Vonage service now available in Canada

[Lei Wu]

Vonage is now providing VoIP service in Canada:

http://www.vonage.ca/

[DevilsPGD]

Post by Lei Wu
http://www.vonage.ca/

Yup! Me, I signed up already (I'm an x-Vonage.com user)

[Anthony Tibbs]

OK, I should really go read up on this, but if I'm reading this right... for
$45.99 (+ $1.95 regulatory fee & $39.99 activation fee), you can call
anywhere in Canada OR the U.S., at any time of the day, for any length of
time, at no extra cost?

What's the catch (besides the requirement for a good broadband provider)? I
would think that Bell et al would be rather disgruntled to see this!

Post by Lei Wu
http://www.vonage.ca/

[DevilsPGD]

In message

Post by Anthony Tibbs
OK, I should really go read up on this, but if I'm reading this right... for
$45.99 (+ $1.95 regulatory fee & $39.99 activation fee), you can call
anywhere in Canada OR the U.S., at any time of the day, for any length of
time, at no extra cost?

If you use it too much, they'll call and if you answer with a business
name then you'll get bumped up to business rates, but as long as you're
using it for personal use, you'll be fine.

Post by Anthony Tibbs
What's the catch (besides the requirement for a good broadband provider)? I
would think that Bell et al would be rather disgruntled to see this!

No catch -- They don't have to maintain physical lines, SLAs,
installers/techs, on-site repair, this all cuts down their costs.

[Madonna]

Post by DevilsPGD
In message

Post by Anthony Tibbs
What's the catch (besides the requirement for a good broadband provider)? I
would think that Bell et al would be rather disgruntled to see this!

No catch -- They don't have to maintain physical lines, SLAs,
installers/techs, on-site repair, this all cuts down their costs.

The catch: if you use this to replace your phone line you'll be using
a non-DSL broadband provider. If you use Cogeco or Shaw it's probably
OK, but if you use Rogers they may cut you off without warning.

[Slick]

Post by Madonna
The catch: if you use this to replace your phone line you'll be using
a non-DSL broadband provider. If you use Cogeco or Shaw it's probably
OK, but if you use Rogers they may cut you off without warning.

Care to elaborate on what you mean by this? I'm currently using Rogers
and the Vonage basic 500 plan is looking pretty good to me and I'm
considering giving it a try. Where else could I get 500 minutes a
month calling to anywhere in North Americal with all the goodies like
call display / voice mail / etc... for $20 month.

Darryl

[Madonna]

Post by Slick

Post by Madonna
The catch: if you use this to replace your phone line you'll be using
a non-DSL broadband provider. If you use Cogeco or Shaw it's probably
OK, but if you use Rogers they may cut you off without warning.

Care to elaborate on what you mean by this? I'm currently using Rogers
and the Vonage basic 500 plan is looking pretty good to me and I'm
considering giving it a try. Where else could I get 500 minutes a
month calling to anywhere in North Americal with all the goodies like
call display / voice mail / etc... for $20 month.

Rogers has a secret bandwidth limit, go over and they cut you off.
For all the details you can read the threads in this newsgroup that have
"Rogers" in the title.

[Tony Reed]

In article <NoAec.12908436$***@news.easynews.com>,
DevilsPGD <***@crazyhat.net> wrote:

:Jack: So what's your impression of Alar?
:Teal'C: That he is concealing something.
:Jack: Like what?
:Teal'C: I am unsure - he is concealing it.

That's from the same episode as:

Daniel: I was speaking metaphorically.
Jack: Dont', it's not fair to Teal'c

[repatch]

Post by Tony Reed
:Jack: So what's your impression of Alar?
:Teal'C: That he is concealing something.
:Jack: Like what?
:Teal'C: I am unsure - he is concealing it.
Daniel: I was speaking metaphorically.
Jack: Dont', it's not fair to Teal'c

Hehe, reminds me of the line that went something:

Jack: Damn, guess I can't go on Oprah
Teal'C: What is an Oprah?

The writers of that show are great. TTYL

[JF Mezei]

Post by Anthony Tibbs
OK, I should really go read up on this, but if I'm reading this right... for
$45.99 (+ $1.95 regulatory fee & $39.99 activation fee), you can call
anywhere in Canada OR the U.S., at any time of the day, for any length of
time, at no extra cost?

If you are on DSL, then you have to pay for basic telephone service first. So
the $45.99 is essentially for added features over your basic phone line and
unlimited long distance.

