broadband phone

[superdave1984]

How many on here have broadband phone service that uses your cable connection? If so, what's the cost, pros and cons.
We can get digital cable, phone, and 3 meg internet for $99 here. (for the first 12 months) I am strongly considering it because just cable and 1.5 meg net is $86. Then the home phone can be outrageous with long distance. (I have two teenage daughters who for some reason LOVE the phone) Go figure. Economically it sounds like a good deal.

 

[talldude123]

Are you talking about Vonage, or a cable phone service by your ISP?

Vonage:

PROS:
-Cheaper than ISP phone service
-You can still use your existing phone

CONS:
-Uses some internet bandwidth
-You can't use all phones in the house (IE basement, attic, etc). You can only use two phones for the modem.
-Sometimes becomes staticy (maybe just the area)
-911 service has to be done on the internet.

Cable Phone from ISP:

PROS:
-All phones in the house can use it. (They use a cable modem for the telephone, instead of what the phone company used before).
-Never becomes staticy, always crystal-clear quality.
-911 Service works, great support.

CONS:
-Price
-If the power's out, the phone's out.

 

[superdave1984]

That's exactly what I was looking for. Now if more folks will give their experiences I can make an informed decision. I am leaning toward getting it from my cable company instead of Vonage or some other broadband phone provider. I just want as much info from users as possible.

 

[Crysalis]

I have a friend who tried vonage for a month. They ended up being without a phone for 2 months because vonage never worked and their normal phone company couldn't renew their service until vonage stopped.

 

[Streetz]

How many on here have broadband phone service that uses your cable connection? If so, what's the cost, pros and cons.
We can get digital cable, phone, and 3 meg internet for $99 here. (for the first 12 months) I am strongly considering it because just cable and 1.5 meg net is $86. Then the home phone can be outrageous with long distance. (I have two teenage daughters who for some reason LOVE the phone) Go figure. Economically it sounds like a good deal.

That deal sounds an awful lot like Comcast's "Triple Play", which is what I just got in my new house 2 months ago. I love Comcast, I came from SBCGlobal DSL and Comcast was a huge upgrade.

Anyways, on to the VoIP. I ordered my own cable modem which I ended up having to return because you "have to use theirs" because it has the cable, phone and internet hooked through it, which is actually nice. I argued with the tech for a while, but then he said it's already included in the cost, so I was fine after that. You can see when someone's on the phone (if you're in front of the modem obviously) because the telephone indicator blinks, when the internet and TV are down all at once. It also has a built in battery so if you lose power it will continue running for a bit (don't know the length though).

It is a good deal, in my eyes, you get all the bells and whistles, free long distance, unlimited calling for $30 a month. You can go online and listen to your voicemails, see all made and missed calls, I have it setup so I get an email when a call is missed. Even though I've only had it for about 2 months or so, I have yet to have a problem. I always read about how bad comcast is, so maybe it's just my area because I love them, and I know quite a few people around me that also has not once had a problem with them. And a couple have been using comcast since they bought AT&T.

Can't complain about digital cable with on-demand either! I came from no cable, slow *** internet, and no phone bells and whistles (not even caller id) because my parents couldn't pay for the good stuff, so all this is a huge step up for me. $100 a month for all that is quite the deal, just remember only new customers can get it, and it's a 1 year contract, after that it goes to the regular price which I believe is $140 or around there.

 

[talldude123]

If you do alot of torrenting, downloading, etc, Vonage is not for you.

Just went down to one of my friends today; who has Vonage phone and High Speed internet. His parents were doing long distance on the Vonage, and I tried to download a large movie off BT. At my house, i got about 200KB/s download; at his house with the phone used, i got 140KB/s.

We both have the same internet; only difference is the phone service.

 

[Elbatrop1]

-If the power's out, the phone's out.

That is generally not the case. The phone modems themselves have a battery back up. As well, I know that your ISP as well as mine (talldude) uses battery backup for the mainline equipment. This means that the power can go out for hours and you can still have phone service, just like traditional landlines.

I have all 3 services from the local cable co and have no complaints. The phone and internet are on seperate networks, so one doesn't affect the other. As well, you generally will get better support through an ISP vs a VOIP provider.

 

[talldude123]

Shaw modem's have battery back-up? That's good to know

I agree with what you're saying; broadband phone is much better.

 

[talldude123]

I just saw an Internet ad for Vonage, and they're saying that they're cheaper and offer more features than Shaw. But...is the $5 per month and no dedicated phone line worth saving money for? And i thought Shaw gave you everything...
http://www.thetruthaboutvonage.ca/top_10.html

Elbatrop1, i need your input on this one!

 

[evelmunkey]

I have phone through my cable provider (phone, internet, digital cable) and I love it. It is a lot cheaper, I have free long distance in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico for like 25-30 bucks. Good Deal!