Cable TV Phone Service

[Brewman]

My cable company is offering phone service- has been for about a year.  They have what I consider a pretty good deal going on right now to promote the service.

 I'd get 6 months free, and then pay their regular rates after that.  
The regular fee I'd pay is about $30/mo.

 That $30 includes long distance, caller ID, call wait, call forward, voice mail, etc....Right now I'm paying Qwest about $50 for the same service, except long distance is extra.
 I'm very tempted to give it a try. I'd get to keep my same phone number.

The only downside I can see is that if our power goes out, so does the phone service- but we have several cell phones so that doesn't scare me too much.
Plus, in the past 8 years we've lived here, our power hardly ever goes out- (nice for the spa!- there's my spa tie-in)
 
My sister has the Vonnage phone service, and there is an annoying voice echo/delay effect when I talk to her, but the cable company says their service isn't the same so that's not a problem.

Anyone out there have cable phone service?

If so do you like it?

Thanks

[Bonibelle]

Brewman, I don't use my cable for my phone, but my friend tried it and it caused her all kinds of problems with her home security system. I don't really know why, and the cable company admitted that they had the issue with other subscribers. she just called to tell them to discontinue...but for some reason her security system went nuts and kept sending false alarms...That was about a year ago so maybe they have resolved that issue.  

I have FIOS for my phone and internet service and I have been pleased with it. I have a bundle for about $85.00, that is my long distance and all the services (ID, call forward, voice mail waiting...and FIOS . I have noticed that my phone costs have consistantly gone down while including more and more services.  When they have a TV package that will include more than just 4 TV sets, I will get rid of my cable...

[Rayman]

I have had it for 6 monhs without an issue, I have Cable, Phone and highspeed with the cable provider.  You get to keep your same phone # which is a plus and when you bundle it up you get an overall savings of 15%, which is about $20 so I look at it like I am only paying $10 per month for phone service.

Ray

[Brewman]

Thanks for the info.  

I just scheduled install for the end of the month.  The person at the cable company did ask me if I had a security system, which I do not.  But it's good to know for the future.

I just have to give this a shot- I'm going essentially 6 months without a phone bill, which will save me about $300 right there.  Plus if I keep the service I'd be saving about $20/month over what I'm paying now, plus long distance.  But we don't make many LD calls, so the savings there will be minimal.

As an added teaser, they're doubling my internet connect speed for no additional fee, plus I get a couple other really minor bonuses.  Like 3 free PPV movies, etc...

[wmccall]

The only downside I can see is that if our power goes out, so does the phone service- but we have several cell phones so that doesn't scare me too much.

Around here , some of my customers who have the phone service get a special cable modem that has a battery backup built in.  My computer is on a hefty UPS and I can run everything for a few hours on it.  If I turned off the computers, I'll bet it would keep my internet/phone up for days.   I'm considering telling AT&T where to go and doing the same thing.  

One thing my cable company is not upfront about, if you don't want call/forwarding/voicemail/salad dressing, they have a cheaper basic phone for $10 a month less that still has free long distance/Caller ID.

[wmccall]

Thanks for the info.  

I just scheduled install for the end of the month.  The person at the cable company did ask me if I had a security system, which I do not.  But it's good to know for the future.

Agreed, I'm glad he mentioned it.  

[GoBlue]

Having a battery backup on the cable modem is important, but what service level does the cable company guarantee.  Around here, the phone company uses standby generators on the central offices and neighborhood DLC's. The cable company does not. So, in the event of an extended power outage (>5hrs.) the cable phones go down and the phone company phones stay working. We get ice storms and this is an issue here.  I negotiated the phone service contract for one of my customers and this was a huge thing to them.  They provide emergency services.  Just something to consider...

[dkersten]

My wife works for the cable company here, so I have had all their services now for about 12 years.

The telephone service was added about a year ago here, and we got it the day they got the modems in.  For the most part, it has been pretty trouble free, but not 100%.

The modem does have a battery backup in it that is good for around 4-5 hours, and the only time it was an issue was last winter when we had a heavy snow that took out tons of power lines all over the city.  We were without power for about 30 hours, and after the first 5 we had no phone either.  To be honest though, it was not even an issue.. we had cell phones if we needed them, and I even used the light on my cell phone camera to navigate around the house after 6pm.. Of course, who was thinking about calling people when it was 40degrees in the house..

As far as security systems, the output on the modem is basically just a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) line, so you shouldnt have any issues.  Some telephony modems do have problems with data lines, such as faxes and security systems, but usually there is a mode that can be switched on that will change the compression to work with data lines.  My parents had a problem with their security, but after 2 visits from the cable tech, it turned out the security company had connected the line incorrectly to begin with, and they didnt have a proper connection to begin with.. adding the phone service from the cable company actually helped their security in that case since they never would have known that their system would not be able to dial for help.

Now, as to the problems:  First, the line is digital, which means compression.  Compression combined with low bandwidth can lead to distortion of sound, which can be very annoying.  Being that this is cable modem based, you are sharing bandwidth with other people in your neighborhood.  Once you add up Video on Demand, all the HD cable channels, High speed internet, and now telephony service, you are talking a LOT of bandwidth.  If the fiber optic going to the cable head is good, and the cable going to your house is flawless, then you will likely have few problems.  However, your quality of service can be affected by the rest of the neighborhood.  If there is heavy enough usage, you will have distortion and dropouts in a phone conversation.  In many cases, cell phones are better quality.

Other issues I have seen have been about 10% of calls dont properly recieve the caller ID data.  Dropped calls don't happen often.  

