My new VoIP Phone ROCKS!
 

Finally I found a VoIP product that works. A few days ago, I received a CISCO 186 ATA (free) that came with a VoIP telephone service.

There is no software to install on your computer. As a matter of fact, it does not use your computer to make calls like dial pad, or ip phone.

The Cisco ATA-186 plugs into an available port on your network switch. Next you plug a regular phone into the Cisco ATA.

The voice quality is great!

I choose a Las Vegas number, as my local phone number. The funny thing is I live 1600 miles north of Vegas.

When I make a call, it shows up as my new vegas number. Everybody i have spoken with is amazed with the high quality, and have a US phone number where i can make and receive calls using my boradband DSL internet connection......:)

see sig

hey Puremeds

That's the same service i have!

How is your service working for you?

works good!

Are you in the same city as your phone number?

how did you get the refer id in your http://www.vonage.com/?refer_id=puremeds sig? Do they have a webmaster program? If yes, can you send me the signup link please.

Enjoy the privacy while you still can...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/30539.html

Thanks for the information. Over the years I have tried tons of "software" based free internet phone call services, like dialpad. I even paid fees to phones like net2phone, with required you to use headphones on your computer.

Because the Cisco ATA 186 is a stand alone unit, using your internet connection rather than PC, in the future it may be an easy target for hackers that want to tap your phone calls.

Right now, just having a phone service in another city/state/country, which allows something to make and receive calls is a big bost for the adult industry.

I will keep my eyes open for additional information regarding VoIP call privacy.

Thanks

Is there any VoIP service provider in Canada? I'm getting tired of net2phone and these shitty quality service provider...

the service looks interesting, and seems like it might be appropriate for some here in the states that wish to tack a unique phone number to their 'whois' information... just out of curiosity, if you were a webmaster living in a very 'non porn-friendly' state like Utah or Pennsylvania and wanted a phone number associated w/ your business in a different area-code, what area-code would be an appropriate choice for conducting business within the adult industry? california, vegas, where..?

The net2phone calling cards work pretty well for me. How is the actual net2phone software? Is it just as good?

There are none that i found, that will sell (ship) directly to Canada.

here's the deal. you have to sign up with a USA address. they only ship the cisco unit to american addresses.

Who ever receives it at the American address would then have to ship it to you.

It works anywhere in world, as long as there is a DSL or Cable broadband internet connection to tap into.

Your local phone area/number you choose at sign up stays the same... No matter where you are.

BTW my friend in Asia first told me about this. He used my business address, and we simply relabled the box and FedEXed it to him. I was so impressed with the quality, i cancelled my vegas answering service, and signed up.

heh... gentle bump regarding my question about appropriate area-codes for adult webmasters to attach to their domains... is Cali or Vegas probably the best bet..?

Ask and ye shall receive :) Here is a link to the available area codes and cities.


LIST OF AVAILABLE CITIES AND AREA CODES



In my opinion, I would look towards Las Vegas, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami.

LIST OF AVAILABLE CITIES AND AREA CODES

If porn was outlawed in all of the US, Vegas would have a special provision that allows them to be exempt! Its called Sin City for a reason ;)

Question:

1.) Can you connect more than 1 telephone on this Vonage thing?

2.) Can you dial 800 numbers? (i read somewhere that you can't)

I mean more than 1 phone

i.e: cordless phone and and a snoopy phone in my little girl's room

oh yes of course, you would simply placed the cisco where your normal phone lines enter the house

You can connect the Cisco ATA 186, which VONAGE VoIP Cisco ATA Connection Information outlines.

Step 1. Make sure there is no voltage on the outlets you want to use in your home.

Step 2. Connect the Cisco ATA to any wall outlet (after verifying step 1). The conection is accomplished with a regular telephone wire, with modular jacks.

I set mine up in about 2 minutes, and pay a flat $39.95 per month for UNLIMITED calling. You can also have additional phone numbers in other cities, which will ring in on your master number. The cost for each additional number/city is $4.95 each monthly.

Here is VoIP Sign up Info . Hope this helps.

BTW, send me an email and I will send you a $40 refferal discount. my email addy is [email protected]

Here is the correct link

www.vonage.com :Graucho

Thanks PureMeds!

oops, you fot the "http" in the url.

