Central Florida Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Vonage?
Someone else asked about landlines, and it got me wondering about Vonage and other VoiP services. Does anyone have any experience with this? I've heard they can be a pain, but then some people love it.
Re: Vonage?
When I had it, I loved my bill but hated the other nonsense that went with it.
When I got it, I never realized it would mess up the alarm system on my house. The alarm works through the phoneline. If somebody broke in, the alarm would sound but it would not activate the call center to alert 911. That kinda defeated the purpose of the alarm.
I also had issues with the cable modem, vonage modem AND the wireless router. The 3 of them did not get along with each other!
Unlike MrsDMC I have had great experiences with Vonage. I wont go back to landlines. My bill is under $30.00 a month with unlimited everything. Its awesome for the fact my Mom calls Stuart everynight which is long distance. I also can call my Dad in SC whenever but I usually use my cell since I call him *gasp* on my way to work everynight. Its 5 minutes of uninterupted time - also my commute time lol. So it works.
I have had to use the 911 feature and had no issues there either. I know that was an issue at some point. I dont have a electronic house alarm so I have not had to deal with that issue. I do know if the cable is out then my # can be rerouted to a diff # such as your cell. I just have it go to VM.
Brighthouse and other cable companies control the cable lines that VoIP runs on- so, a LOT of the problems people attribute to Vonage, are really due to their cable provider (and yes, cable companies have been caught making their networks unfriendly to "other" VoIP providers in some areas).
I haven't had a traditional landline in over 8 years- and haven't missed it for a second. A good alarm system should NOT depend on your landline anymore- time to get updated equipment, if yours does! Landlines are super easy to cut- modern alarms don't require a landline at all.
We've had less probems than I can fit across the fingers of my hand, with Vonage- and we've been customers for 6 years, off and on. We've made ourselves aware of both the 911 situation on our Vonage line, and our cells- and both are very reliable here, and map back to our correct physical address. It's something everyone needs to do, though, before dropping a landline.
Another problem some people will have with VoIP, is when you have a "lite" cable internet package. Limited bandwidth WILL hurt, with VoIP- and if we're doing a massive upload, we could tell the difference in sound quality (we've since upgraded our service even more, though- and would have a really tough time choking our bandwidth now!
).
It's a great technology- but, like all technology, you will have a better experience with it when you understand it fully, and know that you can support it.
My FIL was HUGE fan of Vonage when it came out....wanted us to switch. Now, a few years later, he hates Vonage. Service issues are same with him, as poster above stated.
If we didnt need a land line for Direct TV we would have gotten rid of landline years ago. It never rings. Its a waste.
Jacki, thanks for posting this b/c I was curious about different types of VOIP too, but I was in a rush to type my last post.
T-Mobile, where we have our cell contract, is now offering landlines for $10/month. I inquired about it and it turns out to be another VOIP service, which I guessed it would be at that price. You need a $50 router that communicates w/your computer......and a separate one if you have another phone upstairs...no thanks
Well.... this confirms my suspicion that since VOIP isn't quite ready to compete with traditional phone lines, BellSouth has no real competition and knows it, and that's why they're not motivated to improve their customer service.Oh, well. Maybe someday.
We've had Vonage since we moved to FL. When I worked from home, I had one line with the same area code as my office number in VA so my clients never knew I was in FL. The second line was discounted and we used that as house phone and still do. Never had a problem. It's cheap and when my husband travels overseas I'm able to call a few countries for no extra charge and others super cheap (a few cents/minute). The 911 info can be easily updated on their website. As long as your address is correct, it should work just like any other 911 call.
House alarms and TIVO usually require landline and Vonage is not a landline. If that is something you use, you'd still need a landline.
PS: If I remember correctly, Vonage sends you all the equipment you would need for free and you plug it into your cable internet hookup.
We have Vonage and love it. We do not have the alarm for the house activated so I don't know if it would cause it any problems.
I love that I can call anywhere anytime and it is my basic bill. I also love that when we travel I can log onto the site from a computer and see if we missed any calls as well as listen to any voicemails. If something happens to our internet my dh has the vonage phone number set to go to my cell phone so we won't miss any calls.
DH and I have a voip service called BroadVoice that runs nicely with our current internet provider (bright house)- it is only 17$ a month and you set the 911 service to your local 911 call center. It has always worked well and the best part is that you can set the voice mails to come as emails- so if you are away and have computer access, you can get your messages! You can also check it as you would normal voice mail. Clear calls, and DH has had it for a long time with no problems. He also has it set to have two different numbers, an orlando exchange and a west palm exchange so his parents can call without charge!!!
Just curious - which companies offer a home alarm system that doesn't require use of a land line? We have Brinks and at least from what the installer told us last year when we signed up for the service, we have to keep our land line active in order for the system to communicate with Brinks if the alarm sounds. The whole cutting the line thing has always been a worry for me so I like the idea of going a different route than land line.