Replace your local and long distance with this far cheaper alternative
October 6, 2004 3:49 PM
After evaluating several VoIP providers, I came to these conclusions:
- Vonage: Popular choice, but poor customer support, hidden fees, complaints of outages.
- AT&T CallVantage: Expense, poor service, hidden fees.
- Packet8: Expensive, non-standard hardware, not much feedback.
- VoicePulse: Cheapest, no hidden fees, wonderful feedback, great customer support.
Well, that made the choice obvious! I went with VoicePulse, and I've been happy ever since.
Some cool features:
- Local calling area is about 4x as large as what the local phone company offers.
- Voice mails can be checked on the phone or via email.
- Carry the small hub with you on trips and your phone will ring wherever you are. (I'll probably never do this, but it's nice for those who travel a lot and MUCH cheaper than roaming cell phones or hotel phone bills).
- You use your normal telephone, which plugs into a small hub VoicePulse provides. You do not need a special phone with VoicePulse, and you do not use your computer to make calls. You don't even need a computer, but you do need an Internet connection.
- The only "fees" that VoicePulse tacks on is a $0.45 "Federal Exercise Tax".
- Caller ID with Name, voice mail, three-way calling, telemarketing blocking, do not disturb, filters, caller ID block, etc are all included for free.
Things to remember with Voice over IP:
- VoIP uses your Internet connection. DSL or cable modems are perfect, but if you're getting this to replace your phone line, you might not be have DSL without an active phone line. Send complaints about this to your senator.
- 911 service is not guaranteed. This is because you can be anywhere in the world with these phones. You choose what area code you want. If you choose 212 and you live in rural Texas, the New York City police dept won't be much good for you.
- If the power goes out, you won't have a phone. Many of us have cell phones, but it's something to keep in mind.
Some other helpful sites:
- Voxilla - VoIP news, reviews, and discussion forums.
- BroadbandReports.com - used to be DSLReports.com, now they cover everything.
- VoIPWatch.com - industry news.
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Posted October 6, 2004 4:56 PM
Why VoIP at all? Why not cell only?
http://www.DylanGreene.com
Posted October 6, 2004 6:42 PM
You must have a lot of money to throw around, or your company is paying for your cell phone. VoicePulse cost $14/month, including 200 minutes of long distance calls. What's your cell phone bill like?
Plus, cell service in my house is pretty spotty.http://www.DylanGreene.com
Posted October 7, 2004 11:53 AM
In case you wondered...
Equipment: Sipura SPA-2000
Ports: TCP port 80 and UDP ports 5060-5061.Posted October 7, 2004 12:37 PM
I figured that you'd have a cell phone anyway, regardless of VoIP or a landline. I get 1000 mins for $40 (those are "anytime" minutes, which I don't even come close to using.) Also does the equipment do something to help route with QoS so that the calls always get priority, in my old office, where we had Vonage, our calls would catch static, anytime we played Counter Strike.
http://www.DylanGreene.com
Posted October 7, 2004 4:32 PM
Unlike Vonage, VoicePulse lets you set the compression to higher levels when traffic is high. I do this so XBOX Live won't effect my calls. My hub (linksys g) also lets me set the port that teh VoicePulse is on to a higher priority, so when I'm on the phone, that gets first dibs on the bandwidth.
Posted October 18, 2004 3:00 PM
Packet8 is free after rebate at JR.com. The service is $19.99/mo with unlimited long distance/local. Good review from dslreports.com. I have it for about 6 months now. I am happy with the service. I agree that vonage service quality is very poor!