Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Buy Service from Vonage

A Service that May Be Downright Dangerous Without the Proper Precautions



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.

Related information
  • Vonage and Skype
 
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I am one of the "non-technical" people who would rather pay the price, in order to get reliable, high speed internet and phone service, without having to wait an hour to talk to a foreign rep. I also get the strong feeling that there are those who are taking up for Vonage who are actually Vonage employees. I'm glad I did this research before ordering this very inferior service.

Posted on 04/01/2009 at 10:04:37 PM

I believe there are people planted on various websites to defend Vonage - Vonage employees no doubt, or stockholders! I attempted to try it for the 30 day free trial but had so many problems getting my bundled services separated that I just gave up. Then after 30 days I get a bill for the second month. They never could get my number changed and decided to just give me another phone number. I told them from the beginning that I definitely had no use for Vonage unless I could keep my same phone number of 30 years. I attempted to cancel and they said they could not give me a refund - only a credit for an extra 30 days. It also occurred to me that by running everything through my computer, it might slow it down. The foreign rep admitted that a 3-way call would slow down the computer, and downloading anything. I have been hearing horror stories of all kinds of problems, including much slower speeds. I am contacting my credit card company to dispute the charge.

Posted on 04/01/2009 at 9:04:45 PM

Vonage is the Devil. It is impossible to cancel service with them. I have been trying for 6 months and they continue to harass me for payment. They don't elude to this when they sign you up. Their customer service was so rude and dismissive that I ended up screaming obscenities at them. I NEVER do that. I wouldn't recommend Vonage to anybody.

Posted on 03/23/2009 at 12:03:20 AM

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

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