Vonage
 

Quick question regarding Vonage, which has been recommended to us by a number of people.

Do we need to contract with US or UK Vonage? We particularly wanted the feature whereby we can give friends/family a UK number to call.

Many thanks!
Leanne

Re: Vonage
 

I am in the US and we have a contract with Vonage US. We pay extra ($5 a month I think?) which gives us a UK phone number for friends/family to use.

Re: Vonage
 

Perfect - thanks kins!!

Re: Vonage
 

depending on your usage you may find skype with UK skype number to be much cheaper. Vonage is expensive now. $35+ a month for the world plan after taxes plus 34 cents a minute to UK mobiles.

Re: Vonage
 

we have vongage think its approx $35 - it does drop calls sometimes but on the whole its great
i can also use it to dial uk landlines from my mobile

Re: Vonage
 

Thank you both. I will look into Skype too.

Re: Vonage
 

Vonage World Plus adds a couple bucks a month and gives you 250 minutes included to UK mobiles.
Upgrading to this saved me a bundle!
Also look at LocalPhone - 99c a month virtual local (UK) number and then 2c or so (from memory) calling cost when you UK friends/relatives call that number that gets routed through to cell or landline in the US.

Re: Vonage
 

I use Magicjack.... had it for the last 2 years at about $30 a year....
Also now got the MJ app on my Kindle Fire.....as we're out of the US for at least 3 months a year, we get to call the US for free from around the world. Also picking up voicemails on my e-mails is free.

Some people hate MagicJack....it works great for us!

Re: Vonage
 

It's OK if you don't mind being some other person on their caller ID when calling someone, you don't mind it not working sometimes, you don't mind the quality, you don't care about caller ID or other features, and you don't mind paying an annual fee to transfer your old number.

Re: Vonage
 

When our house-phone was AT&T the call quality was dire.... every call started with "Sorry, our phone line's terrible....can you speak louder/slower/whatever". MJ is a clear signal.
It cost us $10 to port our number, as a one-off.
We've got caller ID.
I don't understand what you mean about being some other caller on their caller ID....our number shows up on phones we've called.
The only time it's a bummer is when the internet's not working for some reason. Our internet is....AT&T... pretty useless, but no better alternative where we live! But, as Vonage is also internet-based, I see no difference, except in the cost.

Re: Vonage
 

When I got Magic Jack Plus about a year ago, there was a $10 annual porting fee for a number. Caller ID name didn't work and when searching the internet, for a few customers, caller id was working with a name but for the majority it was not. Whenever I called someone, a someone else's name appeared on their caller id but eventually they knew to pick up the phone when they saw that caller name.

I previously had AT&T and Comcast and now have Vonage and all were reliable and of good quality which I can't say for Magic Jack and after three months, I now longer used Magic Jack due to all the problems with clarity, unreliability, caller ID, and transmitting an incorrect name for caller id.

I suspect they all use the internet to some extent (even AT&T) but I don't think they are all setup the same way with the same equipment. Someone that is charging more has more money to purchase high speed connections to and from their equipment and purchase higher speed servers.

Re: Vonage
 

Very few phones services are actually POTS anymore, most of the cable services use VOIP now.

We just dropped Cox phone and use Ooma now. Free after buying the box. You just pay monthly local taxes (about $3). Porting was pricey but seamless. Overseas calls cost more you can buy various prepayment plans but I use skype to call my folks.

Re: Vonage
 

Last week i spent about 20 mins negotiating a plan i wanted with vonage. They advertise unlimited plans that start at $9.99 a month but go up to $27 after 3 months plus taxes and fees you are at over $30.

I told them i wanted a phone number for $9.99 a month and was prepared to pay the same per min charge as i do with skype. I had to tell the rep several times i do not need unlimited calling.

for $9.99 a month fixed with no sign up, no contract and with all the vonage features like voice mail etc i ended up on their unadvertised home and away 300 plan. Now i have my own number plus 300 mins USA calls and 300 mins UK (europe) calls per month for $9.99 a month, no contract, no activation. They even sent refurbished equipment even though I still had my own equipment which i stated when negotiating.

The plan costs $15 a month with taxes and fees, i just pay a month in advance. Not bad.

Re: Vonage
 

That was a standard plan at one time. Been on it ever since I joined Vonage several years back.

Re: Vonage
 

Take a look at Voipo VoIP Services by VOIPO I have used them for 5 years.