WhichVoIP Blog

Just a quick note folks regarding Lingo setup, in particular for the Linksys SPA-2102. 

I use Lingo for home phone service (have done for years) but recently had to get my VoIP box updated and received a new one in the mail free of charge from Lingo and this one was from Linksys (SPA2102).

The recommended setup in the users guide is as follows:

(Cable/DSL Modem) –> (VoIP Box) –> (Router if needed) –> (PCs)

as this allows the VoIP box to provide QoS (i.e. it can bandwidth limit the data from the router to ensure your voice is top priority when it comes to your broadband bandwidth).

However in the QUICK guide it shows the recommended setup as follows:

(Cable/DSL Modem) –> (Router) –> (VoIP ATA) –> and PCs hanging off router too if needed

This does NOT provide QoS so be careful if you are making calls at the same time as the internet is being used!!

One other note by the way (this took an hour or so to figure out so may save you some time)

The new Lingo VoIP box they are giving out is the Linksys SPA-2102. It is a VoIP ATA and router combo and is a decent piece of hardware.

HOWEVER, it lacks one thing that may be important for you folks that work from home. It does not allow VPN through the router! This is not ideal but there is a fix I stumbled across. Enable DMZ (De-militarized Zone). This essentially disables the router function in the SPA2102. This is fine for me as I have a router connected to the SPA-2102 that DOES allow VPN pass-through. This works for me but may not be good for all situations so up to you

Cheers.
Andy

P.S Reason I needed new box if you are interested. For some reason my old VoIP box would not allow me to join conference calls, I could phone in but it would not accept the passcode to enter the meeting.

So it’s 2008 and you’ve made your new years resolutions.  If one of them is to save money in 2008 then take a look at VoIP service, also referred to as Broadband phone service, digital voice, internet phone to name but a few….yes those marketing folk have made it very confusing!  All it is folks is telephone service over your broadband internet connection.

 Not only will this phone technology save you a considerable amount of cash (can be as much as $500 per year) there are some great additional benefits.

One of the great things about VoIP phone service is the vast amount of cool phone service features that comes FREE with your plan. If you don’t have a VoIP phone service yet then you can learn more about the most common VoIP features (well, 36 of them!) on our VoIP Features page.

Everyone has a favorite VoIP feature. To be honest I have two favorites. The first one is the portability of my phone number (my VoIP provider boasts the travel globally feature). I love the fact that I can take my ATA with me when we go and visit family in a different state. One benefit, no need to go through the jam-packed answering machine when we get home. I’ve not taken it out of the country yet but next time I go I want to give it a try (have you?). My other on par favorite is the Virtual Numbers feature. This is a great VoIP phone service feature. You can add extra phone numbers to your primary line, with any area code of your selection (as long as your VoIP provider has it available). So, you live in one state but some of your family and friends live in a different state. No problem, you get a virtual number added to your phone service with the area code of where they live. Now your family and friends are only a local call away, saving them money (and no more excuses about long distance fees!).

Well, that’s just two of my personal favorite VoIP phone service features. Please post a comment to this blog and let us know your favorite VoIP feature and why. Dont be shy now! If you let us know we can make a list of the favorite favorites!

Oh, and by the way, if you are looking for a broadband phone service with certain features (for example virtual numbers) then you can use our FREE advanced search engine. This allows you to select the VoIP features you really want (the must-haves) with your VoIP phone service and searches our comprehensive database for all the VoIP provider plans that meet your search criteria.

So act on that new year resolution now and get it over and done with

Happy new year folks!

Andy

Been a while since we updated you with our Top 5 stats.  If you recall, we highlight the top 5 providers on our website for searches, reviews and provider visits:

Andy

Ready for what you may ask. Well if you have seen the news today Vonage lost another lawsuit possibly putting them closer to being out of business. Several months ago Sunrocket ran out of money effectively ending their VoIP service, suddenly there were 200,000 Sunrocket customers looking for a new VoIP service. This put a significant strain on the likes of Viatalk with a huge influx of customers. The strain didn’t manifest itself in a lack of quality in their service but on their ability to provide, in a timely manner, all these new customers with equipment.

At last count Vonage had over 2 million customers, ten times as many as Sunrocket. If Vonage were to go out of business then the influx of customers to the likes of Viatalk would be an order of magnitude greater than when Sunrocket went under. I’m sure they have learned their lesson and have contingency plans particularly as the Vonage demise is being played out in the media whereas with Sunrocket being a privately funded company could conceal its problems until the bitter end.

Over the next few weeks we’ll monitor traffic and see if there is an increase in customers moving to the likes of Viatalk, VoIP.com, VoIPYourLife, etc check back for updates.

