Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Buy Service from Vonage

A Service that May Be Downright Dangerous Without the Proper Precautions

By Kristen Deere, published Sep 11, 2006
Published Content: 16  Total Views: 34,088  Favorited By: 2 CPs
Rating: 2.9 of 5


Vonage is not all bad. I actually still use their service, but I am not currently using the service the same way I was using it when I first signed up. Vonage can work really well in certain instances. First, I will give a few instances in which Vonage may work well. Then, I will list the ten reasons why it probably will not work well (and may even be dangerous) for everyone else.

Vonage may work well for you if:



  • You have a regular non-VoIP land line as backup for the times when Vonage is not working properly, and you don't want to bother getting all your friends and family signed up on Skype.

  • You hardly ever talk on the phone, and have a cell phone or a neighbor's phone you can rely on in case of an emergency.

  • You have an extremely stable high speed Internet connection that basically never goes down, and that is the connection you will set up your Vonage line on.

    This is my current situation. I have a home based business, so I now have a T1 line coming to my house that never goes down (unless it's a short planned outage), even in the stormiest weather.




If you do not fit in one of these categories, then please pay close attention to the following list of ten reasons you should not buy service from Vonage. Before I got my T1 line, this list would have been very important to me.

1. Using Vonage as your only phone line can actually be dangerous unless you have an extremely stable Internet connection. That is because you cannot call for help (such as 911) in an emergency when your Internet connection is down.

2. Your phone often will not work if your Internet connection is unstable. Each time your Internet connection goes down, your phone goes down with it. This is extremely annoying when the phone cuts off in the middle of a conversation. The quality of the sound can also be very poor if your Internet connection is fluctuating or slow. Sometimes the quality can be so bad that you can't tell what the other person is saying.

Takeaways
  • Your phone will not work if your Internet connection is down.
  • Vonage has poor customer service.
  • Skype is free, so it's definitely a better deal than Vonage.
Did You Know?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, which means that you are making a phone call over a high speed Internet connection. Vonage and Skype are examples of VoIP services.
Resources
  • Vonage and Skype
Comments
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I have had vonage for a long time and without Vonage I wouldnt be able to talk to my fiance serving in the Army in Korea, My cousin wouldnt be able to talk to her husband in Iraq and simply most of your reasons are completely UNTRUE. First of All I have never once had a problem using the Vonage, nothing has ever cut in and out while i am talking. Second, I dont know a place that does not have different language people answer the phone, they do it that way so anyone can call just not people who speak english. Third, they are not hard to get ahold of you simply just call. And Last the website is quite easy to work, its not difficult at all.

Posted on 04/06/2008 at 5:04:05 PM

 
I have had Vonage for many years (about eight) and much of what you are saying is simply wrong. 1. Don't blame problems on Vonage when it is your internet service provider. Yes, your internet needs to be working, but get it working and then Vonage will be fine. 2. Their customer service is great. The very few times I have had to use it, they have done a great job. Of course, you must ask for an English speaking person, but when you get help from any of them, they do a good job. 3. You do not have to have a Vonage approved router. Every router I have ever bought has worked flawlessly. 4. Skype is a great play toy, but it is not a realistic alternative until it become just like Vonage. When and if that happens, it will not be free. 5. Emergencies. Who does not have a cell phone today. Set up Vonage to forward to your cell in an emergency and you are fine. 6. The Vonage website is fantastic. Things are easy to find, easy to use and you rarely need to go to

Posted on 10/25/2007 at 10:10:00 PM

 
Terrible service does not work with window vista , I live in Uk and their customer services are terrible they charged me 30 pounds for a replacement device that stopped working 3 month later and insist I had not returned the old device plan never to use them again and warn everyone from using their services

Posted on 09/30/2007 at 5:09:00 AM

 
Non-technical people will always have problems with Vonage and other similar services than are provided through the Internet. 80% of the people who have problems with Vonage, etc, are non-technical and do not understand some of the things happening behind the scenes. Do not be mad by my saying this if you are one of these people. If you want simple, pay the price. Vonage is fairly simple, but that really just depends on your willingness to learn about the technology involved. Not everyone has the time or the patience, so let that be a deciding factor. I'll continue to enjoy Vonage, while you pay 3-4 times more for less. Now, does this mean technical people do not have issues with Vonage? No, however most of our problems with Vonage are not really with Vonage. They are do to the fact we are using an unmanaged data network (the Internet) to provide real-time services such as voice. We know going in, there is a level of QoS that we will have to deal with. I can accept it for the money

Posted on 07/02/2007 at 11:07:00 PM

 
I just meant that if you want Vonage as a backup to your regular phone line, you can use Skype instead, since Skype is free.

