Mmmmm.... £7.99 is cheap. Two quid a week.. hardly far from cheap...Another problem is that 0121 Numbers are Birmingham numbers around here so I would not want one thankyou. I know and understand that I could get the service as you describe. But I am happy with Vonage and the extras you get, like email when you have a voice message. The online support and account area is pretty good too, This has proved handy since I got it..
Glad you are happy with your service.

0121 number are Birmingham number no matter where you are in the UK, but I never said you had to have an 0121 number!!

With Sipgate you can have ANY that is ANY area code you wish, not just 0121, ANY as in you can have an area code of one of ANY of the area-codes available in the UK.

Yes, VoIPStunt has just the major area-codes (not just cities) though, but with a PAP2 or other two service device, you can use on for incoming and one for out going.

£2 per week doesn't sound too much, but 2.5 Euro per month sounds even better. Plus I've only spent SIX EURO in TOTAL and had 14 months of free calls.

Granted for some Vonage will be OK, for those who may make lots of outgoing calls, possibly, but for someone who only makes a few calls then it it is far from cheap.

For someone who only uses the phone a small amout to moderate amount then Sipgate can't be beated, ANY area-code, no monthly fee, and as it's VoIP you get all the extras built in.

OK you win..(If you want)....I suppose cheap is relative...

I have had freetalk for a few days now. The Customer Support line is non-existent. Set up the adaptor, outgoing calls are fine, Won't let me have any incoming calls, get message

this service is unavailable

Call customer services:

We are updating our Customer Service - please leave a message

However, the mailbox is full, and you can't leave a message.

Emails are not replied to.

I contacted The Link, from where it was purchased, as well as Dixons, who couldn't help me.

The box will be returned on Monday.

So altogether, I would rate freetalk as pretty crap.

Vonage have an offer on until 2nd August...£7.99 a month with free calls forever to UK landlines, Ireland, USA, Canada, France, Spain and Italy. Offer for new customers only.....

Looks like they are worried, seeing as VoIP Stunt, VoIP Cheap, VoIP Buster etc, have been offering free calls to many international destinations for over 15 months, and have only just recently decided to implement the 120 day credit limit. Though also recently introduced a limit of 300 mins free each week, but considering it only works out with VoIP Stunt 50p per week for 300 mins, and then once you have used up those free minutes the 1c/min is taken from the credit up topped up with, makes Vonage look very expensive.

Plus for those who are on ADSL and therefore must have a BT line, you can get inclusive calls cheaper, granted not including calls abroad, but then you can call those listed for between 0.5p/min and 1p/min from a landline.

So, to summarize:

If you have ADSL, and therefore can't get out of paying BT line rental, it's probably best to go for a pay-as-you-go service having first made sure that the call charges are going to be cheaper than BT.

If you have ntl you can bin your phone line at £11 a month and go with Vonage, thus saving 4 quid a month and having unlimited free calls. Bargain.

That sound about right?

Of course, here comes ntl to cock it all up again: you can't get rid of your phone line and keep your telly. So if you have a cable modem and no cable telly, the above still works. If your broadband is via a set-top box, or you have a cable modem and cable TV, you're faced with a more difficult decision. Here's my plan:

Bin the telly (family pack @ £31pm).
Bin the phone line @ £11pm
Get Sky Plus with the required minimum two entertainment packs PLUS the movies package @ £35pm.
Get Vonage @ £7.99pm.

Works out at 99p more, not counting the one-off costs for connection and equipment. Then again I'll have unlimited free calls (rather than 'unlimited' calls to other local ntl numbers at 6p a shot) AND I'll have a PVR.

Sound like a plan?

Problem is you will need a phone line to have sky installed.

I just have NTL BB so no probs just use the modem and a router. You could get Freeview and save even more....

Other things to take into account about Vonage are

The activation Fee £9.99

The Shipping and Handling fee £8.99 for the FREE? router.

Then theirs

The expensive UK mobile rates: Day 15p Evening 10p Weekend 5p.

The dear Intl Rates to non free Intl Destinations.

Also the expensive NGN 0845/0870 rates.