Don't be so quick to move to the Great White North just yet!
Here in my townhouse in Vienna, Virginia, I've done just this with the
Vonage lines I have here. Disconnected the Verizon lines at the NID and
used that 'wire center' as the connection point for the Vonage lines.
Fortunately, all phone jacks in this place have 3 pairs, so two lines is
trivial to install. Just plug the Vonage box into the wall jack (with
the applicable splitter/combiner if necessary) and go (again, once
you've disconnected your ILEC's lines).
We pay $35/mo (including taxes, etc) for two lines, including one for
$14.95 (500 minute/mo, including LD to USA and Canada), $9.95 for the
fax (250 minutes/mo, same LD) and a London UK virtual number. All
provide unlimited inbound calls, btw.
No trouble with call clarity, dropouts or anything else. The home
network currently is connected to the outside world with a not-unusual
SMC Barricade wireless AP/router/firewall and Cox (normal tier) cable
modem service. The VoIP bandwidth can be adjusted between 30Kbps, 50Kbps
and 90Kbps. Overall, the service is satisfactory, though we didn't try
to transfer any numbers to it, in this round. Last January, I tried to
transfer my ATT Wireless number (which I'd had since March 1999) to it,
and 4 months later, the transfer had still not happened. I canceled the
transfer and then canceled the service. Gave them another try once we
moved to the DC area - taking their numbers (selecting a very
recognizable DC number, since I can get one from anywhere they serve).
The UK inbound number was a total bonus for us, with friends in London.
$5 for unlimited UK -> US calling? No brainer!
Another bonus - I can take these lines anywhere I can get broadband
access (read: >128Kbps) - by bringing the box with me and plugging it
into available power and network - or simply have the lines auto-forward
to my global-roaming cell phone. The forwarding costs nothing additional.
One caveat - the Tivo does work okay with it for its data download (will
be installing an ethernet card shortly), but don't try to use these
lines for much 'high-speed' dialup. They're not well suited for that.
Feel free to drop me a line if any of you have questions.
-Peter
Peter Murray (N3IXY)
Vienna, VA
Kendall Jones wrote:
>Arg, just another reason to move to Canada.
>
>whoops big brother, just kidding!
>
>Kendall
>
>
>
>
>--- Trevor Boicey <tboicey@brit.ca> wrote:
>
>
>> Anyways, the companies here use boxes that plug
>>into your phone line
>>and cable modem, then all of your phone extensions
>>automatically work
>>with VOIP.
>>
>> Not sure where else this is available.
>>
>>--
>>Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
>>Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
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