using ans internet phone

[Thunderchild]

well as it is I pay £ 18 a month for my cable broadband (to a bunch of incompentent crooks called Virgin media) and then about another £ 25 for the phone. is there a way of using a phone that works off my broadband modem ? so that I can scrap the phone line ?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

well as it is I pay £ 18 a month for my cable broadband (to a bunch of incompentent crooks called Virgin media) and then about another £ 25 for the phone. is there a way of using a phone that works off my broadband modem ? so that I can scrap the phone line ?

There are all kinds of Voip phones, but generally you can only call another Voip user - not normal BT landlines.

You also don't have a phoneline anyway, VM is a cable system, it should come down the same cable as the BB.

 

[House0Fwax]

to a bunch of incompentent crooks called Virgin media

I have heard that if you call them and explain that it costs too much, and you say that you are going elsewhere for your services, that they will drop prices to keep you as a customer.

Just a thought, and it's only a phone call, nothing to lose.

 

[Thunderchild]

yes thats a plan and if i can tell then just how much I'm saving and where I'm going it will be even more convincing, I've already asked if there is a cheaper plan. its the usual story pay less for 1 year then get clobered and watch others get even cheaper deals than you had in the first place and wonder whos paying the difference (me I guess)

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

yes thats a plan and if i can tell then just how much I'm saving and where I'm going it will be even more convincing, I've already asked if there is a cheaper plan. its the usual story pay less for 1 year then get clobered and watch others get even cheaper deals than you had in the first place and wonder whos paying the difference (me I guess)

Check the prices at Sky, they do some good deals on Satellite, Broadband, and Phone - and VM tend to offer better prices to stop you jumping ship.

 

[Thunderchild]

well I only need broadband and phone not TV of any kind (no I don't even have terestrial got better things to do with my time). I'm looking at vonage Use VoIP for Cheap Calls with Vonage UK | VoIP Phone Provider for 7.99 a month I could call for free the UK europe and america plus call mobiles in 2 countries for free which in my case would be the UK and italy, keeping my modem and router on would cost about 3 £ a month so for 11 £/month I've got it all for free and at the moment i pay £ 11 just for line rental, a further £ 8 for free UK landline calls £ 1.5 for cheaper mobile calls which come to about 7p/m and for another £1.5 I can call Itay for 2.2p/min so instead of paying those cheating people at virgin media (yes we have a history me and them took me months of long phone calls to get back money they stole from me not to mention unfulfilled promises) £ 21/month plus phone calls which normally amount to 10-15 £ so like 35 £ total I could pay £ 11 and then hae the confidence to put my broadband payment onto direct debit so that I don't pay those very lovely people at VM yet another £ 5 just so that I can pay my bill as and when I am satisfied that they haven't accidently overcharged me by £ 50

 

[JKF1000]

Are you tied into any contractual period, they can legally charge you a final fee if still in contract?

 

[Thunderchild]

nope my year is up and the prices have rocketed and I'm ready to tell them to get stuffed. considering I'm on broadband and phone its very obvious that they are using VOIP themselves as the telephony technology and then charging me an arm and a leg for a regular dedicated landline when i know full well that its just another +1% or less on my braodband bandwidth its peanuts to them makes more money than the broadband itself

 

[Mikebits]

I have vonage phone. $24.00 per month no long distance charges anywhere in US. Works well most of the time. Sometimes I get echo, a few times one direction gets bonkered so I can not hear the calling party, usually just requires recalling the person. This is very occasional. Other thing is if cable company goes down then the phone does not work. But for the price I can live with a few glitches. I can call any numbers, i.e. cell phones, other voip users or standard telco.
The only equipment needed is a small modem that plugs right into router.

 

[Thunderchild]

well I'm thinking of their portal it will cost me £ 10 rather than the free ethernet/phone adapter but it menas that I'd have 2 unit switched on rather than 3 and the phone comes before the router and the computer so less likely to have issues. it would plug into the modem (ethernet) and give me and ethernet port for the router and 2 phone jacks.

anyone else had experience with vonage ? UK preferably please