Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
|  Yep, we've been saying it for years
said by Ken Harker :
"We've been conducting VoIP studies for more than three years and have seen significant trends develop, such as serious disparity in reliability and audio performance between VoIP services on managed networks and those that rely on existing broadband home network connections," said Ken Harker, senior consultant at Keynote.
Yep, we've been telling people this for years. The managed networks (Comcast Digital Voice, TW Digital Phone, AT&T CallVantage, etc) are far superior in every way to non-managed services such as Vonage, Packet8, and even my business-class Nuvio nPBX based service.
As connection speeds get faster and public networks improve, the non-managed services will get better, but will never be on par with the managed services. |
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nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD
 ·Comcast
| the question is:
is it worth the extra money (in some cases 2X or more) to have one of these managed services?
if you have a very good net connection, the answer is probably NO.
if your connection sux, the answer is most likely YES. |
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keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA
 ·Teliax VOIP
 ·WestPAnet Inc.
·WestPAnet Inc. CA..
| Yes, I would have said my experience does not match the study. I have both a landline and Vonage. I have a great internet connection (fiber NOT through Verizon but a local carrier) and my Vonage is excellent all the time.
My landline is static all over (2 lines ), goes out about 3 times a year for days at a time, and is really just horible.
So, the point that as carriers improve there internet services to support VOIP (which also means supporting video much better) the third party like Vonage will all then be comparable.
I do not think it is fair to compare a Comcast line on a Comcast internet connection against say Vonage on Comcast.
Really time will truly tell. As more demand comes from technology wiser people that there video and voice comes in just as good as the rest of there content competition will catch up. Or, it will go the other way. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| said by keyboard5684  :I do not think it is fair to compare a Comcast line on a Comcast internet connection against say Vonage on Comcast. Why not? Vonage isn't an ISP and you can't run Comcast Digital Voice on your DSL connection, so it's a perfectly valid comparison. |
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jmn1207
Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Matt
I had CDV for about a year and the call quality was excellent. I think Skype is a touch better in that regard, however. I spend several hours playing cards with my family in Chicago and Florida while using a Skype conference on speaker. It sounds like we are all in the same room.
The only problem I had with CDV was that on some occasions people would not be able to reach me, even though everything looked good on my end. I just never received the call. This was from a POTS lines and cell phones at random times. People would call my cell phone at home and ask where I was. They would try and call me again and I would never get the call and it would just ring and ring on their end. "Not me!" should be their slogan. 
When the price jumped my Verizon cost for the same service, I just dropped it in favor of Skype with a Skype-In number. Works perfectly fine and I will be getting FiOS 20/5 installed this Saturday, which should only improve my already rock stable Skype service.
CDV was a great product, but after all the fees and junk tacked on to the cost, it was still $50 for me. Verizon matched Comcast for price in my area, with the same features, minus the internet-based voice mail. And that voice mail did not work worth a crap, if the site was even available. And it only sorta worked with a default IE browser for me. It may have changed since then, but I did not wait around for that to happen.
I have to keep a POTS line, so the extra phone line is just a convenience thing, and Skype was cheapest and most reliable for a year of service. And again, with what I consider to be the best call quality when I called other computers, POTS phones, and cell phones. At least it was for me, at my location, with my set up and equipment. |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| reply to Matt
Comcast's VoIP isn't in the same class as a traditional VoIP provider if I understand their setup correctly. Comcast has their own network for routing calls over so they can give a higher priority/better connection. With Vonage & friends, you are at the mercy of the internet backbones and congestion.
I think it's a valid comparison as it's technically VoIP and not traditional POTS, but not 100% the same type of service. |
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keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA
·Teliax VOIP
·WestPAnet Inc.
·WestPAnet Inc. CA..
| I am not sure with Comcast, but when I designed cable networks (4 years ago) we provided a Cisco router with 2 phone out jacks. Then, over a completely separate protocol (not IP) we pulled that voice over the copper in a way that no matter what the internet did the voice went right to the headend. The voice was even on a different channel.
So I really do not consider Comcast as VOIP voice services, even thought I do not know there design. Reason being is voice services, from what I have seen, are not over IP, in cable plants.
Also, voice circuits at the headend are given different priority and setup than say a T1 or whatever.
It just makes no sense to compare apples to oranges here. They are not the same service. Vonage and buddies all have a lot more challenges than a local call on a local network like Comcast. To me it is like saying Fios phone service is the same as VOIP. Or POTS is the same as cell service. |
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UnKown
The Underground Network
join:2002-09-08
Orlando, FL
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| reply to jmn1207
i agree with you, i have no problems with skype. and for 60 dollars a year you get unlimited calls to the u.s. your own phone number and voicmail. i just cant beat that service. i never have problems with the call quality, but bright house networks has been the best internet provider ive ever had. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| reply to keyboard5684
said by keyboard5684 :It just makes no sense to compare apples to oranges here. They are not the same service. Vonage and buddies all have a lot more challenges than a local call on a local network like Comcast. To me it is like saying Fios phone service is the same as VOIP. Or POTS is the same as cell service. Again, it makes perfect sense because all the products you mention are in direct competition with each other. |
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