OFF Topic: ATT VOIP

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riggscm

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Hey anyone out there using ATT's CallVantage service?

I'm considering switching to them. Quite honestly I trust ATT more then I trust Vonage. I know that Telco's have been doing VoIP for a while now, so I think that they would be better at it. Granted I may be thinking "inside the box" for some of you.

I'm just wondering if any one has this service, or has had it, and what they think of it.

Second question... Anyone setup VoIP services using DSL as your broadband connection? kinda curious how you pulled it off since most DSL these days uses line share with your phone line.
 
You need at least 512kbps up and down. Actually TELCOS are the ones to avoid. Packet8 and Lingo are you two best services on residential VoIP. Packet* is the ONLY service to offer TRUE 911, not emergency call forward.
 
We have Speakeasy-Onelink service and has been perfect for the first month.Since we wanted to drop Verizon and ATT long distance service,Speakeasy had a data only line installed at the house,we got the phone adapter,installed it and were up and running.Nice thing is that the D*HTL-HD has no problems as far as the modem and our daughters Tivo works also-we don't have the 911 issuses either. Of course if the power goes down- no phone-thats usually during summer storms and we have a genarator that I crank up and plug into the electrial panel so we don't lose the food in the freezers and can have somethings working.Also by getting the Speakeasy-Onelink service we save 65.00 to 70.00 per month,which I am sure will be spent some where else anyway
 
this probably belongs in Chit Chat.

FWIW PC Magazine named ATT Call Vantage as thir editor's choice recently.
 
boy... reading that article makes me wonder if I should go with a different provider for VOIP.

Hmmmmm.
I wonder if someday soon SBC will be advertising something like Yahoo Internet Phone... LOL "YIP"

oh god I can hear the damn radio jingles now... " YIP YIP YahooooOooo"
 
The fact that AT&T MAY be bought does not say anything one way or the other about the quality of their VOIP service. I am not sure at all that they are a large advertiser in PC Magazine---or that they would skew the results if it ewere true---but what is your source for that?
 
charper1 said:
You need at least 512kbps up and down. Actually TELCOS are the ones to avoid. Packet8 and Lingo are you two best services on residential VoIP. Packet* is the ONLY service to offer TRUE 911, not emergency call forward.


Are you sure about the 512 upload speed?
 
ocnier said:
Are you sure about the 512 upload speed?
you know I have to wonder too charper.

You've stated a few things here that you cant backup.
Packet8 does not have true 911. they offer a enhanced 911 that you have to pay 10 extra bucks for.

In talking with ATT and Vonage I see no where that they REQUIRE 512k on the upside.

I see no where in the PC mag site that shows that they are a big advertiser. No banners, no popups, no ads that I can see at all.
In Fact I saw more Vonage ads, then ATT.

I admit the results seem a bit flawed when Vonage scores very close to ATT on most tests, but has better quality. Once you dig into the article you see they PC mag touts the feature richness of ATT services which Vonage can match pretty much head for head from what I can see.
 
You guys HAVE to do a better job reading details!

riggscm said:
You've stated a few things here that you cant backup.

Packet8 does not have true 911. they offer a enhanced 911 that you have to pay 10 extra bucks for.

Not true: It is 99% like your current landline 911 (Cost: $1.50 per month, $9.95 activation fee) Also the ONLY service to offer this.

In talking with ATT and Vonage I see no where that they REQUIRE 512k on the upside.

I never said THEY required it, but real world usage will show you that this is the best minimum to achieve optimal performance for the caller AND the person caller while you still MAINTAIN NORMAL web and network use speed. Would their reps tell you anyway?

I see no where in the PC mag site that shows that they are a big advertiser......In Fact I saw more Vonage ads, then ATT.

As far as the advertising $$ goes, you will never see any reviewer, that also runs ads, list the amounts anyone pays them. Most watchdog groups can show you that the top reviewed items are generally owned or partnered with the top advertisers. This does not mean that they are bad, but it does usually break close contests or squeeze out some other items.

Packet8, Lingo, and Vonage are the 3 most feature rich & touted services. The first two are also under $20/mo.
 
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512 up is great but you don't need that much,the calls only take about 60kb,Speakeasy-Onelink works fine for us,phone calls are clear anytime of day and that also applies to the evening hours-thats the time when my oldest son and his friends are playing Halo online and my oldest daughter is also running her puter to the max,if you do need a lot of upstream for work or something else then you would need 512 or maybe 768
 
I notice that you don't actually answer the question. How do you know that ATT is "one of their leading advertisers"? In your response you say that no one will publish statistics. Fine. But if that is the case why did you make that claim?


Sure it is plausible that the review is biased but you make a fairly serious charge without backing it up. In citing the article I told people to read it and draw their own conclusions. Sounds like abetter way of proceeding than to simply dismiss it as biased without offering any proof of the bias.
 
the cost of the 911 is not what I am taking to task but rather your claim that Packet8 offers true 911.

Packet 8 does not offer true 911, they offer a enhanced 911 add on package.

like most of the time when you are wrong you wont admit it
 
FWIW I read the print article over the weekend it has significantly more detail than the online version. Lingo was lower rated than AT&T primarily on the basis of sound quality. They claim that their test panel considered the sound tinny. They did say that the difference was not that striking and said it was a good choice for those interested in service to Asia.
 
I have Vonage and love it. If any of you guys what to try it out, let me know I'll send you a referral email and we'll both get a free month of service. All I had to pay was $9.95 shipping for the Cisco box and that's it. Very nice, even got to port my old phone number over.
 
Geronimo, thanks for your insight.

I'm giving Vonage a try now... picked up a Linksys phone adapeter from CompUSA.

So far I'm loving it.. only problem is the Tivo dial out thing, and I'm working on that.
 
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