I've done my basic research. I'm comfortable with the technology. My neighbor has it, so I've used and tested it pretty thoroughly. I'm about to make the plunge and sign up with Vonage.

Does anyone have an opinion? (I know you ALL have opinions, but does anyone have an opinion on VoIP?) Any good, bad or indifferent experiences that you would care to share?

I'm just sick of spending money on local lines, long distance, taxes, taxes and more taxes.

In case you're interested, I'm looking at the Vonage Premium Unlimited Plan that allows me to make unlimited calls to anywhere in the U.S. or Canada for $29.95 a month ($32.39 with taxes). It includes:
Voicemail Plus
Caller ID with Name
Call Waiting
Call Forwarding
3-Way Calling
Call Transfer
Click-2-Call
Call Return (*69)
Caller ID Block (*67)
Repeat Dialing
International Call Block
Ring Lists
Call Hunt

I've had packet8 for a few months now, working pretty good. cannot complain for unlimited at $19.95 a month.

for problems..

once in a while someone tries to call me and it doesn't ring here and they don't get my vmail. there is also some delay (5 sec or so) in getting dialtone, ring, etc. since I have had it there was one major outage, where I was without phone for an evening.

The only prob I have with these ALT phone carriers are...

I can lose power, yet chances are I still have phone signal...and hence use my phone.

If I use cable provided phone.. If Ilose cable I lose the phone?

Unless of course the Cable infrastructure is more stable than the phones?

I May be way off base as which woudlnt surprise me LOL

well, yes. if you lose power you are going to lose the VoIP phone service, unless you have some sort of UPS for the cable modem and the MTA. of course, that will not last for long anyways.

That's one of the reasons that I'm leaning towards Vonage. You can set it up that if for some reason they can't reach your equipment in the house (cable out, power outage, etc.) your calls would be automatically routed to another number. I would set ours to be routed to my wife's cell phone since nobody ever calls me anyway.

Opinion:

Business? No way, not unless you are an infrastructure provider, with a chain of people who are there to take blame. Home phone? Why not? If you miss a call occasionally, no end of the world.

It may also depend on area... but here, and there... that I know of, it's risky.

It's cheap!

I have a landline still, $50, all you can eat.


M

Well my landline has been down for two days....busy signal when calling in and no dialtone....three day wait for repair service....

I have Packet8 and had a few problems. It seems to work better on some phones than the others. I would get alot of wrong number calls at first and then changed phones. Works great now, and the "bad phone" works good on my landline.

What about that one time you might need to dial 911. Can Vonage do that. I remember hearing that was a draw back.

Packet8 does not work with Faxes or 911

I lose power maybe once a year. I also have a cell phone that isn't disrupted by power outages.

I may try Vonage. They also only charge $.03/min. for calls to France and England.

you can get 911 with packet8 now, it is $3 a month.

the website also says fax service is coming soon.

We use Vonage for our office lines. It's been faultless. Seems to be very good quality mature tech. I like it.

Fiid.

I'm using AT&T CallVantage. It's about 19/mo. (I'm an employee so I get a discount). I think AT&T is thinking of lowering the monthly rate to make it more competitive with Vonage, et al. Can't complain because it has worked flawlessly. Tech support is very good. All kinds of goodies that I haven't tried out yet. I use it over Comcast cable.