Forums | MacLife

Aqua OS X wrote:

and Skype will allow you call other Skype users for free.

Vonage has that.

It doesn't have true 911 service though. If I call 911 it goes to a vonage 911 center and they contact local emergency services referring them to the address I have registered through my account.

ScifiterX wrote:

I'd go with Vonage if I trusted my neighborhood's power not to fail for extended when a mere 73+ MPH wind blows through and let's face it w/o electricity that VoIP adaptor, cable modem, cordless phone, and AC cellphone charger are useless

Is Vonage out of all their legal troubles?

Voip is good in some fashions. I work for a company that sells Voip service. Its honestly hit or miss. The quality is very comparable to regular PSTN. Only downside and this is a big downside. You are responsible for your dial tone. If you have to have 100% uptime for business purposes or require faxing. Your better off with regular pohne service.

I honestly have to liken Voip to the gremlins storyline. Voip is a cute cuddly mogwi but its inconsistency and potential issues can quickly turn into a gremlin. And I have to send the old chinese man to take gizmo back because customer's can't handle the responsibility.

If your going to take the plunge, make sure you have a reliable cell phone for periods of service downtime.

The last time we had hurricanes here, we were without of power for a week twice in a three week period.

We'd consider a generator but we've some financial reservations there (initial cost & cost of fuel) and since we live in an apartment a less powerful portable is our only option (so we'd have to prioritize what gets plugged into it).

Remember not all us Mac users are rich. For example, it's another 2-3 months before I can afford a Mini and I've been saving for a good 13 months.

ScifiterX wrote:

I'd go with Vonage if I trusted my neighborhood's power not to fail for extended when a mere 73+ MPH wind blows through and let's face it w/o electricity that VoIP adaptor, cable modem, cordless phone, and AC cellphone charger are useless

That's what a cell phone is for.
Land lines often go out - and more and more people have phones that don't work w/ just phone line current as it is.

It's better to have as more options than less in my honest opinion. VoIP customers were screwed if electricity and/or cable/DSL was disrupted in their area. Cell customers are screwed if the towers are damaged and or without power and/or they can no longer charge their phones. Phone customers are screwed if the lines are down and/or the powers out & they don't have a corded phone. Having more options rather than less helps cause it's like likely all scenarios will go wrong.

Remember corded phones are on a different power source. It's the cordless or answering machine models that require house current. If you've still got service the corded phones can run w/o home electricity. We never lost our two corded phones in either hurricane despite losing power for a week one each one. The first hurricane left me with cell service until the battery died from not being able to charge it and the second one took out the power to the local cell tower so I couldn't use the phone despite a charge.

Vonage isn't going to tank.
I almost bought into the IPO but decided against it, decided that they were too much at the mercy of broadband companies - but they are not going to tank.

Just for the record:

If you are on Satellite internet in the US of A, forget about VOIP.

resedit wrote:

Basil wrote:

Just for the record:

If you are on Satellite internet in the US of A, forget about VOIP.

Satelite strength is download, it kind of sucks for upload.

It technically exceed the minimum requirements but I would think the latency would be the killer, not the actual upload speed.

Frank

Basil wrote:

frankly wrote:

It technically exceed the minimum requirements but I would think the latency would be the killer, not the actual upload speed.

Frank

Correct, latency is a big issue but traffic shaping plays a big role. In Canada for example the government demands high priority for VOIP while in the good ole US of A the satellite ISP providers kill it.

IMHO in the 21st century broadband should be treated as a utility and supported as such.

I think Frank is referring to the latency that is inherent in satellite communications. Data transmitted via geosynchronous orbit will always have a quarter-second-plus delay. This proved to be more than irritating with the first attempts at using geosynchronous satellites with telephones--you have to retrain yourself to not try to fill in the gaps of the conversation.