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Home > Archive > Voice Over IP in UK > November 2006 > Question About Vonage
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Question About Vonage
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| Anthony Thornton 2006-11-13, 8:08 am |
| I'm looking to get away from instant messaging and getting a dedicated
residential VOIP service and Vonage is probably the one I'll go for.
My question is about international call charges. Is this paid in arrears or
in advance and if it is in arrears is there an advance payment option, i.e.
PAYG
Thanks
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| ACDeag 2006-11-13, 8:08 am |
| Anthony Thornton explained :
> I'm looking to get away from instant messaging and getting a dedicated
> residential VOIP service and Vonage is probably the one I'll go for.
>
> My question is about international call charges. Is this paid in arrears or
> in advance and if it is in arrears is there an advance payment option, i.e.
> PAYG
>
> Thanks
Have you looked at www.voip.co.uk cheaper than Vonage, depends whether
you want inclusive daytime calls.
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| John Blessing 2006-11-13, 8:08 am |
| "Anthony Thornton" <kewl1uk@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:j4H5h.4618$bC3.3064@newsfe7-win.ntli.net...
> I'm looking to get away from instant messaging and getting a dedicated
> residential VOIP service and Vonage is probably the one I'll go for.
>
> My question is about international call charges. Is this paid in arrears
> or in advance and if it is in arrears is there an advance payment option,
> i.e. PAYG
>
> Thanks
Arrrears, you register a credit card with your account. Don't think there is
an advance payment option.
--
John Blessing
http://www.LbeHelpdesk.com - Help Desk software priced to suit all
businesses
http://www.room-booking-software.com - Schedule rooms & equipment bookings
for your meeting/class over the web.
http://www.lbetoolbox.com - Remove Duplicates from MS Outlook, find/replace,
send newsletters
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| M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk 2006-11-13, 8:08 am |
| On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 15:28:15 GMT, "Anthony Thornton"
<kewl1uk@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>I'm looking to get away from instant messaging and getting a dedicated
>residential VOIP service and Vonage is probably the one I'll go for.
>
>My question is about international call charges. Is this paid in arrears or
>in advance and if it is in arrears is there an advance payment option, i.e.
>PAYG
No paid in arrears but if it is mainly international calls you are
making why not go for sip discount or one of the other offering from
the same group.
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| Anthony Thornton 2006-11-13, 8:08 am |
|
> Have you looked at www.voip.co.uk cheaper than Vonage, depends whether
> you want inclusive daytime calls.
>
I looked at voip.co.uk but I don't really understand how to set it up. The
Vonage web site is easier to understand for a newbie like myself. I don't
have a router but an NTL 250 modem connected to the Ethernet port.
Information from both Vonage and NTL says that all I do is whack a router
between the modem and my Ethernet port, plug in a regular telephone and go.
The other consideration is start up costs: With Vonage it's £37 which
includes the motorola router.
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| M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk 2006-11-13, 8:08 am |
| On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:11:06 GMT, "Anthony Thornton"
<kewl1uk@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> With Vonage it's £37 which
>includes the motorola router.
>
Plus of course the 7.99 delivery charge on top and a further 7.00 to
return it by RM recorded Delivery if you leave before 12 months are
up, I am not having a go at Vonage far from it just the opposite in
fact mainly pointing out the costs which they don't tell you about .
| |
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| On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 15:48:08 GMT, ACDeag postulated:
>Have you looked at www.voip.co.uk cheaper than Vonage, depends whether
>you want inclusive daytime calls.
Whether www.voip.co.uk is cheaper or not depends on the customer's
profile of calling. There are other considerations too, like whether
the customer wants a straightforward "plug in and go" or likes to play
with lots of adapter settings.
If your name is "Ivor" then undoubtedly Sipgate is the only viable
option. If your name is "Dexter" then Vonage comes out on top. You
cannot simply make a blanket statement suggesting one or other without
knowing more.
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
| |
| Ivor Jones 2006-11-13, 8:09 am |
| "Polly" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:pegfl29mv0g6d0qska65nteg6dg4bvunrd@
4ax.com
> On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 15:48:08 GMT, ACDeag postulated:
>
>
> Whether www.voip.co.uk is cheaper or not depends on the
> customer's profile of calling. There are other
> considerations too, like whether the customer wants a
> straightforward "plug in and go" or likes to play with
> lots of adapter settings.
