 Review by AtomBubble 
UPDATED: 1.8 years ago
member for 2.2 years, 67 visits, last login: 31 days ago
 Escondido,San Diego,CA
 $26 per month (12 month contract)
 about 7 days
 "They gave me a Linksys RTP300"
 "Everything that could go wrong, went wrong"
 "Not worth it. (Review Revised)"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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REVISED: yes, I know, my recent revision of the review was pretty badly written, so I'll try again:
I got Vonage on Jan. 30, 2007, they sent me a free Motorola VT2412. Cool. The service worked fine for the first few months,except for a few flaws I'll attribute to Motorola's bad firmware (nonfunctional port forwarding) Anyway, Everything was fine and dandy, until problems began to happen, suddenly my calls started to fail to go through, or the router would cut the link between my computers and itself, and after restarting, I'd have the link, but no lines. So I called Vonage up and they suggested I go out and buy a Linksys RTP300 on retail. It's the same one I'm still using right now, on ViaTalk (as I mentioned on the prior review). After another little while, I began to lose th ability to fax and call internationally. I would make the call, and get busy signals and recordings. This was irksome to say the least. but when I checked my online account, I was astounded to see I had been billed for uncompleted international calls! (would end up in reorder or an Asterisk style recording, remember) So once again, I phoned vonage, this time from a borrowed mobile phone, and they suggested that I get another RTP300. Now, Until now,this rtp300 was fine, it was brand new, and I really didn't want another Motorola device with messed up software, so I insisted on getting another RTP300. It took three or four times before they got the order right, once trying to send me a VT2142, once for a VT2442, and one for an RTP300 to the wrong address. Finally the RTP arrived. This was a refurbished unit, and very scratched and banged up. None-the-less, I attempted to plug the unit in, and I couldn't, the power plug and the hole in the case of the device accommodating the plug were not lined up, so I literally couldn't plug the unit in! So I straightened the plug carefully, and I plugged the unit in. Nothing. No one's home. So I phone up Vonage and they as me to mail it back, and another rtp was on it's way. I plugged my original RTP to the internet again and it sprang to life, and provided the link to my computers, I asked the rep to force a firmware update, she pushed me the latest firmware they had, apparently a testing firmware? the unit registered the lines, nd it worked perfectly. But I still could not make outgoing calls to numbers I didn't call all the time, No where in Canada except for a frequent number, No where in the US except for frequently called numbers, Everything else gave me the same recording as did international calls prior. I also noticed calls took quite a while to connect!, (a long pause between dialing, a click, another pause, and ringing), But none-the less, calls went through. Then, suddenly, I simply would pick up the phone, dial a number, and... silence. Completely silence, Vonage reps say everything should work, but nothing! The new RTP arrives in the mail, yet another mucked up refurb, which seemed to work, but the same issue, no connection. So basically I was pretty short on my chain, I had two routers to mail back on my expense! I had to pay for more than $20 in international calls prior when their engineers wanted data about why my intl wasn't working, and none of it, but there, they were, all the calls that failed! Hardly being able to call out at all by the end of it all, I decided to give up, It threw the two refurbs in the boxes, paid the exorbitant shipping fees out of pocket, unplugged my router from the internet, CYT'ed it, put the Vonage account on hold, and put the Linksys RTP300 that I bought on Viatalk. Guess what? Everything works fine. I called and asked them to put the $70 in fees for shipping and calls to my bank account, Still waiting for that, but seeing it's x-mas I'll give it time.. Oh, and did I mention that call forwarding of any kind, (including Network Down Forwarding) is charged at normal rates? I set a network down forward a while ago, which was serving for the time until my contractual period ended where I could cancel without penalty, has slammed me with a $30 overcharge balance? And don't forget to mention the incompetent, rude, useless customer service I got. I'm quite disappointed with the quality of service I received.
I hope this rewrite is a little more clear.
Followup comments:  N3T_K1LLA
Premium
join:2007-05-14
Camarillo, CA
| Need proper review Uh yea, what?
You review is of vonage, yet you are all over the board mentioning other companies. You do not go into details as to what happened, $250? Are you for real? More information needed on this.
This seems more like an advertisement for Viatalk than a review for vonage. | |
|  | radam
join:2004-02-13
Fairfax Station, VA
 ·Cox HSI
 ·Vonage
1 edit | Re: Need proper review Atom Bubbles,
Did you ever check the throughput and efficiency of your ISP broadband line? I heard of many complaints targeting Vonage when the real culprit is actually the broadband line being very bad. If you only get about 512Kbps and use the line for internet then you'll probably get very bad VoIP service.
I've been using Vonage for 4 years. It has occasionally gone down for about 3-4 hours but service is almost five 9's. I use Cox Cable and load it up with Vonage as well as video conferencing. I also make 3-4 calls per week to Ireland without any problems. | |
| sappersix
join:2007-12-09
Berkeley, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
·Vonage
| Inaccurate information on disconnect fee Quoting from the Vonage Terms of Service:
"Does Vonage apply a disconnect fee?
Yes. Vonage will apply a $39.99 disconnect fee to each line that is cancelled within two years of being activated. If you cancel within the Money Back Guarantee period of 60 days and return your device within 14 days of your cancellation, the disconnect fee on the initial line ordered will be refunded." | |
|
AtomBubble
join:2007-07-30
Escondido, CA
clubs:
·DSL EXTREME
·Skype
·Vonage
1 edit | In response to my commenters, In response to comment number one,
My last review of the service was pretty, bad, and I hope this makes it clearer, Yeah, They quoted me at $250 to get rid of my fax line and virtual numbers. Though the original disconnect fee was $40. Yes, I am for real on this.
In response to comment number two,
I have a 3000down/1500up kbit line, I hold conference calls at higher quality than Vonage with four participants daily without issue, and sometimes with calls on the ViaTalk line going too. I have had no other problems with all quality or QoS so far. That;'s not really true, you can hold a good quality connection on way less than that.
In response to comment three,
PRetty much the same answers to comment one, and the service was great for the first three months. so I was deep in the contractual hole by the time Vonage got bad.
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| | dazed6
join:2007-08-05
| Re: In response to my commenters, Removing fax/virtual/800 numbers is free. Every voiceline is $39.99 outside the MBG period unless you've been with Vonage for quite a while (a year if you signed up before Jan 2007/two years after)
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Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.
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