I've been using Vonage for 8 months and like it pretty well. The sound quality is bad if you're downloading/uploading big files, but otherwise it's fine. And of course it costs about a third of what I was paying for fewer features when I was an SBC customer.

I replaced one of our lines with a Vonage phone, and am reasonably happy with it.

We still have some weird problems, (notably, sometimes there are echoes on foreign calls, in which case we place a new call and try again.), but it's been good for us. SimulRing seems to work a bit poorly as well, sometimes causing problems when it's simulringing a cell phone that is off, or out of range.

The cheap international rates make it worth our while.

I have some astoundingly and embarassingly stupid questions about it. Here goes. Is it horrible/dangerous/inviting hackage to leave your pc on all the time?

Is it horrible/dangerous/inviting hackage to leave your pc on all the time?

You don't have to have your PC on to use Vonage. It comes with a little box that turns packets into a regular phone jack. Plug that sucker into a cordless phone base (preferably for the kind that supports multiple handsets), and you're all set.

But that being said... you really want some sort of firewall between you and the internet. Even a cheap-o one will do wonders for your security.

I have been using Vonage since June of last year and we've had very good luck with them. It helps that we are not heavy phone users -- after I reviewed six months of bills, I downgraded us from the "unlimited" plan to the 500-minute plan, and that will still be more than enough.

We have had a few small technical problems, but have yet to have a situation that couldn't be resovled by a call to their tech support. I remain totally surprised by this, to be honest. I expected things to get ugly if we needed help.

The router that Vonage sends you is a standard Linksys router, which does not have its firewall turned on as far as I know, but it should be possible to enable it. My Vonage router has to sit in front of my wireless router in my home network config, and it seems to allow any traffic that my wireless router will then block/permit as per its own firewall ruleset.

I had no problems with Vonage's service until I cancelled it. Then they billed me for three months afterward, wouldn't issue me a refund, and then, to add insult to injury, gave my phone number to someone else. So my advice is, if you get Vonage, plan on having it for the rest of your life.

thanks everybody!

I have been using Vonage for four years or so and I have 4 Vonage numbers. No major issues to tell you about. Just be sure (with any VoIP) that your DSL or cable is good.