want to go voip but confused about it all.....

[Nav]

hi everyone, been a long time since i last posted here. ive been reading quite extensively about voip and its advantages over landlines. it appeals to me because of the much cheaper phone bill. ive visited different voip porviders and i found that there are plans that require you to purchase your own equipment and they will simply provide the service. im wondering what equipment will i need to purchae? i will be using my standard analogue phones so a VOIP ata. besides that, is there anything else i need? thanks in advance.

[doctorgonzo]

Generally, you won't need anything other than the ATA. A router is helpful for sharing your high-speed internet connection with both the VoIP and your computer, but if you just have one computer it's usually not necessary (the ATA has an Ethernet pass-through for the PC).

I have had Vonage for about 2½ years, and I have zero complaints.

[Nav]

alright thanks for the help doc. any brands you recommend? i have my eye on a linksys.....

[doctorgonzo]

I don't know much about ATA brands. Vonage gives you one, you don't have a choice. Your main consideration is getting one that will work with your VoIP service.

[Eriol]

I've been using broadvoice for about 2 years and have been very happy with them. They supply all equipment too.
http://broadvoice.com

[mbossman2]

i just switched to Time Warner's digital phone service and so far so good.

as to which device to buy: whatever the service provider recommends and supports. there may be better, faster, (or even) cheaper devices out there, but all of that means a hill of beans if you have a technical glitch (the provider makes a change to their phone system or whatnot) and the phone provider says "Not a box we support" and the hardware provider says "Call your phone provider, it's something they did" and you are caught in the middle with no phone service.

[Nav]

thanks for the input, ill contact the provider. thanks.