I wasn't sure if this was the place to put this but since it is a household expense, I figured here would be ok.

I am looking at lowering my phone bill. Looking at Vonage, what internet connection do I need?? Does it have to be Cable Internet or can it be DSL?

I have Directv, will this work with it?

Thanks!

IIRC, It can be cable or DSL...I have no idea about DirectTV.

We've been using VoIP phone service for many years with good results. We even took it overseas with us when we lived in Switzerland. We've used Vonage and then another company, SpeakEasy with good results. We had better clarity with calls via Vonage. SpeakEasy was fine, but sometimes I heard an echo when I was talking or a slight delay.

One concern many people have is 911 service. You have to register for 911, and it's simple and easy. We had no problems setting it up or using it.

Vonage - A better phone service for less

There are other things to keep in mind too...if your power goes out, your phone won't work...if your ISP goes down, your phone won't work etc

There are a lot of great features, one we like in particular is that we can get an email or text message when a voicemail comes in on our phone. We travel so much, it's nice to know when a message comes in at home.

Good site with forum, it's been helpful to me in the past:

VoIP Providers - VoIP Services - Broadband Phone Company Providers

Tons of info online...just google!

I use Packet8 and love not having a huge phone bill every month. I don't know about DirectTV, but we have ours with our cable and it works fine. We get an echo once in a while, on calls from certain people, but other than that, it works great.

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Frugal is being wise with your money and resources and cheap is forcing everyone else to.

We LOVE our Vonage. We haven't had any issues at all and we've had it almost 2 years now. When the power or internet is out (which has only happened a couple times) all calls automatically forward to my cell phone. We've never missed a call and we can't tell any difference from our old line.

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Same here! We've had Vonage for a couple of years now and have never had a problem. We love it!

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I know Vonage only works with high speed internet connections. We have had it a couple of years and love it. It saves us quite a bit of money.

Our family especially loves it because we can call CANADA (where my family is and the majority of our long distance used to derive from) and the price doesn't change! $24.99 a month for unlimited calls to U.S, CANADA and some overseas countries!

However, lately we've been experiencing an 'echo' on the line. I've been meaning to call about that!

We have Vonage and love it. It has so many perks with the voice mail, I get a page on my phone when I get a message at home, free long distance and cheap call overseas when hubby had to travel out of country. It has been a great deal for us. We also have Verizon Fios for internet and TV. It is the best deal on the market right now. Even cheaper than adding a Verizon phone to the pack.