Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Details that make me nervous to switching

by smm01 Oct 14, 2005 3:16AM PDT

I have read the threads from 10/14 and am still using dial-up Intenet w/ my new Dell 5100 PC. I'm planning on getting DSL in the weeks ahead and was wondering if I should get the slow or fast DSL. I also read on one of the threads that someone reported a problem using a phone answering machine. I need the machine cause I'm not always home. Lastly, I'm wondering about how to hook up my 3 phones in my house to VOIP. Vonage's Home Page mentions that you get 1 adapter when joining. Is that sufficient? Any advise would be appreciated.

Discussion is locked

2 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Do it.
by markda12 Oct 14, 2005 5:28AM PDT

I've had cable Internet for about two years now and in Tucson, AZ it is great. As you probably know, cable is traditionally much faster than DSL and I guess the decision to go with regular or premium DSL would be based on what you are willing to tolerate. I've had them all, dial-up, DSL, slower cable and premium cable internet over the years and I can say that if you get fast DSL, you'll never go back to dial-up. The same can be said for cable. I went back down to DSL for about a week and couldn't stand the slow speeds. If you can, go cable! As far as the VOIP, it works best with portable phones where you'd plug your base unit into the phone adapter and your remote units would work off of that one base as normal.
I've got AT&T CallVantage service and I like the call quality and the price. Occasionally, I get some echoing, but normally I can't tell it is not a traditional POTS.
I've not heard good things about Vonage although they've been in the VOIP business the longest.
Good luck.

- Collapse -
You are mentioning apples and oranges.
by chuckieu Oct 16, 2005 5:04AM PDT

I use 1.5MB DSL and don't need the extra speed of cable. And that is ignoring the $50 extra cost. I use my separate answering machine, fax,satellite dish and 3 phones. You use filters (supplied by DSL company) on everything but DSL connection. My set-up works great, no problems. Then you mention VOIP. Whole different issue. While this may the next best thing, it still has many problems. For every user with no problems there are 10 (or 20, 30, 40) with nothing but problems. Customer service can be some of the worst now in existence. So, these are completely different things. I heartily suggest broadband (DSL or cable). Just find out what is available in your area, what your needs are, what you can (or want to) afford, and get users feedback for those companies in your area. Simple. VOIP is a can of worms best approached very, very carefully. Not saying don't, just be careful. Hope this helps. chuck

Back to Internet Service Providers forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info