Greggy you were right
 

I have two invitation already for dinners :)

More food coming my way too....heh

Good friends are the best. Is there enough for 2? I'm coming over for dinner :D

p.s. After our conversation, I'm checking into Vonage VOIP. The only downside is that it can take up to 20 days to transfer your existing phone number, so I would have to have both my current service and Vonage connected until the transfer takes place. They do have a promotion though for the first month free right now though. I found it interesting that Cox Cable charges a $6.00mo. FCC access fee and they are VOIP, but Vonage does not. They only charge a 3% Federal Excise Tax. Additionally, if I sign up for the $14.99mo. plan (500 min.free), additional minutes are only 3.9¢min., and with Cox, additional minutes are 5¢min. Vonage appears to be the way to go. Do you know if there is any chance that Vonage will slow down my broadband connection since the signal is routed through a Linxys wirless router? Thanks for the heads up on Vonage. I didn't realize that while Cox advertises it's service as "Digital Telephone", that they are actually VOIP.

If you have an alarm system in your house you might want to check to see if it will work with VoIP, some don't and require a POTS line.

I do, but I am not currently contracted with a service provider for it, so it is a N/a issue. Don't tell the burglars about this please ;)

Also... what happens if either power or your broadband connection goes down? The ONLY reason we have not gone VoIP is that exactly. My wife works from home, and we have three phone lines and a fax line. If the power goes out, OR if the internet connection goes out, she's screwed!!

Juan

Can you PM me your home address please, I'ld like to send you a gift :) :bustingup

That's what I was thinking the other day when my cable modem was down.... how to call the b*st*rds. Of course, you can use your mobile but IMO cable is still not reliable enough.

I tried Vonage about a year ago and the voice quality was not as good as a regular phone line.

Keep in mind that I do have a VERY alert guard dog ;)

Nothing a nice fat T bone won't solve :)

I had a problem with my cable a month ago and had to go to my neighbors house to use their phone and call the cable co. :mad: Only happened once though, no biggie.

True, but keep in mind that she prefers NY Strip :rofl:

ooooooooh, it's a SHE, no problem, I'll just bring my male Malamute over for a quickie, I mean distraction :)

I've had Vonage since March of 05. Here is my 2 cents:
I've had 2 internet outages in the last 5 years so reliability is not a factor for me. I also have my cell phone as backup. I'm satisfied with the voice quality. Their phone customer service is horrible (at least an hour wait for every call) However, they respond to email almost immediately. The number transfer took 3 months to complete but they (Vonage) gave me free service until it was completed. All in all I'd say that I'm happy that I made the switch. My phone bill is a faction of what it used to be.

I use a UPS to backup the cable modem and the telephone adaptor incase the power is down. Greg I can refer you on Vonage and you get one month free too. I get 2 months free. Up for it? :)

They supposedly now have a new system where LNP takes a few days. I have heard people getting their numbers transferred in 4-5 days now.

I wanted to go with Vonage but they do not have local numbers for me so local folks would be paying LD charges to call me. Rats! I also looked into AT&T's Vantage. Same issue. I went with Time Warner's VOIP. SO far the quality has been indistinguishable from Verizon. My Internet has been very solid and I think I've only had one outage. I have cellphones and my friends Herrs. Heckler & Koch if trouble should arise. Also, fax machines don't work with VOIP.

I just got sick of the BS Verizon/MCI/AT&T racket. Now I pay $40 flat fee per month for unlimited calls within the US and Canada. I wished I could have gone with Vonage because it's only $25 a month and you can travel with it. It would be so cool to be in Tokyo, hook up your phone adapter to a high speed Net connection, and receive calls just like you're at home.

Just to be fair, look into whether your local phone company has any unlimited plans. Verizon here offers a $60 a month unlimited plan, including US and Canada LD.

PS: I know Zema can be bribed with a tennis ball.

I have had Call Vantage since Oct 04. Cut my phone bill in half. 911 works, security system dial-in works, home automation system works. Have a UPS on my TW cable modem like Mickey. Have a cell phone if it ever went down. Voice quality is excellent, can't tell a difference. Took my T.A. on my trip to FL and had my home phone # with me the whole time ;)

Yes

PM me your email address and will send you a referral ASAP

All accurate info! It took me 4 months to port my number. Submitted January 29th, port completed May 29th. Oy vey! :dunno:

Did they give you free service until it was completed????

Greggy you have mail. The line transfer now takes much less time. Mine 9 months back was about 3 weeks.