johnbor
join:2004-03-30
Burton, OH
| Why Voice over iP ? Why?
Maybe I missing something here and people here can clear this up to me.
What is the advantage of paying companies like vonage or others 25 bucks a month to get long distance service when you still have to have the phone line to your house for services like DSL.. Cable I understand, but im on DSL and if I don't get the monthly service from my phone company I have not broadband for vonage or others? So I still get stuck with telephone bill.
The next thing, many phone company offer unlimited phone service (long distance for a fee) I think in my area its 28 or 30 bucks a month.
So what's the advantage of going through all the BS to use voice over IP? |
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beachdogs
Premium
join:2005-03-11
Westborough, MA | It's all about cost savings. In your case, if you can't get "raw DSL" there may not be any because as you note you are paying for telephone service. All the rest of us are here because are situations are different, and we are saving money. |
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dipswich
Premium
join:2003-06-27
Raleigh, NC
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·VoicePulse for Bus..
·ViaTalk
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to johnbor
...and also, the telcos shouldn't be rewarded for senseless policies such as "You must get telephone service in order to get DSL." I counter that with "You must unbundle to get my business." Luckily, through the cable company, I can get broadband without the unnecessary fluff. The cost savings with VoIP *easily* covers any bundling "savings."
Does that $30 unlimited long distance cover the phone service, or is an add-on? Is it inclusive of the taxes and fees (that FCC line charge isn't really negligible!)? Include the vertical services (caller ID, call waiting, voicemail) that you require?
If you "require" broadband and have benefit of competition, then shopping VoIP options can save $$$. |
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johnbor
join:2004-03-30
Burton, OH
| Does that $30 unlimited long distance cover the phone service, or is an add-on?
yes its a ad on of course.
I can also get high speed internet via cable but they not only cost more but also require digital cable which is a EXTRA charge. That makes the phone company look like walmart and the cable company like Kaufmans.. Need i say more.. I guess its the area you live in, that make the difference. |
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artisticcheese
join:2004-11-09
Carrollton, TX
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VoiceStick
| reply to johnbor
I have naked DSL from Speakeasy. It costs extra $5 a month compared to shared line. So i have both DSL and VOIP without any POTS service from Verizon.
My Sunrocket costs me $200 a year, plus I sold phones which came free on eBay for $50 which come down to $12 a month for unlimited long distance and other goodies. I can not even get basic phone service from Verizon for that money.
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»www.windowsvsunix.com |
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PJIV
Premium
join:2004-07-13
Niagara Falls, NY
| reply to johnbor
It comes down to features. You pay for Call Waiting, Caller ID, Voice mail, etc with POTS lines. I also have Verizon DSL and I have just a dial tone, the DAMN taxes on the line is more than the line itself. No TAXES on VOIP! You can keep paying the taxes, or check out VOIP. Sunrocket is very good, I use them. |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
1 edit | reply to johnbor
even folks with DSL can make the VOIP equation work. assuming you're in an area with local numbers, you can skinny down your local service (take off the vm, caller ID, etc) to keep the DSL. tell your family that if they have to call 911 do it on the regular phone.
then add a VOIP on one of the cheaper plans. For instance both Nuvio and Vonage have a $15/month plan that gives you 8 hours of calls. (Go over 8 hours and it's just pennies a minute on the overage 4¢ for Vonage, 3¢ for Nuvio...and who needs really unlimited calling anyway? at 3¢/minute you would have to use another 8 hours to justify the unlimited pricing.) They've got VM, caller ID, most of the extras. Tell your friends to call you on the new VOIP number ... incoming calls don't count against the allowance. For the vast majority of folks, Vonage and Nuvio are just plug n'play. All the "BS" you read about on this forum (network downtime, changing proxies, changing codecs, updating firmware, etc) that stuff has just not been part of my life with either Vonage or Nuvio.
Both Vonage and Nuvio have referral programs where you tell a friend and they sign up, you get a credit on your account. Because of the referrals, I haven't sent any cash to Vonage in over a year and a half! (Took me about 6 months to get wise to it!)
You'll get another line of service into your home for less than $18/month after taxes, fully loaded with the features that you want. If you tell your friends, then there's no cash out ... nothing's cheaper than free...not even your local phone company... |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| reply to PJIV
said by PJIV  :It comes down to features. You pay for Call Waiting, Caller ID, Voice mail, etc with POTS lines. I also have Verizon DSL and I have just a dial tone, the DAMN taxes on the line is more than the line itself. No TAXES on VOIP! You can keep paying the taxes, or check out VOIP. Sunrocket is very good, I use them. Yeah, but the options have to work. Look at SR. Has take them 2 months to get 911 to work. Caller ID is still inop and so is international calling (at least in my market area, Detroit). So, I'm sure with summer arriving and weather happening that can affect your cable service (I've never had DSL so can't comment on that) but when we start loosing power, I'm sure we will see all kinds of posts of people being "down". |
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judasrising
join:2004-08-27
| reply to johnbor
I have "naked" DSL through Qwest and AT&T CV for my voip. I save money due to no long distance charges, cheaper monthly cost for phone, and the ability to get a cheaper cell phone family plan as my wife no longer is using her cell phone to call family and friends during the day. I'm able to save about $45 a month. We also like the features of voip, voicemail alerts via email, email voicemail, call logs, call filtering etc. |
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JTY
join:2004-05-29
Ellensburg, WA
 ·Fairpoint Communic..
