Vonage

Lomax says on Aug 11, 2004, 12:56:

Try Skype I did not use Vonage, but would like to recommend Skype (www.skype.com)if you have a broadband internet connection (Skype's website says that it should also work with smallband, but never tried this myself). The tariffs are amazing and very competitive.

If you create a Voice over IP telephone call (two computers on each side) it is FREE, should you call to a regular PSTN-phone (normal phone attached to network of the receivers telecommunications provider), rates are very competitive. I was amazed by the excellent qyuality. Definitely worth a try.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 11, 2004, 13:14:

Vonage is great I use Vonage. It's terrific. The key, if you're going to Colombia and want to call the states, is to take your Vonage modem with you. Plug it into a broadband connection and you've got an instant US number that rings in South America. Unlimited US calling for $30 a month. Cheapest reliable way I know to communicate btwn. US and Colombia.

If you want, I can email you a link good for a free month of Vonage.

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pointofview says on Aug 11, 2004, 13:38:

Vonage As Mr. Hollywood says Vonage works great but so does all the rest of the providers. I use Vonage, AT&T, iconnecthere.com, voicepluse.com, and broadvoxdirect.com just to name a few.

The best offering out there now is by Primus Telecommunications which offers unlimited service to USA, Canada & Western Europe for $20.00 per month with two free months. Especially good for Colombians with family and friends in Spain or elsewhere in western europe.

The worst service provider is AT&T as it uses too much bandwidth (90kbps) and crowds out any other activity on the internet connection but gives free service to Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands as part of there USA footprint.

Look at www.meritcall.com and mamakall.com as incoming calls are free if you use local access numbers in USA and elsewhere.

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webmanco says on Aug 12, 2004, 10:24:

too many providers There are too many providers, both old and new. Another not mentioned here is dialpad. The free way is the best one. With a gateway not locked you can choose wich provider to use, (either paid or not) if you sign up with one provider later on if you don´t want to use their services any more you will have trouble using the gateway adquire from them.

I will be in Medellín from Saturday the 14th of August 2004,, doing VOIP demos, also attending a weeding.

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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Mr. Hollywood says on Aug 12, 2004, 10:28:

please explain So you mean it's better to buy a gateway (modem) on your own and then sign up for service?

Personally, I found the plug and play aspect of Vonage well worth the money I've paid them.

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webmanco says on Aug 12, 2004, 10:41:

Choosing the best provider depends on calling habits and destines. The most used gateways offered by different providers are the ata186 and the sipura 2000 among others. These gateways once configured with the provider of your choice, "either paid or free", and pluged into a router with broadband connection is usually ready to do phone calls, and to receive phone calls as well. I don´t have experience with Vonage, but I do have a USA number where my family calls me to a SIP number wherever I am with my sip phone.
Right now I am testing the sipura 2000 wich lets you configure each port with different provider.

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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ewonder says on Aug 12, 2004, 12:03:

Vonage I love Vonage! I used to buy the phone cards with the service fees and different time of day charges what started out being supposedly $.05/minute was more like $.15/minute. Vonage is $.08/minute 24/7 to where I call often in Venezuela. The call quality is better compared to the calling cards in my opinion.

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lucas626 says on Aug 12, 2004, 13:21:

this is cheaper you can go on ebay, buy two Voice Over IP gateways($500.00 one time charge) two SOHO units(300.00 one time charge), get DSL hooked up at one location (colombia, monthly bill) get DSL hooked up at the overseas location where you call the most (U.S.,Spain, etc, monthly bill)install these units and program them (one time thing). Now you can call Colombia and talk 24 hours a day 7 days a week for free(monthly dsl bill,$50.00), the person in Colombia can call the U.S. and talk 24 hours a day 7 days a week for free(monthly dsl bill), it gets even better, you can call Colombia fron the U.S. VOIP and get Colombia dial tone and make calls in Colombia as if you were there(Bogota,Cali etc)the person with the VOIP gateway in Colombia can call the VOIP gateway in the U.S. and get dial tone in the U.S. and make calls in the U.S. as if they were in the U.S.. It gets even better, for example, you can program your SOHO in Colombia to receive calls from someone in Colombia, dial a code and get U.S. dial tone, then charge that person a descent rate for long distance calls, this will pay for your equipment and monthly dsl charge in no time, there is no end to what you can do with this equipment.

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Killi says on Aug 14, 2004, 19:23:

Bigzoo checked all these places, even the VoIP was more expensive than bigzoo to colombia.

check it out, my referral ID is

http://www.bigzoo.com/email/referral.asp?ref=E4S3627H2F

if you like it. i pay like .07c a minute to colombia (even mobile!). local access number in my city, can use a regular phone, and can even get a callback if i want. they have webstats and online billing and all that stuff

If you dont like it, pardon my butting in. but i am still trying to find a better deal and have not been able to

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gstern says on Aug 15, 2004, 18:23:

I use Vonage Hi-

I use Vonage to call Bogota every day, calling both a home phone and a cell phone. Generally the phone quality is excellent and easily exceeds the quality I used to get from calling cards. It is also amazingly inexpensive at around $.05 minute ($.10/minute for the cell calls). I was married to a Colombian woman in February after being with her for a couple years, and I can easily say that Vonage is the best option I have come across over those couple years.

Vonage also has something called "Softphone" which is a software program you put on your computer to place calls from it. I can use that from the office or hotels when I am traveling (which is often). In fact while in Bogota recently, I had to join several conference calls from my hotel and used the Softphone, only paying the $8.00/day fee for broadband to my room.

My wife also uses the same Vonage softphone account as she has broadband into her home. She calls me and other family in the USA and the quality is always good.

The last time I traveled there, I actually brought a Vonage box for her so we could call each other for free. Unfortunately, she still does not have it set up as there were some network connection issues at her house that still have not been fixed (she is on PPPoE and someone needs to be able to get into the Vonage box to properly configure.)

All told I can highly recommend it!

-Greg

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gstern says on Aug 15, 2004, 18:26:

I tried Skype too, but no good It didn't work for us too well. My wife is on a Broadband account in Bogota and I have Broadband at home. Quality was VERY shaky, often it didn't work at all.

We are on Vonage now and it is great.

Your mileage may vary.

--Greg

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jmmyers says on Aug 15, 2004, 18:33:

broadband What does a broadband connection go for in medellin these days? how about dial-up? I know in the states, where I live, it's about $30 a month for a decent pipe.

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Bill1243 says on Aug 19, 2004, 00:04:

To immyers.... I think a dial-up is time sensitive, i.e., getting charged by the minute for your internet use there. I', just not sure what the per minute phone time costs there....something like 1 or 2 cents a minute I think.... but if you dial up to an AOL number, it is several bucks as hour. It's all so confusing!

To VoipColombia....I read where bringing a VOIP device down to Colombia is against Colombian law...is that true?


Also, I tried calling Colombia...to a phone...using Skype....the call quality was horrible.

Vonage is the best by far, and offers that great portage option.

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Killi says on Aug 25, 2004, 21:16:

so what about dial up options?

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