Verizon Home Phone Connect release and information thread

[olc]

So had anyone got the "newer" Home Phone Connect unit yet?
Wondering if it is any good.
Also, with the $2.99 CallerID add-on does it show Name & Number of the incoming call (like the description says) ?

I had one of the new ones and took it back. The voice quality is substandard. Everybody asked if I was using a cell phone.Maybe the older one is better. Never tried one.

And as for $3 for caller ID, quit nickel and diming. I simply went back to my unlimited cable phone system that does everything including caller ID, let's me fax and has excellent voice quality. It's $2 a month more than the Verizon HPC with caller ID.

[FAUguy]

I had one of the new ones and took it back. The voice quality is substandard. Everybody asked if I was using a cell phone.Maybe the older one is better. Never tried one.

And as for $3 for caller ID, quit nickel and diming. I simply went back to my unlimited cable phone system that does everything including caller ID, let's me fax and has excellent voice quality. It's $2 a month more than the Verizon HPC with caller ID.

OK. If you look at my post in the past page from a month ago, I've been looking at ways to lower my Comcast bill, which is $200 month. It's one of their triple play bundles with TV, Internet, and unlimited Voice for $140, but then when you add the 3 cable boxes, eMTA cable/voice modem, and taxes. ups it to $200, which is more that I'd want.

Even if I went to Dish Network for TV, the Home Phone Connect for voice, and kept Comcast for Internet, it still would work out to about $200/month.

I don't FAX too much, so that's not a big deal, buy if the voice quality on the HPC isn't any good, that would keep me away from buying it.

[olc]

Even if I went to Dish Network for TV, the Home Phone Connect for voice, and kept Comcast for Internet, it still would work out to about $200/month.

I have DirecTV with 2 HD DVRs and HOB and Shotime, plus cable phone and 18Mbps internet. I'm at about $170 a month.

[FAUguy]

I have DirecTV with 2 HD DVRs and HOB and Shotime, plus cable phone and 18Mbps internet. I'm at about $170 a month.

That's not too bad. My Comcast bill was around $165 for the last 2 years (with HBO, 3 boxes (1DVR), 30Mbps internet and voice), as I signed a 2 yr contract that locked in the price. But that ended Oct 2011 and jumped up to the "normal" price of $200 (including taxes). I've talked to Comcast about it, and they don't have any promos for current customers that will lower it any more - just for new customers. I like the concept of the Dish Network new Hopper/Joey DVR as it has a 2TB drive. My current Motorola DCX3400M is still limited to 500GB drive.

[Guest 214]

Caller ID iwas number only. I returned the HPC in any case because of lousy voice quality. It sounded thin and indistinct to everyone I called. Add no fax capability and a 2 year contract to that and I bailed. Is it useable? Yes. Is it good? No.

The reason the call quality is poor compared to a landline is because it uses the cellular EVRC codec. The reason you sound like a cell phone caller is because you are, it uses the same cell tower and technology as a Verizon phone at only a 4-8kbit/s bitrate vs. a constant 64bit/s bitrate using the landline standard G711 codec.

[FAUguy]

The reason the call quality is poor compared to a landline is because it uses the cellular EVRC codec. The reason you sound like a cell phone caller is because you are, it uses the same cell tower and technology as a Verizon phone at only a 4-8kbit/s bitrate vs. a constant 64bit/s bitrate using the landline standard G711 codec.

I wonder if it's using the regular EVRC or the EVRC-B 4GV-NB (narrow band), which most of Verizon's smartphones now use.
I've tested the difference between standard EVRC and EVRC-B 4GV-NB on several phones, and the older EVRC sounded better to me.
The EVRC-B is used ad the default on most new phones since it uses a higher compression rate and lower bit rate, which means more phone calls are capable per channel.

I'm not sure what my Arris TM722G eMTA uses for it's bit rate and compression for Comcast voice calls, but it sounds better than the standard land line phone company AT&T.

[olc]

Vonage costs WAY more, when you add in the cost of the required internet connection.

If you already have internet, then the marginal cost of it to use with Vonage, or any other VOIP service, is zero

[olc]

The reason the call quality is poor compared to a landline is because it uses the cellular EVRC codec. The reason you sound like a cell phone caller is because you are, it uses the same cell tower and technology as a Verizon phone at only a 4-8kbit/s bitrate vs. a constant 64bit/s bitrate using the landline standard G711 codec.

Everyone said HPC sounded like a cell, but no one says my cell phone sounds like a cell phone. So lets just leave it at HPC sounds like a bad cell phone.

[WaltA]

If you already have internet, then the marginal cost of it to use with Vonage, or any other VOIP service, is zero

You need to apportion the full cost of your internet connection against all uses, if you want any hope of doing an accurate comparison.

[gunterm]

If you want faxing buy a telular sx5t off eBay. Faxing works through VZW service only, not sure why it was iffy on PP.

Also the SX5T has 8k EVRC and 13k QCELP so you do sound pretty good on it.

http://www.getwirelessllc.com/Telular.php

[olc]

You need to apportion the full cost of your internet connection against all uses, if you want any hope of doing an accurate comparison.

No, you don't. You can't buy most internet service on a use basis. You either have it or you don't. If you have it, unless the usage is somehow limited, the marginal cost is zero. A cost accountant might apportion it to various uses but it would be a fiction. but The reality is if you already are paying for it, using it for Vonage or other VOIP doesn't take any more money out of your pocket.

[WaltA]

No, you don't. You can't buy most internet service on a use basis. You either have it or you don't. If you have it, unless the usage is somehow limited, the marginal cost is zero. A cost accountant might apportion it to various uses but it would be a fiction. but The reality is if you already are paying for it, using it for Vonage or other VOIP doesn't take any more money out of your pocket.

Once again, you are dead wrong.

I bet you're the type that would spend hours arguing that an airline should allow you to fly for free, because the seat would be empty anyway. So, you sitting in that seat for the trip would have a margin cost of zero.

If an internet connection is required for Vonage or other VOIP to work, then you must factor in that cost.

[olc]

Once again, you are dead wrong.

I bet you're the type that would spend hours arguing that an airline should allow you to fly for free, because the seat would be empty anyway. So, you sitting in that seat for the trip would have a margin cost of zero.

If an internet connection is required for Vonage or other VOIP to work, then you must factor in that cost.

Go take an economics course. If you are already paying for internet. how does it cost you anything to use it fro Vonage. Most people don't do cost accounting fictions when determining what something costs them. The figure out how much money out of pocket it will take. It takes zero additional dollars.

Unless your internet service iis to a seat on your plane, the out of pocket cost is zero.

Not to mention that your analogy is born of ignorance. We are talking about the cost to you, not an airline, which by the way has a marginal cost of more than zero to put you in a vacant seat.

[mdavej]

So has anyone gotten this new model, subbed to callerID name and gotten it to work?

Olc, did you have one of the old models before, and if so, was the voice quality any different in the new one? I agree it's typical cell phone bad quality, but at $10/month I have yet to find a cheaper VOIP solution. If someone has, please post it.

[olc]

So has anyone gotten this new model, subbed to callerID name and gotten it to work?

Olc, did you have one of the old models before, and if so, was the voice quality any different in the new one? I agree it's typical cell phone bad quality, but at $10/month I have yet to find a cheaper VOIP solution. If someone has, please post it.

I did not have one of the original ones so I can't compare. I'd like to hear from someone who has used both as well.

For me it was $20+tax so not quite as good a deal.