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jcw00
16-06-2008, 19:05
Has anyone been brave enough and port their fixed line telephone number to Vonage? www.vonage.co.uk

They offer the service for £7.99 but no additional cost for caller display, call waiting, 3-way calling etc. see www.vonage.co.uk/free-features

djstevie
16-06-2008, 19:14
I was with Vonage for 2 years and found them quite good. Never ported my number mind you but i did find their service reliable and cheap. Only snag i had was when i was going abroad for 6months they wanted to charge me a £25 disconnection fee which is standard they said.

oliver1948uk
16-06-2008, 19:16
I used to use Vonage for outgoing calls (and VM line for incoming calls) and it was excellent. It connected by ethernet to my router (so was always on even if the computer was not) and I used ordinary cordless phones available to buy anywhere. A very reliable service. Just as clear as an ordinary phone, even when X Box and computers were using the internet too (and I was only on 2Mb then)

I cancelled because I went on the VIP package which included free 24 hour landline calls, so there was no point in having an internet phone.

---------- Post added at 18:16 ---------- Previous post was at 18:15 ----------

I did not pay any disconnecvtion fee (possibly because I was a customer for over 12 months)

Shaun
16-06-2008, 19:32
I use it - got a new number - but am more than pleased with the service - great feature (the online billing portal is great) and very cheap. Nice to be able to plug it in anywhere I go (like the states) and still make and receive calls like I'm at home for no additional charge!

djstevie
17-06-2008, 15:17
---------- Post added at 18:16 ---------- Previous post was at 18:15 ----------

I did not pay any disconnecvtion fee (possibly because I was a customer for over 12 months)


I was with them for 2 years and they still wanted to charge me the d/c fee. Did get it waivered in the end though.

jcw00
17-06-2008, 15:31
Thanks for the information.

Website (http://www.vonage.co.uk/call-plans/vplan1/) states:
Disconnection fees
Line Disconnection Fee †Ã‚£23.99
† Only applicable within the first 12 months of service

Visitor
09-09-2008, 19:11
Ah, I just signed up today, looking for a way to connect direct to the modem. But also connect the router. That way I can switch the router off at night..

jcw00
09-09-2008, 21:23
Ah, I just signed up today, looking for a way to connect direct to the modem. But also connect the router. That way I can switch the router off at night..

You will need to reset the modem before it will pick up the vonage MAC address. Or just leave your router on and connect the vonage device to the router.

I will be interested on how you get on with vonage, before I sign up.

SMHarman
10-09-2008, 01:17
Been using it for over 2 years. Mine is a UK box connected in the US so I can call anyone in the UK on a landline for no per min cost and they can call me on a local UK number.
I also got a US number local to where I now live added to it so it acts as my home phone number here also.

kpanchev
10-09-2008, 02:46
Why pay a monthly fee to Vonage? If you need an incoming number, go to www.sipgate.co.uk, free, and if you need an outgoing line, go for one of the betamax services - also free for most destinations, and is prepaid for the others, so you pay only for what you actually use. I have used the combination for years now, the only time I regreted not having a virgin landline was when I had to call their stupid and useless 0906 technical support.

jcw00
10-09-2008, 21:02
Why pay a monthly fee to Vonage? If you need an incoming number, go to www.sipgate.co.uk, free, and if you need an outgoing line, go for one of the betamax services - also free for most destinations, and is prepaid for the others, so you pay only for what you actually use. I have used the combination for years now, the only time I regreted not having a virgin landline was when I had to call their stupid and useless 0906 technical support.

The only problem with sipgate you can not bring your landline number to them, with Vonage you can, plus all of the other features Vonage other.

Visitor
10-09-2008, 21:24
You will need to reset the modem before it will pick up the vonage MAC address. Or just leave your router on and connect the vonage device to the router.

I will be interested on how you get on with vonage, before I sign up.

Well you have a 30 days trail anyway, start up cost is £24.97 which includes 1 month rental, but you can get that fully refunded within 30 days if you not happy with the service.

They ask a lot of questions, and one of them dictated what equipment they should send me. I said I had a router, therefore they are sending me a D-Link VTA which can only connect to a router.

If I said I didnt have a router, I would have been sent a V-Portal, which is basically a 1 port router and two telephone sockets.

With a V-Portal I could connect direct to the modem, and its output to my own router.... The V-Portal is available from them at a special price of £9.99 so I might just buy one anyway, it has other features.

