Dad pulling the plug on Vonage

[washman]

Update

The port happened either late last night or today. Bottom line, he can call out now on his old Vonage # and I can call in on it, earlier it was stating " the number you called has been changed to xxx-xxxx." This was when I dialed his temp AT&T number.

I'll remove the Vonage box when I get there next week and install his new cordless Uniden DECT 6.0 phone.

I am relieved he has a more reliable phone service now. Vonage was ok for the time but lately it has been very dicey and at his age, I simply cannot be at ease knowing he had a rather unreliable phone.

FWIW, Iwill stay with Vonage for the time being. I can still get on my knees and power cycle, reboot, do the happy dance etc to get it to work. Which fortunately is not all that often.

 

[joeypete]

Any suggestions?

I'm having to decide on a service myself. I've used Vonage for years before and it worked just fine and cost me $17 a month. I only need service because my cell signal is very bad in my condo. I have to walk outside to my car to talk to someone effectively. I tried to use Google Voice but they never have any NH numbers available! I don't want an out of state number. Grrrrr.

 

[retropia]

Depending on your cell carrier and phone, you can now get "wi-fi calling" on your cell phone. It is a feature added by your carrier to the phone. That ruled out the Nexus 5 for me, as that phone is pure Android with no carrier apps.

My carrier is Sprint, and I have spotty cell service at home, especially in my office. Recently I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S5 that comes with wi-fi calling built in.

Setup is simple, you basically connect your smartphone with a wi-fi network. Then when you're in range of the wi-fi network, calls are placed or answered through wi-fi. The connection is much better, and I haven't had any dropped calls.

I don't have unlimited anytime minutes on my cell plan, so wi-fi calling is a benefit in that using it doesn't count against your plan minutes.

The only serious downside that I can see is that you can't start a call in one mode and then transfer to the other. So, for example, if I start a call in wi-fi at home, I can't continue the call out of range of the wi-fi signal, or the call will be dropped. That's not a big deal for me, but it might be for some.

 

[washman]

Checked online

his account with Vonage is cancelled and he forwarded me the cancellation email.

Once he managed to get someone at AT&T to understand what he wanted to do, it was pretty simple process. Apparently they must not get requests like this very often. Problem is, you go to AT&T site or find a number to call and all they want to do is force Uverse or something like that on you.

In fact, I had to do an online chat session just to find out what number dad needed to call go get landline service restored! The site is not user friendly for those who just want a landline.

At any rate, he's "back" to normal I guess! Just so long as his phone works, that is all that matters to him and me.

 

[mattl]

joeypete-

 

I would not consider Vonage for any service.  You can pick up a Linksys PAP2 box on ebay cheap and use any of dozens providers.  I love my VOIP.ms service, it's rock solid, and inexpensive.  I dump $25 in my account every 3 or 4 months based on usage.  You can easily port a number, or get a new one.  They charge $.95/mo for one of their numbers, if you port your it's bit more.  Every feature you could possibly want is available, block calls at certain times of day, differing messages, forwarding to cell, 911 -you name it. 

 

I've been using them for 4 + years and would never consider leaving.

 

[joeypete]

Thanks for the suggestions! Looks like Verizon is coming out with WiFi calling next year. Maybe I'll just wait for that. I don't make many calls so would rather not have to get a whole separate phone.