AT&T CallVantage service
Written: Jul 19 '06 (Updated Feb 25 '07)
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Pros: Feature packed service at an inexpensive price compared to a landline.
Cons: Must have cellphone backup for service during a power outage.
The Bottom Line: Fantastic amount of features at a very inexpensive price, reliable, great quality of sound and service.
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| cartan's Full Review: AT&T CallVantage (DVG1120MRT) Router |
2/25/07 Significant update added at the bottom of this review.
Original review:
Would like to relate my experience with VOIP, since I read so many skeptical and negative posts on the subject.
I just had Verizon FIOS installed a few months ago and considered dropping my land line in favor of VOIP. I was excited about all the 'features' offered by the VOIP providers as well as the lower price and did some Internet research for offerings and customer reviews. Looked hardest at Vonage, VoiceWing (Verizon) and CallVantage (AT&T). (When I started comparing prices, the unlimited packages from Vonage, VoiceWing and CallVantage were $25, $35, and $30; since then VoiceWing has dropped their price to match Vonage). Since I didn't use enough Long Distance to pay a flat fee every month, I looked at the packages with unlimited local calling and per minute long distance. Wasn't interested in a plan with limited minutes of local calling. CallVantage seemed to fit my needs best at $20 per month plus $2 for call filtering, total monthly bill with taxes about $27. The customer reviews for voice quality with CallVantage were very good (and that proved to be true for me).
When I tried to 'port' my number from a local CLEC online, the application was denied, and a CS rep explained that AT&T does not have a porting agreement with that phone company. He suggested I port my number to Verizon, then to AT&T. I wanted to try out the service before committing my home number of 40 years to AT&T. So I signed up with another local number. Worked great from the get-go. As soon as the Telephone Adapter (TA) arrived, I plugged it in to the FIOS wireless router and after a brief automated setup, I could use the phone. (Some configurations suggest putting the TA between the router and modem so that the TA can channel enough of the bandwidth to provide high voice quality. But with that configuration, I could not access the Internet with my computer. At 5M/2M with FIOS, there was plenty of bandwidth when the TA was plugged in to the router. The TA typically needs 90K of bandwidth to operate.)
I felt bad about 'using' Verizon just to port my number to AT&T. But then I got my first bill, and the $28 for the package exploded to almost $40 per month with all the taxes and fees. I distinctly remember being told by the Verizon customer rep that long distance was 6 cpm. (It was a new package, not shown online). The paperwork showed the cost was 8 cpm. Doesn't look like a big difference, but it's a 33% increase over what I was told.
After a month with Verizon, I ported my home number to AT&T VOIP.
Now to rewire the house, so I can use the house wiring for multiple phones. Before my landline was shut off, I measured the voltage and polarity of the incoming landline and wrote it on the wall. As the instructions indicated, I disconnected the incoming wires (I have an old house, old installation, and the wires are easily accessible). I unplugged every phone and answering machine in the house. Plugged a telephone wire into the back of the TA and into the nearby telephone jack. Measured the voltage where all the lines come together and found that the POLARITY WAS REVERSED!!! The instructions say nothing about checking the polarity, or reversing leads on the jack that the TA plugs in to. I tediously reversed the red and green wires on the back of the jack that I was using for the TA, and rechecked the voltage and polarity at the junction of all the phone wires. Polarity correct. Plugged one phone in at a time, tested for a dial tone, and every one worked.
It now appears that my VOIP phone is set up exactly as the landline was with a few differences. No need to dial 1. An occasional requirement to verify that I haven't moved the TA when the power goes out. A lot lower bill than even the most basic landline provides. And a ton of useful features that would cost an arm and a leg if purchased through Verizon's smorgasbord.
For over a month, we have been using VOIP and have had none of the problems that I read about from other users. The voice quality is as good or better than a landline. We have had no problems making or receiving calls. No one has called us and said they tried our number and couldn't get through. There is hardly any difference between using the VOIP phone and a landline Obviously, the router must be kept on. The modem is always on and has a Verizon installed battery backup system, good for about ten hours without power.
