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Test results of VONAGE in Raleigh, Wake Forest, Triangle area - 919 area code telephone service:

9/11/2004 - I have been using the system for 11 days. So far, I love it. I plan to permanently get rid of Sprint and AT&T because there is such a difference in price. I believe the sound quality that I am hearing is better over the VoIP Vonage cable-based telephone service than it is over regular phone lines. There are 4 problems with Vonage that I have noticed. 1. an infrequent momentary drop of the signal...It is so slight this should not be a problem. 2. 911 service is a bit unorthodox. 3. The Vonage servers are slow. They should be able to immediately display my voicemail messages but are taking several minutes. 4. If I lose electricity I don’t have phone service...I plan to deal with that by getting a cell phone without any subscription to just make 911 calls.. (Cell phone companies don’t want you to know you can still place 911 calls even if you don’t have a subscription service).

Bottom Line: I highly recommend VONAGE. If anyone wants me to sign them up as a referral, let me know and you will save money.

9/3/04 VONAGE Installation and Initial test results.

UPS delivered the VONAGE equipment which is a small Motorola box.

My existing setup was 2 computers and a Linux server, all connected to an Asante router which is then connected to the able modem.

First Setup Tried: I first tried using the recommended configuration for multiple computer setups, which goes from the cable modem to the VONAGE box then has a cable going to the router.

I heard a dial tone and was able to make a phone call. It actually seemed to have better sound quality. All was okay with the ability to make a phone call. I made a long distance call and spoke with my brother and sister-in-law for 41 minutes.

Then, I checked to see if my computers and Asante were able to get a connection that worked. This failed due to the factory settings on the router.

I decided to check the VONAGE website to look in their help section and found a variety of instructions for some of the more popular routers, but did not find my Asante listed there. Of course, to do this, I had to plug the router into the cable modem without going through the VONAGE box.

I thought about making changes to the router, but as most people who have routers with firewall protection, it could have meant many changes to the router configuration, port settings and perhaps DMZ. I was not looking forward to it.

Hmmm, I had a couple of hubs hanging around doing nothing. I took a Netgear D104 and hooked it up to the cable box. Then, I hooked the router into the hub and the VONAGE box into the hub.

Phone service: Working Great! Router and LAN: Working Great.

I made several phone calls. Very good reception on my end. I believe there may be a problem with the microphone of the cordless phone I used as the people on the other end of the call said they could hear me but it was not loud enough for their liking. I will check this out later with another phone.

Next, I checked the voicemail from my old landline which was costing me a fortune. The voicemail work quite well, and it even sent me an email saying the number of the person who tried to call me.

The online interface for my account works nicely. It tracks all my outgoing and incoming calls. (It would be good if I could customize the interface in order to delete calls I do not need to keep records of.)

 And sure enough, the price of every call was $0.00 Hurray for unlimited long distance telephone calls!!!

I will use the service some more and put a followup review here. After a month of using VONAGE, I will probably break away from my regular phone service and begin saving lots of money.

At this point, I recommend VONAGE. As I use it more and more,  I suspect my recommendation will improve as I begin to enjoy the other features.

If you are interested in having me list you as a referral, send me your email address using the contact form and we will both save substantial money. You can also click here for a regular referral, but I don’t think it saves us as much money.

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