themicah

I've been thinking about dumping my Vonage line for a while, but would like to keep the number and the simulring capabilities. Google Voice seems like the perfect place to park my number, and they recently introduced a number porting feature, but they will only port mobile numbers, and apparently consider Vonage a landline.

Anybody have any thoughts about trying to port my Vonage line to a prepaid mobile carrier like Virgin (which is dirt cheap), and then porting it to GV?

Will GV still think it's a landline because the number originated as a Vonage number? Or will they see it as mobile once it's ported to Virgin?

Anybody have experience with porting to either Virgin or GV? Or any other prepaid mobile service?

srirams

Make sure you're happy with google's reliability. I tried it a few months back, and the reliability was very poor, with lots of dropped / missed calls. Certainly not something I'd trust as a primary number.

Dodge DeBoulet

I have effectively shut down my Google Voice usage as of a month ago, after using it heavily for a couple of years. In my opinion, t's unreliability and voice quality have rendered it nearly useless for all but the most casual and forgiving users. Stick with Vonage.

themicah

That's disappointing. Maybe I'll just get FIOS and port my number there, since my complaints about Vonage at this point are a combination of high prices and unreliable outgoing call quality (because my upstream bandwidth is often eaten up by cloud backups, and I never have figured out how to do QoS right).

jbcarioca

I have ported my Vonage numbers to prepaid telephones in four countries and do so on every trip I make. I have tried Grand Central (now Google Voice) and a dozen otehrs or so, none have matched Vonage. I do not like Vonage prices, but they have worked well for me. I have carried my Vonage modem all over the world and have used it in many countries also. never a problem unless my connection was bad.

I have to be a protagonist for Vonage, but I have not yet found better.

alect

I have recently ported away from Vonage (after being a customer for over 8 years). Their prices just got out of control. Plus the use of the MTA (one of the original ones) and their refusal to give out SIP details to enable me to use any SIP client sealed the deal.

I originally wanted to move to GV too but found I couldn't port the number as it wasn't a mobile one (don't live in the US permanently any more so couldn't go through the porting to cell then to GV).

After some research online (dslreports.com) I ended up going to Future-Nine. It's a small shop (I guess) but the customer service is great and the owner has a presence on dslreports.com


They ported my number from Vonage ($20) and I am on the $7 per month plan which includes 250 outgoing minutes (they also have PAYG plans at 1c per minute with no monthly recurring charges). This is more than enough for me as it's not my main line and I use it very rarely. The great thing is that I can use any SIP client I want (eg on the computer, or eg I use CSIPSimple on my Android phone). So no more equipment or points of failure (ie MTA) and I get access to the line wherever I am (as you can use the mobile SIP client over the data on the cell/mobile plan I am on).

I will note that when I called to cancel Vonage they did offer me a non-published plan of $9.99 per month (does not appear on the website) for light users. But due to the other reasons noted above I did not find this compelling. YMMV

themicah

That sounds intriguing.

Is it $7 all-in or $7+++ like our $18 plan with Vonage that really costs closer to $30?

How much does a simple dedicated SIP box cost?

And do they offer a feature akin to Vonage's Simulring?

alect

I have just been charged for my first month's fee and it's $7. Obviously if you go over your allocated minutes outgoing (on my plan 250) or call internationally then those calls will be added to the $7. But even the DID fee comes out of the $7. Not sure if that's what you meant by "++++". There are no further levies, charges or taxes on top of the $7 (like with Vonage). I have not signed up for E911 service - not sure whether that incurs an extra levy/tax.

Not sure about the SIP box as I didn't need one. If you mean an analogue adaptor - they don't directly sell them but recommend the Linksys PAP2T (http://www.future-nine.com/how-to.html#adapter).

We use the equivalent of "simulring" to two SIP devices. My quick research reveals that you can also do so with multiple PSTN devices (ie traditional phones/landlines). But you should probably check it out in more detail.

If you're interested further I would recommend asking a questions here and you will get a prompt reply:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip

Nitzan is the owner/operator of the F9 service and he will respond pretty quickly. You can also IM him on that forum.

jbcarioca

You have convinced me to try again. Thanks for spending the effort. I, for one, am appreciative.

wiredboy10003

The Vonage $9.99 plan is about $16 when all is said and done. One of the line items is a $1.99 monthly charge for 'intellectual property'.

themicah

Yeah, my formerly $15 and now $18 per month plan has been $28.88 the last couple months. It's getting hard to swallow.

If FutureNine is truly $7 a month and that includes the ability to forward to multiple POTS lines at once (a la Vonage's simulring), I may very well pull that trigger.

alect

Yes as far as my experience shows it is $7 all up. We currently forward to two SIP clients simultaneously. I assume if you set up forwarding to multiple POTS numbers (I am assuming that is possible) you would then eat through some of your outgoing minutes quota (at 1c per minute assuming they are US POTS numbers).

alect

I have just confirmed with F9 that they DO NOT currently offer the equivalent of simulring to multiple POTS lines.

sunnysunny2012

really???

lisigef

I'm looking for feedback on Future Nine service, from those who did sign up with it - how is the quality of calls? Do you know if it's possible to set this up using a Vonage adapter?