If you are on cable, you might be able to ditch your landline service, but
then you also lose 911 service or the ability to call the hydro company after
lengthy outage etc. Just think about it carefully.

[Madonna]

Post by JF Mezei
If you are on cable, you might be able to ditch your landline service, but
then you also lose 911 service

Unless you have a cell phone.

Post by JF Mezei
the ability to call the hydro company after lengthy outage etc.

Depends how call display is set up.

[*.*]

Or a generator or beffy grunty UPS.

Post by Madonna

Post by JF Mezei
If you are on cable, you might be able to ditch your landline service, but
then you also lose 911 service

Unless you have a cell phone.

Post by JF Mezei
the ability to call the hydro company after lengthy outage etc.

Depends how call display is set up.

[JF Mezei]

Post by *.*
Or a generator or beffy grunty UPS.

Unless you string wires to the neighbourhood concentrator for cable, you could
have the biggest turbine generator on your roof, and it still won't make a
difference if the cable infrastructure isn't fully UPSed on the street.

Even Bell, during the big Ontario blackout last year had problems because
while the Bell voice infrastructure is most excellent in terms of blackouts,
the DLSAMs and other equippemnt needed to give you DSL isn't necessarily
backed up as well.

[Madonna]

Post by JF Mezei
Even Bell, during the big Ontario blackout last year had problems because
while the Bell voice infrastructure is most excellent in terms of blackouts,
the DLSAMs and other equippemnt needed to give you DSL isn't necessarily
backed up as well.

But Bell also gives you 10 free hours of dial-up service.

[Madonna]

Post by Madonna

Post by JF Mezei
Even Bell, during the big Ontario blackout last year had problems because
while the Bell voice infrastructure is most excellent in terms of blackouts,
the DLSAMs and other equippemnt needed to give you DSL isn't necessarily
backed up as well.

But Bell also gives you 10 free hours of dial-up service.

...which won't work obviously if you don't have regular phone service. :(

[repatch]

Post by Madonna

Post by JF Mezei
Even Bell, during the big Ontario blackout last year had problems because
while the Bell voice infrastructure is most excellent in terms of blackouts,
the DLSAMs and other equippemnt needed to give you DSL isn't necessarily
backed up as well.

But Bell also gives you 10 free hours of dial-up service.

Very true, which worked fine during the whole blackout period for me. To
be honest I don't know if DSL would have worked, didn't think using the UPS
was worth getting the DSL and router powered. TTYL

[Marc Bissonnette]

Post by Madonna

Post by JF Mezei
If you are on cable, you might be able to ditch your landline
service, but then you also lose 911 service

Unless you have a cell phone.

Post by JF Mezei
the ability to call the hydro company after lengthy outage etc.

Depends how call display is set up.

Yeah, well, it's worth some serious thought on whether you want to rely on
a cell phone for 911 services.

I am a volunteer firefighter and was on a call a few months ago that had
started out as a chimney fire and ended up being a lot worse - when we
asked the homeowner what took her so long to call 911, given that they were
all awake and the fact that there was a fire was *really* obvious (by their
own accounts), she said that her cellphone kept cutting out and she had to
drive to a neighbour's to call 911.

What would have been an inconvenience and maybe a couple of hundred dollars
in chimney repairs ended up costing her thousands of dollars in interior
repairs and cleaning.

It's something you should think *very* carefully about when deciding to
entirely rely on a cellular service for 911 (especially if you've got small
children or medically fragile people inside - a dead cell battery could
literally end up killing them in a situation where minutes can mean the
difference between living or dying.)

[Madonna]

Post by Marc Bissonnette
I am a volunteer firefighter and was on a call a few months ago that had
started out as a chimney fire and ended up being a lot worse - when we
asked the homeowner what took her so long to call 911, given that they were
all awake and the fact that there was a fire was *really* obvious (by their
own accounts), she said that her cellphone kept cutting out and she had to
drive to a neighbour's to call 911.

If you got to *drive* to your neighboor you probably live in the woods
where there isn't high speed internet in the first place.

If there is a fire in the house, the general advice given by firemen is
to first get out of the house to safety *then* make a phone call from
the neighbors.

Most people nowadays seem to have one of those cordless phones that
never seem to work properly. Go to electronics stores and the vast
majority of phones are cordless because they make a lot more profit
from 100$ phones than from 20$ phones.

Post by Marc Bissonnette
What would have been an inconvenience and maybe a couple of hundred dollars
in chimney repairs ended up costing her thousands of dollars in interior
repairs and cleaning.

