If you are thinking of going voice /IP on your phone

[Big Cliff]

About a month ago I was appraoched about switching my phone to a voice over IP (digital) system. Sounded really good, I wouldn't have to deal with Bell India any more, I could keep my old phone number, my costs would go way down, and I would have more features. Well, I decided to make the switch and it hasn't been a very good experience so far.

 

Naturally it is everyone elses fault; Bell didn't notify them that my service was being terminated on May 5th, no phone service for a day and my brother is in hospital in Ottawa having just had a heart attack.

 

Some how the supplier of the digital service got our number blocked (black listed) so I can't even call them other than on my cell phone (they were going to get that fixed two weeks ago) they haven't.

 

Our call quality is about as good as two tin cans and a string (internet providers fault) In all fairness, I have been having speed issues with Xplornet for a while now and am getting less than half of what I should be but the digital provider promissed me they would install a piece of equipment that would resolve all our issues...... it has been tied up at the border for two weeks now (Canadian Customs fault).

 

Last night my cell phone rings, a friend has been trying all evening to get through to me, all they get is a fast busy signal, call digital provider on my cell phone, they finally agree they have a problem, (servers fault) it finally got fixed sometime during the night.

 

Anyway, just a heads up, if you are thinking of switching, be VERY, VERY careful as I now seem to have little choice, go back to Bell India or deal with un reliable phone service. I trusted them when they told me how well this system was going to work (my fault).

[musky_man]

Cliff,

 

Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

I switched to VOIP via Vonage 6 montha ago and it went perfectly smoothly, and the call quality is fine ... lots of features for 20 bucks/month; includes 500 minutes of long distance in NA ... hate to sound like a commerical, but for me (and a friend of mine) it was fine.

 

The thing you do have to be aware of is your emergency call service goes through an internatinal operator -- I've tested it a few times and it adds, literally, about 3 seconds to get contacted to emergency 911 in Toronto.

 

Again - sorry you had such a lousy experience.

[big guy]

I wonder if this is a rural thing? The VOIP works well in large centres, but hasn't been perfected yet for those who live in the country.

[Fisherman]

Well sorry about your bro, hope for a quick recovery. I think your provider is the problem, they are not all like that, I haven't had any issues with the Rogers at home phone, nice and clear, no down time.

[Governator]

Yea Roger's home phone is very good because it's not actually VOIP. VOIP sends the signal through the public internet, Roger's Home Phone uses a private network, so downloading doesn't add static to the line. The downside to it is that if your modem does go down your phone services do too with Rogers Home Phone.

 

I don't think I would ever fully switch to VOIP, Roger's Home Phone is as close as I'd go.

[BillM]

Yea Roger's home phone is very good because it's not actually VOIP. VOIP sends the signal through the public internet, Roger's Home Phone uses a private network, so downloading doesn't add static to the line. The downside to it is that if your modem does go down your phone services do too with Rogers Home Phone.

 

I don't think I would ever fully switch to VOIP, Roger's Home Phone is as close as I'd go.

 

Not to be an ass, but Rogers Home Phone is indeed VOIP. Rogers Home Phone is facilitated VOIP opposed to Vonage which is non facilitated VOIP.

 

Chalk it up to Rogers using fancy marketing terms, trying to not confuse the unknowing public

Edited May 29, 2009 by BillM

[Flappn]

It's your internet connection/provider. There is a terminolgy called QOS quality of services. If your internet services is not up to snuff ie high speed you will have packet loss which equals latency and jitter which equals tin cans and string.

 

You may want to look into upgrading your interent package to a higher through put.

[Weekend Warrior]

I had VOIP for a while. It worked great, but I was moving and had to cancel. My girlfriend called and told them that she wanted to cancel since it was in her name. After being very aggressive & rude about it, they finally transferred her....and she waited on the phone for over an hour to speak to someone to cancel it. This person was even more rude. Almost to the point of just telling her "no". Put her on hold again, and she hung up the phone 45 minutes into being on hold the second time.

 

She called again a while later, same thing. She got to the next "stage" and they told her it would be $40 to disconnect. She said no, argued with them some more, and got put on hold AGAIN. She hung up again.

 

I called the next time, went through all of the Bull with them, etc. By this time a month had passed, we had already moved and been paying for service while not even using the phone. I finally negotiated paying my bill for the month that had passed and having the "deactivation" charge waved. Funny, she didn't wait on hold at all when we wanted to sign up for the service.

 

I would never use VOIP again. Bell isn't much better, but for other (and to me, less irritating) reasons.

 

Overall, the telecom industry is a joke. I have yet to see a company or phone service type that isn't laughable.

 

And yes - that tinny sound is packet loss. VOIP basically works by sending "packets" of sound. If your internet connection isn't fast enough, packets get lost and the phone sounds like it's cutting in and out.

