Phone service - Vonage vs.???

[Sandchedrick]

So... Are you guys tired of me asking questions yet? Y'all are like little sponges of information. I owe a huge ignorant American thank you to you all! It's awful lonely over here while all of you are sleeping over there!:)

My lil' brother is stationed in Germany and uses Vonage with an American based number so only long distance fees incur while talking with family and friends. I spoke with Vonage and it seems as long as I have "high speed" connection then I can hook-up Vonage. I am guessing as long as there is a modem connected to our home then I am good to go? Who do you guys use for phone service back to the states? Right now we use a USB wireless connection for internet service added onto our cell service, we don't even have a home phone. Does it work the same there or are there less expensive alternatives?

[swindland]

Ask all the questions you like. I currently use vonage and pay 35.00 a month. I used to pay 29.00 but I added this feature where I can call guam for free and japanese landline for free. Vonage does the job for me. Although there is a lag when I call japanese cell phone sometimes up to 20 secs and that's a long time for lag. But calling the states is fine and its clear on my end. The only thing I found out is when I'm downloading something on the computer the other person can't hear me but I can hear them. Other than vonage there is also skype, a lot of my friends use skype and I hear good things about them.

[okisteve]

I like Skype because when you call an 800 or other free number, it's just free, no access hassles, etc. that I have when I use my cheap international service. And other than that, it's hard to beat the price, which is free to other Skype users and about 2 cents a minute to a regular phone.

[OkinawaStud]

Vonage all the way. I've had it for almost 4 years. I have unlimited long distance stateside and to Europe.

[DocTurtle]

I used Vonage all the time. Me and the wife love it! I can call my parents back stateside for as long as I want and she can call her parents in Australia for as long as she wants and it's all at one flat rate. I think we pay 40 a month because of the Aus thing.

They say high speed, but you can even have mediatti and it works fine...which you will find isn't much. You don't have to use a phone service back in the states. You don't even need a phone line really. Just need an internet connection for Vonage to work. Once you have it, you can call anywhere in the states and to any other Vonage # with no charges. Just whatever plan you go with, normally the 35 a month one is common, and that's it.

I think that answers your question...but if not ask again :p

[retributionnk]

My favorite thing about Vonage is the 'Virtual line' for an extra 5 bucks a month, which allows you to have multiple numbers associated with the same line. With me being from one state, and my wife from another, both of our families can make local calls to our Vonage number. I also love being able to keep the same phone number from place to place. I used to use Skype, but I found that Vonage service is superior, albeit more expensive. The call quality is much more clear as well. I'll never go back to standard phone service, that's for sure.

Edit: Another note on Skype: I didn't like being tied to my computer headset mic with skype. you can purchase the broadband phones for skype, but they're very expensive. With Vonage, their phones and Phone converter box things are all free; You're only charged shipping.

[InFaMoUs]

They say high speed, but you can even have mediatti and it works fine

LMAO!!!, Thats the truth.

Vonage is great your gonna love it

[swindland]

If you do decide to get vonage. Make sure you get it while you're in the states. They won't shipped to FPO address.

[retributionnk]

If you do decide to get vonage. Make sure you get it while you're in the states. They won't shipped to FPO address.

You can still buy Vonage phones from most electronics store's websites which will ship to APO addresses. They also normally come with a ridiculous rebate (normally the price of the product, as Vonage phones are normally free).

[htran804's slave]

I use www.aimphoneline.com with my laptop (with internet connection of course), and a USB headset w/ microphone.

I already have AOL Instant Messenger, and since they have the out-bound phone service for $14.95 it just seemed like a great fit. Unlimited calls in and out, and they give you a stateside number. I'm not sure how it works with other services, but this number will stay with me wherever I go in the world. It makes it easy for my parents to contact me whenever they need to.

Yahoo! has a similar service, but the outbound phone calls are made on a Yahoo! pre-paid card. You can get pre-paid cards in either $10, or $20 increments. The in-bound service is a $3/month charge.

[swindland]

You can still buy Vonage phones from most electronics store's websites which will ship to APO addresses. They also normally come with a ridiculous rebate (normally the price of the product, as Vonage phones are normally free).

I didn't know that and that's cool that they shipped to APO addresses. Vonage should just shipped to APO addresses. They would probably make more money that way too.

[retributionnk]

Yea. Now that UPS has that dual-shipping thing where they deliver your package to a USPS processing facility, and then USPS ships it the rest of the way, there's no reason for anyone to NOT ship to APOs.

[Black Orchid]

im using Voip Your Life it totally kicks vonages ass for me.. the basic plan starts at 14.99 the same kinda plan that vonage offers is at voip your life for $23.97/mo and i have the global unlimited i pay 33.00 a month for that (29.97/mo)

i got two virtual numbers an american and a canadian one so my fam and friends can call for free

they send you one of the phone adapters they offer for free and theres no fuss about shipping to APOs


http://www.voipyourlife.com?refid=house&salesperson=blackorchid

go head and take a look at it and compare it with vonage and see which one isbetter.. i have had no problems with these guys and all the complaints i hear abut vonage i think this is a great alternative

[DataDink]

...... The only thing I found out is when I'm downloading something on the computer the other person can't hear me but I can hear them.
What type of router do you have; you may be able to setup a qualtiy of service (QoS) to provide priority to the VoIP/Vonage phone. If it is a gaming router it most likely support QoS level setting based on IP ports/Sockets, or physical ports, some even support adding the MAC address of the device you want to have priority service on the network. This is what I did. I didn't like going through the VoIP router for all my traffic, so I put it inside my network but set this feature. If your router doesn't support this, most VoIP devices have a LAN link and actually act as a router, firewall, and DHCP server. Hope this helps.