Response from: spg    (06/01/08 10:05am)

i am a huge fan of VOIP. but to be honest there is not a single paid provider that looks good compared along side basic PSTN service. particularly in a home(as opposed to business) environment. VOIP can supplement PSTN and mobile very well. it also may make sense to go 'completely free' taking advantage of promo offers, etc. for all you calls from home. but i would not recommend to anyone to replace their PSTN line with a replacement service such as vonage.

even if you are thinking about pricing. if you make lots of international calls you still get far better pricing from the dial around(1010+) offers than you can find with SIP.

Response from: PhoneBoy    (06/03/08 8:34am)

It's a combination of cost and hassle. At $40 a month or so, a landline with all features and unlimited domestic long distance, for me, is worth it. Sure, I can get it cheaper elsewhere, but what hassles am I going to encounter to save those few bucks? It's one reason those TV + internet + phone bundles from the Cable MSOs are so popular.

Response from: Jim Courtney    (06/10/08 11:08am)

I think I am getting to the ideal setup: a dual mode cordless home phone setup (Philips 841VOIP) accessing both my Rogers Home Phone (just switched from Bell Canada to cut cost by 50%) and a Skype account configured largely to handle long distance @$3.00 per month for North America.

But as for Fax over IP try PamFax, which sends faxes anywhere worldwide in five or six simple steps at about $0.25 per page (especially useful in hotels that want $1.00 per page). They still need to get a receiving service going, however.

Response from: Jeremy Newbury    (06/10/08 11:39am)

Then obviously you guys are unfamiliar with the up and comer, TrinitiComm. Their service is far superior to Vonage, better call quality, better pricing, more bells and whistles and no faxing issues.

And phone service is not required for DSL with most companies. That's just what they want you to believe so you will stay on their service. at&t, Verizon and many others offer Dry Loop (Dark) DSL but you have to ask for it. TrinitiComm will be providing Dry Loop DSL service as well in mid-to late July.

Response from: Dameon Welch-Abernathy    (06/11/08 3:21am)

@jim PamFax doesn't work on the Mac, not to mention I don't want to have to deal with scanning faxes into a computer. The one time I needed to send a fax outside the U.S., I just used my OneSuite account to make the call. OneSuite charges me $1 a month for incoming fax to email.

@Jeremy While I might be unfamiliar with TrinitiComm, the technology behind it is basically the same as every other similar service. Even if fax is supported--the FAQ at Triniticomm says it is--my experience as been that faxing over a VoIP service is a recipe for a lot of heartache and pain. A landline is a far better suited for sending faxes, with OneSuite to take care of long distance needs, domestic or international.

Response from: Zee    (04/08/09 3:31am)

Let me just clarify that Fax over IP is different from sending Fax over VoIP. The latter is a hit and miss thing but the former is pretty reliable. Like Dameon, I use Onesuite online fax service and its pretty reliable both for receiving and sending.