Edited May 29, 2009 by Weekend Warrior

[DRIFTER_016]

Cliff,

 

Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

I switched to VOIP via Vonage 6 montha ago and it went perfectly smoothly, and the call quality is fine ... lots of features for 20 bucks/month; includes 500 minutes of long distance in NA ... hate to sound like a commerical, but for me (and a friend of mine) it was fine.

 

The thing you do have to be aware of is your emergency call service goes through an internatinal operator -- I've tested it a few times and it adds, literally, about 3 seconds to get contacted to emergency 911 in Toronto.

 

Again - sorry you had such a lousy experience.

 

 

I've been on Vonage for 4 years now and have had a couple of equipment problems during that time and they bent over backwards to resolve the issues. I have quality issues during high use periods on my ISP's network but up in the NWT I kind of expect some issues, after all we are at the end of the road in the Arctic. I will occasionally use this Voip Speed/Quality Test if I am calling my folks as they can't hear that well and I want to make sure that I get a good connection.

As for 911 latency, it doesn't effect me as we don't have 911 service in the NWT. With Vonage however I do get 911 service as they do the routing for you so I don't need to dial an 11 digit emergency # (my phone# is back in Ontario so my friends and family can call me for free).

[Governator]

Not to be an ass, but Rogers Home Phone is indeed VOIP. Rogers Home Phone is facilitated VOIP opposed to Vonage which is non facilitated VOIP.

 

Chalk it up to Rogers using fancy marketing terms, trying to not confuse the unknowing public

 

 

Well regardless it's vastly different in quality compared to previous experience when I lived in Aurora with standard VOIP. It still goes through the cable but man it's 10x better in quality.

[CLofchik]

Great......I'm sitting here waiting for the cable guy to show up to switch phones from Bell Windward Islands (heh I never get switched to India, but islanders in Montreal, and why the hell can't we just pick up modems & such ourselves, damn bogus "installation charges").

 

Heh I'll letcha know how it works out.

[BillM]

Well regardless it's vastly different in quality compared to previous experience when I lived in Aurora with standard VOIP. It still goes through the cable but man it's 10x better in quality.

 

That all depends on your Internet provider. If you have a crap provider, you'll have crap VOIP...

 

I run Vonage over Rogers now and I have no issues at all.

[muddler]

I use Magicjack now for about 2 years. Voice quality is very good. Call anywhere in North America for $12 a year ($60 for 5 years one payment). I take my laptop with me and as long as I can get an Internet connection I have a phone link ....free. I love it. I use my cell phone for loacl calls and emergency contacts at $25 for 2 months. Covers all my local and my many long distance needs.

 

I'm just cheap.

 

 

muddler

[raysfish2005]

Hi Cliff

 

Sorry to hear that, we switch to comwave the same time you switched, but ours was seamless, we love Voip, we just had to increase our speed to the next level.

The funny is bell called last night asking for our service back.......wait and let me transfer you...oppps i dropped the call.....how does it feel.

 

Never going back to BELL again

[Big Cliff]

Well, I have been dealing with Xplornet for a little over a year now, I am supposed to be getting 5mbps, I'm lucky if I am getting 1/4 of that. I have been trying to get it resolved since last November, I get promisses and nothing else. Now I am getting to the point where I am going to start complaining to CRTC or whoever I can, I am paying for service that I'm not getting and while I understand that 5 mbps is "up to" I should be getting at least 80% of that from what I understand. Hom much faster package do I need?

[raysfish2005]

Hey Cliff

 

we started at 5 and it was choppy so we moved to 10 and its been adream

[ccmtcanada]

Hey Cliff....it was great talking to you on the phone tonight and hearing most of what you had to say...LOL.

 

Seriously though if that's the quality you're dealing with then I'd be upset as well!!! Looking forward to seeing you and Sue Saturday morning.

[Big Cliff]

Cliff, it was nice talking to you too. That was good compaired to some of what we've had to deal with.

 

I spent another 1/2 hour on the phone with Xplornet again last night and apparently they have escalated my complaint all the way up to engeneering who have 48 hours to respond with a solution (not fix the problem, just advise what they think it will take to solve it) then they will send a work order to the installer to tell them what has to be done.

 

As far as getting higher speeds, I think I'll see what happens when they get me whay I am paying for and go from there.

[jat]

if it doesn't work out then definitely go to the CRTC..................you should see how fast they move when you tell them about filing a complaint, funny how a little fine gets their attention....hope it gets fixed.

[bdox]

We're very happy with our VOIP from Cogeco. The modem even has a battery backup in it. Never had any problems except for the odd echo.

[Greencoachdog]

I don't do the landline thing anymore, I have a landline.... but it's hooked up to a fax machine (take that Mr. Scuzzbag telemarketer!!!).

 

My wife and I both have cell phones with the direct connect walkie talkie, anyone that knows us either knows our cell phone #'s or our direct connect #'s

 

... a phone you can take anywhere with you!!!.. but it's not just a phone anymore, it's a camera, an MP3 player, a voice recorder, an internet connection...

Edited May 30, 2009 by GCD

[Billy Bob]

GCD, you got the right idea there................