 Review by jhacker 
UPDATED: 146 days ago
member for 6.6 years, 1115 visits, last login: 2 days ago
 Peoria,Peoria,IL
 $34 per month (24 month contract)
 about 4 days
 "More calling features than we know what to do with, No worry about long distance costs, not supporting the TELCO pig"
 "Call quality not what we're used to with POTS, Numerous additional fees added to bill. Will tell you anything to sign you up"
 "What a great value, but don't use if reliability is imperative."
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02/24/08: We've now had a few months to experience Vonage. All in all, I'm glad we signed up for it. I enjoy not having to worry about how much the bill is because it's always a flat rate. However, I think Vonage tacks on too many additional charges. It's as bad as AT&T in that regard. I do enjoy all the custom calling features, including 'do not disturb' and 'Simulring'. There are just a couple of problems we've had with the service. Occasionally the person we're talking to will report that the call sounds 'broken up'. I thought that problem would be alleviated when I moved the 2.4 cordless away from the wireless router, but it still happens less often. I keep the bandwidth setting on the highest so I seldom notice any problems on my end. Just a couple of times I've had a call terminate on me for an unexplained reason. Also, at times call forwarding stays active even after I've deactivated it. This was attributed to the Vonage Talk IM software I installed. It took tech support quite a while to help diagnose this problem. Part of the reason was lack of communication because I couldn't understand their accent. I fear the day I want to cancel after hearing all the horror stories. If I did cancel, it would probably be because of the additional fees. Then I would probably select a VOIP solution that doesn't utilize the public internet like Comcast's Digital Voice.
11/17/07: We've now had Vonage for two months. Originally we were using the service with DSL, but now we have a cable modem. Vonage works much better with the cable modem. We have very few complaints about the sound quality now. We are able to set to the highest bandwidth setting and the voice quality is superb. We do occasionally have a complaint about calls cutting out, but I believe it's interference between the wireless g router and the cordless 2.4 ghz phone. This should be alleviated now that I've hooked the Vonage up to entire home phone wiring and moved the cordless.
Our account was inaccessible via the web for over a week. This meant we couldn't view call details or change features via the web. The problem was solved in three business days after I called a trouble ticket in. Now that our 2 month free trial has ended, I notice that they've added nearly $9 in additional taxes and junk fees on top of the $25/month charge.
Overall, I think the service is worth what we're paying for it. We'll see what our calling patterns are and consider switching to the 500 min./month plan.
9/18/07: I signed up with Vonage after they offered me a deal too good to refuse. I got a 2-month free trial, and a free Motorola VT2442 router, with no activation charge. I know people that are using, or have used Vonage with great success. I considered going with cable phone through Insight. With them, calling to towns 15 miles from here is considered long distance. They want an extra $10 for unlimited long distance. AT&T forces bundling of POTS with DSL to support their antiquated business model. With the telco (AT&T/SBC) always adding additional charges, I was pushed over the edge when they added a fee of $5 just to have long distance on the line. The only reason we ever need long distance is for occasional use of the fax machine. I have not ported our old number to Vonage yet.
The Vonage equipment, a Motorola VT2442 router, arrived just 4 days after placing the order over the phone. I could have placed the order online, yet I wanted to talk them into giving me a better deal. Just a heads-up that the call center seems to be in India. They were very driven, and weren't going to let me off the phone until I signed up. I caught the sales person talking out both sides of her mouth. Since I still have DSL, I wanted to wait to port the number of course. She at first told me that I could delay in submitting the paperwork, then said it had to be done no later than 10 days after ordering Vonage. Then, she said it would not cost to port the number at a later date, and later she said there would be a $9.95 charge to do this later as opposed to now. It appears as though they will tell you anything to get you signed up. Of course they did inform me of the $40 cancellation fee, and the equipment charge if I cancel within 2 years.
The equipment installation was seamless!! I simply moved all my CAT-5 cables from the old router to the Vonage router, plugged in the power and a phone, and VOILA!! I received a dial tone right away and was making and receiving calls. They must enter the MAC address of the router in their system before they ship it so that it's plug-n-play.
The first thing I noticed compared to a traditional land line was that I had to turn the volume of the phone down after connecting to Vonage. The dial tone seems much louder. I notice that while making calls, there is a clicking sound every few seconds when the other line is ringing and that the ringing sometimes has a funny sound to it. It really reminds me of the old pulse dial lines of the good ol' days. Otherwise, the voice quality of the receiving end of the calls is good. On the other hand, people have complained about my voice breaking up once or twice. This problem could have been the other person since they were on a cell phone. Also, one person I talked to said my voice sounded hollow. I've played with different settings of bandwidth saver, but haven't noticed much of a difference in call quality. However, I haven't yet tried uploading much while I'm on a call. I really appreciate having custom calling features which I don't pay extra for. I especially like having call waiting with caller-id again, not to mention busy line callback. The flashing orange voice mail indicator on the router is nice to have as well.
Although it has only been a few days since we started using Vonage, we are happy even with some of the minor problems. I realize the technology is still somewhat new, and we can put up with a few problems because of the value. I wouldn't recommend Vonage as someone's only method for communication. Our family has cell phones as a backup. The incumbent telcos have better take notice of who their competition really is. They're already going the way of AOL by bleeding subscribers in droves.
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