I thought they settled all those. My understanding was that Verizon has
some patents on VoIP and sued Vonage. I'm guessing Verizon could have
done something like Vonage but instead sat on the patents to keep out
cheaper competitors. So now Vonage has to pay Verizon some amount of
money for each use of the patents. Dunno if their business model will
hold up under that but they haven't raise my rates. Sprint also had
settled a patent dispute.
Vonage vs. Sprint settled
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9792595-7.html
Vonage vs. Verizon settled
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9785790-7.html
CB
Mike Arrigo wrote:
I don't know if this is still going on, but I also heard that vonage
was facing several law suits for patent infringement.
On Jun 17, 2008, at 9:20 PM, Larry Wanger wrote:
I had a contract with them for 12 months and, if this gives you any
hint, I canceled with them on the first day I could. I had them ship
me two different routers because they kept breaking. In fact, that's
two after the one they first sent me when I activated the service.
The 3rd one broke at about 9 months in to the contract and I got sick
of a phone that never worked. I just let it go, paid 3 more months
and then caned them. The customer service was terrible as well. Good
luck if you have already signed up.
DisabilityNation, an Audio Magazine by and for People with
Disabilities. Listen at http://www.disabilitynation.net
On Jun 17, 2008, at 4:01 PM, Buddy Brannan wrote:
From what I've read over the years, I'd probably use anyone but
Vonage. One quote on a VOIP board said something like that they had
the "biggest customer base money could buy" *LOL*.
A couple that you might want to check out are
www.viatalk.com (but be careful, I got nicely asked to either leave
or upgrade to the business plan because I called out more than I got
calls in and they said that my profile was "inconsistent with normal
residential use"). But in spite of that, I had excellent call
quality from them.
VOIP Your Life: www.voipyourlife.com has a good price, about the
same as Vonage, and I understand their service and support calls are
actually answered domestically without voicemail/IVR hell. Big
selling point, IMO. I'm giving thought to switching to them myself.
Packet8: www.packet8.net has also given me good service in the past.
One advantage is that they use a lower bandwidth codec. That also
means that call quality is about like your digital cellphone.
Sorry, can't remember the name of the company I signed up with after
Sunrocket went bust.
Oh, two more options:
Voicepulse: www.voicepulse.com is considered by many to be the
Cadillac of VOIP providers.
If you want a pay as you go service, check out
http://www.vitelity.net
1.4 cents/minute, all prepaid. Start your account with $35 and
recharge with whatever amount as needed. You can opt to have a phone
number to receive calls, or not, as you like.
Clearly there are several other choices, too, but those are the ones
I know a little something about.
On Jun 17, 2008, at 5:32 PM, John Moore wrote:
Hey. Well since Skype took away the unlimited plan, I'm going to
try Vonage. Is there software accessible with VO, or will I be
using a phone that they provide? Thanks.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 746-4502 or 888-75-BUDDY
Harnessing the power of Online Spending and Everyday Shopping to
Change Lives: See how, Together, We Can Change the World:
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