Vonage vs. TWC Digital Phone & ALL-N-ONE package

[Skaggs]

With the ALL-n-ONE package, you'll save up to hundreds of dollars per year when you get Digital Cable, Road Runner High Speed Online and Digital Phone all together.
More info at: www.timewarnercable.com/albany/products/allone.html

[hurnik]

5MB Downstream for RR? When did that happen? Last I heard it was 3 MB downstream unless you paid like $30/month more for "super" road runner?

Anyway, people MAY be able to find a better deal by using Vonage at $24.99/month for unlimited than with TW $39.99/month digital phone plan. Even if you do get the "all in one".

[Skaggs]

hurnik said:

5MB Downstream for RR? When did that happen? Last I heard it was 3 MB downstream unless you paid like $30/month more for "super" road runner?

December 15, 2004. See this link.

hurnik said:

Anyway, people MAY be able to find a better deal by using Vonage at $24.99/month for unlimited than with TW $39.99/month digital phone plan. Even if you do get the "all in one".

I'm going with Vonage for $14.99 / month, but it only includes 500 minutes. I currently use my cell phone for all my calls, so I'll have no problem staying under the 500 minutes. I asked Time Warner why I should go with their Digital Phone for $43.98 (voicemail is an additional $3.99, while it is included with Vonage) instead of Vonage for $24.99 and here's what they said:

-----Original Message-----
From: albanydigitalphonesupport [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2004 8:45 AM
Subject: RE: Vonage vs. TWC Digital Phone

The best response I can give is that we will not only hook the phone up to multiple lines in your home so all your phones will work just the same as your current provider. Also it is locally supported if you have an issue we can get somebody out in most cases with 24-48hrs. With Vonage if you have a problem with the equipment you will have to ship them it back and wait to receive it back to get services going again. If you have any further questions please feel free to call us or email us. The phone number is 1-866-321-CABLE(2225)

***********************************************
Travis F
Tech Support
[e-mail]
1021 Highbridge Rd
Rotterdam, NY 12303
1-866-321-CABLE
***********************************************

They didn't have a good answer, in my opinion.

[hurnik]

Thanks for the link!

Yes, I've got the $14.99'month Vonage and have never gone over the 500 minutes.

I've got an expandable phone set, so I only need 1 wire anyway.

I agree, their argument is weak at best.

[Skaggs]

hurnik said:

I've got an expandable phone set, so I only need 1 wire anyway.

You can hook up your Vonage service so all the phone jacks in your house are active. Here's an article how to do this.

[hurnik]

You *are* the man! A veritable wealth of information I say.

[Skaggs]

If anyone is interested in Vonage and is considering signing up, send me an email and I will get you a free month of service when you sign up.

Compared to TWC's Digital Phone at $39.95 per month, Vonage's $24.95 per month is a better deal with more calling features.

Voicemail is included for free with Vonage. Time Warner makes you pay an additional $3.95 per month. Also, with Vonage's voicemail, you can listen to your voicemails via any computer with an internet connection (as well as the traditional way) and have an email sent to an address you specify to notify you that you have a new voicemail. I have it sent as a text message to my cell phone. The email states the caller's phone number and the time/date the call was received. TWC does not offer either of these with their $3.95 voicemail, but it is FREE with Vonage.

Don't believe the card you may have recently received in the US Mail from TWC touting the ALL-IN-ONE service. On one side of the card, it says that Voicemail is included, but on the oither side it says that the first three months are free. In my phone call to Amber at TWC today, she confirmed that it was a misprint and only the first three months are free.

[hurnik]

Yes, I got a dude that visited me at home from TW and "offered" me digital phone. I said only if they'd match my $15/month vonage. He said that "Vonage won't get you phone service". Funny, I've had it for 6 months and I'm pretty sure that dial tone sounds like a phone.

TW digital phone service has ONLY one thing going for it: They can transfer your Verizon # over in less than a week. With Vonage, you will wait at LEAST a month and in my case, 2 months.

But Vonage gives you all these things that TW doesn't:

FREE voicemail
FREE "forward to another phone" (if you're expecting a phone call, but you might be out of the house, you can have Vonage ring BOTH your "vonage phone" and your "cell" phone (or any other phone) at the same time)
It's cheaper (unlimited is $24.99/month)
Internet "voicemails"

I'm sure there's more, but TW's website is VERY skimpy on the features of their digital phone.

[MasterFX1]

I'm interested in Vonage and TW's phone service. Vonage's website doesn't mention what it takes to have all the phones in your house wired up. It seems they give you a line adaptor for one phone. Does that mean it will cost more to hook up more phones? Doesn't TWC hook you up at your home's telephone head-end?

Let me know.

