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Review by aberrant

  • Location: San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Cost: $24 per month
  • Install: about 6 days
easy install
crappy hardware, lousy support, expensive
minimal problems with service, but beware of the hardware and fees
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Update 9 Jun 2010: I'm no longer a Vonage customer - their fee and rate increases over the past couple of years have made them uncompetitive in the VOIP world. I was averaging over 6 cents per minute for calls - entirely too much. I switched to VOIPo, which gave me an unlimited plan with softphone and more bells and whistles, like per-call block, for half of what I was paying for Vonage.

Update 17 Feb 2008: After 3 months of using the VT2542 (I upgraded when my original 2142 started flaking out), I have to say it's the worst piece of junk I've ever used. There's a serious bug in the firmware that erases the configuration whenever the power is cycled. There's no firmware upgrade, and Vonage and Motorola are playing the point-the-finger game. The bug is especially bad because after the reboot, the wireless network is completely open and the default password for the TA (router/router) works.

I'm getting the runaround from Vonage - they won't exchange the 2542 which I bought from them with something that works.

Finally, after 4+ hours of working with inept folks in the Philippines, I got transferred to the offices in Holmdel, NJ, and the support guy there solved the problem in 20 mins - a new TA and a refund on the 2542. Why'd it take so long?

Original review below:

I switched from DSL to cable, so I figured I'd ditch the landline. I picked Vonage because they seemed to have what I was looking for - a low-cost monthly fee for low usage, no contract, and a good set of included services.

Equipment is a Motorola VT2142 - install was a breeze even though I'm using it in a nonstandard config (it's plugged into a switch, which is sitting behind a router, which is then connected to the cable modem). Call quality is really good and I love the unified messaging (I set up messages to go to email so I can download and listen to them). The unavailability routing is cool, too - I set it up before I got the adapter and it rang my alternate number (a cell phone) whenever someone called my vonage # since the adapter was not reachable.

I ported my old number and that, too, was a piece of cake.

The support is a bit iffy - they appear to have offshored the support. This is not a big deal in and of itself, but there was a definite language barrier the first time I called, and they seem to be following scripts. I hate that since I really want the tech to think about MY problem, not just problems that might be common.

Big negative is that there's no anonymous call rejection - that is, I can't block folks who block caller ID. I understand they might be introducing that in 2007, though.

member for 20.2 years, 452 visits, last login: 3.7 years ago
updated 11.8 years ago


Trinijoy
Premium Member
join:2005-09-12
Brick, NJ

Trinijoy

Premium Member

Yes

Why doesn't anyone understand in this world, that they are following scripts, because they are forced to or they get fired?
fallenangel
join:2005-10-04
USA

fallenangel

Member

Re: Yes

I assure you that they are not reading from scripts. Maybe overseas support is, but not US support.

aberrant
Deviant One
join:2002-01-10
San Francisco, CA

aberrant

Member

Support calls and scripts

I'm not criticizing the support folks, I'm criticizing the company for its policy that forces the support folks to read from scripts. I haven't gotten anyone in the US: the first time I called, it was the Philippines, and the second time was India.

Review by GusG

  • Location: Panorama City, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Cost: $26 per month
  • Install: about 21 days
Good voice quality and service. Ported number away in one week.
Kept sneaking up the $14.99 price to reach $26+/mo after 6 years.
Phone service is a commodity and I now pay $5/mo for voip elswhere.
Web-site:
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For six years, I paid for their 500 minutes service originally at $14.99/mo. After six years they nickle and dimed it up to $26+.
My new service with Sipgate even includes a FREE softphone that Vonage would want another $5/mo for a total of $31/mo. Sipgate is only about $5/mo total.
Goodbye Vonage but thanks for letting me port my number away within one week.

member for 11.9 years, 22 visits, last login: 7.2 years ago
lodged 11.9 years ago