Posted on 06/29/2007 at 2:06:00 AM

 
I use Vonage and it's great, I have had no problems whatsoever. Resetting your cable modem takes just a matter of minutes, and is not a big hassle. There is no way to get a phone that is guaranteed not to go out, in a storm cell phone circuits can jam, and land lines can go down. I don't understand your point about using Skype instead of Vonage for dependebility neither can be used without an internet connection.

Posted on 06/28/2007 at 5:06:00 PM

 
I have had vonage for over 2 years and I have been quite happy. Here are some pointers to getting better voice quality. 1) use a router with the ability to dedicate bandwith to a specific device. This will ensure that vonage gets priority if you are making calls and doing fast downloads online. 2) buy a battery backup. I know it only works for power outages of short duration but it does help. Verizon FIOS must work on similar technology because their ads mention 8 hour battery backup during power outages.

Posted on 04/04/2007 at 6:04:00 AM

 
Have to agree to disagree...I have had Vonage for about 2 years and it has been nothing but exceptional! The only time I did not have service is when it appeared new neighbor tried to get frr cable. For us the service is a good call. In our household we have 4 cell phones so there is always a backup. After giving Vonage a 90 day probation period we discontinued the land line and starting saving money. The one time I spoke with a tech rep from Vonage i got exactly what I wanted, results. Have suggested the service to many and look forward to their wifi phone coming soon.

Posted on 02/22/2007 at 1:02:00 PM

 
I couldn't agree less. I've used Vonage for over 2 years, with a variety of ISP's, and have always had great reliability. I used it for a business voice and fax line. Fax can be a little problematic, but my use is limited. If you don't like the idea of your phone line being tied to the quality and speed of your internet connection, then you shouldn't use VOIP. If you want to save some serious money and have confidence in your internet provider, I highly recommend Vonage.

Posted on 02/14/2007 at 7:02:00 AM

 
Your article is as accurate as it gets. I have experienced vonage for 2 weeks now, and that's 2 weeks too many! There are ongoing connection issues: half the time, I do not have a clear connection with the other party. Their sales & support teams are often difficult to deal with. I haven't spoken with a rep there who clearly speaks English (I keep having to ask them to repeat) and I got transferred back & forth on issues for which I received completely different answers for. Dealing with this service is frustrating and unreliable. I already ordered to switch back to my old carrier. Also, be aware: IF YOU HAVE A HOME ALARM SYSTEM THAT FEEDS OFF OF A PHONE LINE, AND YOU SWITCH TO VONAGE,YOU WILL HAVE MORE HEADACHES THAN YOU BARGAINED FOR!

Posted on 02/07/2007 at 11:02:00 AM

 
i think u should have a cell phon

Posted on 01/27/2007 at 3:01:00 PM

 
I use Vonage with my Tivo (using it's internal modem). There are several websites that explain how to set it up--a special dialing code on the Tivo instructs the system to use a special mode.

Posted on 01/18/2007 at 12:01:00 PM

 
I have had nothing but problems with Vonage. As soon as I can get by the one year anniversary, I will discontue the service.

Posted on 01/14/2007 at 3:01:00 PM

 
I use the linksys add on device and adsl that is dependable. I am close to the central office and unless I am flooding my network with bittorrent connections, my VOIP from Vonage is near perfect. 6 months and I simply close bittorrent and its very clear connecting to cellphones and other VOIP users (although some signal degradation is noticeable with cellphones, but that is just expected.)

Posted on 01/06/2007 at 3:01:00 PM

 
Using Vonage for faxes is impossible during normal business hours in my area. Repeatedly I cannot send a fax successfully. Instead, I receive a printout from my fax machine with the message for the failed fax, "Poor Line Quality." This happens even with the highest bandwidth setting on Vonage's website. I end up having to send a fax at 4:00 a.m. in order for the fax to be sent successfully. When you want to send a rush fax, I have to forget it because I never know if it will be successful or not. Very frustrating.

Posted on 12/26/2006 at 10:12:00 PM

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