| I've been seeing (and hearing) these "whoo hoo, | | | | 24 hours before we hooked everything up. We |
| whoo--hoo--hoo" ads now for a few years | | | | decided that the best place for phone the central |
| (Vonage) and never paid much attention. A few | | | | phone unit and the Vonage portal was in our living |
| years back we dumped the landline in our home | | | | room. Luckily one of the corners of the room |
| and went "cell phone only." I know lots of people | | | | already had a hole in the floor, so I had already |
| that have done the same. Our phone bill used to | | | | run a very long 100 foot ethernet cable from the |
| be $60-$70 per month. Since it's been gone we | | | | other end of the house in the basement (ceiling) |
| haven't missed it much. What I have noticed | | | | through the floor to the living room. |
| though is that when my phone is charging (and it | | | | When I took the Vonage box out of the box it |
| rings) - I don't answer it. I miss a lot of calls. | | | | had a paper right on top that told me to turn off |
| Sometimes I leave it in the car... or my coat... or | | | | my router before plugging it in. So I ran |
| my pants. There's something to be said for just | | | | downstairs and turned off my cable modem and |
| having a phone hanging on the wall in the same | | | | router. Once I came back upstairs I plugged the |
| place each and every time you need it. | | | | phone into the wall, and the the Vonage box. I |
| Now that I've had the experience of "not having a | | | | plugged the ethernet in the Vonage box, and then |
| land line" for 2+ years, I started to think about | | | | plugged the Vonage box into the wall (the last |
| the value of a "house phone". I'm certainly never | | | | thing). The Vonage box lit up like a Christmas |
| again paying $60-70 a month for that privilege | | | | tree, big orange display with a rotating globe |
| since I only pay $105 per month for 3 cell phones | | | | saying "connecting". It seems like it took about 10 |
| with 1500 minutes and unlimited IM now. Well, I | | | | minutes for it to get an IP address, configure |
| saw that "whoo-hoo-hoo" ad on TV a few weeks | | | | itself, download an update from Vonate, turn off, |
| back again and it struck a chord for some reason | | | | and restart. Then the display just went to the |
| - "$24.95 per month for unlimited calls..." Really? | | | | date and time and looked like it was ready to go! |
| Unlimited? Like I can call anyone, anywhere for | | | | I grabbed the phone and called my wife at work, |
| free, anywhere in the US 24 hours a day 7 days | | | | and we talked for about 10 minutes. I never once |
| a week free? I went to their web site and that's | | | | could tell the difference between the Vonage |
| what it said. And it also said that you can get | | | | Internet phone and a traditional copper land based |
| started for only $9.95 (which also seemed to | | | | phone line. We ran several tests where we |
| good to be true). | | | | downloaded all kinds of things while using the |
| Well, what I mean is you can get the "necessary | | | | phone - but it never seemed to degrade the |
| equipment" for only $9.99. I never looked into | | | | quality of the call. Maybe a different Internet |
| Vonage much before because it seemed when it | | | | connection would yield different results, but we've |
| came out you needed some special kind of | | | | not had problems and the service is now just |
| "internet phone" to make it work. You couldn't use | | | | over one month old. Now, I don't think much of it |
| a regular phone from the store. That couldn't be | | | | - it's just like a regular land line to me. |
| further from the truth now. With the little adapter | | | | With Vonage you can do something that's really |
| that comes with the service you just plug in a | | | | cool that you could never do with a land line. |
| regular land line phone and it works just like a | | | | Vonage is portable, and it can work on any |
| copper line and your local baby bell! In fact, this | | | | Internet connection anywhere. The unique thing |
| little device is also a caller ID - AND (my personal | | | | about this is you can unplug the Vonage adaptor, |
| favorite) it comes with a LAN out jack...meaning | | | | and take it and your phone with you to anywhere |
| that once you plugin the phone and a LAN cable | | | | there's a broadband connection and a LAN cable. |
| from your router there is an extra ethernet port | | | | Plug it in, and you'll be able to send and receive |
| on this device which basically acts as a switch. | | | | calls just like you were at home! In fact, when |
| You could use it to plugin a laptop, and xbox 360 | | | | your friend and family call - they won't know that |
| (or classic), a PC, Mac, whatever! I know, I've | | | | you aren't at home! We went away for the |
| geeked out a bit on this, but I thought it was | | | | weekend, and stayed in a motel with free |
| pretty cool. The only drawback to getting this | | | | wireless Internet. When we got to our room I |
| device for $9.99 is the fact that it locks you into | | | | just plugged in my Lan cable to the Vonage box, |
| a one year contract with Vonage. Otherwise you | | | | and it connected quickly and it was ready to go! I |
| have to pay $70-odd dollars for it. I took my | | | | made a phone call to test it, and it worked like a |
| chances, figuring I poured thousands into Verizon | | | | charm. Imagine if you had to visit your parents, |
| over the years anyway. | | | | or other relatives for the weekend. You could |
| So I ordered this "internet phone adapter", they | | | | take your phone with you as long as they had |
| call it the "Vonage V-Portal", which essentially is an | | | | broadband Internet! |
| adapter to convert a normal phone for Internet | | | | Vonage has many different adapters, one of the |
| use, a caller ID device, and a 1 port router as well. | | | | newer ones if an Internet phone in a flash |
| I had to pay for shipping, my first month of | | | | memory stick. It turns your computer or laptop |
| service, tax, and I think it was about $52 for me | | | | into a phone on the go! You can certainly Vonage |
| to get started. UPS delivered the adapter about 4 | | | | directly from just like I did - but check eBay for |
| days later and I was ready to get started! We | | | | bargains first! You never know - you might be |
| had purchased a 5.8 Ghz cordless phone with 3 | | | | able to get a starter kit for a very reasonable |
| cradles to use with Vonage. I had them charging | | | | price! |