Review by aloha_1906

  • Location: Canton, Norfolk, MA, USA
  • Cost: $79 per month
Quality, Features, Flexibility
Latency, hardware foot print, annoying clicking sound
Reliable, but sound quality is like a bad connection for me.
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Using Vonge for a couple of years. Made brief go around with Comcast, but gave it up. The amount of hardware is a pain and a bit bulky for my tastes but overall I am very happy and do recommend Vonage. Letnce is only an issue on a saturated network connection.

~~~Update~~~

I used Vonage on a Comcast line for years. I am currently using it on Verizon DSL. The equipment hasn't changed in several years. It was used as a secondary line, but It is once again my primary line. I've had an annoying clicking sound that has made it rather painful to hold long conversations with people. I use my mobile alot, but if I were home more often, it would be a high priority issue. I will investigate and look into getting newer hardware to see if it helps. Otherwise, it's been reliable and inexpensive for calling other countries.

member for 20.9 years, 406 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
updated 11.9 years ago


Review by Gandalf1315

  • Location: Indianapolis, Marion, IN, USA
  • Cost: $35 per month
Over the years the good points have become fewer and fewer.
Price, lack of innovation, failure to keep up with the industry.
Vonage has became a stagnant company that is no longer an innovator.
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Vonage has became what they fought against in the Bells. Vonage is now the over priced service that has not kept up with a changing market.


member for 20.9 years, 2870 visits, last login: 11.7 years ago
updated 11.9 years ago


CitizenJoe
@comcast.net

CitizenJoe

Anon

Vonage the AOL of VOIP

I've had Vonage for nearly four years now. Their plan of $24.99 now costs $37.78 when they add every government fee they can think of--fees that are theirs not mine to pay. Ooma showed me the actual costs are $3.47. I told a Vonage rep last week they need to absorb the newest fee or I was leaving their service. AOL kept their high price and lost millions of customers, and I guess Vonage will too. Magic Jack is $20.00 a year, who does Vonage think they are kidding?

focuspuller
join:2002-03-17
Alburtis, PA

focuspuller

Member

Re: Vonage the AOL of VOIP

I'm out of here also......

FEE-D-UP

Moved two lines to OOMA last November.

Last line is now being ported (had to wait for the 1 year mark).

Taxes are one thing....BS FEES are another.

The real charge is not $24.99, but over $30.00 with the BS FEES!!!!

They can't do service at $24.99 and don't want to raise the monthly....so along come FEES.

Well I'm FEE-D-OUT OF HERE.






Review by OldschoolDSL

  • Location: Chicopee, Hampden, MA, USA
  • Cost: $30 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
Local Calling is North America & Europe
Tech Support knows nothing + double billing + fees
Good value, but support could use support themselves
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************************************************************************************************************
PLEASE BE ADVISED: I keep a full detail record. What this means is while most people when updating their review, often will replace their experience with the most current experience. I on the other hand continue to ADD onto my experiences. ~~ Thank you! ~~
*************************************************************************************************************

The days of worrying about who you call and how much its going to cost is are over. The average phone company only allows for free calling within a local area. With Vonage local calling is North America (except Mexico) & Europe.

Unlimited calling (in & out) for 24.99 (about 30.00 after tax & fees) & 14.99 for their 500 minute plan (500 minute out going calls & unlimited free incoming), which both allow for free voice mail, caller ID with name, 3 way calling, call waiting, and more.

Porting my number only took about 1 week (7 days), but it can take up to 2 weeks. Porting is not open to all customers, as some local phone companies just like to make things harder and you almost can't blame them with so many people moving to VoIp.

Vonage Tech Support needs work, as I called them to address a small problem about me being able to hear people, but no one could hear me. The Tech I spoke with couldn't even recall the user name & password to log into my Vonage device, let alone how to move forward and address the problem. I finally decided it was due to signal loss over a bad install by my ISP (Comcast Cable).

UPDATE 03-11-2007: Service with Vonage continues to do well (now using Verizon DSL). I did find it odd that they seem to have added a few 99 cent charges and fees. I was also sad to notices 411 is no longer free. My work around 411 charges is using 1-800-free-411. Still cheaper then your normal phone company and I have tested the 911 service here (for good reasons). There is a small delay with 911, which does bother me a little. I still have a lane line (naked DSL is not here yet) and will continue to use them for 911 service.

UPDATE 08-26-2007 ---- 08/26/2007 review done by then wife, now ex-wife ----

I've been a very happy Vonage customer until today (well more like until last month).

My husband & I changed addresses (moved) and changed banks a while ago. Because of this we called up Vonage with our new address and new bank card. So it would make sense for Vonage to charge the new card using the new address.

2 weeks later, Vonage said our account was over due. Which made no sense as we had more then enough to pay Vonage. It turns out that they charged our old card and continued to use our old address. Our old bank also had a negative balance (the total for our bill).

We called up Vonage and again changed our credit and address. They used the new credit card to charge us for that total which was pending on our old bank account.

In a since we paid 2x for the same months worth of service. The bank confirmed that the funds had been withdrawn. Vonage claimed that we only paid once and no credit would be placed on our account.

Fast forward to this month. Vonage yet again tried to use our old credit and address. This time they where denied, so our service was turned off. This was very upsetting and I explained to them that we had already changed our information. They even wanted to charge us a late fee.

It took 4 calls to finally have someone credit our account and even then it was only for 15.00 credit as a customer courtesy. The next vonage rep. told me that they could not issue the credit, until the account was paid in full (late fee and all). It took another rep. to finally credit it now.

Anyone else have such a problem with Vonage or does someone there just not like me?

FINAL UPDATE 01-09-2008:

Vonage started out as a great idea. Unlimited calling to anyone in The United States, Canada, and Europe, for only 24.95. Of course there is a 1yr (12 month) commitment which most people don't look into. However at the time this seemed fine to us.

Vonage as stated before started to double bill us and even charge a "late fee" once for their own error in not charging the correct credit card. No one later could confirm the late charge and those who could would not refund it. Looking over the Internet for other users who may have been charged this "late fee" and there seems to be a "few" (very little). But it proves I'm not alone. Maybe this was something they do randomly or maybe this was a trail of some kind and I was unluckily picked.

Either way our monthly (or double monthly) bill was automatically withdrawn and this has left the bas taste in our mouth when it comes to automatic billing. Getting your bank or credit card to refund or back charge things the 1st or 2nd time is easy. But the 3rd or 4th time they will remind you that YOU are responsible for your own usage and spending. As these where not bogus charges (in part), it was up to us to get the further refunds from Vonage... Which is IMPOSSIBLE, as Vonage Reps claim not to have the power to reverse any charges, only credit to the account and limited at that.

Their phone service no long seems stable. It would seem when anyone calls us, we hear nothing. But if we call YOU, everything is fine. We tried changing many settings on our end and even replaced the Vonage box and moved from DSL to cable (Charter). Nothing changed the out come. I even tried using just the phone and vonage box, no router or pc.

We finally called it quits and look on Charter's limited time offer for High Speed Internet 5MB + Digital Home TV + Digital Phone Service for only 69.97 (plus tax) for a 12 month commitment. We had already been a member of Vonage for over 1yr and 5 months, so there should be no cancellation fee when we end our service at the end of this month.

Over all: VoIp is a wonderful idea, but history of this industry is still shaky.at best. If Vonage can work out their bugs and stop being sued by everyone (ATT, Verizon, ect..) then they could have something. But until then, I'd keep a back up phone for 911 and outages (pre-paid cell).