Technorati Tags: Vonage lawsuit, Vonage VoIP, Viatalk VoIP, VoIP.com, VoIPYourLife

In the past 6 months Vonage has lost two patent infringement lawsuits. The first in March of this year Vonage was ordered to pay Verizon $58 million plus 5.5% of any future revenue. The second was today with them being ordered to pay Sprint Nextel $69.5 million as well as 5% of any future revenues.  Shares of Vonage holdings Corp plummeted by over 30% on the news.

Vonage said in a written statement that it would appeal the decision but also would begin developing workarounds so it won’t need to use the disputed technology.

“We are disappointed that the jury did not recognize that our technology differs from that of Sprint’s patents,” said Sharon O’Leary, chief legal officer for Vonage. “Our top priority is to provide high-quality, reliable digital phone service to our customers.”

Vonage have the money to pay but the bigger issue is the 10% of lost future revenue. It is going to be extremely difficult for them to invest in technology and push VoIP further into the mainstream. So what does this mean for existing customers – probably nothing for now. Vonage certainly are not going to disappear overnight and customers are not going to loose their service, however without the required investment it’s difficult to see Vonage continue to grow and add to its customer base.  They are starting to look cheap now for a take over by the likes of Verizon who could pick up a couple of million customers for not a lot.

Technorati Tags: Vonage Lawsuit, Verizon lawsuit, Sprint Nextel Lawsuit, Vonage VoIP, Verizon VoIP

There’s a brand spanking new version of Skype available now for download. To take advantage of all the latest features and improvements simply upgrade to the new version for free. Skype offers an easy way to test out a VoIP service, all you need is a PC and a Broadband connection.

According to Skype the new softphone delivers the following:

• Improved sound quality.
• Updated and user-friendly interface.
• Many more features to help you to stay in touch more easily, share ideas, thoughts and express yourself.

It’s easy to update Skype: 

• It’s free to download and easy to install.
• You don’t have to uninstall your old version first.
• All your settings will remain like your contacts and Skype Credit balance. 

Before purchasing a VoIP service I used Skype a lot to call friends and family abroad. Sound quality was good and it was easy to use however now that I have Lingo VoIP with free calls to Europe I no longer use Skype, so if anyone has comments about the new release please leave them here or write a review.

Calum

Many VoIP providers such as Viatalk and Voip.com are seeing a huge increase in new customers due to the demise of Sunrocket. We have seen signups increase by several thousand percent for these providers however we are starting to see the effects of this in terms of the odd bad review. These VoIP providers do not staff or plan for such an increase which is the smart business thing to do. However this dramatic increase over a short period of time must be a drain on their resources.

We are starting to see a few reviews coming in complaining about the length of time it’s taking to get the equipment, this was almost inevitable given the significant rate of increase of new signups. This strain on their customer service means wait times to be dealt with are also increasing. Hopefully this is temporary and they are addressing this need with more trained personnel but it’s unlikely to be fixed within a week or two. So be aware that wait times for equipment and customer service may be longer than typical. We are not seeing any complaints for bad quality or lack of features so if you do not mind the potential of a slightly longer wait then these are still very good alternatives for Sunrocket.

So which companies are best suited to the increase in traffic? I’d probably say Vonage, Lingo and Packet8. These companies have a large customer base so they tend to have a well staffed customer service department and will have more power when trying to get equipment from their suppliers.

Calum

http://www.whichvoip.com

With both Sunrocket and Allo.com closing the doors recently, I am sure there are more than a few of you out there that are slightly miffed to say the least. All of you lost your voip phone service with little or no notice and may be wondering if you will continue to use VoIP. Well rest assured, there are still a number of good VoIP providers out there and we have created a list of some of the better alternatives for you to try. Check out this link and remember that most have a 30 day money back guarantee:

http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/sunrocket.htm

Now to the main point of this Blog. Some of you most likely signed up for a 1 or 2 year voip service plan, that involved advance payment, such as Sunrocket’s $199 for 1 year of service. Well unfortunately when a company goes out of business, there is little that you can do about this lost money. However, some of our customers have mentioned that they have called the dispute department of their credit card companies and have been successul in getting some money refunded. Now, I don’t know if this is credit card specific or if there is still some money lying around in a Sunrocket account somewhere for these refunds. Regardless, it is worth a try, so give the customer service dept a quick call.

Good luck.

Technorati Tags: VoIP, Allo, Allo.com, Sunrocket, Sunrocket Bankruptcy, Allo Bankruptcy

First Sunrocket pulls the plug on its service and now Allo.com has announced that it is to close its doors on the 31st of July due to technical difficulties (and more most likely).

We have put together a page on some options for current Sunrocket and Allo VoIP customers.  Folks don’t give up on VoIP, we are at a time where some consolidation is taking place and the weak are getting weaker.  There are still many good Internet phone providers out there, some small and some giants - you know Comcast, Verizon and AT&T all have VoIP service right?

