talk to my internet provider about the interruptions I was receiving. I'd DEFINITELY recommend them.

I had Vonage and it was great and yes you can use the internet and be on the phone which also helps with any tech support on the internet. I had it for awhile then all of a sudden my security system in the home started to make a beeping sound. I had someone come out I think Cable Company not sure. Vonage would not do anything to come out. Or if it was them they would charge. Anyway, they wanted to put in some sort of wireless deal on my house and that would have been $150 then a monthly fee. I went back to phone service. If that were not a problem I would have continued with Vonage. The beeping was caused because the security did not recognize a phone connection. G. W

I had vonage for a while and it was very disappointing. We cancelled it cause we had so much trouble with it. A.

We tried it twice and for the last time. The quality of your service depends on the quality of your internet connection and honestly that is hard to know till you try it. If you don't mind the majority of the time dealing with the quality level of a cell phone, fuzziness, calls dropping, fading in and out, then it is for you. By the second time we hooked it up, it was years later and hoped it had improved. We had decided to run it on two lines this time and it was also connected to 2 computers. It was more that it could handle and therefore a waste of our time and energy.

We switched back to AT&T. Hope that helps.

I don't know if anyone else has had this problem with Vonage, but if you put items on hold at the library, you will not get your notification on your phone when your items are in. I finally figured out it was because I had the internet phone, and switched my number to my cell number. Also, you can sign up for library elf and get email notifications of that stuff. I hope this helps!

D.

It's a really long story, but my advice is DON'T DO IT!!! Vonage ripped us off, we had no phone when I came home from major skull surgery, and couldn't get one for a week. We had to change numbers when we went back to Verizon...it just goes on and on. Anyway, best of luck!

I have not had vonage but I have friends and family that use internet phone service. 1)When talking to them they sound like they are ina tunnle 2) When the internet goes down so does their phone service. 3)It used to be that you had to order seperate 911 service. I am not sure it that still applies.

We have been with vonage for 2 years now. We had some issues the fisrt month getting bugs worked out with settings and calling one long distant number, but all is perfect now. Our only issues is that we have Charter for high speed internet and charter goes out quite a bit in our area which knocks the phone out, but it automatically forwards to my cell phone.

Good Luck! We think it was worth the switch from At&t for what we save each month.

Vonage is a huge rip-off! We are stll owed money since it was try it or get your money back. I am just so tired of dealing with them, I guess I gave up. The phone never worked, they even sent someone out to help. He could never get it to work, he blamed out internet service (we never had a problem with it, and the internet service came out and said the problem was Vonage) They sent us a different phone connector and it did not work either. I strongly suggest against getting Vonage!!!!

We switched to Vonage from Verizon in September/October. We love it, but only after the initial switch over which was a HUGE hassle. We were trying to port our phone number from Verizon to Vonage and the process got messed up on Vonage's end. To make a long 6-week saga short, I ended up calling Vonage's corporate compliance line, which is answered by a third party, and complained of customer mistreatment. By 8:30am the next morning, I got a call from a corporate compliance officer who had my service working within 30 minutes! Their customer service is awful. They are in a foreign country (I know, because I asked once) and all they do is read from a script. They would tell me the same things over and over again and then get angry and hang up when I insisted on talking to their manager.

As long as you have reliable high speed internet, Vonage should work great. We only pay $30/mo (including taxes) And we have it set up so that if the power or internet is out, all calls are automatically forwarded to my husband's cell phone. We can check our voicemail messages from any computer. And the 911 issue was solved a while back (thanks to government/court intervention). When you sign up with Vonage, you register the "official address" for your number so if you have to call 911, they know where to route you. If you move and take your Vonage service with you, you just have to update your official address.

We have Vonage and really like it - also because international calls are cheaper than with any other service. You *can* be on internet and phone at the same time. But yes - if your power goes out/modem connection fails, you won't have phone either, but usually it only takes a few minutes for us to reboot everything (and cell phones help, of course!); if there's a problem with that, it generally lies with your internet provider, not Vonage. And if you have it and recommend someone else (and they tell Vonage you recommended them), you get some kind of bonus. We are very happy with the service and the price.
-Christina

yes you can use the internet and use the phone at the same time. We have had it for two years and it has worked fine.

only one prob. if you have an alarm system for your home you will have prob with the alarm system using a wireless box. This is the prob we have right now...we have to get a land line so we wont keep having errors with our Alarm system.

I am going to sneek a peak at your responses. I too would like to know about this company.

I have the very same question!!!! Thank you for asking it and I hope someone will respond!!!

L. P

I used Vonage for 2 yrs. It was ok, but u cannot download anything while u use the phone cause for some reason u can call people but they can't hear u. Plus your bill actually goes up about 15cents every month. I would stay with AT&T if i were u. I didn't like it at all.