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VoIP for the Masses!

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the until-the-phone-bullies-arrive dept.

SkywalkerOS8 writes: "Vonage has begun offering Voice-over-IP(VoIP) service to residential broadband users. I've had the service since Friday and the quality is indistinguishable from a regular phone line. It's only $20/month for 500 minutes or $40/month for unlimited service. They include Cisco equipment, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, Caller ID and Voicemail (which you can check online) in the service price. You can read more about it in this article in Time. It works fine through my Linux NAT firewall/router and my monthly phone budget has now dropped from $60+ to $20."

6 of 464 comments (clear)

  1. PPP over VOIP? by Patman · · Score: 4, Funny

    I haven't had much of a chance to look at this technology, but can you do PPP over VOIP?
    I ask because my company has no VPN access in place, and forces us to use a dialup connection. ONly reason I still have a land line at all.

  2. oh poo... by dryueh · · Score: 4, Funny
    Drawbacks? For arcane technical reasons, you can't call 911

    Crap! At last I thought I'd have a way to call 911 for free...

    I guess 911 would have trouble tracing a call to 66.96.178.192...

  3. Great until... by loteck · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the Time article:

    For arcane technical reasons, you can't call 911.

    Yeah. That's just GREAT. In your last moments, as you're lying on the floor, convulsing in the midst of cardiac arrest, do yourself a favor and think: "At least I didn't pay too much for real phone service."

  4. Re:What's the bandwidth usage? by david+duncan+scott · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, he'd rather download or play games than listen to his girlfriend. The difference is subtle but significant. :)

    --

    This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander

  5. FINALLY by Control+Group · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can call all those long-distance BBS's to download my warez without racking up my phone bill!

    I've been waiting for this since 1992!!

    --

    Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
  6. Re:Why???? by cheese_wallet · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Personally, I'd kill to have this, assuming it also covers international calling. My gf and I are spending nearly $80/month on calls back and forth from..."

    1-900 numbers aren't included in this package, so you are out of luck.