VOIP (was: Since we were speaking of Gmail....)

Booth Martin wrote:
> I need to dial into an iSeries (its not on the Internet).  I dial out 
> with my PC's internal modem.

Ok, that's clear.

> If I use Vonage then I suppose I would be dialing out with my PC modem, 
> which would be wired to my house phone wiring.  That in turn would be 
> wired to the telephone adapter on my broadband modem?

Obviously that depends on how Vonage is hooked up to your houses wiring.

If your intention is that Vonage is your ONLY phone service (something I
would not personally recommend, for reasons I will list later), then you
*SHOULD* be able to do that.

Because the relative quality of a VOIP line is lower than a standard
analog phone line, I would personally recommend you use a land line for
modem usage.

Personally, I have my Vonage line wired into the 2nd line of my houses
phone wiring.  My wife and I try to use Vonage for all outgoing calls,
and use the land line for incoming calls.

As for why I would not recommend using VOIP as your only phone line,
there are a few reasons ...

1. I don't have 100% confidence in 911 service.  They DO have 911
support, but it's not the same as you get with a regular telco.

2. Quality is not 100% as good as a normal land line.

3. Unless you are using cable modem, you probably still need a land line
to get DSL service.

4. The VOIP service glitches occasionally ... there have been a few
times that I haven't been able to place a call on the VOIP line, but i
could dial on the land line without a problem.

david