I just signed up for Vonage broadband phone service. For $15/month, I get 500 minutes of calls anywhere in the US, plus unbeatable international rates. My wife can call her family in Mexico for $0.07/minute and her sister in London for $0.03/minute, far lower than the discounted rates offered by ATT/Sprint/MCI/etc. With $40/month for cable internet service, my total bill for all US calls and high speed internet is $55/month. This allowed me to dump Verizon phone service, which cost me $35/month. My former time-limited dialup internet service cost $10/month. This means I was paying $45/month just for local calls and a painfully slow internet connection. For $10 more, I now have broadband internet and domestic (US) long distance phone service. Bye-bye phone company!
I'd heard bad things about sound quality, would you keep us updated? I'd also like to have a sort of idea of conversion cost (routers converters, whatnot)
Yeah,I'm also curious about the sound quality. It sounds like you worked out a good deal though,HuckFinn.
I'll probably wait until VOIP hits cell networks before I indulge...I don't think Charter's going to hook up broadband phone service anytime soon...
The only difference in sound quality I've noticed is a slight echo when calling some (not all) cell phones. It's something I can easily live with, considering the cost savings. As for conversion costs, the phone adapter will cost nothing after rebates from Circuit City and the manufacturer, and the router will end up costing $10 after the rebates. I'm not sure how this setup would ever be advantageous for cell phone users. You'd still have to pay separately for your minutes, and you can already buy prepaid cards for domestic and international long distance.
Thanks for posting this, HuckFinn. I'm giving serious thought to switching from BellSouth to Vonage later this week. I've heard mixed reviews. Cnet gave it a rave, but users were split about half-and-half. However, I'm guessing that people who complained about dropped calls had bad Internet connections to begin with. Please post any further thoughts you may have. Cheers, Jeremy
