On Wed, Jan 18, 2006 at 07:15:23PM -0500, Val Nelson wrote: > Anyone have an opinion on Vonage and Comcast phone services as alternatives > to Verizon? I've heard Vonage is unreliable at times and since Comcast is a > similar system, I wonder if that will be true for them as well. They claim > they don't have the same problems but I'd like to hear from users. > > Thanks, > Val Nelson Hi Val, I've used Vonage (with Comcast as ISP) for about a year now and they have been quite reliable. I've twice lost dial tone and had to reset my phone adapter after which all was well. I have four other friends in the area also using Vonage and they've all been happy with it. I have no experience with Comcast VOIP services, but I know they are more expensive than Vonage. Despite the reliability I've experienced, it's important to remember that this is an Internet based service and will *never* be as good as Verizon simply because it depends on external electricity *and* external Internet access. I recommend that anyone who uses VOIP also have a cell phone. My total phone bill now, for Vonage and cell phone service is about the same as my previous Verizon bill for "unlimited" local and long distance. Poor Verizon: their services are heavily taxed, they're saddled with high infrastructure costs, and and their consumers are price sensitive. No wonder the upstarts are eating their lunch! -Gyepi