I added it here for you :)

http://www.vonage.com

BTW, how many long distance minutes have you racked up. I am well over 600 minutes so far.

SWEET!!!!!

Hey guys, I just realized the link to vonage VoIP that goes direct to their front page will not get you the $40 bonus.

There is a special url code for each $40 bonus referal.

I would have to refer you as a friend.

Friend and Family referrals get $40 off.

That is like a month free.

Here's the deal. Send me an email, and I will enter you as my friend...referral. I will list you as my referal, and they will send you a special link so you can get the $40 bonus.

You get $40 (free Month) and I get a $40 credit on my account. This is a win/win situation.

Here is my email for all of my friends. [email protected]

Sorry for any confussion

That's all fine and good, gimme a call when you get a power failure :thumbsup

You make a good point. If the power fail, you don't have VoIP, unless you are on a generator.

I'll tell ya, being someone who over the past 7 or 8 years has tried almost every talk over the the internet program that came along.

Hopefully some will agree with me... most of them did not meet expectations, or completly failed. It was almost like those programs were a forerunner to the Verizon commercial..."can you hear me now?"

As adult webmasters, we build working relationships with others in our profession. Often times there are geographic distances, and high long distance bills.

Personally I don't tend to have power outages, and this service for 40 bucks a month has already proved itself to be a valuable tool.

So now, when you ask...can you hear me now???

I respond. YES, CRYSTAL CLEAR.

Can I use a Cisco 7960 VoIP phone with Vonage? This phone isn't an analog phone, but it has the gateway in it - so i guess i can program the phone with the vonage setting and use it without the router they provide....

Any ideas?

Cisco 7960: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3021936639&category=11 909

That current price on ebay is good $202, but it is also 3 days till end of auction.

As far as I know, vonage does not directly support the 7960. I am sure there are those that can make it work.

With vonage you don't have to buy the cisco ata 186. They send it to you free.

After I placed the order, I called them, and they charged me $17, which I gladly paid to have it arrive the next day/overnight.

I am curious, what are Cisco ATA 186 going for on eBay?

Just thought I'd quickly contribute to this thread... looking at the vonage service and have contacted their support with some questions.. sure other people have the same questions --

They state on their FAX page that they provide a free dedicated fax line with the service. This, according to their customer service, is only partitially true. They provide a free dedicated fax number and line for business accounts. It's $9.99/month on residential accounts for 250 minutes of ourgoing fax calls (still a pretty damn good deal) and any normal fax machine or fax modem works fine with it.

Also, being a past user of SIP based voip software - I've had a real problem getting it to work though a FreeBSD firewall. They never clearly stated it would work, but they did say it will work with any NAT based firewall/router (which is what I use on my BSD box)... so I'm probably going to cross my fingers and hope for the best on that :)

As for the power outage thing... you can get a cheap UPS for under $100 now and that should power the router and voip gateway for quite a few hours... probably isn't going to save your phone service if the power is out for days, but you'll get a few hours out of it at least.

Anyone else have any experiences they want to share with this before I spend money I shouldn't spend on more communication services? lol

CGI

I pay $40/mo and get 750 daytime and unlimitied nights and weekends with SPRINT on a CELL phone. And I have my phone # in another city.

How is this thing so special? Seems shitty for $40/mo.

Oh, all nationwide long distance included.

What kinds of internet connection and upload do you gus have that use vonage? If you guys have T1's I can see why most of you would say quality was good.

When dialpad was free I had cable internet 1.5/128k and SDSL 1.1mbits/1.1. On cable it sounded great to me on either connection. However, on cable the other person would frequently hear broken up voice and I had to switch to other connection for normal quality.

I just noticed new service like vonage at: http://www.iconnecthere.com Has anyone tried this one?

wendy b if u sign up for the business plan. will the business name show up on the caller id or will it be something generic like on cellfones where it says Wireless?

thanks

First, I feel that you can not directly compare dialpad to Vonage. Vonage works on DSL / Cable modems.

When you sign up, the company will send you a Cisco ATA device. The device simply plugs into an available port on your switch. You then plug a regular phone into the Cisco ATA.

Pick up the phone and you got dialtone.