We lost power in a thunderstorm a week ago for 23 hours. Calls were automatically forwarded to my cellphone. I shut down the battery backup for the router and computer, since our cordless phones didn't work anyway without power. The battery backup for the modem died after 10 hours. When power was restored, everything came back on normally with no resetting required.
The call filtering works great and is well worth the extra $2 per month. The call log shows all incoming calls, and proved to me that a telemarketer (800 number) that I had blocked was unable to get through.
The only "issue" I have with the service is that in order to comply with the requirements of locating a VOIP phone for 911 is that every time the telephone adapter (TA) loses power, it notifies AT&T, and before the first call can be made after a power loss, I must endure an automated announcement to verify that I have not moved the TA. Unfortunately, the TA sends a power loss signal even if the power loss duration is less than a second. It would have been a more intelligent design if the power loss signal only happened when power was out for over a minute. Who could move and install the TA to a new location in under a minute? In an attempt to reduce the frequency of the power loss glitches, I purchased a small battery backup unit for just the TA.
Currently, there is a problem with the time that AT&T sends with the Caller ID information on an incoming call. In my case, I must add three hours to the indicated time. The call log on my account online shows the correct time of incoming and outgoing calls. Speed dialing through the AT&T system is impractical. To dial the number in speed dial location 9, for example, one must dial ATT9# That's FIVE keystrokes to dial a ten digit number. We use the speed dial provided on our cordless phones; quite a bit easier. AT&T provides speed dialing for only 9 phone numbers. Our cordless phones provide for 20.
My experience with VIOP so far has been very satisfying, and I have no regrets about giving up an expensive, spartan landline in favor of an inexpensive, feature packed broadband phone system.
Update 7/24/2006 I just noticed online that AT&T CallVantage lowered the price of their unlimited local and long distance plan to $24.99 per month (from $29.99). For five bucks more than I was paying for unlimited local and 4 cpm long distance ($19.99), I thought it was worth the extra $5 to be able to call anyone anywhere in the US and not worry about how many minutes I was using. I signed up (via a live customer service rep) and was immediately eligible to make all the calls I wanted free of any LD charges. Ain't life grand?:>) And the phone system still works great, no glitches.
Update 8/25/06 The problem I mentioned regarding the time of the call on Caller ID has been fixed. The "HELP" menu notes that AT&T is aware of the problem and looking in to it. Misleading. The problem is that the Telephone Adapter is set to Pacific Time, and one must go into the TA's program and reset the "Localization" to whatever time zone they live in. DST can be selected as well. Did it, and now my Caller ID time is correct.
So far, so good. No complaints about the service. Talked LD to my sister for over an hour yesterday, and not one bit of noise the whole time.
Update 2/25/07. While CallVantage has remained a high quality service, with only one brief outage that I was aware of the entire time I had the service, I switched to another VoIP that had a plan better fitted to my needs and wants, for $15 less per month. I started looking for an alternative VoIP when I read frequent reports that CallVantage was not compatible with the Actiontec router that Verizon provides its FiOS customers when FiOS TV is installed. That problem has recently been fixed with an upgrade to the Actiontec firmware. Another factor was the limited number of filters (20 to voicemail, 20 blocked) for $2 extra per month, when I could get unlimited filters included in the price with another provider. CallVantage allowed only one scheduled Do Not Disturb, while the new provider did not limit the number of schedules that could be set up. If I blocked a caller, CallVantage provided a canned message that this caller does not accept calls from this number. If a live telemarketer listened to that message, they could just dial out on another number. I had been getting many calls from the same telemarketer using different numbers, and was using up my filters trying to block him. The new provider allows me to select what message the blocked caller gets, and I use the not-in-service tone and message. More effective.
So, while CallVantage still provides clear conversation and a competitive price, VoicePulse provides the same clarity with many more features in a limited LD plan that saves me $15 per month on the phone bill.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 32/mo - LD
Driver Availability: Don''t Know
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Epinions.com ID:
cartan
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Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 3 members
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