*She* paid? No insurance?

Post by Marc Bissonnette
It's something you should think *very* carefully about when deciding to
entirely rely on a cellular service for 911 (especially if you've got small
children or medically fragile people inside - a dead cell battery could
literally end up killing them in a situation where minutes can mean the
difference between living or dying.)

Yeah, people have died trying to cell-dial before reaching 911. And a
lot of people buy a cell "for safety". That's kind of contradictory.

Besides, your life is probably more at risk if you drive and talk on
the phone at the same time than if you don't have a cell phone at all!


If you don't have phone service but there's still a dial-tone maybe you
can still call 911 besides being able to call 310-BELL.

[Marc Bissonnette]

Post by Madonna

Post by Marc Bissonnette
I am a volunteer firefighter and was on a call a few months ago that
had started out as a chimney fire and ended up being a lot worse -
when we asked the homeowner what took her so long to call 911, given
that they were all awake and the fact that there was a fire was
*really* obvious (by their own accounts), she said that her cellphone
kept cutting out and she had to drive to a neighbour's to call 911.

If you got to *drive* to your neighboor you probably live in the woods
where there isn't high speed internet in the first place.

You'd be surprised :) Here in Beachburg, I've got 3.5 M DSL into my home
and it's a village with maybe 900 people total :)

Also, when 802.16 starts spreading next year, this will be even more
common (broadband in the boonies)

Post by Madonna
If there is a fire in the house, the general advice given by firemen
is to first get out of the house to safety *then* make a phone call
from the neighbors.

This is very true, but a lot of people make the call first, anyway :(
Besides, it's not just for fires - medical emergencies (say, grandma
having a heart attack in the kitchen or your kid having a seizure) need
reliable 911 service, too.

Post by Madonna
Most people nowadays seem to have one of those cordless phones that
never seem to work properly. Go to electronics stores and the vast
majority of phones are cordless because they make a lot more profit
from 100$ phones than from 20$ phones.

Post by Marc Bissonnette
What would have been an inconvenience and maybe a couple of hundred
dollars in chimney repairs ended up costing her thousands of dollars
in interior repairs and cleaning.

*She* paid? No insurance?

Yup.

Post by Madonna

Post by Marc Bissonnette
It's something you should think *very* carefully about when deciding
to entirely rely on a cellular service for 911 (especially if you've
got small children or medically fragile people inside - a dead cell
battery could literally end up killing them in a situation where
minutes can mean the difference between living or dying.)

Yeah, people have died trying to cell-dial before reaching 911. And a
lot of people buy a cell "for safety". That's kind of contradictory.
Besides, your life is probably more at risk if you drive and talk on
the phone at the same time than if you don't have a cell phone at all!
If you don't have phone service but there's still a dial-tone maybe
you can still call 911 besides being able to call 310-BELL.

I haven't checked this in years, but it used to be that you could get a
911 only line from Bell where the only outbound number you could call was
911 (and no inbound) - no idea if this is still an option (Although
there's no technical reason as to why not)

[David Magda]

Post by Anthony Tibbs
OK, I should really go read up on this, but if I'm reading this
right... for $45.99 (+ $1.95 regulatory fee & $39.99 activation
fee), you can call anywhere in Canada OR the U.S., at any time of
the day, for any length of time, at no extra cost?

How is this setup different thatn (say) iChat A/V on OS X where you
can do audio chatting with other iChat users (and video conferencing
if you both have cameras)?

[Anthony Tibbs]

Post by David Magda
How is this setup different thatn (say) iChat A/V on OS X where you
can do audio chatting with other iChat users (and video conferencing
if you both have cameras)?

Simple: the people on the other end don't have to have a computer or VoIP
capability themselves (in this case, apparently).

Other providers don't necessarily work that way though.

[David Magda]

Post by Anthony Tibbs
Simple: the people on the other end don't have to have a computer
or VoIP capability themselves (in this case, apparently).
Other providers don't necessarily work that way though.

Ahh, so the VoIP provider ties into the PSTN at some point. Thanks.

[Madonna]

Post by David Magda

Post by Anthony Tibbs
Simple: the people on the other end don't have to have a computer
or VoIP capability themselves (in this case, apparently).
Other providers don't necessarily work that way though.

Ahh, so the VoIP provider ties into the PSTN at some point. Thanks.

The closer they tie to the destination, the lower the fee.
So those 3 cents a minute calls to france mean the traffic travels
overseas in the form of VoIP packets and share a circuit with other
calls thanks to the compression.