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Old 06-06-2006, 03:38
Mr Pringle
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Thinking about joining-up later this week.. anyone have any thoughts? I like the look of it, personally.
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Old 06-06-2006, 08:45
JasonW
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Originally Posted by Mr Pringle
Thinking about joining-up later this week.. anyone have any thoughts? I like the look of it, personally.
Vonage is the one that's £7.99 a month ?

That's not for me - £7.99 would buy me at least 4 months worth of calls with my chosen supplier - ok reliability might not be the same as Vonage, but for 25% of the cost it's doing just fine here
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Old 06-06-2006, 10:40
call100
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I use Vonage and am very satisfied with it. It has been totally reliable and the customer service has been excellent also.
I ditched my BT line so my total phone cost is 7.99 a month. That to me is excellent as I appreciate the reliability.
Good luck with it. There's no contract with it so if you don't like it ditch it!!
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Old 06-06-2006, 11:57
acoolwelshbloke
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You have to pay to ditch it!

Vonage also use servers located in the US so this may cause problems. I know it would for me!

I use Voipfone.co.uk.

If you take up vonage and decide it's not for you then the cost of signing up and disconnection will leave a hole in your pocket!
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Old 06-06-2006, 12:10
Mr Pringle
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True, it does cost £23.99 to disconnect. Well, that's unless I cut and run..

But I can't see me being too disappointed - if the service isn't up to scratch, I'll dig out 'my rights' and have a look-see how to tell them they're totally in the wrong...

Cheers for the replies.
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Old 06-06-2006, 16:18
bogstandard
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call100
What package do you now use for internet connection? Cable NTL etc What speed is your up and down? I have long had the desire to also ditch BT but don't want to pay more than £18 a month and wonder if the "up" on that with NTL would be ok for the Voip?
I am using on fo Finares's companies "internetcalls" which comes with a Leicester number
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Old 06-06-2006, 16:20
Mr Pringle
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I'm obviously not call100, but I'll be using it on NTL broadband with (by then) 200kbps up. The 1Mbps/100kbps service would probably be pushing it. It'll be fine when everyone on 2Mbps/200kbps gets 4Mbps/400kbps later this month.
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Old 06-06-2006, 17:32
acoolwelshbloke
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I have used voip via voipfone on NTL's 1Mbps/100kbps service and it worked just fine for me!
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Old 06-06-2006, 22:11
BexTech
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I dumped my landline, I currently use VoIP Stunt, used VoIP Buster before that.

So far for just €6 I've had 13 months of free calls to UK and several other countries landlines, that's €6 in total, not per month.

VoIP Stunt are now actioning the 120 day credit limit, and now limit the free calls to 300 mins per week, over this limit you then use your credit at 1c/min, but still €10 every 4 months isn't bad at all.

It depends on how much you use the phone to call, i certainly wouldn't bother with vonage myself, but if you make a huge amount of calls, then maybe it will be worth it for you, remember £8 is £8 even if you only make a few calls.
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Old 07-06-2006, 01:07
pje1979
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I used to be a Vonage customer and I found them ok but their servers are in the USA. This caused noticable audio delay on most calls. I am now with Freetalk http://www.freetalk.co.uk they are £6.99/month but you have to pay for the adaptor (£19.99) however if you pay a year up front for £79.99 then they give you the adaptor. I have been a Freetalk customer for about 4 months and have found them 100% reliable, the call quality is as good as a BT landline and unlike Vonage there are no audio delays on calls because there servers are in the UK. I don't know how good customer services are as I have never had cause to contact them.
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Old 07-06-2006, 02:41
Mr Pringle
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Freetalk looks good.. shame they don't have my local area code. Might wait a bit until they do..
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Old 07-06-2006, 02:56
Mr Pringle
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The only problem I'm having with Freetalk is this - will they take my Solo card?

If I go up to Currys and pay £19.99 for the adaptor, do I pay a month after starting by card in arrears?
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Old 07-06-2006, 08:09
call100
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Originally Posted by bogstandard
call100
What package do you now use for internet connection? Cable NTL etc What speed is your up and down? I have long had the desire to also ditch BT but don't want to pay more than £18 a month and wonder if the "up" on that with NTL would be ok for the Voip?
I am using on fo Finares's companies "internetcalls" which comes with a Leicester number
Hi
NTL 2 meg Cable BB I have had their service for 18 months now and it has been totally reliable. I know people with the 1 meg service who use vonage happily.
I have found Vonage to be reliable. It has some nice touches to, like emailing you when you have voicemail. Viewing your account and usage is very good also. You can access the 1471 system and Call waiting is included.
You can pick the geographical code of your choice for your own number. I just kept my local one so people think they are just phoning me as normal. I find no real difference in daily usage than having a BT phone.
Do you want to pay £18 for BB and phone or no more than £18 for just phone?
The last straw for me with BT was when someone from India phoned me up and told me I hadn't paid my bill. The fact that they had not billed me seemed to have eluded them..
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Old 07-06-2006, 11:40
BexTech
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The beauty of VoIP is it automatically comes with free caller display, call waiting, anonymous caller rejection, 3 way calling, distinctive ringing etc, those these are features dependant on your hardware or software.
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Old 08-06-2006, 01:16
pje1979
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Originally Posted by Mr Pringle
The only problem I'm having with Freetalk is this - will they take my Solo card?