>
> If your name is "Ivor" then undoubtedly Sipgate is the
> only viable option.
Please don't put words into my mouth, I have never said that. I use
Sipgate, true; I recommend them, again true. I also use other systems,
notably Gradwell and FWD, so Sipgate are by no means my only option.
However, due to their pricing and practice of locking equipment, it is
also true I wouldn't use Vonage. However if it works for you, who am I to
stop you..?!
> If your name is "Dexter" then Vonage
> comes out on top. You cannot simply make a blanket
> statement suggesting one or other without knowing more.
Indeed.
Ivor
| |
| Brian A 2006-11-13, 8:09 am |
| On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:40:33 GMT, M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
>On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 15:28:15 GMT, "Anthony Thornton"
><kewl1uk@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>No paid in arrears but if it is mainly international calls you are
>making why not go for sip discount or one of the other offering from
>the same group.
A mention was made about voip.co.uk earlier in this thread. I do
recognise that one of THE main selling points of Vonage is that it is,
apparently, plug and play. People also look at the apparently smaller,
initial cash layout - though Dexter has pointed out that it isn't as
small as it seems.
Am I not right though that most of the 'main' UK players sell ATAs
ready configured for their service if you buy from them, but with the
advantage that the ATAs are not locked ?
By the 'main' players, with no 'line rental', I am referring to
voip.co.uk, voiptalk.org and voipfone.co.uk.
Presumably, if you buy from one of these VSPs the only problem you
might encounter is that you may have to forward ports in your router,
or set up DMZ. Further, I think al these VSPs would offer some email
support to get you up and running. If you are totally non-tech then,
yes, go for Vonage but you will pay more in the long run unless you
make heavy use of your phone. Further, I am well aware that there are
many people who really don't care too much at all about their on-going
expenditure so Vonage, for them, is the best to go for.
Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
| |
| ACDeag 2006-11-13, 8:09 am |
| Anthony Thornton laid this down on his screen :
> I looked at voip.co.uk but I don't really understand how to set it up. The
> Vonage web site is easier to understand for a newbie like myself. I don't
> have a router but an NTL 250 modem connected to the Ethernet port.
> Information from both Vonage and NTL says that all I do is whack a router
> between the modem and my Ethernet port, plug in a regular telephone and go.
> The other consideration is start up costs: With Vonage it's £37 which
> includes the motorola router.
You do not have to set it up, the box they send you is already
configured, you just plug it into your modem, plug your router into the
voip box and plug a phone into the voip box. Support is very good as
well.
With Vonage remember that supoport is in the US, some departments are
only available 1pm-11pm our time.
| |
| ACDeag 2006-11-13, 1:11 pm |
| Brian A has brought this to us :
> On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:40:33 GMT, M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
>
> A mention was made about voip.co.uk earlier in this thread. I do
> recognise that one of THE main selling points of Vonage is that it is,
> apparently, plug and play. People also look at the apparently smaller,
> initial cash layout - though Dexter has pointed out that it isn't as
> small as it seems.
> Am I not right though that most of the 'main' UK players sell ATAs
> ready configured for their service if you buy from them, but with the
> advantage that the ATAs are not locked ?
> By the 'main' players, with no 'line rental', I am referring to
> voip.co.uk, voiptalk.org and voipfone.co.uk.
> Presumably, if you buy from one of these VSPs the only problem you
> might encounter is that you may have to forward ports in your router,
> or set up DMZ. Further, I think al these VSPs would offer some email
> support to get you up and running. If you are totally non-tech then,
> yes, go for Vonage but you will pay more in the long run unless you
> make heavy use of your phone. Further, I am well aware that there are
> many people who really don't care too much at all about their on-going
> expenditure so Vonage, for them, is the best to go for.
> Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
With voip.co.uk the adaptor sits between the cable modem and the router
so there are no DMZ or port forwarding issues.
| |
| M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk 2006-11-13, 7:11 pm |
| On Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:55:30 GMT, ACDeag <CAUPZITLZLVU@spammotel.com>
wrote:
>With voip.co.uk the adaptor sits between the cable modem and the router
>so there are no DMZ or port forwarding issues.
>
Mind don't my PAP2 is pluged into a port on the router so is the
vonage ATA I have no issus with making or receiving calls and nither
is DMZ employed this is used for our mail server .
| |
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| ACDeag wrote:
> With voip.co.uk the adaptor sits between the cable modem and the router
> so there are no DMZ or port forwarding issues.