[dkennedy]

On TW Digital Phone Service:

I have TW Digital phone and it was setup by a TW tech. All the phone jacks in the house get a dial tone just like they use to with Verizon landline. I have the same phone number I had with verizon, it was ported over by TW. It has been working very well, actually, surprisingly well. TW states that their digital phone service is different from Vonage because it doesn't slow down the Road Runner connection and that their $39.99 price includes all taxes, plus their phone box includes a 4 hour backup battery.

On Vonage Digital Phone Service:

I have friends at work with Vonage, and with tax, their phone charge is about $27 and they say it is as good as a landline phone from verizon and that they get a dial tone on all their house jacks. They don't know if it slows down their internet connection because they have never done both at the same time. Also, their box doesn't have battery backup.

[Skaggs]

MasterFX1 said:

I'm interested in Vonage and TW's phone service. Vonage's website doesn't mention what it takes to have all the phones in your house wired up. It seems they give you a line adaptor for one phone. Does that mean it will cost more to hook up more phones? Doesn't TWC hook you up at your home's telephone head-end?

Let me know.

I hooked up all the phones in my house by following the directions in the article linked to the Vonage website posted in Reply #4 above. No extra cost. Since the phones in your house are wired in parallel, you just have to plug one outlet in your house into the Vonage phone adapter and you are all set. I disconnected the main wire from the street, as well.

[hurnik]

dkennedy said:

On TW Digital Phone Service:

I have TW Digital phone and it was setup by a TW tech. All the phone jacks in the house get a dial tone just like they use to with Verizon landline. I have the same phone number I had with verizon, it was ported over by TW. It has been working very well, actually, surprisingly well. TW states that their digital phone service is different from Vonage because it doesn't slow down the Road Runner connection and that their $39.99 price includes all taxes, plus their phone box includes a 4 hour backup battery.

On Vonage Digital Phone Service:

I have friends at work with Vonage, and with tax, their phone charge is about $27 and they say it is as good as a landline phone from verizon and that they get a dial tone on all their house jacks. They don't know if it slows down their internet connection because they have never done both at the same time. Also, their box doesn't have battery backup.

The only "advantage" I can see witih TW iw the battery backup, so I'm going to assume they replace your actual cable modem with an "all-in-one" unit. Otherwise, if the power went out, so does your cable modem, and thus, so does your "digital phone".

Of course, if you want voice mail, TW happily charges you another $3.95/month, whereas Vonage gives it to you in al their packages.

And, a simply UPS (which you should have anyway, IMO), Vonage/cable modem won't be without power. And if it is (or your RR connection is down), You can have Vonage route all your incoming calls to another phone (like your cell phone). I don't know if TW has that feature or not.

[dkennedy]

The TW backup battery not much of an advantage since like you said that can be taken care of with a UPS. The only issue I see with Vonage is the amount of time it takes to port over your existing phone line. All in all the switch is still worth it for the price, however, be advised that when I wanted to switch over to Vonage, TW gave me a discount on digital phone service for 6 months from $39.99 to $29.99.

[Skaggs]

MasterFX1 said:

It seems they give you a line adaptor for one phone. Does that mean it will cost more to hook up more phones?

Here's a link to the Linksys / Vonage phone adapters at CompUSA. Since I just purchased a laptop and wanted to set up a wireless network, I bought the WRT54GP2-CU for $129.99 (after the $50 rebate it is $79.99). If you decide to get just the phone adapter for $59.99 (it is $9.99 after $50 rebate, model#: PAP2-CU), you will need to already have a router in order to share your internet connection.

Yes, Vonage will "give" you the phone adapter, but you will then have to pay an activation fee ($29.99) and a shipping/handling fee ($9.95). There is no activation or shipping fee when you buy your own phone adapter from CompUSA.

Here's the cost breakdown when you signup for Vonage and have them ship you a phone adapter:

Startup Costs (includes first month of service)
Activation Fee $29.99
First Month's Service Charge $14.99
Federal Excise Tax $1.65
Regulatory Recover Fee $1.50
Shipping and Handling $9.95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total $57.78

Monthly Charges
Monthly Service Charge $14.99
Federal Excise Tax $0.75
Regulatory Recover Fee $1.50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total $16.94

On the other hand, here's what Vonage sent me in an email explaining my charges after I signed up, but I purchased my phone adapter at CompUSA:

Item Quantity Unit Subtotal
*******************************************************************
Phone Number 1 $0.00 $0.00
Activation Fee 1 $0.00 $0.00
Residential Basic 500 Plan 1 $14.99 $14.99
-------------------------------------
FET Tax: $0.45
Regulatory Recovery Fee: $1.50
Shipping: $0.00
Total: $16.94
*******************************************************************

[olivedog]

To the vonage subscribers out there:
I'm reading that it can take up to two months to transfer your phone number..Does this mean your Vonage account (phone service) isn't set up until this happens or do they give you a temporary number?
If I signed up for Vonage today, when should I cancel my current phone service?