 Review by GNXPower 
Posted: 5 years ago
member for 5.5 years, 203 visits, last login: 5 years ago
 Huntington Beach,Orange,CA
 $29 per month
 about 1 days
 "Retail sales, excellent features and portal, 411 + 911, QoS ATA"
 "10 digit dialing, per number junk fee (even virtual phone numbers)"
 "A full featured service that costs like full featured service"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I run Verizon and Comcast for use with my 2 VoIP services, Broadvoice and Vonage. Not to get into the details but I have different needs that are filled by both services. That's being said, I can only make comparisons between the two and POTS. I've never had VoicePulse, Packet8 or any of the others.
I purchased the Retail kit of the Vonage Motorola VT1000 ATA from Circuit City for $30 after rebate. A pretty good deal.
Website (5) : The Vonage web portal is simply the best I've seen from any of the VoIP providers. You get full detailed calling records and access to all the features including codecs, call forwarding, network availability dialing (a forwarding number to call in case the service goes down), ordering new services, 911 activation etc etc etc. Probably the best feature IMO is the voicemail. Vonage features .WAV file forwarding via email of Vonage voicemail should you choose. No need to check your messages...simply check your email. Pretty cool.
Ease of Installation (5): The installation was pretty darn easy. Activate the unit online, providing some billing info and the MACID of the device, then set it up. It has built in NAT which allows you to place the unit between the modem and the rest of your devices (eg router). When set up in this configuration the Motorola VT1000 offers QoS to prioritize VoIP traffic even if someone else starts uploading or downloading heavily. You can also set the unit to static IP and/or place it behind a router. It worked equally well in front of or behind my Nexland Pro800Turbo. Although for my dualWAN interface I had to bind the ATA with one port or the other, but that is expected. Documentation is very good with high quality install guides and even better a detailed calling guide describing all of Vonages calling features in detail.
Call Quality (4): Call quality is pretty good, but can get hollow at times. Meanwhile my Broadvoice service is flawless and as good as or better than POTS. I don't know why my Vonage service gets that way, I use the highest bandwidth setting but it's not so bad that it's unusable, but it bounces between POTS and digital cellular quality. Calls for the most part go through the first time (although requiring 10 digit dialing even for local calls. Every once in a while I'll get a fast busy...this while my Broadvoice service doesn't have these issues (7 digit local calls and no fast busies). Unlike Broadvoice however, my Vonage caller ID works perfectly. I'm on the Vonage $15 plan plus the $10 fax line. The fax line works perfectly. I have not yet had a failed received or sent fax. Pretty good for $10. The ATA has 2 phone ports so installation was simple. 911 activation took 2 days and is rare for VoIP. While not perfect, IMO Vonage's rendition of 9-1-1 service is better than nothing. They also offer 411 information dialing to, although it costs a $1 per. I use the phone book 
Reliability (4): While not frequent, the fast busies are annoying when they happen, and every once in a great while Vonage's service goes down. This compared to Broadvoice which so far has not had an outtage. Vonage has been pretty reliable but not perfect, so a 4.
Tech Support (5): I had called tech support about name caller ID and they answered quickly and answered my questions. No problems so a 5.
Value for Money (3): With all the great features, big player production values in the ATA, portal, retail packaging, documentation etc...you pay for them. So far Vonage appears to be by far the most expensive of the residential VoIP providers, and while offering less "calling" than Broadvoice, they're 50% higher. But it comes down to getting what you pay for. Compared to Vonage, Broadvoice's unlimited in-state calling get's them a high review from me, but at $30 for 2 lines including the junk fees, with limited minutes on both, I'd say Vonage is only an "average" value for the money compared to other VoIP. Compared to POTS, they'd get a 5 but since they're VoIP and have VoIP's shortcomings, I can only compared them pricewise with other VoIP providers.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of Vonage |
|
Vonage
(40)
(55)
(36)