Difference between VOiP and digital phone?

[JTK]

The reason I ask is, we finally had enough with the VOiP services we had over the past ~4yrs (SunRocket and then Packet-8) and signed on with Time Warner's digital phone service. So far so good. The quality is awesome. That of a hard land-line. We already use Time Warner for TV and internet, so we just lumped the phone in per one of their package deals. Basically the Cable Tech sets you up with an all in one cable modem/phone modem and back feeds it into a 'double' phone jack they install for you. They then route a hard line from that jack to your service entrance so the whole house is live. Here's the modem I got: http://www.arrisi.com/product_catalog/listers/index.asp?id=385. They also routed the live hard line out to a small gray service box on the exterior of the house. For what purpose I have no idea. The Service Tech was adamant in explaining to me that "This is not VOiP, it's DIGITAL cable". I'm thinking it's marketing term. It still goes over the internet.. right?

Joel

 

[ThirdeYe]

It's still digital phone/voip/same thing. We had the same thing with AT&T U-Verse. They brought the hard line into the U-Verse gateway then they routed the line back out to the phones in the house.

 

[Quattro Pete]

It is still VoIP. Even the description of the modem you linked to says "delivers two lines of primary line Voice over IP (VoIP)". The difference with a provider like TimeWarner is that they don't route that VoIP traffic through any public Internet. Instead, they send it directly through their cables (private network) to a PSTN switch, which from all I've read makes a noticeable improvement in quality.

 

[Quest]

Nah! That svc tech is just yanking your chain. They are still essentially VoIP (running DOCSIS 2.0), citing the following info from the modem technical page (per your link):


.....
The Touchstone TM502G delivers two lines of primary line Voice over IP (VoIP) along with High-Speed Data Access. The Touchstone Telephony Modem TM502G uses a single battery slot with two battery pack options to support telephony service during extended power outages.
......


Q.

 

[GrtArtiste]

To each his/her own, but I will keep my POTS landline until I'm pushin' up daisies.

GrtArtiste

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: GrtArtiste
To each his/her own, but I will keep my POTS landline until I'm pushin' up daisies.

GrtArtiste


How much does a full service (caller ID, free long distance, voice mail, email voice mail, etc.) land-line cost nowadays?

I feel I am ripped off by my Vonage account. My service is $25 a month with $10 additional taxes.

 

[drivewaytech]

Don't know about the cost of a land line but I get pretty much the same thing as Vontage for $20 a year and no taxes.

magicJack

 

[ThirdeYe]

Landline with AT&T is $50 here, that's why we switched to the VOIP service. But now we're just all going with cell phones instead.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
It is still VoIP. ..The difference with a provider like TimeWarner is that they don't route that VoIP traffic through any public Internet. Instead, they send it directly through their cables (private network) to a PSTN switch, which from all I've read makes a noticeable improvement in quality.


Ahh... Thanks Pete. That makes sense. You truly can't tell the difference between what I've got and a land line. There's no software or website associated with it to check in/out calls, voice mail, etc. Electronic voice mail costs extra per month if you want it. We opted for an answering machine. Total monthly bill for basic digital cable TV, internet and phone is $129/mo. Basically the phone added ~$25/mo to the package.

Joel

 

[tmorris1]

They may be just using a digital modulation to get the audio back to the switch through the coax cable. Digital doesn't mean that it is VOIP. With VOIP the audio is digitized into TCP/IP data packets and sent over the network.

 

[Cutehumor]

Here's the voip phone service I got. rated best voip provider
when I signed up 2 years ago. Based in Oklahoma city, OK.
customer service and tech support in Oklahoma City, OK!!

http://www.voipyourlife.com

$23.97 a month plus $3 in taxes. The price has stayed the same
for the two years I have had them. unlimited local and long distance with USA and Canada. with all the features (caller ID, anon call rejection, 3 way calling, blacklist unwanted numbers, call forwarding, voice mail)

I got a free linkys voip router from the company (mine to keep if I cancelled) with no account activation costs at all. The only times my phone went down is when my comcast broadband service went down.

 

[JTK]

Yeah, the two voip services we had over the years were Sunrocket and then Packet8. Customer service for both of them were outstanding. You spoke with someone in the States, they were friendly, helpful, etc.. They were both cheap @ $199/yr, + ~$5/mo in taxes. The problem with them is; No matter which service you go with, call quality and reliability will be sketchy and unpredictable. That's what you get for ~$20/mo. You get what you pay for. If you want something that is not going to totally aggravate you and the person on the other end of the line, don't get a basic VOiP service.

Joel

 

[SrDriver]

Years ago I used a program called Dialpad that would allow you to call a regular phone from your computer using VOip.

Now I use Skype. You can get special rates + you can buy a card @ Wal-Mart and pay $8.85 for 3 months unlimited phone calls in the US and Canada. + you can call computer to computer using Skype anywhere in the world for free.

The Skype software is free and supports both Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, etc.

Skype Web Site

I have a 75 cents a day cell phone plan with Alltel which gives me free nights and weekends + one favorite number unlimited calling. Between using VOip and the cell phone, it meets my needs.

You can also use your web cam with Skype on computer to computer calls.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: SrDriver
You can also use your web cam with Skype on computer to computer calls.

Yup, it's cool. My parents and sister live overseas. I video-skype with them pretty much every weekend.