Opinions on Voice over IP Services (1 Viewer)

[Christo Ramo]

I heard I was too, but the people at Verizon will not admit it even though it has been published. But I heard it from the DSL guys, when I called in to cancel the service. They told me to hang tight. They did also mention that any and all new developments will have fiber. I guess it makes sense.

 

[Eric Samonte]

So...Steve...any info on whne it could be available in Mountaintop, PA? Presently, I'm on Verizon DSL at 768/128 which frankly is barely cuts it.

 

[SarahG]

Even with the fiber developments, it seems that Verizon's service is going to be obsolete until they offer a naked DSL line. Doesn't seem like a cost effective solution unless you can get the voip without the regular phone line. Am I way off base here?

 

[Christo Ramo]

I have the verizon voip with comcast internet. No verizon or any analog line what so ever. However, verizon claims that you need to have a phone line to have dsl. I think it is a ploy just to make another few bucks.

 

[Steve F M]

Christo its actually not a ploy. Verizon's DSL technology at this time does not allow DSL service without dialtone. That will change in the very near future.

Sarah, Verizon will be offering Naked DSL Service in the very near future. 2nd quater sometime if I'm not mistaken.

Eric, your screwed. MountainTop is near Scranton correct? Just kidding No plans for this year in Mountain Top.

But I would call and complain about your speeds. They should have everyone at 1.5MB and hopefully 3MB shortly.(Don't quote me on this) They do this by giving customers 2 channels instead of 1 on the DSL equipment. thats why you always see the speeds doubling with copper DSL(768 to 1.5MB, 1.5MB to 3.0MB). With FIOS DSL it will be pretty much whatever speed you want at Verizon's price.

Also on Christo comment about new developements getting FTTP 1st. That is true but only in the towns slated to get FTTP.

For example if you live in City "A" they would start with the new developments 1st since its easier to put Fiber in the ground while houses are being built and then they would do the rest of city "A", but my understanding is that when they release city "A" for sale of FIOS then pretty much everyone in city "A" can get the service.

They are just running the fiber in 1st in new developments but not actually giving these people service 1st.

 

[JeffLambas]

just hope you wont have to dial 911 and you'll be right

 

[Christo Ramo]

Jeff, we have 2 cell phones in the house. They have the 911 GPS locator, so no getting bounced around from police station to police station anymore. We have excellent reception in the house. Plus we have the chargers that allow you to talk on the phone with full power while they are charging. Also, I have the direct line to my towns police and fire dispatch. I believe I have everything covered, lets just hope that we never have to use.

At first I was a little hesitant to go to the VOIP for that very same reason. I am origionally from NY and had to relocate to PA because of employment. All of my calls, all of them are long distance. I have tried some of the other unlimmited long distance land line packages, my phone bill was between 50 and 80 a month. Why I don't know. FCC charges I guess, sometimes like $20 just for them. Not to mention all of the other taxes and surcharges. Also, tried using the cell phones, what a nightmare, still had astronomical bills there too.

For me VOIP was definately a cost effective way to make phone calls. Plus I was able to give my family memebers in NY and NJ local numbers so they did not have to incurr long distance charges. Which I thought was really cool. The web interface to check messages is sweet and you can change all of your service options. I think it is pretty cool. Sorry if I began to ramble...

 

[Chris_Eff]

I have had Vonage since last July. The main problem that we ran into was the long time it took for our number to port over from the phone company. The WAF was contingent on keeping the number. From July to Nov I was paying two bills (LL & VOIP) However Vonage credited me for most of the time due to a mix up on their end at one point. I had the upstairs phones on Vonage for long distance and downstairs was still connected to the land line. Once number was ported switched completly to VOIP. I disconnected the outside POTS line and switched the jack in my office to be the dial tone line. Works great on all the jacks in my house.
I then ran into a problem with breackup occasionaly on my calls. Worked with Vonage and Cable Co to solve problem. No luck. Was getting ready to quit when I tried the adapter on the other side of my router. Problem fixed. I latter discovered that these adapters get messed up sometimes from all the port scans and other odd traffic comming from the Internet (which my router now blocks).
I only have a 500k cable connection and have no problems quality is no different that Land line. Only had a problem with other people hearing me if I am uploading alot on Bittorrent.
I tell everyone I know to switch if they can. Even my parents have now switched. They use Packet8 with good results.

 

[Christo Ramo]

I would blame your internet connection on that one. That 500k I am assuming is your download and can imagine you upload is about 70k - the upload is the more important number if you ask me. Do you have satellite internet? I have Comcast's 4000k download and 384k upload, soon going to the package that give double the upload, but I have been on bit torrent, on the phone, surfing the net and the wife playing xbox and that would create just enough stress on the line to get it to break up. But actually the xbox gets the worst end of the stick.

A buddy of mine worked for vonage for like 4 months in Edison, NJ, he told me that the service can use up to 90k up and down on one call. Then is you have call waiting it doubles respectfully.

What kind of internet do you have?

 

[Chris_Eff]

I use Wide Open West Cable. I chose the 500 because I needed a lower rate (new baby) and to be honest we don't realy download a whole lot. The reason I mentioned the upload is that sometimes if I am sharing a lot of files I will sound like a robot to who is on the other end, due to the limited bandwidth. I have not had any problems normal surfing and talking. I have used VOIP with this 500k and when we had a 2000k connection and can not tell a difference. If the phone would have been bad we would have stuck with the 2000k as the saving are not really that great. I will maybe use bittorent or something once a month if we miss a TV show. So the upload has not been an issue. I understood the limitations before I made the downgrade.

 

[Greg*go]

So I guess having FTTP would help out a great deal if you currrently have 128 up from DSL.

Steve F M., thanks for all those answers to us PA residents. I'll most likely wait until Verizon offers FTTP or that naked DSL (I'll have to look at the pricing before I decide) before switching over to VOIP.

 

[SarahG]

I need to get a new cell phone, for this, among other reasons. Our SunRocket service has enhanced 911 and I'm not worried about it there, but it'd be nice to have the gps on the cell phones for when I'm not at home.

 

[DonRC]

It's also nice to have it as a backup in case you need to call 911 while the power is out. Since the VOIP service uses a powered box on your powered network, it wouldn't necessarily be available if power was out.

(Also, for the record fish are most definitely food - although a kind of friendly food... )

 

[SarahG]

True. That's also why I'm seriously considering that back up battery for an instance like this. Seems like a good purchase to cover all my bases. I haven't had a problem yet, but I've seen a few different brands of batteries that are fairly cheap and look good.

Anybody have experience with the back-up batteries?

 

[Steve F M]

Anyone that is interested in FIOS in the towns of

Chester Springs
Doylestown
Downingtown
Exton
Newton
Phoenixville
West Chester
Yardley

In Eastern Pa send me an e-mail or a PM.

 

[SarahG]

So is this one company that is providing this service or is it widespread among a few companies? Again, how will it positively affect voip service?

 

[Steve F M]

One company which is Verizon. It will make VOIP better due to the increased Bandwith they are offering over Fiber. Thats not the main reason to jump on the FTTP bandwagon. Better reasons would be the incredible broadband speeds they are going to offer at a low price as well as Video that will not the socks off the cable companies.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

You sound like a spokesperson BTW, my Fiber is on tomorrow before noon!!!

 

[DonRC]

I can go to the website and find out that FIOS is not yet available in my neighborhood. Does anybody know if there is any way for me to find out WHEN it might be available in my neighborhood (Allen, TX - suburb of Dallas)?

 

[Steve F M]

Kyle what speed did you sign up for?

Don I can't see you waiting to much longer especially being in a suburb of Dallas.