Vonage VDV21-CVR - Wireless VoIP phone - DECT 6.0 + 2 additional handset(s)
Product Details
Vonage VDV21-CVR Whole House Solution Broadband Telephone System Vonage is pleased to unveil a line of Vonage Whole House Solutions. These products have been designed to enable end users to easily install Vonage Digital Voice Service throughout their homes. The Vonage Whole House Solution DECT 6.0 Broadband Telephone System consists of a V-Portal and a Cordless Digital Phone System. The V-Portal is a VoIP gateway and single port router combined in one device. The Vonage V-Portal allows you to use your Internet connection for your computer and your phones at the same time. It can connect up to 2 Vonage lines through your high-speed Internet connection. Just plug the V-Portal into your broadband modem and plug the DECT 6.0 phone base into one of the two RJ-11 telephone ports. Then place the additional handsets anywhere you like in your home. If you subscribe to a second line, you can use the other RJ-11 telephone port to connect your existing fax machine or another phone.
- Designed exclusively for use with Vonage? Digital Voice service
- 50 name/number call waiting caller ID (activation required)
- 50 name/number phone book
- Handsets feature EZ-READ display, speakerphone, call transfer and intercom
- Dedicated LED alert for voicemails with 1-touch remote access
Customer Reviews ::
A HUGE Step Backward - Hussein In The Membrane - Warner Robins, GA
I've been a loyal Vonage user since early 2005, and I never had anything but praise for the company. I still think very highly of the service itself, but I can see that this equipment is going to change that opinion very quickly. Not long ago, there was a plethora of Vonage compatible routers and other networking do-hickies out there, but they seem to have dwindled until there's very little to choose from, leaving many of us with no choice but to use this *supply your own expletive* Vonage adapter instead. Folks, this adapter and the phones that come with it are junk (I'm expletively challenged)!
I bought this equipment to replace my Linksys RTP300 Router/VoiP adapter along with a Radio Shack cordless telephone set. Oh, how I miss my RTP300, and my old phones are back online. With the Linksys equipment, call quality was beyond exceptional, never a missed or dropped call, never any hint of audio chop during calls. Alas, it would seem that those days are over, and I may soon find myself shopping for a new VoiP provider.
First the adapter itself. It's really quite ugly once you get it into your room despite the reasonably nice look it seems to have in the photos here (unless you decorate for Halloween 365 days a year). It's small, cheap looking, and the orange and black scheme looks awful with the other equipment in my living room, all of which uses a blue light scheme. I could get past that if it worked well enough though. Sadly, it doesn't. Since activating my new Vonage adapter, I get choppy call audio like a cell phone in a weak reception area on every call, and I'm using the same modem, the same internet servide provider, even the same modem-to-router ethernet cable as I was with my RTP300. But remember, what it lacks in call quality, it more than makes up for in ugliness. No shortage of either.
Next the phones. The sound quality (what you hear) is kinda okay. It sounds tinny and shallow whether in default handset or speakerphone mode. My Radio Shack phones sound much much better. Transmit sound quality (what the people you talk to hear when you speak) is very good according to the people I've spoken to using these Vonage phones, so they get a snap and two thumbs up for that.
But the good report ends there. These phones are remarkably light on features. You can store up to 50 numbers in memory, but they aren't alphabetized, they're just assigned a memory slot number. There is no phonebook feature to allow you to locate a stored number in memory by the name of the person, so you either have to memorize each of your 50 memory entries, or you have to scroll through the lot of them until you find what you're looking for. These phones also lack a memory sharing feature, so you have to enter each stored number and all the info that goes with it on each of the three phones separately. As many a wise man has said, "That ain't right."
For looks, the phones are okay. They aren't very substantial though, and they feel as though a fall from your head to the floor might do one in pretty easily. I didn't experience any problems with range or signal strength, but then I only used them for a few hours and then went back to my old phones.
For the price, this equipment bundle is a sucker deal, especially if you pay the full price listed here. If you can, avoid this VoiP adapter and go with something by Linksys if you can find it (but be sure to check the reviews before you buy, I've heard some not so good stuff about what is still out there). If you find yourself stuck with no other options, avoid the phones and get the Voip adapter only (and Vonage will send you one for free if you like-a da free stuff ;^P. Still, if buying is your preference, stick with the adapter and skip the junky phones; the added cost is a complete waste of money. And be sure to check for reputable vendors selling them for less. I saved around by doing so. After all, if you're gonna buy junk, it might as well be cheap junk.
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