Product Review: Vonage V-Portal Phone Adapter and VOIP Service

Recently, I started a new job which requires me to maintain "landline" phone service at my house. I looked at getting a regular phone line from Verizon, but they were offering me a lot of services I didn't want at a price I wasn't really willing to pay. After doing some research, I decided to get Vonage phone service instead of a Verizon line.

Signing up for Vonage on their website was easy....after selecting a monthly plan and giving them my payment information, I had to pick a device which would connect my phone to the Vonage service. I decided to go with the Vonage V-Portal device since it was the cheapest. After placing my order, I immediately was given my new phone number, and I was surprised when my Vonage device was delivered to my house just 2 days later.

The Vonage V-Portal device was very easy to set up. It is about the same size as a stand-alone caller ID box, and almost as easy to set up. All you do is plug the Vonage V-Portal into your cable or DSL modem using an Ethernet cable, plug a regular phone into the V-Portal, and plug in the AC adapter into any normal outlet. As soon as I powered up the V-Portal it connected to the Vonage service, and within 45 seconds it displayed a message that I was ready to make calls.

From that point, I was surprised just how much like a normal phone line the Vonage service is. When you pick up your phone you hear a dial tone and just dial as usual. Your phone rings when you receive an incoming call and you just answer as usual. You'd have no idea your calls were being sent via VOIP over the internet unless you knew...they sound just as clear as a normal landline call. You don't really need to interact with the V-Portal device at all, but if you choose to you can access detailed call logs, voicemail, and even weather and traffic information services just by pressing a few buttons on the V-Portal.

After a month of using it, I am very pleased that I chose the Vonage V-Portal device and service instead of going with Verizon. Besides for being cheaper, Vonage allows you to access all sorts of nifty features like call forwarding, call transfer, and even do-not-disturb any time you like. You can turn features on or off as much as you want all with just a click of a mouse on the Vonage website. The V-Portal device was easy to install and seems like it is well built. If you are in the market for phone service, I would highly recommend checking out the Vonage V-Portal device with Vonage service. And if you have a friend with Vonage and provide their Vonage phone number when you sign up, you can each get 2 months of phone service free.