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Review by fatmanskinny See Profile

  • Location: Wandering
  • Cost: $19 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
$19 a month unlimited calls, features I need, saves me $$$
Not much to report now. It works great!
It meets my needs at a great price!
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

My Other Reviews

·AT&T FTTP
UPDATE: As of 2/20/2021, I left for MagicJack. I rarely use my home phone but like it as a backup. MagicJack has an updated external device that works like the Vonage box where it does not need to be connected into your computer. Vonage was great but I could no longer justify paying $22 a month when there are months I didn't use any outbound minutes.

UPDATE: As of 4/11/2020, I am still with Vonage. I have made some changes such as upgrading my home alarm system to one that uses a cellular single. However, I still like having a home phone line. Voange is still great for that reason.....a backup phone line.

UPDATE: As of 3/22/2019, I am still with Vonage. I managed to get my home alarm system upgraded to cellular monitoring where it no longer runs over my phone lines and conflicts with Vonage. Although I use my home phone very little, I prefer to have one for those occasional faxes and calls to my home number. Vonage is worth the $19 a month...much better than $30+ over AT&T U-Verse or Comcast Xfinity phone.

UPDATE: As of 2/7/2017, I decided to stay with Vonage. I was going to move to another VOIP provider because their prices were going to jump a bit after my intro was up. They decided to keep me at $9.99 for life which turns into nearly $19 after "fees". It is still pretty rock solid so I believe I will be staying with Vonage for the foreseeable future.

UPDATE: As of 1/25/2016, I'm back with Vonage. Xfinity could not beat the pricing. Also, I don't use my home phone much. It is more so for the house alarm than anything else. I occasionally fax but that's about it.

UPDATE: As of 7/1/2015, I went back to Comcast's Xfinity phone service. They offered me a package I could not refuse. So long, Vonage. You did good while I had the service.

I switched from Xfinity Voice to Vonage about a year ago. They sent me an offer I couldn't refuse - $9.99 unlimited calling (local / national) with the features I need on a home phone.

I received the self-install kit which was very easy to set up. I logged in and set up my profile and was on in less than 10 minutes. They sent the standard Vonage Box. It gets the job done.

Sometimes, I run into an issue where the box does not automatically reconnect to the network if there is a power outage. I have to power cycle it. It looks like the ethernet connection is not recognized (or lit up). The call quality is generally fine. Occasionally, callers hear my home alarm picking up as a fax on the line when they call. I am lowering the bandwidth usage to see if that may help.

Overall, I am happy with the switch. It works and when it doesn't, calls are automatically routed to my cell.

member for 20.2 years, 2899 visits, last login: 4 days ago
updated 3 years ago

Stewart
join:2005-07-13

1 recommendation

Stewart

Member

Alternatives for fax and alarm

Including fees and taxes, you're probably paying ~$14/mo. for Vonage. That's a good value for a phonoholic, but IMO expensive for something you almost never use.

There are many alternative VoIP services with low monthly cost, where you pay a small per-minute charge. Some you might consider include Callcentric ($3.90/mo. incl. 120 min. outbound, incoming at $0.015/min.), Anveo ($1.30/mo. + $0.01/min. in or out), and Circlenet.us ($1.50/mo. + $0.002/min. in + ~$0.0025/min. out). These prices include all fees and taxes (except Callcentric adds NY sales tax if you live in that state), though you will have to buy your own adapter or IP phone

Alternatively, perhaps you don't need home phone service at all. For fax, consider »www.topfreefax.com/SendF ··· eFax.php or »faxzero.com/ , both free within their respective usage limits.

Unless it has cellular backup, an alarm system connected via Vonage or similar is not terribly secure. It's probably easy for an intruder to cut your cable line before entering, or unplug your router during the entry delay. Power often fails during a fire. However, if this level of security is acceptable, look at the IP monitoring capabilities at »info.nextalarm.com/ and »alarmrelay.com/ . They are almost surely less expensive than your present monitoring service, and you won't need the phone line.

For enhanced security, look into cellular monitoring. You'll pay an extra $5 to $10 monthly, but your monitoring costs will likely be no more than you're paying now.

Don't cancel your home phone service if you depend on it for 911. If cellular coverage in your home is good and you keep the charger on the nightstand and charge the phone nightly, the panic button(s) on your alarm may be an adequate backup. If you have young children or someone with health problems at home, keep some basic home phone service, even if you choose alternatives for fax and alarm.