I officially have no landline - here's my setup

[Semper Fidelis]

A discussion with Josh in a back-channel about his phone plans inspired me to share what my equipment string is at home right now. I have no services with Verizon and the wall jacks in my home are non-functioning but I have 3 cordless phones in the Master Bedroom (upstairs), the school room (upstairs), and the kitchen (downstairs).

Here is the equipment string:

Cable Modem connects to Wireless Router with 4 Ethernet Ports
1 Ethernet Port connects to Vonage Adapter
1 Ethernet Port connects to Computer with Skype running
Computer Connected via USB to D-Link DPH-50U
Vonage adapter phone line plugs into line in for D-Link DPH-50U
Phone base connected to D-Link DPH-50U

Now I can dial out on Vonage or DSL from any phone in my house or receive calls from the same. This is useful because I have friends with Skype in other countries that can make a free Skype call to our home and it will ring our phone. From my phone I can also dial an escape code (##) and receive a Skype dial tone to make a Skype call from my phone.

The reason I have Vonage as the primary phone line is for E911. I don't want my wife or kids to have to think about how they are going to call 911 from the phone in an emergency. Also, if the computer is off and I don't have Skype support then the DPH-50U will still pass through the Vonage line that uses the Vonage adapter and doesn't need to be logged in to work.

It should be noted that I could use a regular phone line in lieu of the Vonage option so I would have the phone line for local calls and use Skype for long distance but I only pay $15/month for the basic Vonage plan and that's a pretty good price considering all the features built in. I may end up doing a year pre-paid if I find out I'm approaching 500 minutes per month on Vonage but that shouldn't be a problem just remembering to hit ## before we dial out for long distance calls, which is when we spend the most time on the phone.

 

[Augusta]

Can you safely do online banking or give out a credit card number on the phone with Vonage and all those cordless phones?

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Can you safely do online banking or give out a credit card number on the phone with Vonage and all those cordless phones?

Online banking would not go through the VOIP circuit but would be a web app protected by HTTPS.

The Cordless Phones are DECT 6.0 and it would be easier for a person to tap a two wire phoneline than to hack DECT encryption.

Also, with Vonage, it's important to remember that packets don't travel over a single path but packet arrive via multiple paths to provide a bit stream. Bottom line is that it would be very difficult to tap and would have to be done with a pretty robust equipment string that could mimick my Vonage's MAC.

 

[fredtgreco]

A discussion with Josh in a back-channel about his phone plans inspired me to share what my equipment string is at home right now. I have no services with Verizon and the wall jacks in my home are non-functioning but I have 3 cordless phones in the Master Bedroom (upstairs), the school room (upstairs), and the kitchen (downstairs).

Here is the equipment string:

Cable Modem connects to Wireless Router with 4 Ethernet Ports
1 Ethernet Port connects to Vonage Adapter
1 Ethernet Port connects to Computer with Skype running
Computer Connected via USB to D-Link DPH-50U
Vonage adapter phone line plugs into line in for D-Link DPH-50U
Phone base connected to D-Link DPH-50U

Now I can dial out on Vonage or DSL from any phone in my house or receive calls from the same. This is useful because I have friends with Skype in other countries that can make a free Skype call to our home and it will ring our phone. From my phone I can also dial an escape code (##) and receive a Skype dial tone to make a Skype call from my phone.

The reason I have Vonage as the primary phone line is for E911. I don't want my wife or kids to have to think about how they are going to call 911 from the phone in an emergency. Also, if the computer is off and I don't have Skype support then the DPH-50U will still pass through the Vonage line that uses the Vonage adapter and doesn't need to be logged in to work.

It should be noted that I could use a regular phone line in lieu of the Vonage option so I would have the phone line for local calls and use Skype for long distance but I only pay $15/month for the basic Vonage plan and that's a pretty good price considering all the features built in. I may end up doing a year pre-paid if I find out I'm approaching 500 minutes per month on Vonage but that shouldn't be a problem just remembering to hit ## before we dial out for long distance calls, which is when we spend the most time on the phone.

I haven't had a landline for more than 5 years. No reason to. I have Vonage with Panasonic DECT phones (3 of them) and my Wireless. Even during Ike my iPhone worked perfectly - had full 3G coverage and internet. If Apple ever gets off their monopolistic Big Brother behind and allows a tethering app (they have already squashed two) I could use it with my computer like I could my Blackberry.

When Vonage is out, it auto-ports to my cell. $32 (including tax) for unlimited calling and unlimited long distance is unbeatable.

 

[Grace Alone]

We just changed to Charter cable telephone. It is not through the computer. The deal we are on for a year is almost no more than our former bill for cable tv and internet. After that, it is about $30 a month for unlimited LD. Our jacks actualy work, but we use cordless anyway. So far so good. (I don't understand Rich's set-up, so this is the best we could find at the moment!)

 

[kalawine]

If Apple ever gets off their monopolistic Big Brother behind and allows a tethering app (they have already squashed two) I could use it with my computer like I could my Blackberry.

When pigs fly!

 

[Semper Fidelis]

$32 (including tax) for unlimited calling and unlimited long distance is unbeatable.

Fred,

Have you looked into an annual pre-pay?

I'm probably going to switch to an unlimited plan. One thing I like about Vonage is that I added a Virtual Phone number because I have another phone number that I've given to tons of people that I don't want to have to change but I also want a local number.

 

[fredtgreco]

$32 (including tax) for unlimited calling and unlimited long distance is unbeatable.

Fred,

Have you looked into an annual pre-pay?

I'm probably going to switch to an unlimited plan. One thing I like about Vonage is that I added a Virtual Phone number because I have another phone number that I've given to tons of people that I don't want to have to change but I also want a local number.

I have. The savings (essentially only one free month) are not enough to convince me. Vonage is not out of the woods on the IP lawsuit Verizon filed against it, and it has gone through some rough times. Promotions like that are indicative of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and with the current credit crunch, it is not a slam dunk that Vonage will survive a year. I also don't want to give up the card I would have to switch. There are other good providers - I use Packet 8 for a VOIP PBx in our office.

Bottom line, flexibility is worth the 25-30 bucks I would save. If they gave a more significant discount, then maybe...

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Hmmm...good points. By my reckoning, though, I calculate that savings at about $60/yr. The residential plan is $24.99/mo and the annual plan costs $239.99.

Wouldn't this be covered by Visa if they defaulted and could not promise the service paid for?

 

[fredtgreco]

Hmmm...good points. By my reckoning, though, I calculate that savings at about $60/yr. The residential plan is $24.99/mo and the annual plan costs $239.99.

Wouldn't this be covered by Visa if they defaulted and could not promise the service paid for?

Not sure. That is a good question. I'd be interested in the answer if you find out.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Hmmm...good points. By my reckoning, though, I calculate that savings at about $60/yr. The residential plan is $24.99/mo and the annual plan costs $239.99.

Wouldn't this be covered by Visa if they defaulted and could not promise the service paid for?

Not sure. That is a good question. I'd be interested in the answer if you find out.

You're the lawyer. It was a leading question.

I think it would be covered because I've only had to perform a chargeback once in the 22 years I've had a Visa and that was over services that I received in part but not in whole and my Visa company refunded the charge when they could not successfully resolve with the other party. I assume it would be the same in this case.

Either way, it's a 20% discount for a one year pre-pay.