Anyone here use Vonage?

[Dan]

It's proving to be impossible to get traditional phone service from SBC at home. The previous occupant of my house died, and never formally disconnected their phone service. I can't get service until the previous occupant of the house formally disconnects service, and unfortunately she's under two meters of dirt. (I still have her dial tone, FWIW. However, it's basic little old lady service with no Caller ID, no voice mail, no call waiting, no tone dialing, no nothing.)

I'm considering getting Vonage for phone service, which uses a broadband Internet connection and a special router. Plug your phone in the router, and you're got dial tone. Anyone here have any experience with Vonage? How's the call quality?

 

[ludes98]

My wife's company was thinking of using them, but opted to go with traditional phone service. If you do it, I would like to hear how it goes.

 

[GeogPlanner]

a friend of mine had gotten vonage...don't know if he still has it but i imagine he does. he liked it as far as i knew and it was good for him b/c up here he's primarily on nextel so on vonage, he set up a number in the 516 area code (i am in 518) so his parents could call without paying long distance...

just sucks when broadband craps out on you...but VoIP seemed to work well and you couldn't really tell. sometimes there's a very minor delay (like calling overseas) but hardly noticeable. no different than a cell phone can be at times...

 

[Dan]

Thanks for your responses! However, I was finally able to convince Ma Bell that the woman who lived in the house before me was gone forever, and in return I was given an easy-to-remember phone number for my troubles.

I was thinking about Vonage when I buy a house, but that may not be likely. I'm probably getting a dish for television, so I'll need the landline for DSL.