Request for general feedback

[bmcneely0]

I'm soliciting feedback from current Hub users as I'm considering switching VoIP providers. I have had Verizon Wireless as my cellular carrier for several years and have been mostly happy. When problems have arisen I've been able to get them addressed quicly most of the time and when something drags out Verizon usually does right by me as a customer in the end. The areas I'm most interest in are:

1. Call quality - Is the call quality acceptible? Are there instances where you can hear the person on the other end but they can't hear you or where they hear you but you can't hear them?
2. Quality of technical support - On the instances where you've had to call technical support did you:
   1. Find them easy to communicate with (not trying to some across mean here but either having english as their first language or having the ability to speak engligh clearly is a big plus).
   2. Get your answer resolved in a timely manner.

I doubt seriously that I would use any of the gee-whiz features of the Hub, at least not at first. My main need is just VoIP calling to family and friends in the US and Canada. I have a VoIP provider now (actually my third (two rounds with the woo-hoo company and another provider before the one I currently have) who I've been with for a little over two years and have been happy up until the last month. If the services holds up and I don't have to subject myself to their technical support group again I may stay with them. But I'm looking at alternatives. My main interest in Verizon Wireless and the Hub is that as a Verizon Wireless cellular customer for serveral years I've had good luck with their customer service. I've never tried to get something for free. When problems have I've always been able to either call or go into the store and get the problem resolved to everyone's satisfaction. In this day and age however, most other VoIP carriers operate on a shoe string budget and you usually end up getting the dregs of society that they find at the bottom of the the barrel. Their objective seems to be to convince you that the problem isn't on their end. But if you keep pushing you can eventually find someone who will move you to another server that isn't as heavily utilized or download tuning changes to your adapter based on changes they recently made to their network. Having had good customer service from Verizon Wireless as a cellular customer I would expect that the same expections can be set for the Hub, but I wanted to see what people's thoughts were. I understand that for just VoIP the Hub is kind of pricey. But I'm thinking that I'll eventually start to use some of the other features, and if I ever have to call support, I hope I'll get the same level of service I've come to expect from the cellular side of the company. Kind of sad that we're reaching the point where you pray you don't have to call technical support or you're willing to pay more so that when you do call support, you get good service. So, any comments on your experience thus far?

[InsuranceTECH]

I bought the HUB on the first available day after reading about all of the supposed 'wonderful' reasons why it would replace any home phone, or other VOIP setup.  Unfortunately it has NOT lived up to expectations, especially compared to the excellent service I formerly experienced with Vonage. Vz has sold to the public a less than ready phone.  Here's my issues:  FIRST) The phone, most of the time, is out of service when I go to place a call. A 'tick,tick,ticking' sound is heard and you must 'unplug' and 'replug' the phone to reconnect, which takes several minutes.  The 'green' icon in the upper right of the screen shows as valid when this happens, but it still does not mean that you can use the phone.  After 'rebooting' the phone, you can usually make a call, which seems to work well as far as quality goes, but make sure that you have the Handset volume all the way up or you may not hear the other end of the conversation.  SECOND) Even though I may be able to eventually make a call, many times the system DISCONNECTS in the Middle of a conversation! (there's that 'tick,tick,ticking' sound again!) and you must 'reboot' AGAIN!  This does not inspire confidence that the phone will ever replace other similar systems.  I'm only sad that I already disconnected my Vonage service, or else I would have returned this phone to Vz months ago! THIRD) When you call customer service, you WILL most likely get a 'non english' person on the other end - not to say they are not nice and try to be helpful, but ultimately they have NEVER been able to solve the problem, other than to tell me not to use my service near any MICROWAVE, or have too many 'other' uses of my Internet Connection or I might experience problems.  I NEVER had these issues with Vonage!(which, by the way, is even cheaper)

IN CONCLUSION, I would LOVE to see Vz resolve these issues. But, until they do, this Forum is the only place, apparently, to let the public, AND Vz, know that the system needs overhauling.  Ultimately, if the phone does not work ALL OF THE TIME people will NOT support it, and will move on to other VOIP services.

[hubba]

check out the thread http://forums.verizon.com/vrzn/board/message?board.id=Verizon_Hub&message.id=388#M388 which i started and ended.  bottom line for me: huge headache to get working, but pretty amazing customer support to include a free verizon router.  since being up, i find call quality excellent.  i have never had a dropped or interrupted call.  apart from a few quirks in features i can't get to work quite right, i am extremely pleased.  and btw, the ability to find a phone number in via directory search, place the call from the same device and add it to my contacts in seconds with a few taps?  Killer feature.  Also, the screensaver is sweet and overall, it's sharp device.  For fun, my wife and I uploaded some digital photos while vacationing to the Hub so the kids (back home!) could see some of the places we were at ... neat stuff ...  btw, about a week after i got up and running they put out a major software upgrade that was very nice indeed.  when was the last time you woke up and found that your telephone could do something new????  Twisted copper's days are numbered ...

[RIP120751]

I've been using the Hub for a month now after using Vonage for over 4 years.  The Hub's advertised features are waht lured me to it.  I'd have liked to get it without a new wireless account (a negative IMHO.)  I've been relatively satisfied so far.  Used a few of the features.  I've experienced a few lockups (touch screen becomes unresponsive) which required a system reboot.  I also have FIOS, so initially connected to the FIOS Wireless Router wirelessly.  I suggest a wired connection as that may eliminate the lockups (maybe.)  I installed a separate CISCO Wireless N router and had a bit of a signal improvement but not significantly.  Both routers were less than 20 feet from the Hub, but on a different floor of my house.  Get a half signal strength indoactor on the FIOS router and a little of half with the Cisco router.

Rodger