1 edit | reply to johnbor
I just got a flyer from Qwest this afternoon...
Phone(Includes three features): $29.99/mo (Before Taxes)
Unlimited Long Distance(Not Including Canada): $20/mo (Before Taxes)
So for line, three features, and unlimited US long distance, it's $49.99/mo before taxes. Ok, so around here, taxes will add up to about $20/mo.
So I can pay Qwest $69/mo for less service than I get from Packet8 for $22/mo? No way, I'll stick with P8. |
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misiek
join:2000-12-25
Round Lake, IL
| reply to johnbor
To us, it's the cost.
Had DSL + POTS (plus hum and noise on the telco line), was paying some $85/mo for both.
DSL, due to the distance from CO and line conditions, worked so-so.
When cable HSI became available, I switched and after the honeymoon was over, the HSI bill jumped to nearly $58/mo.
Signed up with VoIP for $25/mo for unlimited calls within US and Canada.
Additionally, the VoIP comes with more features than we care for, at no extra charge. |
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Trimline
Premium
join:2004-10-24
Orlando, FL
·Callcentric
·AT&T Southeast
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to johnbor
Well, in my particular case, I was paying $100 per month for local/long distance. That did not include voice mail and a host of other features that Bell South could not offer.
I've found VoicePulse has more features than any VoIP provider, and have cut my monthly bills down to $25.00. That's 75.00 savings per month.
Can't shake a stick at it!
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FWD#537129 |
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johnbor
join:2004-03-30
Burton, OH
| My basic phone plan with taxs are little over $34.00 month just to have a tone. then I have to have dsl thru them , there are no other dsl choices, ... thats another 29.00 a month.. So adding Voip really does me no good I guess unless I start kicking out tons of long distance which, i dont.
Ok thanks |
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u475700
Premium
join:2004-02-16
·VoicePulse
·Comcast
| reply to johnbor
I abandoned my landline from SBC last year and have been using VoicePulse with Comcast cable exclusively ever since. I save enough each month with the America Unlimited Plan compared to SBC to cover not only the $24.99 charge but also the cost of my broadband service. Besides all of the advanced features I now have with VoicePulse at no additional cost, the service itself has been just as reliable as SBC. My only regret is that I didn't make the switch to VoIP sooner. |
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wadonoel
Premium
join:2004-11-16
New York, NY | reply to johnbor
Telcos charge more for international calls, too. Even with VoIP services which do not charge a monthly fee like Stanaphone, the international rates are usually much lower.
I pretty much use POTS for local calls and receiving calls only. |
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qalam
join:2005-04-27
Urbana, IL
| reply to johnbor
I had to get VOIP because I made alot of Canada calls to my wife and some of family and relatives. If it wasnt for that I would have been quite happy with SBC.
I use my cell phone for most other domestic calls becuase i have a 1000 min 39.99 plan from t mobile with free nights and weekends. I think they have this now for 45 dollars. And I will never give up my cell phone for any VOIP.
As far as my landline, I stil kept SBC dial tone. I really had to strip it down to the basic dial tone and I ended up paying only $11 for it plus taxes. So my bill comes down to 16 or 17 dollars for a month for just dial tone. And i just use it for incomming calls, 911 or emergency local calls. All my local calls are 5 cent a call. Long distance is more. But since i rarely use it, i just pay the $16.
SBC also offers unlimited Domestic long distance for $29.99 (without the features). This price includes the line cost and everything but + tax. But they have a juiced up long distance plan with voicemail, caller id, etc for $48 or something. So if you dont really need the the extra features, you can just get the 29.99 plan and I think thats better and more reliable than VOIP for $25. The extra few dollars is not worth dealing with the headache. However if you get a deal that is less than $20 and its reliable voip, then its a good deal.
My broadvox is working out pretty well except the little problem I had recently with my usage exceeding a certain ammount and some customer service issues. But it has been very Reliable with great features. |
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CCNnorthcali
join:2004-03-07
Tempe, AZ
clubs:
| reply to johnbor
In my case, it was a pretty significant amount cheaper with Verizon DSL + Verizon BASIC phone service + Vonage. Before we had the Verizon Freedom Package plus an additional basic line for the fax, and although the price wasn't bad, it was more than using Vonage for our phone service, Verizon for the fax line (because we have to have a Verizon line for the DSL) and of course the DSL. Not too bad if you ask me, because this means we still have an emergency line for 911 and if power goes out.  |
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kimr55760
join:2004-09-20
Mcgregor, MN
| reply to johnbor
My phone service (Frontier)just started offering stand-alone DSL. I think I was the first one to order it and most CSPs didn't even know it was being offered. Initially, the technician disconnected my DSL and not my POTS line.
Email customer support for your phone company and ask about stand-alone DSL. They may be offering it. |
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LIngo1
@dsl.net | My family is calling Western Europe quite frequently. Our UNLIMITED calling lingo plan costs 19.99+tax per month - compared to $150+ we paid before going VOIP. |
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misstdiana
join:2004-09-04
Chicago Heights, IL | reply to tc1uscg
My 911 service works with sunrocket and I only have been a customer for a little over a month. Have you actually tested your 911 service?
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Di |
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