Vonage

[2BNTV]

Does anyone have Vonage as a telephone service and internet provider?

If yes, what are the monthly rates and how well does the internet work?

Is service a hassle or do they provide good tech support?

[Barefoot]

Does anyone have Vonage as a telephone service and internet provider?

If yes, what are the monthly rates and how well does the internet work?

Is service a hassle or do they provide good tech support?

We've been using Vonage for many years, both in Canada and in Florida. Now we're switching to Magic Jack. It's much cheaper and quality of service is similar (see Magic Jack thread)!

[Joaniesmom]

We have used Vonage for many years, also. Vonage does not provide internet connections. You must use your own to get on the Net. But we use it for our land line and also to talk to our daughter and family in Australia. There is no additional charge to talk overseas for as long as you want. I don't know if that is available with Magic Jack. One little side benefit is that you don't get any advertising or robo calls and you are not listed in the phone book. With tax, etc I think we pay $30 per month, more or less. I would recommend Vonage. Very good Customer Service, as well. Again, I don't know if you get any customer service with Magic Jack.

[l2ridehd]

I have had Magic Jack (old type with PC required) and Ooma. So far I prefer Ooma. I now have that installed in both VA and FL home plus two rental homes. Ooma costs about $200 but that is it forever. Magic Jack was $20 plus $20 a year. I have found the voice quality (once setting up QoS) to be better on Ooma. Features are also better. By using Ooma with the two line feature, I can have my VA number and my FL number on the same box. So when I do become a frog, my VA number will still be active in my FL home as long as needed.

Caveat: I have not tried the new Magic Jack with no PC needed. Probably need to do that.

[Golfer in Sanibel]

I had a terrible experience with Vonage. When I signed up, they assigned a phone number to me and assured me I would be able to convert/capture to my land line number to the Vonage service. The number they assigned me was a long distance phone call from my house. We used call forwarding from our land line number to the assigned Vonage number so as to not miss any business calls to our old number and incurred $180.00 of long distance phone bills to the Vonage number before we discovered it was long distance. Vonage refused to credit or refund any part of the $180.00 bill even though it was their mistake to assign me a long distance number. They were never able to capture my old phone number, either. They rank number one on my list of companies never to do business with.

[jeffy]

Had Vonage for two years here in TV. Wife hated it. 50% of time, poor call quality. Switched to the new style magic jack 10 months ago and absolutely love it. No issues. Great sound quality.

jeff

[Joaniesmom]

Could anyone with the new Magic Jack tell me if you get free overseas calling? If so, I'd like to give it a try. But, again, Vonage does a nice job for us.

[Sweetgirl]

Those that have switched/canceled Vonage, did you have any trouble with the company in doing so? Did they require their router be sent back? We also have had Vonage for many years, but paying $30 a month, now looking to go to Magic Jack and save. Thank You;)

[ndominesey]

I swtched from Vonage to magic jack. When I called Vonage to cancel service they told me they would reduce my monthly bill from 34.00 & that was with tax; to 10.95 per month. The change in serv.would be no world wide unlimited calls...just USA unlimited. I had a son in Japan.... It would have been very inexpensive to make overseas calls if I wanted. BUT I declined and got sucked into the 19.95 pitch with magic jack. Well by the time the dust settled the $19.95 turned into 80 some dollars. It works ok BUT if you use the call forwarding you must go on line everytime to enable or disable that feature because it FORWARDS ON THE FIRST RING ( actually you never get the ring), THERE IS NO DELAY TO FORWARD. For example ring at home 4 times and then forward to cell...NO CAN DO. Your home phone will never ring and the call goes directly to your cell or alternative number.
With Vongage I set it up to ring at the house then after 20 seconds forward to BOTH our cell phones. This is an important feature! Vonage also gave us excellent customer service. I took my Vonage to ST. MARTIN, plugged in at our hotel. That evening the phone rings. It was my neighbor calling to invite us over. Sorry I said I am not home, surprise...we are in the middle of the East Indies! No one will know your are NOT HOME and you will not get robo calls or sales pitches.
WISH WE NEVER SWITCHED. AND YES WE OWN OUR OUR VONAGE MODEM AND WILL PROBABLY RESTART VONAGE ONCE I GET BURNED OUT WITH MAGIC JACK. Magic Jack has hidden fees...such as for transferring your phone number. They give you a number then charge a fee for you to transfer you current number....OVER AND OVER AGAIN. BEWARE!
After writting this I just decided! Heck with it I am switching back to Vonage this week! Just one problem...getting Magic Jack to answer their phone or e-mail from us. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS TERRIBLE. You get what you pay for. Their web site runs you in circles but untill after you have PAID...thats when the trouble starts.
Magic jack is ok if you have very limited needs.Call Vonage they will reduce you bill to 10.95/mo and its permanent, NOT a scam.



Those that have switched/canceled Vonage, did you have any trouble with the company in doing so? Did they require their router be sent back? We also have had Vonage for many years, but paying $30 a month, now looking to go to Magic Jack and save. Thank You;)

[westcoastsunshine]

[QUOTE=2BNTV;581711]Does anyone have Vonage as a telephone service and internet provider?

If yes, what are the monthly rates and how well does the internet work?

Is service a hassle or do they provide good tech support?[/Q


I just started looking into Vonage as my daughter lives in London,
England. I have Straight Talk International because the sales
people told me I could call to the U.K. landline or cellphones.
Guess what.....cellphone to cellphone does not work in London.
I have spent hours on the phone with Straight Talk and can't
get any' straight' answers. Now I will have to find something
else.

Is it the same case with Vonage....only land lines are included
internationally?

Thanks for all your help out there!!

WCS

[elevatorman]

They did make the "NAUGHTY" list at Consumer Reports. Naughty & Nice - Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org/content/cro/en/shopping/naughty-and-nice-2012.html)

[Barefoot]

They did make the "NAUGHTY" list at Consumer Reports. Naughty & Nice - Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org/content/cro/en/shopping/naughty-and-nice-2012.html)

That's an interesting list. Two of my favourite stores made the "Nice" list, Publix and Kohls.

We just switched from Vonage to Magic Jack, in the US as well as in Canada. Free calling in North America is a plus for us. We have more than one modem, mainly because we forget to transport it wherever we go. So we don't run into the call forward problem. And all calls from each location come to me via e-mail which is very helpful. We were able to switch our Vonage telephone number to Magic Jack.

I note that ndominesey said that Vonage will reduce your bill to $10.95 per month if you threaten to drop them. I personally think it's "playing dirty pool" when companies charge loyal customers a lot, and it's only when you decide to leave that they offer a reduced rate.

[Bavarian]

We have Vonage in MD, planned on using it as landline in the villages. Bought it for free International calls, but need a more expensive service to talk to Handys. Got a DE number so my mother-in-law could make local calls. Know people who retired to the Bahamas who got Central PA number so family could call free.

I think I can add a second number, but seems it is mainly for FAX. Wasw going to get FL number to use here. Also they have free iPhone app so I can make free international calls from iPhone, but only in US.

Call quality depends on your ISP.