Check out this page for some other options:

http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/sunrocket.htm

Andy

Technorati Tags: VoIP, Allo, Allo.com, Sunrocket, Sunrocket Bankruptcy, Allo Bankruptcy

The rumors are that Sunrocket is heading for bankruptcy according to many respected newspapers today. They have let many of their employees go and are left with a skeleton staff apparently. Rumors are that there are two other companies looking at buying them - watch this space.

It is difficult to say what your chances are at getting a refund if you are a current Sunrocket customer. As you would expect the other VoIP providers are jumping on the bandwagon here.

Viatalk in particular is playing a masterpiece here:

http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/visit_site.php?id=vt_500

They are offering to buy out sunrocket contracts and 2nd phone line free all for $199 per year. Also free shipping. We are seeing HUGE demand for this on our site right now to be honest ….as you would expect!

Technorati Tags: VoIP, Sunrocket, Sunrocket Bankruptcy, Viatalk

Hi folks.

Just a quick note to let you know we have gone over the 1000 mark for our VoIP Review postings.

If you are searching for a VoIP service provider I really recommend taking a look at our VoIP review section on our site to get a feel for a provider before signing up.

Some of our smaller providers only have a few postings but we have many providers with more than 20 and some in the hundreds.  Definitely a good enough sample size to aid your decision making process.

As a reminder you can reach our VoIP review section at this URL:

http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/voip_reviews.htm

Andy

The whichvoip.com blog has been providing the highest rated user submitted VoIP review for over 6 months now. I think its time to take a look at which VoIP Service Providers have been ‘voted’ by the consumer as providing top quality all around VoIP phone service.

The following provides a list of all the VoIP providers that made the “VoIP Review of the Week”, and how many times, in the previous 6 months.

• SunRocket is the leader of the pack with 9 appearances in VoIP Review of the Week.
• ViaTalk is second with 6 appearances.
• VoIPYourLife takes bronze with 4 appearances.
• VoicePulse and Vonage are tied for fifth with 2 appearances in VoIP Review of the Week.
• Last but not least, VoIPgo has appeared once.

We’ll see how this list changes over the next 6 months.

Technorati Tags: VoIP Review, SunRocket Review, ViaTalk Review, VoIPYourLife Review, VoicePulse Review, Vonage Review, VoIPgo Review

Lingo have just announced their own PC Softphone. A softphone is simply a software application that can be downloaded to your PC and it gives you the freedom to make and receive phone calls from your desktop or laptop. Softphones genarlly give you the same features you would get with a VoIP or Broadband phone like caller ID and call waiting.

There has been some debate recently on the state of Vonage. Will Vonage survive? Will Verizon put Vonage out of business? A little bit of recent history will let you know where these questions come from.

Shortly after Vonage went public in mid 2006, Verizon sued Vonage for infringement on seven patents Verizon own, technology for completing phone calls between VoIP users and people using phones on the traditional public switched network, authenticating VoIP callers, validating VoIP callers’ accounts, fraud protection, providing enhanced features, using Wi-Fi handsets with VoIP services and monitoring VoIP caller usage. Vonage obviously denies this and has defended it vigorously, however so far the courts have swayed towards Verizon. Vonage publically state they have workaounds in development or developed in the event Verizon win.

So what does this mean for you as a customer or a potential customer. The worst that could happen is that Verizon win and Vonage have to spend millions of dollars implementing workarounds they have developed. Alternatively Vonage could go out of business and file for bankruptcy then immediately come back into the VoIP market or Vonage could win and continue to be the largest VoIP service provider out there. If you are a current Vonage customer and you are happy with the service they are providing then there is no real reason to move, however for new customers this law suit is no doubt causing concern for Vonage. It is difficult to market with the specter of patent infringements hanging over you.

Vonage are by far the largest VoIP provider with 2.5 million subscribers, in terms of experience in the VoIP market no other provider can match it. Vonage have a both residential plans and business plans boasting a vast array of features from call waiting to Enhanced 911, from Fax to toll free numbers and many more. Vonage certainly have enough features to keep the average phone user happy regardless of whether it’s for a small business or for a residential phone.

If you are in doubt read the Vonage reviews from current customers or click here to see providers that have at least the same features as Vonage. As you will see there are not many providers competing with Vonage in terms of features however their reviews are not the best.

Technorati Tags: Vonage, Verizon, Voicewing, Vonage patent, Broadband Phone, VoIP,  Digital Voice

SKYPE have just announced a special promotion allowing users to have free VoIP calls to anywhere and to any phone worldwide.  It is for only one day unfortunately, mothers day the 13th of May. It does exclude satellite phones and premium numbers if you read the fine print. However it is a perfect opportunity for you to try a VoIP service and besides free calls to just about anywhere in the world can’t be all bad.

Calum