Vonage DigitalVoice VoIP Service with Motorola VT1005v Dual-Port Voice Terminal Adapter

Rating:
Summary: Kiss POTS goodbye
Review: Here's the answer to sky high phone bills. THis kit allows you to make use of your broadband internet connection to make and receive phone calls.
You hook the VT1005 adaptor to your modem. Plug your PC ethernet cord into the PC port on the moto device. Reboot modem allow it to come online. Then power up the moto box. Wait at least 5 minutes. Then plug in your phone. You will have dial tone.
I make calls to Cyprus and UK all the time on this and I've had no issues. I have not used 911 so I cannot comment on that. However, day to day calls in and out of state have gone well after the initial teething problems that normally come up on a new device.

For stability sake, I have it parked behind a Netgear router. THis helps the moto box focus on Voip functions rather than try to do all DHCP, NAT, firewall, DNS, and gateway functions.

YOu can visit the site www.vonage.com to see all the features that come with Vonage. ALl inclusive regardless of which plan you choose.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent service, easy setup, etc.
Review: I read a few negative reviews about the Vonage service, but contacted an individual whom I trust who used the service and was convinced to try it out. Needless to say, I'm quite impressed. The adapter took a little longer to get up to speed when I first plugged it in (maybe 10 minutes instead of the advertised 5), but once it did there were no problems at all.

I have a Linksys BEFSR41 wired router between the ATA and my cable modem without any ports forwarded at all, and the ATA works fine -- calls are clear, crisp, and both outgoing and incoming calls work great. Bandwidth is adjustable between 30-90kbps, at the cost of a small bit of voice quality at the low range, but it's still comparable to a wired phone.

I've not had any of the troubles described by others in the negative reviews, but then again I usually have good Machine Karma(tm). I've not missed a single call (and if my connection was down, Vonage will auto-forward to another number, in my case my cellular phone) and nobody's been able to tell the difference between my Vonage phone and a wired phone.

With the low price of the service and the excellent features provided for free, I can safely say that I've not found a better deal or performance from a telephone company (let alone a VoIP company) around. Definitely try out Vonage.

Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: I read reviews of bad support and all that, but the support I got was awesome. I had to take the device out of the country and the guy actually called me on an international line to troubleshoot. It works great from India and basically if you have broadband connection, kicks out any calling card BS out of biz. At 15 buks a month you get unlimited in coming calls, so I can call anyone physically in India and talk to them at virtually no cost. The quality is 1000 times better than all calling cards and much much better than most cell phone calls. The advanced features of setting voice quality, real time billing etc are also great. Be warned though that the router (Motorola) is a bit sticky, and can need a bit of tweaking if your cable provider isnt a straightforward cable/dsl connection. Once you get it set up the benefits are too good to resist.

Rating:
Summary: Great Price, Great Performance, Decent Reliability
Review: I've had Vonage now for about two months and I'm overall impressed with it's service, features and pricing. My phone calls have been crisp and I have yet to have one drop. However, Vonage has had intermittent connection issues -- which, when encountered -- render the phone useless (you can't make a call, receive a call, or have a call forwarded to another number). So, don't expect to get the "dial tone" reliability of your plain old telephone service (POTS). Also, be aware that the service won't work if your power goes out. This is especially important in case of emergencies. While Vonage does provide 911 support by allowing you to specify the address where the device is installed and routing calls to the nearest Public Service Answering Point (PSAP), without electricity, you can't get in touch with 911.

As for call quality, it's been great (on par with POTS and better than cell phones). I use a cable modem and have never experienced any choppiness or delays in the conversation, thanks, in part, to the Motorola VT1005v VTA giving preference to the voice data over the local data. Though the VT1005v doesn't have any clout on your broadband provider's network, so if that pipe bogs down, you may experience call cut-out.

One oddity to report: occasionally, when I hang-up a call, the phone will ring again immediately, even though the call should have been terminated.

Overall, you get a great deal for your money (includes many "optional" POTS features, like caller ID, call waiting, 3-way calling, last call return, voicemail, and call forwarding). You can use Vonage to replace your standard phone service and save quite a bit of cash, but I'd recommend having a cell phone as a back up in this case -- otherwise, keep an existing POTS line and use Vonage for your long distance. You can even get "virtual numbers" in other cities, so that loved ones can call you without paying long distance charges.