I see the key advantage is the ablity to have multiple phone numbers in multiple cities if you need/choose. all numbers will come to your primary number, and those other phone numbers are just $5.00 each.


example, if you are a bi-coastal big shot :), you coulad have numbers in 212 new york city, 213 los angeles, 702 las vegas, vhicago, cleveland etc.

No, your business name will not show up, however your area code and phone number will appear.

Also, some have asked regarding shipping...

The company Vonage will only ship to physical USA address.

You will have to have to unit shipped to you if you are out of country.

FYI the shipping weight is about 5 pounds

Wow this is awesome for us Aussies if we ever wanted a local US presence. Do you ship to Australia ?

> The company Vonage will only ship to physical USA address.

Does that just mean it's extra to ship to OZ?

Also, will it work with our phone system down here (we have RJ-11 or RJ45 adapters too) or would we need a US phone or something?

Thanks!

see sig (use a broker if you need it shipped to OZ)

You are very correct... folks in Australia could have one or several USA Phone numbers. Funny thing is hen you call someone, your USA number comes up in their caller ID. I call Europe and Asia all the time with mine, and quality is very clear.

Keep in mind, although you are in the land down under, the service considers the area code and primary number you choose as your primary "local" area. Calls you make on phone will be as if you are in usa. you can pick up that phone and call any number in usa or canada like it was a local unmetered call. eople in usa would dial your usa number, and avoid the internatioal charges.

Having a usa phone number will lend the appearence you are not so distant.

Real phones, with caller ID and other enhanced features.

hit me on icq, we will talk private if you need help shipping ICQ Number: 324534565

It's exciting technology.... but wait till you've had it a few months. All of my friends that have used services like this have shitcanned them after 60 days!

Brad

real exciting when its been around for years:1orglaugh

Hey Brad good to see you online today, and hope all is going well.
I would be the first to agree, ths type of service is not for everybody.

Some people are satisfied with their local telco, others use their cell phones to take advantage of included LD minutes. Unfortunatly, some of those sweet deals are not available in less competive markets.

Also, tere is no need to have an unlimited USA/CANADA calling plan, if someone don't have anyone to call to justify the $40 monthly.

If someone s opening their phone bill and month after month looking at $100 or $300 phone charges, ten I would suggest they consider Vonage.

If one, only does $23.00 monthly in LD, they would be best be served by stayingwith their local telco.

There could be many, many various reasons why someone dropped service, however i am sure that there were no complaints reguarding qualty of calls and/or service.

Rob check yur email for $40 off coupon/link.
We just resent it to your mail box.

Although the coupon says residential, IT Will Work For The Business Plan Too.

Yes it can be used for the $49.95 monthly Unlimited Business Plan.

WendyB

Actually, both of my friends that dropped two seperate services did so because of quality complaints. Both services would drop calls frequently for no apparent reason.

PureMeds, :321GFY

Cheers,

Brad

Hi Brad,

Is there a possibility that Vonage is being confused with other software voice services?

I am also a member of a popular VoIP BBS, whose members put Vonage and other VoIP providers under a microscope.

Dropped Calls and/or poor call quality has not been an issue. Anyone is welcome to call my Las Vegas office number and hear for themself the call quality.

so $40/month, how much is l/d? i got a calling card that gives me 1cent a min to NY from here....

free

The $40 per month get you unlimited Local / and Unlimited calls to any where in USA & Canada. You may also have additional numbers in multiple cities, for $5.00 each.

I assume you are in Canada. With te Vonage VoIP service, you could have a local new york city (city of your choice) phone number that you answer at your home in Montreal.

Do Not confuse Vonage with those software based VoIP services of the past. Vonage does not use your computer.

None of that hook up the headphones crap.
There is no software to install.


Vonage just taps into your DSL/Cable modem connection

is it available in Canada yet?

I read about that service in my PC Mag, it looked great. I should check it out, so free callin anywhere for 40/month? That's not bad, not bad at all, i'll have to check that out!

jDoG

Holy cow has VoIP come a long way...

You got that right.
I bet you remember the old days when you had to install software in your computer, put on headphones, and spend the entire conversation adjusting your microphone.

I have a question for the people that have VoIP:

Does it kill your connection?

(Example: If you're playing, lets say, Counter-Strike and someone calls you, would your ping go to shit?)

Phone sex? That's how I need to test it to make sure it works you know.