Opinions on Cable VoIP For Home Phone

[Ken]

I have been using AT&T since the beginning of time and I'm looking at switching to Cablevision's VoIP service.

How does the Quality of a Cable Phone service compare to an old fashioned Copper line phone?

[tone4days]

no good experiences with it here

SIL has it (vonage)... whenever we talk to her, there is a burst of high frequency loud noise on the line every 30 seconds or so

MIL (80 y.o. widow with health problems who insists on living alone) has it (comcast digivoice) too ... same noise, plus it doesnt work well (if at all) with her medicalert transmitter

[Bones]

my parents have it with their cable company in Florida and it sounds like they are calling from the bottom of the ocean.

[Doug's Tubes]

I have been using AT&T since the beginning of time and I'm looking at switching to Cablevision's VoIP service.

How does the Quality of a Cable Phone service compare to an old fashioned Copper line phone?

Cablevision's VoIP has worked out great for me here on Long Island, highly recommended! I'll never go back to a Verizon land line. Vonage was terrible.

[morlll]

I've had it in Montreal for 5 years no difference no hassle. 1/2 the price of a land line here.

Unless the power goes out. Then I use my cell.

[Luke]

My Cablevision failed to work half the time so I gave up and only have a cell phone now.

[mark norwine]

power outage = no phone service.

Give me a good old POTS line, anyday

[arwhite]

I've got it through TimeWarner in Austin, TX. Good experience with it so far. Caller ID on the television is convenient at times. No phone if the power goes out or my kid unplugs the box, but that so rarely happens it's not even something to worry about. Much cheaper than what I was paying through AT&T.

[dc_jcm800]

It really comes down to how good your cable service is. Some areas of the US and Canada have stellar service, some don't.
What I mean by service is quality of signal.

I hated Vonage and did not drop the land line. Very noisey. In fact that noise in not percievable while watching TV over cable, but is magnified thru the phone.
Then there's the whole power/cable/internet outage to contend with.

VoIP is good in a business enviroment, not there yet for home usage.
My .02c.

[GuitarGuy510]

I get my phone service through the local cable company and the quality on my side is very high. I've checked with others and they say they can hear my crystal clear as well. :)

[bkd_guitarist]

I use Vonage VOIP service with Comcast cable internet. I've used it for 4-5 years and it's great. No issues.

[jcoloccia]

I've had 0 issues with vonage. You have to make a performance tweak through their site when you first get it or it will sound AWFUL. Other than that, it's been as realiable as my cable internet, which is pretty darn reliable.

That said, I'm having a land line installed for the business. I haven't had much luck with faxing over VOIP, for whatever reason.

[blood5150]

If you have a home security system VOIP will wreak havoc with it.... I know from experience. Try having your alarm go off at 3 oclock in the morning see how fast that can make your ticker beat.... home alarm systems use your phone line to call the police incase of a break in. Also the system is set to go off it the phone line to your home is cut. Well, if VOIP happens to be doing "routine maintenence" you lose your phone line, hence the alarm systems thinks the line has been cut, etc..

After the 2nd time it went off in the middle of the night I went back to a land line.

[cnardone]

CableVision in NY. I have great service. I work from home online and on the phone all day. Works Great. My Head developer in houston as well. Works great. I have a second developer in Austin TX and every call he is on gets a terrible clicking.

cmn

[ratter]

We've had Callvantage for a couple years now - works great. No one knows we're using VOIP and we use the phone a LOT (both work from home.)

We keep a land line for the alarm. And we have cell phones for backup, but we'd have those anyway. We have occasional power outages. Never had Callvantage go out on its own.

[Guitar55]

I have Cablevision's service in central NJ and I also have a second VOIP phone at home for business. The service is pretty reliable and the quality is decent. I saved a lot of money by making the switch and it was the right decision. Also, Cablevision's customer service is top notch. Almost no waiting to speak with someone, they are knowledgable and seem to have a "Customer is always right" attitude.