WiFi VoIP Takes Another Hit

Yesterday, Russell Shaw reported the mysterious disappearance of WiFi VoIP phones from the Vonage product line, and asked for opinons as to why you can't find the phones on the Vonage web site or at retail outlets.

Garrett Smith speculated this morning that Vonage has dropped WiFi VoIP phones from their product line because they realized that they create an atrocious customer experience. 

I'm with Garrett on this one.  I posted on this blog back in November, and again last week, that WiFi VoIP solutions just don't work well.  Add that to the fact that Vonage must be doing some urgent soul-searching about their customer churn rate, which was 3% per month last quarter, and I have no doubt that Vonage is doing some triage to try to improve their customer experience and reduce their churn rate.

I've found that using a standard 900 MHz cordless phone, with the cordless base station connected to a SIP Analog Telephone Adapter works great for wireless VoIP service around the house, and has much more reliable performance than a WiFi VoIP phone.  I currently use a Sipura ATA with a Panasonic cordless phone.  My advice: if you are looking for a wireless VoIP solution for home use, get a cordless phone and an ATA instead of going for a WiFi VoIP phone. 

Of course, if you are a Vonage subscriber, then the WiFi VoIP phone isn't even an option any more.

Comments

[Justin Hammond]

I used Vonage for a couple of years, personally and for business (we had several lines for long distance). I was always very satisfied with our service - in the couple of years and taking into consideration how many lines (5 lines) I could probably count the number of actual Vonage issues I had on 1 hand - and the outages were all very brief. This after resolving all our QoS issues :-)

[Gazebo]

A main reason for wanting a WiFi phone is for travelling. Yes, keep the Vonage box/router at home with a phone plugged into it. However, when travelling, you now have to take the Vonage router with you (unless you want to talk through your computer). You may also need to carry an analog phone (not all hotels/apartments have phones and some have their own wiring to the wall). Worst, many places no longer have wired access in your room, so you only have WiFi access. If I had a WiFi Vonage phone, I could just use it through the WiFi connection (newer WiFi phones even have browsers for use even when authentication is required). Instead, I have to carry a WiFi-To-Ethernet converter, then plug in the Vonage router, and then plug an Analog Phone. Please!

[Mike D]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that Voip over WiFi was a bad (and strange) idea.

We have had Vonage for 18+ months now. The adapter box is hooked up to a multi-handset 5.8 Ghz phone, which has proven to work wonderfully (5.8 so it won't interfere with our Wifi). The other advantage with this setup is that if a handset stops working -- or the base station for that matter -- I don't have to get a new Vonage adapter, just a new phone. I like this separate approach better for the same reason why I don't want my TV to have a built-in DVD player.

As an aside, Vonage has worked very well for us. It transitioned us through a location change across the country. I've had a few minor hiccups along the way, but never any with complete loss of service, and I must be the only one who has never had any problems with Vonage tech support, either in India or in New Jersey.

[Michael Graves]

Ike,

I've tried several wifi SIP devices and found them all lacking. However, the combination you recommend of an ATA and traditional cordless phone also lacks some of the business features that many would appreciate. I'm just now testing the new Snom M3 SIP/Dect pnones. These look to be an even better approach as they integrate well with an IP-PBX or hosted PBX. I will have a long form review in a few weeks.

[Craig Plunkett]

You just can't easily do QoS over a cheap home wi-fi network. Its too confusing to the average joe that wants it to work the same as his existing cordless phone. We geeks can make it work, but too many knobs and dials for the masses.