~~~ END REVIEW ~~~ 01-09-2008

************************************
~~ 05 - 23 - 2010 ~~ UPDATE
************************************

My sister has gotten Vonage & I've noticed a few drop calls between us. She pays 24.95 fro the service & is thinking of trying someone else. When visiting her, I also have noticed a few drop calls & customer service seems to be lacking.

As noted in 2008, Vonage is no longer being sued & has formed partnerships with ATT & Verizon, which both offer Vonage Apps for their smart phones. There is little advantage using them to make calls, as minutes and/or data is still used (although it is helpful if calling international).

Local calling has improved as Vonage not only covers The USA & Canada, but also Europe is now counted as local.

member for 16.1 years, 1596 visits, last login: 5.5 years ago
updated 11.9 years ago


Trinijoy
Premium Member
join:2005-09-12
Brick, NJ

Trinijoy

Premium Member

yeah

411 has always been charged with Vonage. Just use switchboard.com or 1-800-free-411 like you said.
mir5
join:2000-09-08

mir5

Member

Payment

You can always change & check your billing info on your Vonage Web Account. Plus they do not have Late FEE

OldschoolDSL
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Indian Orchard, MA

OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

Re: Payment

said by mir5:

You can always change & check your billing info on your Vonage Web Account. Plus they do not have Late FEE
Trust me, the rep said they wanted to charge me a late fee. When I log into my account online, it kept changing back to my original information (would not save new).
mir5
join:2000-09-08

mir5

Member

Re: Payment

Strange cause By Default Vonage do not have LATE FEE (fee system)
Sound like your account would not save your account info very strange. You should mention that agent when you spoke that person
jhenager
join:2008-01-08
Buford, GA

jhenager

Member

Never had a problem with Vonage

The only reason I am not a customer for long is that I couldn't depend on Charter.
Vonage was great. Too bad it rides on top of the most unreliable provider I have ever seen.

Review by Toollio

  • Location: Brazil/Cda
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Excellent quality and reliablity
Too expensive (I use Vonage Canada)
Vonage Canada needs price reduction
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I am a Vonage Canada user. I have been for about five years. By and large it has been reliable and call quality has been excellent. Tech support is not always great, but I have only required it a handful of times in those five years.

However, Vonage Canada is way overpriced in relation to Vonage in the U.S. It does not offer the same plans, and those that it does offer are inferior. For Canadians, price is the big negative here. And for hard-core VOIP users it is not the greatest choice because configuration options are limited and the equipment is proprietary.