Now it all depends on how good they are, before I signed up, I did a lot of research and these people are top of the list, then I rang them with 100 more questions (free phone)

I will port my VM telephone number after I try out the system, and this they will do this for you, they will contact VM and shut down my telephone account and take my number, I dont need to phone VM...

Im sure VM will ring me though :) and Im ready to tell them what they can do with there phone.

So just a few days before I can say if its any good, everyone else is saying they are very good.

Visitor
11-09-2008, 00:08
Update with a warning !

I just found out there is a "fair use" policy of 2000 min (1 hour per day?)
Now where have I seen that before?

So I have told them to cancel, even though I dont think I would use anywhere near that amount " I Might"

dragon
11-09-2008, 00:27
Update with a warning !

I just found out there is a "fair use" policy of 2000 min (1 hour per day?)
Now where have I seen that before?

So I have told them to cancel, even though I dont think I would use anywhere near that amount " I Might"

Less than 1hr per day.

1440 mins in a day.
60 * 24 = 1440
say 30 days in an average month.
1440 * 30= 43200
So 43200 minutes in a month
43200 / 2000 = 21.6

I make it 21.6Minutes per day.
Assuming my Maths is correct

Visitor
11-09-2008, 15:41
Well I guess its plenty, but they should tell people

Why all the maths :) 2000/60 == 33 hours

info4u
11-09-2008, 19:45
I saw some info on Vonage not something I would be looking to do,
However Skype seems to be quite good about £2.20 a month for unlimited landline calls (Subject to fair usage which worked out to be a 7 day continuous phone call per month) which I dont use the phone that many hours so suits me down to a T.

Looking to disconnect my land line once I have bought a USB VOIP phone

Graham M
11-09-2008, 19:47
Not really a good idea unless you have a mobile (and even then) as with most of them you can't phone emergency services!

jcw00
11-09-2008, 21:28
Not really a good idea unless you have a mobile (and even then) as with most of them you can't phone emergency services!

That's where Vonage could be a winner as they support 999 calls.

Visitor
13-09-2008, 11:51
Ok, Im now using Vonage, and have asked them to close my VM landline and take its number accross. Vonage is working 100% in fact better.

Support
When it arrived it didnt work, turned out to be a faulty RJ45 lead, Vonage support gave me a months free credit for supplying a faulty lead :)

Testing it out, Rang Canada (£0.02/min) very clear no problems. Rang around the UK, nobody could tell I wasnt using a land line.

So many extra features, even call waiting will show the number who is calling. Features that VM always charge for, and a lot more are all free.

999/112 is supported, you give Vonage your name and address to be used with the service.

The best is, you just unplug your phone lead from the VM line, and plug it into Vonage socket, and away it goes. Extentions, Fax machines etc all work 100%

Systems using a PC/USB isnt the way forward

jcw00
13-09-2008, 15:14
Ok, Im now using Vonage, and have asked them to close my VM landline and take its number accross. Vonage is working 100% in fact better.

I'm looking to do the same thing with my BT landline. I would be interested to hear how the transfer of your number goes.

Stuart
13-09-2008, 15:25
That's where Vonage could be a winner as they support 999 calls.

They may do, but that doesn't help much if the emergency happens when the power is out. The advantage that fixed line phones have is that they are independantly powered, and even if the power is off at the exchange, the exchange is powered by battery or generator, so as long as the line is connected, the phone should be available.

jcw00
13-09-2008, 19:22
They may do, but that doesn't help much if the emergency happens when the power is out. The advantage that fixed line phones have is that they are independantly powered, and even if the power is off at the exchange, the exchange is powered by battery or generator, so as long as the line is connected, the phone should be available.

My broadband connection is protected by my own UPS. Also could use a mobile if really needed.

Stuart
13-09-2008, 20:35
My broadband connection is protected by my own UPS. Also could use a mobile if really needed.

The green box that provides your broadband connection isn't powered by a UPS (or battery).

you could use a mobile (I have never said that not having a fixed line would prevent you contacting 999), but a fixed line may be a more reliable method.

Visitor
13-09-2008, 22:31
They may do, but that doesn't help much if the emergency happens when the power is out.


If there is a power cut, my home phones wont work anyway :) lets face it, many people are using DECT walk about phones, most go dead on a power cut.

Lets face it, 999 is no big deal, with many phones at neighbors anyway, plus lots of mobile phones.

Ive had 3 power cuts in 30 years ! never once used 999 anyway....


I'm looking to do the same thing with my BT landline. I would be interested to hear how the transfer of your number goes.


They said it could take 20 days with VM !! at the time I submitted the request, it said it could take 3 days.. (Knowing VM it will take 3 weeks)