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Can anyone comment on the quality of Time Warner's digital phone service? I currently pay $44.95/month for an AT&T land line with two phone numbers (distinctive ring for the 2nd) and have generally been happy. I use a calling card for long distance at $.03/minute. I got a postcard in the mail this week for this deal - Unlimited Nationwide Calling for $19.95/month (http://www.Yourtwc.com/Independence - broken link).
It seems like a no brainer to me but I'm wondering if there's a catch (poor quality? annoying to use? I don't know..). I'd have to give up my second phone number, but hopefully I won't need it anyway once I'm no longer working from home.
I got TWC digital phone service when I started working from home (because my husband has a business and we already had too many phone lines between work/his business/home), and the sound quality has been excellent. I was so happy when nothing changed when I moved from Cary to Durham. There was only one occasion where it sounded like it was getting staticky, but I can't be sure that it was related to TWC, as the person was calling from their cell phone (they hadn't moved from where they were standing when chatting with me). I have never heard a reduction in sound quality, even when downloading large files. My hubby uses another VOIP provider (with TWC internet) for one of his lines, and is very unhappy with the sound when dowloading/uploading.
I don't see any reason for me to go back to a regular land line For me it was a no brainer!
Beware that cable phones do not forward your calls should you move. My (home) business line was on cable and when I relocated to NC, the number could not be ported (although I may have ported it to cell) and there was no "the number has been changed to..." recording option. Now my business line is ATT and our home phone is cable. I've been thinking of switching it to ATT but I can't get them on the phone. The wait is unbelievable. My cable phone has been generally reliable (it could go out in a storm or occasionally for just random cable issues) but at least you can get through to customer svc. or tech support.
I have never heard a reduction in sound quality, even when downloading large files. My hubby uses another VOIP provider (with TWC internet) for one of his lines, and is very unhappy with the sound when dowloading/uploading.
Thanks Christinabean. I hadn't considered the possible bandwidth issue (I'm a pretty heavy internet user). Frankly between my cell phone and this service I think I'd have my bases covered. I can actually use my cell phone at the new house, unlike my current home where I'm in a bit of a coverage black hole.
I'm not too worried about number forwarding - I expect to live in my next home for quite a while, and honestly, not that many people call me in the first place.
Time Warner is advertising the same special in today's N&O so I expect they'll be getting quite a few new customers between now and 7/31/08.
We have TWC's digital phone..have had it a couple years now and I really don't see any difference in quality between it and the analog phone service.
The ONLY issue that one should be aware of is that if your cable goes out, you have no phone. This was an issue when we first moved into our house as it was a new area and the cable went out quite a bit in storms but it seems they have worked that out and now the cable only seems to go out when the electricity goes out.
I have heard that you can still get a dial tone with a corded phone but I haven't bought one to have in case of emergency (just use our cells).
Lauren
Last edited by lauren4521; 07-13-2008 at 07:02 AM..
Reason: duh to correct the spelling of my own name
We have TWC's digital phone..have had it a couple years now and I really don't see any difference in quality between it and the analog phone service.
The ONLY issue that one should be aware of is that if your cable goes out, you have no phone. This was an issue when we first moved into our house as it was a new area and the cable went out quite a bit in storms but it seems they have worked that out and now the cable only seems to go out when the electricity goes out.
I have heard that you can still get a dial tone with a corded phone but I haven't bought one to have in case of emergency (just use our cells).
Lauren
You cannot use the phone when power goes out. One big drawback of VOIP.
Thankfully though Saturnfan, cell phones help out in that situation
You've got a good point though- if you live in a place where the power goes out a lot, that's a significant consideration. It hasn't happened to me yet though!
adlnc07-I agree- I have my cell in case I need it, and the reception is great where I live.
I used to have TWC digital phone. The quality isn't any different than a land line. No better, no worse. I couldn't justify spending that much money a month for a phone. I switched to Vonage about 3 years ago. It's the same exact service as TWC digital phone (VOIP) except a lot cheaper. After the monthly charge and taxes I'm paying just shy of $30/month. I've had absolutely zero problems with it. I've even moved to a new house and got to keep the same number. Why overpay for a service from TWC who has horrible customer service when the same can be had for less?
I used to have TWC digital phone. The quality isn't any different than a land line. No better, no worse. I couldn't justify spending that much money a month for a phone. I switched to Vonage about 3 years ago. It's the same exact service as TWC digital phone (VOIP) except a lot cheaper. After the monthly charge and taxes I'm paying just shy of $30/month. I've had absolutely zero problems with it. I've even moved to a new house and got to keep the same number. Why overpay for a service from TWC who has horrible customer service when the same can be had for less?
One plus I've heard for cableco VOIP is that the cable company can prioritize the traffic and ship it off the public internet at an earlier stage, so you won't have service degraded by heavy internet traffic or some break in the system somewhere. That being said, I haven't had a problem related to internet traffic for months (I've had Vonage since early 2005). And a nice thing with Vonage, compared to cablecos from others have said on this thread, is that you can keep your phone number when you move, no matter where you move, so I've kept my Massachusetts number as a "virtual," forwarding number and have a new NC number as well.
I wouldn't feel comfortable relying on it without reasonable cell phone service as well, though.
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For me it was a no brainer!