Despite the cost issue I keep the service because I want to keep the number, and I understand porting Vonage numbers in Canada is difficult.

member for 18.4 years, 1420 visits, last login: 37 days ago
lodged 11.9 years ago


Review by rizwan602

  • Location: Gilbert, Maricopa, AZ, USA
  • Cost: $29 per month
Easy to set up, excellent voice quality, great features!
Billing department is not really interested in my issues.
Great value for my money!
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After being bombarded by online Vonage ads and a growing need to have multiple phone numbers across the USA I decided to give Vonage a try.

After researching Packet8 and Broadvoice, Vonage was the most appealing because they allow the addition of virtual phone numbers -- and more than just 2 of them. So I can have as many virtual numbers on one phone line with them. Plus they have the ability to ring the Vonage connected phone and any other phone number ring simultaneously! Great for if I'm away from the office.

Their instructions for connecting on a LAN with a NAT gateway are lacking to say the least, but I figured it out. I don't expect too many end users to be able to figure that out however.

So within 30 minutes of the box opened, I was up and running. I have a 3000mbit/256mbit cable connection and the sound quality is 99% that of a land line. There are occasional drops and fuzzies on the voice but nothing like a cell phone.

I had one issue tonight where I dialed a phone number and it stayed silent, and went to a fast busy. I hung up, pressed redial and it was calling and ringing.

The online web site is easy to navigate and understand all the features shown. The initial signup was somewhat haphazzard. Their system did not like my ATM card which happens to be a VISA credit card as well. I had to use a REAL visa card to get beyond the screen that said my card did not go through. Unfortunately they charged me $5.00 every time my card didn't go through, according to the bank but billing at Vonage said those charges have not been collected. I am not sure whats going on there, perhaps an authorization only type of thing.

So far I am very pleased with it and look forwarding to having many phone numbers in the USA ring to my phone.

I would like to know one thing from other Vonager's ... the addition of a fax line to the residential plan -- what prevents me from using that as a second phone line?

Rizwan A. Rasheed
USA Web Services, Inc.
»www.gowebserver.com

member for 18.1 years, 1871 visits, last login: 1.5 years ago
updated 11.9 years ago

margaf
join:2000-12-22
Las Vegas, NV

margaf

Member

Difference from fax to reg line

The only difference with the fax line is it has no features like voicemail. Other than that I dont think there is any other difference.

Anonyn
@mia.bellsouth.ne

Anonyn

Anon

Re: Difference from fax to reg line

Yes, there is another difference: Fax lines are always set to use the best quality setting, meaning they uses 96Kbps of bandwidth.

You can send faxes on a regular Vonage voice line, but you'd better set the "Bandwidth Savings" setting to "best voice quality".

Review by shadow0120

  • Location: Chauvin, Terrebonne, LA, USA
  • Cost: $49 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 4 days
Decent serivce
Tech support...if thats what it is called
Underling fees keep going up.
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Placed order on a Friday afternoon received adapter on the following Wednesday. Plugged in and instantly linked up to the internet and was working. I have a voice line and a dedicated fax line on it. Was able to port my ATT pots line over after going to war with att over dryline serivce. Att was charging a total of $78 just for local and long distance. Now with vonage I have unlimited voice and a dedicated fax line instead of a ring master line for less than $40. So far so good my number has been ported and no issues as of yet.

4/26/2010 Well after a year of being with being with Vonage I have to say that the service never had any issues, but I will be canceling and going to Phone Power. Due to cost differences it makes more since to pay less than $10 a month for the same services and a few extra that vonage doesn't.

member for 19.1 years, 730 visits, last login: 10.2 years ago
updated 11.9 years ago


Review by Ironslug

  • Location: Trussville, Jefferson, AL, USA
  • Cost: $24 per month
Perfect call quality, low price, free international calling
Prices have increased over last 2 years
Great value for phone service
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My other option for VoIP calling was with Charter, which is more expensive. All in all, the process of setting up an account and using the service is quick and easy.

member for 12.8 years, 320 visits, last login: 3.4 years ago
lodged 12 years ago







Review by ArrayList

  • Location: Evanston, Cook, IL, USA
  • Cost: $25 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
plethera of features come free, excellent coverage for area codes. you can keep your previous number when you setup your account
inability to block specific phone numbers from calling you. 911 not automatically setup.
price with all these features kicks the crap out of the landline companies
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My Other Reviews

·Comcast XFINITY
-update 7/27/2009-
Dropped Vonage about 2 months ago. didn't use more than 100minutes a month and its saving me over $300/year now so yea. it was decent service though. too pricey

member for 17.1 years, 3595 visits, last login: 1 day ago
updated 12 years ago