....if you're using cable, that is. In most cases with DSL, the modem is
built into the router, so some level of reconfiguration may be necessary. I
imagine some ATAs can reconfigure your router using UPnP, but whether or
not they should be trusted to is another matter!
--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (UnSoEsNpEaTm@ale.cx)
19:31:37 up 20 days, 3:17, 2 users, load average: 3.00, 3.04, 3.02
This is my BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMSTICK
| |
| Herman 2006-11-13, 7:11 pm |
| "ACDeag" <CAUPZITLZLVU@spammotel.com> wrote in message
news:mn.6afc7d6b0ae2aefc.54123@spammotel.com...
> Anthony Thornton laid this down on his screen :
>
> You do not have to set it up, the box they send you is already configured,
> you just plug it into your modem, plug your router into the voip box and
> plug a phone into the voip box. Support is very good as well.
>
> With Vonage remember that supoport is in the US, some departments are only
> available 1pm-11pm our time.
Support has never been an issue for me!
| |
| Herman 2006-11-13, 7:11 pm |
| <M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:vmafl2l521l4jtj8iq4vkhrrr322vs2t9b@
4ax.com...
> On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:11:06 GMT, "Anthony Thornton"
> <kewl1uk@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>
> Plus of course the 7.99 delivery charge on top and a further 7.00 to
> return it by RM recorded Delivery if you leave before 12 months are
> up, I am not having a go at Vonage far from it just the opposite in
> fact mainly pointing out the costs which they don't tell you about .
Agreed you need to be careful of the costs. When I joined, I seem to
remember there was even a £25 disconnection fee! If you want an out of the
box medium cost solution though, I would go for Vonage. tech support is
very good (especially in comparison with NTL), and provided your broadband
connection is reliable, the service is MUCH BETTER than NTL, and cheaper to
boot. You can get cheaper solutions but it depends on what you want.
Vonage don't do number portability, but then if your number was originally
an NTL number, you will not be able to port it out to VoIP in any case.
If you don't want to replace your landline completely, then you may want to
consider a different VoIP operator, as you are then free to choose the
equipment, which could have PSTN pass through. Ditto if you want the
freedom to move operators or use multiple operators in the future.
| |
| Paul Cupis 2006-11-14, 7:11 am |
| Herman wrote:
> Vonage don't do number portability, but then if your number was originally
> an NTL number, you will not be able to port it out to VoIP in any case.
There is nothing special about NTL numbers. VoIP operators can port
these numbers to themselves, as long as they (or their supplier) has a
porting arrangement with NTL.
| |
| Desk Rabbit 2006-11-14, 7:11 pm |
| Anthony Thornton wrote:
> I'm looking to get away from instant messaging and getting a dedicated
> residential VOIP service and Vonage is probably the one I'll go for.
>
> My question is about international call charges. Is this paid in arrears or
> in advance and if it is in arrears is there an advance payment option, i.e.
> PAYG
What did Vonage say when you asked them this question?
| |
| Herman 2006-11-14, 7:11 pm |
| "Paul Cupis" <paul@cupis.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ejcdh2$2pc8$1@custnews.inweb.co.uk...
> Herman wrote:
>
> There is nothing special about NTL numbers. VoIP operators can port
> these numbers to themselves, as long as they (or their supplier) has a
> porting arrangement with NTL.
And that's the problem - at the moment they are not obliged to by Ofcom. As
at 2 months ago, all the companies I tried could not do it (but could for
local BT numbers).
| |
| Paul Cupis 2006-11-14, 7:11 pm |
| Herman wrote:
> "Paul Cupis" <paul@cupis.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:ejcdh2$2pc8$1@custnews.inweb.co.uk...
>
> And that's the problem - at the moment they are not obliged to by Ofcom. As
> at 2 months ago, all the companies I tried could not do it (but could for
> local BT numbers).
No operator is obliged to port-in, that is correct. NTL are required to
port-out, though.
It comes down to whether the VoIP operator (or their provider) wants to
put the effort into setting up a porting agreement with NTL.
| |
| Herman 2006-11-14, 7:11 pm |
| "Paul Cupis" <paul@cupis.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ejdck8$168v$1@custnews.inweb.co.uk...