Otherwise, the service has been good.  The biggest issue is sound quality during heavy usage times of the day.  You will learn quickly if your neighborhood has heavy usage periods, and when they are.  My area is not bad.  A friend of mine in Seattle has issues from about 4pm to about 7pm every weekday, and talking to him at that time is a crapshoot.  We have had to resort to cell phones on occasion because it has gotten pretty bad.  He is in an apartment building that is a little old, and the quality of his cable line is in question.

Bottom line:  I wouldnt hesitate to use it at home, but I would think twice about using it for a business.  I have 3 branches that use IP based telephony phone systems over T1's with good routers and it is marginal in my opinion.  But for home, no problem..

[bosco0633]

two of my friends have vonage as well. When I talk to them it sounds like they are talking in a tin room.  I was concerned.  A month and a half ago I got a promo in the mail from my cable company.  They offered me to keep my own phone number, 1000 long distance north america, local calling area is huge now so no long distance within most of the province, voice mail, call waiting, forwarding, caller id and all the other bells and whistes, a new cordless phone, 2 months free for 30 canadian a month.  No contract.  i love it.  the quality is amazing and you would never know that you were on cable phone.  They threw in all the jacks for free as well.

The best part is..... that bell Canada's monopoly on the phone market is gone gone gone.  I hate bell it is the absolute worst customer service.  They never compromised before because they had no competition.  Now I hope to see them go under.

[wmccall]

Having a battery backup on the cable modem is important, but what service level does the cable company guarantee.  Around here, the phone company uses standby generators on the central offices and neighborhood DLC's. The cable company does not. So, in the event of an extended power outage (>5hrs.) the cable phones go down and the phone company phones stay working. We get ice storms and this is an issue here.  I negotiated the phone service contract for one of my customers and this was a huge thing to them.  They provide emergency services.  Just something to consider...

 

I was thinking about this in the hottub.  My power was out for 36 hours Christmas 04. I was able to keep my internet service up the whole time, my phones would have been up for that.  I did have one working phone that wasn't cordless.  911 service is probably the real kicker

[Vinny]

My only concern would be if the cable went out, what would you do for a past time ... no TV and no internet ... and thankfully no phone.

I recently was forced to upgrade to digital cable - the company forced me but somehow I didn't have to pay anything extra - go figure. Anyway they were pushing the tv, inet and tele deal which I didn't take and about a month after I got the digital box - the cable went out - no TV and I was glad I didn't have anything else on it to go out.

Of course this is extremely rare but at least I was able to keep the kids amuzed via the internet.

[wmccall]

I went to Digital with the purchase of a Hi-def (please bury me with it) TV.   My home phone is less important to me now than ever, so I may give it a try.  

[tuggnet]

For those of you having problem with Vonage service echoing or sounding like you're in a tin can.  All you need to do is call Vonage and ask them to increase the bandwidth they use on your modem.  It's a 10 second fix (once you get to talk to someone).

I have AttCallvantage and love it.  It is important to have your VoIP router and cable modem on UPS.

One advantage AttCallvantage has is that it offers E911.  Vonage does not (at least not in the Denver area)  What this means is that if I dial 911 the police are coming if I say anything or not.  Vonage subscribers do not enjoy the same feature.  Most Vonage 911 calls are routed to non-emergency call centers.

You should checkout the E911 compliance with your VoIP provider.

Cheers

[Brewman]

 I'll pass that bandwidth tip to my sister, who's using Vonnage, and sounds like the tin can.  
 I did establish that with the cable phone service, it's compatible with most, but not all security systems.  I don't have a security system, so it's not an issue for me.  Good to know for the future, though..
 And we wont' have any problems calling 911, either.  
The phone service is fully compatible with our 911 call center- address pops up on the screen.  Certain cell phones give them trouble, but not the cable phone service.
 Installation is set for the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  
Hopefully, it works out okay.  If not, switching back is always an option.

[dkersten]

There is a big difference between Vonage VoIP services and true telephony from your cable company.. the basic technology is the same but that is where it ends.

Vonage uses any public internet connection, and since it cannot guarantee where you are at, you cannot get 911 services.. Bandwidth on their end can be worked on, but they have no control over your internet provider, so they cannot guarantee quality of service.

Telephony uses the same IP based technology, but uses private networks to send the information back and forth.  The cable companies already laid their own fiber optic years ago, and dont even have to buy bandwidth from telecoms.  It is all theirs (in most cases), so they have complete control.  If they want to guarantee QoS, they can, but for residential, they usually dont.  At any rate, they do designate a certain portion of the bandwidth to the phone service, and the only reason there are issues is because they are constantly pushing the envelope of how much bandwidth to dedicate.  The phone service is on its own IP, and isnt supposed to be affected by how much bandwidth you are using for your internet or TV.

Most cable companies have a 99.9% uptime, but outages do happen.  The same goes for phone service, but when you are talking POTS (plain old telephone service) lines, they have been around so long, and the technology is so well developed, that the service is more like 99.999%.  

Regardless of Quality of Service guarantees, if your phone is down, its down.  It is more likely that your phone will go down if you are using some sort of IP based solution, over the tried and true POTS lines.  Because of that, I have avoided IP based solutions in business situations, with the exception of T1 based services that I have tried in a few locations.  T1's are very solid, and the outages I have had in the past have been almost 100% construction related.. with a couple outages from wildfires..

I stand by my earlier statement though.. Cable provided IP phone service is good enough for home, but not for businesses.  I would not use Vonage myself, but I have full service with my home phone now, and my cell phone has nationwide long distance as well, so I have no reason to even look at something like that.