Ed's Blog

My Experiment with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

My Experiment with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

I recently signed-up for Vonage phone service. This is the company that only charges $24.99 per month for basic phone service including all long distance calls (domestic US and Canada). What a deal!

But, after signing up and getting the starter kit – start-up CD, Phone adapter (Router that plugs into your cable modem), and setting up the system, - I recently declared that my experiment is over.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work. The Adelphia Powerlink cable comes in from your wall, and you plug the cable in your cable modem. You plug an Ethernet cable from your cable modem to your phone adapter/router. You can then plug in your phone line directly into your Phone1, router phone jack. Basically, phone calls come in over the Internet through your cable modem and your phone adapter grabs the VoIP data packets and sends them to your phone.

Here’s how it worked. Well, the phone calls were just fine, well at least 90% of the calls. I was able to talk with almost everyone and long distance to my Mom and sister was very clear – and free. But, amazingly my phone calls to other Vonage friends did not work at all. My voice would never reach the destination. After much experimentation and failed attempts, we, the Vonage technicians and me, figured that my upload speed and quality of service was too low. So, when I connected with another Vonage customer, his phone adapter didn’t get the data packets fast enough to establish a nice connection. Basically, my voice never went through, and although I could hear his voice, I wouldn’t call that a successful phone conversation.

Next, I called Adelphia and increased my cable modem speed by purchasing their “premium service.” After monitoring the line, I didn’t notice a significant increase in upload time, quality of service, and most importantly, my calls still didn’t go through to other Vonage phone users. You can go to: http://speedtest.vonage.com/ and check your upload, download speeds and quality of service. I would recommend that you have above 80% quality of service levels and above 275 kbps upload, minimum, before you think about going with Vonage. My apologies go out to all those friends who I have recommended the phone service. Actually, many of you may have a good experience with VoIP and cable modem phone service. But, I would check those figures before disconnecting your current phone service.

Summary:
1. I’m back with Verizon for local, regional and long distance. I have $0.05 a minute long distance.

2. I didn’t like Vonage’s customer service. It was slow. They never responded to my emails and the wait times were fairly long for technical support. I believe they’re growing, they’re small, and there’s bound to be many technical questions as the company grows.
3. I didn’t like the idea of having to deal with 2 separate companies for what I perceive to be 1 service. If there’s a problem, you’re on the phone with both Vonage and Adelphia.

4. If there’s a power outage, there’s a phone outage.

5. The emergency 911 service is still questionable.

But, hey, it may work for some people, those are just my experiences.

- Ed

posted by Unknown @ 7:31 PM