Ntl Vs Vonage

[paul11974]

NTL talk unlimited = £14.50

VONAGE unlimited = £9.99

[Pia]

Vonage cons: You need an internet connection to make calls... so in the event of your modem crashing for ntl maintenance or any other reason, you can't make calls.
Same applies to power cuts and emergencies.

NTL cons: You would save some money being on Vonage.
:shrug:

[etccarmageddon]

Vonage con - they say you a buying something that doesn't have a 12 month contract but in the very small print (terms and conditions) there is a £25 charge if you ever terminate your account with them. It's a contract Jim but not as we know it!

[paul11974]

Vonage cons: You need an internet connection to make calls... so in the event of your modem crashing for ntl maintenance or any other reason, you can't make calls.
Same applies to power cuts and emergencies.
NTL cons: You would save some money being on Vonage.
:shrug:


but 99% of people have mobile phones for emergencys

[Graham M]

And the same applies, what if the battery runs out and there's a power cut?

[etccarmageddon]

also do vonage do 999 calls?

and I would expect your call quality to be inferior expecially on the bottom ntl tier.

[paul11974]

also do vonage do 999 calls?

and I would expect your call quality to be inferior expecially on the bottom ntl tier.


yes they do 999 calls or 112 . I wonder what the quality would be over a 1mb connection ?

[etccarmageddon]

in my opinion - not really acceptable. I've had to lower my codec to cope with the 1mb **** poor upload speed and it sounds like talking to australia!

I'm not on vonage - I'm on sipgate but they both use similar technology. sipgate offer 1000 mins for £6 if I remember rightly. Your £10 a month with vonage in my opinion is ok value but slightly over priced - dixons do a similar product but a lower monthly fee.

---------- Post added at 11:58 ---------- Previous post was at 11:56 ----------

dixons is called www.freetalk.co.uk which also has a 12 month erm non contract:-

"8.8 Cancellation fee.
If You terminate this Agreement within 12 months from activation of Your Service, You must pay a cancellation fee ("Cancellation Fee"), which is equal to the cost incurred by freetalk in making the Service available to You or £23.99, whichever is the greater. A Cancellation Fee is not payable where You terminate this Agreement after 12 consecutive months of receiving the Service. Cancellation Fees shall be billed to Your Payment Card when You notify us of the cancellation of the Service. The Cancellation Fee shall be waived if You have selected a Monthly Service Plan and terminate the Service during the Trial Period."

[Pia]

You must pay a cancellation fee ("Cancellation Fee"), which is equal to the cost incurred by freetalk in making the Service available to You or £23.99, whichever is the greater.
And you just know, that the "cost incurred by freetalk in making the Service available to You" is gonna be more than 24 quid :p:

[paul11974]

so you would at least need a 2mb connection ?

[moffmeister]

Cos yeah, it costs loads of money making a service available to the subscriber when they have no real equpiment costs (unlike BT/NTL/Telewest who have a physical system).

[paul11974]

Cos yeah, it costs loads of money making a service available to the subscriber when they have no real equpiment costs (unlike BT/NTL/Telewest who have a physical system).


was that a answer to the do you need 2mb ?

[Graham M]

was that a answer to the do you need 2mb ?

It would be best for it, I wouldnt recommend a 1MB connection because of the limited upload capacity

[paul11974]

well the 2mb is £7 more so that outweighs any saving that may be made

[etccarmageddon]

so you would at least need a 2mb connection ?in my opinion yes or use it with 1mb but accept the lower quality - remember 1mb has been promised to be upgraded sometime this year to 10mb with an upstream of 500k anyway. if you hardly use the phone then 1mb is fine - if you use it often then the quality could become annoying.

---------- Post added at 08:06 ---------- Previous post was at 08:04 ----------

well the 2mb is £7 more so that outweighs any saving that may be madehow many calls do you make and what kind? do you just have the phone for occasional calls or are you on it loads every day? if it's occasional then vonage is not good value anyway - occasional users should opt for sipgate which has no monthly charge but you pay around 1p a min for calls

[paul11974]

---------- Post added at 08:06 ---------- Previous post was at 08:04 ----------

how many calls do you make and what kind? do you just have the phone for occasional calls or are you on it loads every day? if it's occasional then vonage is not good value anyway - occasional users should opt for sipgate which has no monthly charge but you pay around 1p a min for calls


but vonage offers unlimited free uk calls for 9.99 ?

[etccarmageddon]

only useful if you make landline calls per month that come to £10 or more.

[etccarmageddon]

ok here's an alternative

£3 a month and your evening calls are 'free'ish:-

http://www.adslguide.org/newsarchive.asp?item=2555

no charge if your calls stick to within an hour.


or £8 a month for a price plan that is comparable with vonage. except calls are again limited to an hour if you want them free.

now I aint checked the fine print on this so you may find differences with vonage - it's upto you to check my facts!

[paul11974]

only useful if you make landline calls per month that come to £10 or more.


but im paying ntl £12.50 for talk unlimited local plus the bill goes up as she calls her mother outside the local area a lot

[etccarmageddon]

in that case I'd look at either the BT option, vonage or sipgate or dixons freetalk. plenty of choice for you there.

[paul11974]

ill check what next months bill is like on the 3 for 33

or its get 2mb @ 24.99
freetalk..........@ 6.99
freeview ........@ free

= £31.98 not much of a saving looks like ntl have done there homework

[flashyphotos]

The VOIP Company I use is called LINGO, Run by a Dutch Company called Primus

They are US Based, but offer a better package for UK Based users who make international calls,

For $19.99 US a month (About £12), you get unlimited free calls to US/Canada and 17 countries in Western Europe including the UK & Ireland. you can activate it either with a US or UK number and it works well on a 1Mb Connection, (Uses about 20k down and 10k up), calls compare well to a landline

Worth a look if you make a lot of international calls,


Richard

[paul11974]

The VOIP Company I use is called LINGO, Run by a Dutch Company called Primus

They are US Based, but offer a better package for UK Based users who make international calls,

For $19.99 US a month (About £12), you get unlimited free calls to US/Canada and 17 countries in Western Europe including the UK & Ireland. you can activate it either with a US or UK number and it works well on a 1Mb Connection, (Uses about 20k down and 10k up), calls compare well to a landline

Worth a look if you make a lot of international calls,


Richard


i use www.voipcheap.co.uk but the mrs does not like it as i cant seem to set up a handset for her to use it with and it is 100% free also www.voipbuster.com is another free voip provider

[etccarmageddon]

avoid voipbuster

[Pia]

avoid voipbuster
You gonna tell us why?! :p:

[etccarmageddon]

maybe they've improved but last time I looked at them (6 months ago) they had a ****e reputuation. they closed their user forum down, there was no way you could get it to work with hardware - you could only use their software. it was the crappest one I looked at.

---------- Post added at 08:03 ---------- Previous post was at 08:00 ----------

is the 'free' incoming number they give you an 0845 number or a proper non geo number? I bet it's 0845!

---------- Post added at 08:03 ---------- Previous post was at 08:03 ----------

voipcheap is the same company!