is internet telephone service any good?

Question

can anyone give me their real life experiences and recommend a carrier?

Answer 1

I have my Packet8 VoIP service for over 3 years, and I love it....my town is E911 ready...so it goes to my local 911 and Police dept.

http://www.packet8.net/



I have wifi-max/fixed.....so I don't have to worry about the power going out....my signal comes from the cell phone tower.....!!

I also use MagicJack.com as a second line thru my computer in the daytime for all the kids...my Packet8 goes directly thru the modem, so the computer doesn't have to be on....!!

http://www.magicjack.com/site/index.html

you can email me if you want for more info....

Answer 2

I don't need a whole bunch of extra features that I'll never use, nor unlimited long distance, which I'll seldom use.

Considering it relies on my broadband service, which usually goes out a couple times a year minimum, it's too unreliable to switch to any of the internet telephone companies.

My good old fashioned traditional home phone has been ultra reliable, giving me faithful service for well over 18 years now without any interruption. The last interruption was the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989. Even then the telephone system was up and running, but it was swamped with calls and the circuits jammed. It quickly cleared up in a couple of hours though.

The monopoly phone companies have had 100 years of development and regulation to make traditional phone service utterly reliable.

If you don't order a bunch of features like call waiting (completely irritating) or caller ID, simple phone service runs me about $17 a month. Add a 3rd party long distance company at 3.9 cents per minute with no monthly fees and no minimums, and my monthly phone bill is usually about $20.

Answer 3

don't know where the first answer gets his info from.. in the beginning days of VoIP this was true for 911, but now E911 is required for ALL VoIP providers (softphones like skype, yahoo voice not included)

the BEST VoIP service would be thru your cable company, as the signal doesn't travel thru the internet, but thru there own internal network, and the voice packets are given priority... other VoIP services that use the internet to transmit your voice packets can not provide that the voice packets will receive priority, so there is potential for dropped packets, or issues with call quality...

Answer 4

It would be great if you were able to connect to a regular 911 operator. Basically what you get is , transferred to a national safety line run by the company that supplies your VoIp service. Plus your phone will not work if you computer modem is not on.