Swapping Vonage for Skype: One man's search for VoIP that actually works

(Credit: Skype)

Yes, you read the headline right. I have long been a critic of Skype, suggesting that eBay was foolish to buy the VoIP toy and generally ridiculing it as a serious business tool.

Today I'm eating crow, and it tastes great. Why? Because Vonage has been complete rubbish for me, whereas Skype is increasingly approaching perfection. I dropped my traditional phone service for Vonage. I'm now about to drop my traditionally awful Vonage for Skype.

I have been a Vonage customer since May 2004. I have dumped more than $2,500 into Vonage, without the quality of the service improving one bit. For the first few months, Vonage was almost unusable. I stuck with it simply because it was cheap. Then, for nearly two years, Vonage was what phone service should be: always on, always working and not calling attention to itself.

(Credit: Wehatevonage.com)

In 2007, however, the Vonage "service" has been atrocious. I have a Comcast 8Mb-per-second connection, but you'd never guess it from the quality of service I have with Vonage. (To be fair, I rarely get anywhere near that, with upload speeds hovering around 300 kilobytes per second and download speeds at 1.5 megabits per second.) Several times each day, my Vonage service completely dies, usually in the middle of a call, and then emerges again to goad me.

Because of the unreliability of Vonage, I have increasingly turned to Skype to fill in the blanks. Guess what? On the exact same network connection that I use for Vonage, and at the same times when Vonage craps out, Skype is rocking. The sound quality is exceptional, and the reliability of the service (with one big exception) has been impeccable. When it's not, there's my mobile phone.

So today, I finally got a SkypeIn number. (I've had SkypeOut service for more than a year.) I set up my voice mail on Skype. I bought a phone (Philips VOIP841) to complement my use of a Plantronics headset (used more for comfort than anything else).

I'm going to spend two weeks using Skype exclusively. Assuming that it works as well in these two weeks as it has for the past year, I'll be calling Vonage to cancel my service. Good riddance.

Before I leave this post, it's worth pointing out how similar the Skype model is to many open-source business models. Skype is free and, at least initially, tends to get used for tasks that are not mission-critical. Adoption starts with ease of trial and zero cost.

The more people use it for peripheral tasks, the more familiar they become with it, causing them to use it for an increasing array of tasks. At some point, the cost of the traditional service nudges users to note that its functionality and service is not actually better than the free alternative and, in many ways, is worse. At that point, the user switches over into Skype land and begins to use it as her primary communication platform, with traditional phone service held in reserve for "important" or "mission critical" calls.

Eventually, however, the user drops this crutch and goes with the disruptive service. That's the path I've been on since May of 2004. Vonage disrupted my traditional phone service but failed to live up to the VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) hype. Skype then emerged to disrupt both the traditional phone service and Vonage.

At least, that's how I ended up as a happy Skype customer. How will it happen to you?

[jcunnCSC]

Contact Info

Hi Matt,

I actually have a question on another post you made from Sept. 11th, subject "Does open source get easier with age?". I am very interested in the chart you posted from Robin Vasan, detailing market penetration versus market stage for various open source products. In short, I would like to know if a similar chart exists for open source ERP products. If not, how would one go about reproducing such a chart?

I know this isn't the best place for ask this question, but I don't see an email address to contact you. I would be glad to redirect the question somewhere else if you'd like.

Thanks,

Jeff

[DanSchu]

I'm in the same boat, nearly...

Good article. I will investigate your handset selection, I'm thinking of buying one. I also use Vonage, and in addition Skype (for business, both heavily.) I also have 8MB/sec from Comcast. I use Skype for IM and international calling mostly (USA-Russia.) I cannot reliably call RU on a landline due to distance, cost and poor POTS on the RU-side.

Are you sure about your bandwidth? I suggest testing it using http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/. M6y actual bandwidth is about 4-5Mbit/sec down, and 1.5Mbit/sec up. I was seeing really bad bandwidth before I upgraded my cable modem. I strongly recommend getting a modern cable modem which is DOCSYS 2.0 compliant (this is in the firmware.) Mine is a linksys. Poor bandwidth would explain your poor results. I had similar results prior to fixing my bandwidth chokepoint, which turned out to be the five year old cable modem.

Cheers,
Daniel Schumacher
Owner, Abstract Engineering

[tristanbob]

Not the MB vs Mb problem again!

Matt,

Being a network engineer, I feel it is my responsibility to correct everyone who incorrectly uses the MB/Mb symbols. Most people would think they are the same, but in fact there is a large difference between the two.

Raw network speeds (like the ones that Comcast advertises) are usually rated in Mb/s. The small "b" stands for bits.

Now storage amounts and file transfers are usually specified with the large "B", which stands for bytes.

Here is the math: 1 byte = 8 bits

So if you claim your download speeds are 1.5 MB/s, that means your raw network speed is actually (1.5 x 8) = 12 Mb/s.

This common error would be like me calling old-school freeware the same thing as open source software. :)

Have a great day!

[skallu]

Broadvoice/Gizmo Project/Skype

I use Broadvoice(.com) as my primary landline. For $20(25 including taxes) unlimited calls to 21 countries(does not include India).

I use the soft client GizmoProject(.com) on my Mac and also a few Handytone ATAs (gifted to relatives) to keep in touch with my folks in India who have broadband. Since Gizmo Project is open SIP based, I can get 1 free US number from Grandcentral(.com) OR ipkall(.com). Also if you are an Active Gizmo Project user, other Gizmo Project users can call your US PSTN numbers for free from the ATA or soft client. You can also call other Gizmo Project user for free via US numbers by using sipbroker(.com). See the power of open SIP protocol!

I use Skype only for Video chat with my folks back in India.

I like Gizmo Project far better than Skype, because I do not need to keep my computer on when making a call (I use an ATA-Analog Telephone Adapter). Free calls to PSTN numbers from Gizmo Project as well as free US PSTN numbers that can be mapped to Gizmo Project/ATA are unbeatable.

Sanjay

[tomzer1]

In defense of Vonage ...

In defense of Vonage, I'd have to say that it has been the very best phone
service I've ever used in the two-and-a-half years I've had it. I get excellent
call quality. Skype, on the other hand is spotty. I'm on Time/Warner Cable's
Road Runner Broadband here in Dayton, Ohio.

One thing you have to realize is that while both Skype and Vonage offer great
VoIP services, they can be hampered by not ony the quality of your internet
connection but also by the "network neutrality" policies of your internet
service provider.

Time/Warner has been relitively well behaved in this area so far, but your
service, Comcast, has a notorious reputation for "packet shaping" third party
services using their network. It's quite possible that they have been throttling
your Vonage connection, or that your quality of service has been low for VoIP
packets.

You can have the most delicious malt to drink, but how much flavor you get
depends on the size of the straw the restaurant gives you. (grin)

One interesting thing to note is that most of the major phone companies are
trying to wipe out Vonage in the courts rather than compete in the same
space. I suspect that if they are successful in shuttering Vonage, they will go
after the next big VoIP brand, Skype,

Anyway, I have both Vonage and Skype-In and Skype-Out service. Vonage has
been excellent for both my home and business use. On the other hand, Skype
to POTS service for calling folks has not had nearly the same call quality as
my Vonage service. Perhaps I have an oposite problem with Skype being
throttled by Time/Warner? Hmmm...

Just some additional things to consider about independent ViOP services.

- Tom

[Matt Asay]

I'm not aware of a similar chart for ERP

@jcunnCSC: Unfortuntely, I don't know of a similar chart for ERP. Sorry.... If I come across something, I'll post it, though.

[ZOverLord]

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