If I go up to Currys and pay £19.99 for the adaptor, do I pay a month after starting by card in arrears?
I just checked and they do take Solo cards. I went into my account and it gave me the option of changing my billing card to Solo. As for if you pay in arrears, I'm not sure as I'm on the annual plan.
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Old 08-06-2006, 13:15
idbuchanan
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Freetalk also use servers in the US, IIRC.

I use both Freetalk and Vonage - both offer good service, and I'm impressed with both. Slightly prefer Vonage for it's sheer number of features and its excellent online control panel.

I've used some of the other free services, and whilst I'd love to use Sipgate, etc, they're just not up to the same level of service as Vonage/Freetalk.
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Old 08-06-2006, 16:06
pje1979
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Originally Posted by idbuchanan
Freetalk also use servers in the US, IIRC.
Tracert to Freetalks servers, looks like there in the UK to me:

Tracing route to proxy.freetalk.co.uk [212.113.6.160]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 16 ms 15 ms 15 ms gandhi-dsl1.wh.zen.net.uk [62.3.83.5]
2 15 ms 16 ms 15 ms bolzano-ge-0-0-1-3.wh.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.229]
3 15 ms 14 ms 15 ms 195.16.169.89
4 16 ms 15 ms 15 ms so-6-1-0.mp2.Manchesteruk1.Level3.net [4.68.113.
118]
5 22 ms 22 ms 22 ms ae-1-0.bbr2.London1.Level3.net [212.187.128.57]

6 22 ms 22 ms 22 ms ge-10-1.ipcolo1.London1.Level3.net [4.68.116.73]

7 22 ms 22 ms 22 ms 195.50.117.34
8 22 ms 22 ms 22 ms proxy01.packet8-uk.net [212.113.6.160]

Trace complete.
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Old 08-06-2006, 16:37
moox
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Personally I wouldn't go with a provider that has inclusive calling as you pay £x per month whether you make 1 minutes worth of calls or 1000 minutes.

I personally use voiptalk for my calls as I don't make a great deal of calls and they are to landlines in the UK / US so 1 / 1.4p per minute.

One advantage of vonage and freetalk, I guess, is that the adapter is subsidised, but then they are locked to that provider.
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Old 08-06-2006, 22:59
acoolwelshbloke
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Check out voip.co.uk, £19.99 a year and you get all this on the optional uk pack: http://www.voip.co.uk/res_products.html
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Old 28-06-2006, 13:12
lincsat
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I use vonage and I'm well impressed, the audio quality is excellent and NO delays. There is no charge to cancell within the 30 day trial period or after 3 months. You can use your own phone, no need for your PC to be on.

I phoned them to order and was offered the first 6 months at £5.99 monthly.
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Old 28-06-2006, 15:08
BexTech
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Vonage is like any other proper VoIP service where you don't need the PC on. Vonage is OK if you makes lots of calls and don't mind the higher prices compared to other VoIP providers.
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Old 28-06-2006, 15:51
gazdudeuk
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Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke
Check out voip.co.uk, £19.99 a year and you get all this on the optional uk pack: http://www.voip.co.uk/res_products.html
ive looked at voip.co.uk and freetalk and they both look good, voip.co.uk actually do my area code too! i have skype at mo.
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Old 28-06-2006, 15:56
BexTech
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Sipgate also offer any area-code you like, though if you use the phone a lot it might not be the best of tariffs, but at least you can get an incoming number for free and pay no monthly fees.

VoIP Stunt works out at €2.50 per month (2.5 Euro) only cover major area-codes otherwise you get an 0560 number, 300 free mins per week.
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Old 29-06-2006, 13:56
call100
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I only use Vonage for limited landline calls. One of the reasons I have it is so that people can phone me as normal from their phones without it costing them a fortune and without confusing them with odd numbers. I have the same area code as I've always had.
Not having a BT line to pay for I am still quids in.
I like most others also have a mobile with so many minutes in the contract I could just use this. However, its the cost to family and friends that makes this unviable. Landline to mobile is just to expensive to expect them to call you on your mobile from thier phones.
Vonage serves my purposes. It's been totally reliable and lets face it £7.99 is cheap.
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Old 29-06-2006, 14:01
BexTech
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If you only make limited landline calls then £7.99 is far from cheap.

You might as well pay nothing per month with Sipgate and get a proper 01 or 02 number (any area-code you wish) for no charge and then just pay for the calls you make.

Even VoIP Stunt at 2.5 Euro per month with 300mins free calls each week and then 1c/min over 300mins with a proper 01 or 02 incoming number (major area-codes only) is good value.

I don't have a landline, people can call me on either my VoIP Stunt or Sipgate number and as it is an 0121 number, they wouldn't know there weren't calling a normal number and as it is an 0121 number they are charged the usual 01/02 rates.
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