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Has anyone switched their phone service to Vonage?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:11 am
by HurricaneGirl
I was thinking about switching over to this broadband phone company.. Their plans says $24.99 a month or $14.99 a month for the cheaper plan.

I'm wondering if there are alot of hidden charges like on my regular phone bill...It says I can keep my current phone number but it takes up to 20 days for the transfer and they give you a temporary phone number until the transfer is complete.

If anyone is using Vonage, please let me know how it's working out.

Thanks,
HG

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:29 am
by gtalum
I have been with Vonage since January, and will never go back to Verizon. The bill, including taxes, is ~$27 a month for unlimited local and long distance. The sound quality is nearly identical to Verizon. And now with number portability, you don't even lose your existing phone number.

The only negative is that if you lose power, you will need to have it hooked up to battery backup or you will lose phone service.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:38 pm
by HurricaneGirl
Thanks gtalum.. I'm really thinking about switching over to Vonage. My phone bill is still $51.00 with BellSouth and that's with just caller ID and Voice mail. I got rid of Complete Choice Plan to save money..

Vonage will save me even more money :D

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:43 pm
by gtalum
I really can't say enough great things about Vonage. The $27 covers everything. I can't tell you how happy I was the day I went outside and physically disconnected Verizon's line from my house so I could get Vonage on all of my inside phone jacks. :D

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:49 pm
by Terrell
What happens if your High Speed internet connection goes out(while your power is still on)? Will vonage continue to work? Uf so then 27 beats down the 80-90 I'm paying Bell South.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:51 pm
by HurricaneGirl
Does a technician come over and help do all that stuff? The phone lines in my apartment are split because the office and my apartment share phone lines.. so I can only use my phone line on one jack... I would like to get this straightened out ASAP.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:01 pm
by gtalum
Terrell wrote:What happens if your High Speed internet connection goes out(while your power is still on)? Will vonage continue to work? Uf so then 27 beats down the 80-90 I'm paying Bell South.


No. If you lose your high speed internet connection for whatever reason, Vonage will nto work.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:01 pm
by HurricaneGirl
Another question gtalum.. it says this at the bottom and was curious....did you have to pay a transfer fee?

"Please note you are responsible for any fees from your current provider associated with your number transfer".

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:02 pm
by gtalum
HurricaneGirl wrote:Does a technician come over and help do all that stuff? The phone lines in my apartment are split because the office and my apartment share phone lines.. so I can only use my phone line on one jack... I would like to get this straightened out ASAP.


They just send you a package with detailed instructions on getting things running. As far as I know there is no technician available for it. It's really not very difficult, though, even for less technically minded folks.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:15 pm
by HurricaneGirl
Thank you for your help with my questions gtalum. :)

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:02 pm
by Rainband
I have Roadrunner, digital cable and digital phone with my DVR box and tax it's 150.00 a month. Thats unlimited long distance too. :D

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:56 pm
by O Town
Rainband wrote:I have Roadrunner, digital cable and digital phone with my DVR box and tax it's 150.00 a month. Thats unlimited long distance too. :D

Me too! It saves me alot of money every month. And they dont slap on those hidden fees like sprint used to do. The bill is the same everymonth. I feel the same about digital phone and the only negative is when your power goes out so does the phone. But most of us have cell phones so that will get you through for a while. But all and all I love digital phone, for the amount of money you save monthley it is well worth it. :D

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:17 pm
by gtalum
Rainband wrote:I have Roadrunner, digital cable and digital phone with my DVR box and tax it's 150.00 a month. Thats unlimited long distance too.


You may be able to save about $20 per month by swicthing from BrightHouse digital phone to Vonage. Otherwise, I love digital phone, too! :)

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:25 pm
by O Town
gtalum wrote:
Rainband wrote:I have Roadrunner, digital cable and digital phone with my DVR box and tax it's 150.00 a month. Thats unlimited long distance too.


You may be able to save about $20 per month by swicthing from BrightHouse digital phone to Vonage. Otherwise, I love digital phone, too! :)

No only 10 bucks. It is worth the 10 bucks just to have it all on one bill and they are great people to deal with when it comes to payments and customer service.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:32 pm
by Terrell
Given that I spend about 200 per month between cable and phone (I don't own a cell phone) Would I be saving money if I dropped Bell South (between 80 and 90 per month) and got either Brighthouse digital phone or Vonage, and a Cell phone (which I would have relatively minimal use of, but would need if the cable connection was down for any reason)?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:06 pm
by gtalum
O Town wrote:No only 10 bucks. It is worth the 10 bucks just to have it all on one bill and they are great people to deal with when it comes to payments and customer service.


That's cool. :)

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:01 pm
by GalvestonDuck
Fill me in -- how does it work?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 11:25 pm
by gtalum
GalvestonDuck wrote:Fill me in -- how does it work?


Digital phone, be it Vonage or anyone else, works through your high speed internet connection. You need cable or DSL internet to make it work. They send you a box which goes between your hisgh speed modem and your computer. This box has a phone jack in it, which you connect to your phone system via the nearest phone jack.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 11:26 pm
by tomboudreau
Is Vontage still making people to pay for any 911 calls they make? I know there was a lawsuit with them about people having to pay some fee to make 911 calls.

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:49 am
by janswizard
I've been with Vonage for almost a year now. Started out with the full plan at $24.99 a month and found that the smaller $15.99 plan works just as well for me - 500 minutes is alot of minutes unless you are on the phone all the time. Our house still has a regular Southern Bell telephone installed; my mother's phone. So last hurricane season when power went out and my phone didn't work, we still had her line. One of the things I like about Vonage is that I can forward my phone to hers; so even tho my phone didn't work during the storm, I could still get my calls on hers.

With that said, there have been times when the sound quality was not as good as I would have hoped. However, I think it's because my portable phone (which is the one I have hooked up to it) is getting old and dated.