I don't have Vonage, don't even have a broadband connection but from what I've heard, most have been positive on VoIP, but it could be depending on your connection, the cable quality so your area could be dependent. Also, you might also try to consider other VoIP companies. On a different forum, I've heard good recommendations on a company called Sunrocket.com which claims to be cheaper than Vonage.

However, it's probably best to try to solicite reviews from your particular area, cause then you will have a better indication of the quality of service/connection for you specifically.

Jay

also ask any VOIP companies how 9-1-1 works for them. Remember, this may NOT work when you have a voip service and if you have children this may be a problem for you.
If your major issue is just long distance charges you can check out Data Net. I have had it for years and love it. You get to keep your real land line and then call using voip technology for your long distance calls only so you still get all your local service numbers.
It only charges you per call so there is no monthly fee.
One of our friends just got vonage and we did have a couple of problems calling them once. The phone was fuzzy and I think it cut out once, but they had only had it for a week at that point so I am sure they fixed the problems by now.
My friends also mentioned you get free voice mail.
-renee

We have Vonage, mostly so my husband can call home to South Africa cheaper. He says it's the cheapest way to call there. We have it as our 2nd line, still have a regular land line for our main line. I don't know about the 911 issue, since we would use the main line for that. I use the voip line for all long distance calls, and the quality is usually OK. I wouldn't say it's great, although it seems to have improved over the last few years. There is still a terrible delay when calling South Africa. At this point I would not be comfortable having it as our only line because we are using cable internet. The cable seems to be the first utility to go down and the last to come back up such as after a hurricane.

We've had Vnage for about 7 months and we're pleased. We have the $25/mo. service, although we could easily get by with the $15/500 minutes plan. Right now DD is in Australia, and calling from Massachusetts is pretty inexpensive. The sound quality is very good, same as my old phone company, I'd say. The delays that gin gin spoke of had been occurring, but this past weekend there was no delay, perhaps since we called late Sunday night, their time. I'm glad we made the move. As far as the 911 issue, you have to follow their instructions to initialize to your town's 911 service. Pretty straightforward, though.

we have had vonage for going on two years. works great, once in while have to reboot the little black box. but the rates to Australia and Central America are so in-expensive its well worth it.

i set it up for 911, but havnt tested it to see if it dials right number.

My son has Vonage and the reception is very poor which has stopped me from looking into that company. I'd like to switch but will consider your suggestions here before I make the decision.

Love this site..

We have VOIP, but not Vonage. We recently got Sunrocket service set up. So far we love it. They have a 199 per year plan. So, it comes out to under 17$ a month for unlimited calls in AMerica, Mexico and Canada. Great international rates. They also give you two phones. Of course all the calling features that VOnage provides. I think this is a better value for themoney.

If you unhappy with their service, they will credit you the amount remaining for the unused months.

We have vonage. We chose it b/c the regular land line was 20 a month for only local calls. All of our calls that we make are mostly Long Distance. So we decided to try it. The reception is based on your internet speed. If we are downloading something the reception is horrible. But it doens;t happen to much that we are dling and on the phone. We have the $25 unlimited and are VERY pleased with it. We set up the 911 - which you have to register your address so if you dial 911 vonage connects you to the local emergeny service. If you move you have to make sure to update your address with them.
Also - its great b/c you can have any area code you wish. You never have to change your phone #.

Hope this helps!
Ruth

We've been with Vonage for a year and love it. Great service, easy installation, and it feels so good to tell the local phone and cable voip companies to shove it, I'm paying at least 10-20 less than you can even offer. muaa haa haa

Okay, I'm done now. =)

This is the reply I just posted on "Cell vs. land line":

o
RE: Cell phone as Home phone

* Posted by lithigin (My Page) on
Wed, Jun 14, 06 at 13:52

Have you considered VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) service such as Vonage? DH and I spend $80 each month with taxes on our joint cell plans. Vonage has two main plans:

$15/month for 500 minutes
$25/month for unlimited minutes

We have the first plan and pay about $16.50 per month, total.

PROS: Low, low taxes! Low, low rates! Very easy to forward your home calls to your cell when you're traveling. All features are included...voicemail, voicemail sent to your email, caller ID, etc., etc. 911 works just fine (contrary to what Time Warner Cable likes to tell me when they try to get me to switch!). You just have to register your physical address so that it is linked to your phone number. You can get any area code you want that Vonage serves (you just relocated to NYC, but your entire family is from Nebraska; you can choose a Nebraska home area code).

CONS: You must have cable modem service to use VoIP. If your internet goes down, so does your phone. But you have a cell, right? Also, all calls cost an equal number of minutes, so you pay 'airtime' for 800 number calls.

Vonage does a referral plan where both parties get a month or two free. If you're interested, PM me with your email address and I'll send you an invite. We are very happy with the service.

Lindsay

We have sunrocket, got the one year package a PP was talking about, with the two free phones. I think it is ok. Sometimes it just cuts out, and it has gone down a few times. I porbably say "stupid, cheap phone" once every couple weeks or so. But, it is very cheap, since we paid the one fee for the year, and we do have cellphones for when it is down.

We have Vonage. It pretty much works as advertised. We use the 500 minute per month plan but never use more than 200 minutes. We are getting ready to drop it and switch to cell phones only.

911 is a legitimate VOIP concern. It works, but not nearly as well as real 911. They are working on that, so it should improve soon.

Taxes are about to go up on VOIP services, so the price differential should shrink some. It'll still be much cheaper than POTS.