[BC] Vonage?

[Rich Wood]

------ At 10:45 PM 1/25/2008, Craig Bowman wrote: -------

>Last summer I has a DSL line installed at my boat, terminated in my 
>dock box.  It was an ATT line and (same as you) it would have cost 
>more to have DSL without dial tone than with.  I had the dial tone 
>but never plugged a phone in to the line.

I chose the dry loop at $5 more because adding dial tone would be an 
additional $30 a month for basic local service. I have no need for a 
Verizon phone with Vonage and use my cell as the fail-safe number. 
Vonage rings both my home and cell phone at the same time.

With Charter cable I used to have to reboot the modem every couple of 
days and its upload speed was very slow, often causing problems with 
Vonage. With Verizon I get the same download speed and twice the 
upload speed of Charter. I've rebooted it once in 3 months after a 
power failure. It's been much more reliable than Charter. The move to 
DSL was prompted by a $160 monthly bill for cable and broadband on a 
system that's lucky to pass a single analog signal. I went with 
DirecTV because of their HD channels.

Except for the usual utility-type hidden charges and unfulfilled 
promises I've been reasonably happy with DirecTV. I can't get the 
locals in HD so I have an off air receiver. To get the networks in HD 
I need a waiver. That hasn't come through, yet.

The cable companies are touting a "low" cost of $33 for VOIP if you 
buy their whole package of cable, Internet and phone. Vonage is 
$24.95 and offers International long distance to many countries.

Rich