> Herman wrote:
>
> No operator is obliged to port-in, that is correct. NTL are required to
> port-out, though.
>
> It comes down to whether the VoIP operator (or their provider) wants to
> put the effort into setting up a porting agreement with NTL.
To put it another way: do you or does anyone else know of any VoIP operators
where there is such an agreement?
If there are none then I guess it doesn't matter what the reason is. If
there are some then I suspect there are some people on this will be
interested.
| |
| Andrew Scott 2006-11-15, 1:11 am |
|
"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:03igl2lv32emvd16iod4iv21njkp2ermpm@
4ax.com...
> On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:40:33 GMT, M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
>
> A mention was made about voip.co.uk earlier in this thread. I do
> recognise that one of THE main selling points of Vonage is that it is,
> apparently, plug and play.
<SNIP>
Further, I am well aware that there are
> many people who really don't care too much at all about their on-going
> expenditure so Vonage, for them, is the best to go for.
If someone is paying £10.50 a month to BT/Telewest/NTL whoever for line
rental alone, and then paying on top of that for calls made, how on earth
are they wasting money by switching to a provder who offers unlimited UK
calls for £7.99/month, with no further charges?
Our Telewest phone bill used to be between £50-£60 per month including line
rental. With Vonage, the dearest its been has been £8.50, including the
monthly price plan and about £3 worth of calls to mobiles as at the time, we
were on a special £5.99 per month deal. Further to that, we don't need to
worry about about how long we are on the phone for, or clock watching the
60-minute rule, which I note applies to some voip.co.uk accounts.
It is also worth pointing out that if you go into your local Comet, they
sell Vonage Phone Adaptors for around £15, doing away with any delivery
costs, and having to send it back. thats how I got my PAP2.
I'm a happy Vonage customer!
| |
| M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk 2006-11-15, 1:11 pm |
| On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 02:05:32 GMT, "Andrew Scott" <who@cares.com>
wrote:
>It is also worth pointing out that if you go into your local Comet, they
>sell Vonage Phone Adaptors for around £15, doing away with any delivery
>costs, and having to send it back. thats how I got my PAP2.
You are a little behind the times Andrew Vonage do not do the PAP2
these days they have switched to D-Link available from PC World only
at 19.99. I bought one the other week and de commissioned the Motorola
router didn't need the router part having switched over to a wireless
router a few weeks ago the D-Link saved quite a bit of space on my
desk .
>I'm a happy Vonage customer!
So am I although all the skinflints here throw up their hands in
horror at the thought of having to pay less than 27p a day for a GOOD
phone service most would sooner have rubbishy Sipgate for nothing but
they have to pay for all their calls we don't.
| |
|
| Herman wrote:
> "Paul Cupis" <paul@cupis.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:ejdck8$168v$1@custnews.inweb.co.uk...
[vbcol=seagreen]
[vbcol=seagreen]
[vbcol=seagreen]
[vbcol=seagreen]
> To put it another way: do you or does anyone else know of any VoIP
> operators where there is such an agreement?
>
> If there are none then I guess it doesn't matter what the reason is. If
> there are some then I suspect there are some people on this will be
> interested.
Perhaps the all-new, caring, sharing Virgin/NTL/Telewest behemoth will be
more lovey-dovey and sign some porting agreements with some VoIP SPs.
--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (UnSoEsNpEaTm@ale.cx)
20:00:01 up 22 days, 3:46, 3 users, load average: 3.04, 3.07, 3.11
This is my BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMSTICK
| |
| Herman 2006-11-16, 7:11 am |
| "alexd" <look@my.sig> wrote in message news:2935840.zv7UqGIK0s@ale.cx...
> Herman wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Perhaps the all-new, caring, sharing Virgin/NTL/Telewest behemoth will be
> more lovey-dovey and sign some porting agreements with some VoIP SPs.
>
> --
> <http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (UnSoEsNpEaTm@ale.cx)
> 20:00:01 up 22 days, 3:46, 3 users, load average: 3.04, 3.07, 3.11
> This is my BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMSTICK
If it was up to them then they wouldn't sign as they'd be struggling to find
a business case I think. They are obliged by Ofcom to offer porting
outbound so I don't think this is something you can lay at their door. It
is actually down to whether theVoIP or their number provider signs the
agreements. This was previously complicated by the technical/financial
arrangements but I think these were solved.
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