Help with finding a solution

[annette]

Hello:

I signed up with the Voipgo service about 4 weeks ago. Since then, I have had a day of no dial tone, several days of a fast busy signal, consistently poor sound quality, and a non-working soft phone. Sometimes customer service ignores me. Sometimes they are very apologetic. Occasionally they try different alternatives (changing the "codec" etc.) Sometimes they say there is no problem. Sometimes they walk me through long forms via instant messaging. At the moment, they are "unavailable."

I really rely on my phone and would like to find a very good service to switch to -- one which will have good sound quality and excellent reliability. I do require an unlimited plan for N. Am. but I really don't care about the features except for voice mail. I'd also like something with a refund/guarantee because I would feel very depressed to find myself in this same situation while also having to argue my way out of a commitment (which rules out Voip Your Life because their cs dept has stated that if I signed up and then opted out, I'd still owe around $50 for activation and first month fees.)

The other question I have, and which drove my reason for joining this forum, was whether a change in service could alter the reliability/sound quality issues. Voipgo has speculated that the ATA they sent me was fried, but they are making replacement difficult and inconvenient. Also, I'm only interested in voip because it's cheap but am open to other inexpensive technologies.

I hope it's not a misuse of this forum to write my concerns here. But I figure that if there was a more knowledgeable person out there who could point me in the right direction for a Voip or relevant service in Montreal, I would be extremely grateful. Not having a phone that can be used for audible communication or used at all has placed me at many impossible professional and personal impasses.

Thanks again,
Annette

[admin]

Hi Annette.

Sorry to hear you are having so many problems. I am speculating but I think some of the problems we have been seeing are related to the recent demise of Sunrocket. This has resulted in over 200,000 customers looking for new service and other providers such as Voipgo have been inundated with new customers. Not sure but may explain the blip people are seeing in their service at the moment due to higher demands on the providers infrastructure.

Have a look at this article and try some of the things suggested, interested to hear your results:
http://www.whichvoip.com/Intermitten...voip-phone.htm

What does your setup look like? Do you have PCs, routers/switches and how are they all connected to the broadband modem and VoIP ATA. What speed do you get (uplink as well as downlink) on your broadband connection - with and without the VoIP ATA.

You could definitely try other providers but may be worth doing some investigation first - often these problems are setup related or broadband related so better to fix the source of the problem.

Thanks.
Andy

P.S No this is not a misuse of this forum, this is exactly the kind of posts that should be posted here :-)

[annette]

Hi there Andy,

Thanks for your response. I looked over the article you sent. A tech did actually try switching to a 'lower?' codec, and also switching back from it. It doesn't seem to have made a difference. I'll look again for more tips but it looks like the configurations are more relevant for pcs than macs. My computer skills are somewhat basic though (due to a somewhat impatient temperament especially about voip) so I could be misinterpreting.

I have a webstar cable modem which is supposed to get 7mbps down 700kbps up attached to a linksys spa 2102. my internet provider is b2b2c. i've tried speed testing and the speed quantity runs 10 or 20 percent lower than advertised but should be more than capable for handling voip. I've also phoned b2b2c to find out if they have experienced connection drops since my calls hve been cutting off mid-way. two separate techs on different days gave a consistent response about no drops in the last 180 plus days. my computer is fairly new, a mac c2d that runs fine in all other respects, and worked with a videotron phone last year, so shouldn't have any problems.

Today I have no dial tone whatsoever and the voipgo IM service does not work. The rep who was supposed to get back to me ignored me last night and seems to be also unavailable today. I left them a panicked message last night that I needed reasonable voice quality for an important call this morning but instead seem to have woken up to a completely dead line (again.)

I've asked voipgo repeatedly if they were having problems, but they continue to tell me that I am the only person with any major complaints in the entire Montreal area. This should mean that either they sent me a fried modem, or that the problem is easy to fix, or that they are lying.

Thanks again. Any further suggestions or help you can give would be appreciated.
Annette

[admin]

Annette.

Assuming your broadband is good then, have you tried removing the router and MAC from the equation. Have your cable modem connected to your VoIP ATA and phone and that is all - still playing up?

Can you take your ATA to a friends house that has a good broadband connection (and VoIP if possible). If your friend has VoIP try their ATA at your house, this is one of the beauties of VoIP, it is global, just take your ATA with you.

Keep us posted.

Andy

[ReuvenNY]

I also signed up with them and liked their service, but it is almost impossible to communicate with them. I am afraid that I'll have to cancel my account.