VOIP SunRocket Internet Phone Service $199 for 15months = $13.27/month

[DoozerM]

Yep, that is what I am talking about - at least on the outbound calls. On the inbound, callers will call and you will pick it up but it is dead air, and the person calling you gets dead air as well. Lately, this has been happening to quite a few people... and the complaints are starting to pile up. It does happen randomly BTW.

 

[Cocytus]

If only they'd abandoned the CS "trying to be Tech support" script... let me talk to a tech.... who probably who have told me about the router within 30 seconds.

Routers are cheap. Good CS reps, that apprpriately route calls, aren't I guess.

No hard feelings though.

 

[Project86]

My package from SR is still on the way, it should be here by Friday according to UPS. I just got my cable modem install kit in the mail today, and haven't even hooked that up yet. Why? Becuase I just moved and don't have the computer desk or computer set up yet! But I should get that up and running and by Friday be ready for my SR.

Anyways, I have heard people have issues with the Gizmo slowing down their connection, unless they use a router. I don't have a router and don't want one... any idea about how likely this problem is for me? I just want the cable coming into the house -> comcast cable modem -> gizmo -> computer.

 

[azoomee]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
If you mean that you dial anumber and then nothing happens... We had that happen a couple times the other day. Seemed random though.

Yeah, this is what is happening to me about 50% of my calls -- inbound and outbound right now. Working with Tech Supt on it now....

 

[georgepa]

project86-

You more than likely will receive the new Innomedia adapter, which has no known issues of bandwidth throttle, so the issue you mention with the gizmo sometimes cutting bandwidth should not apply to you.

doozerm-

I have not noticed anything. Perhaps a CLEC issue? I am on Global Crossings on 2 numbers and Level 3 for my 3rd signature number, and have not noticed issues yet.

 

[Robor]

Thanks for the info on the firmwares for the WRT54G. I'm still waiting on my Gizmo to arrive. Hopefully I'll be back online today.

 

[azoomee]

Received a quick reply from tech support on my 50% dropped calls, but it deals with placing the gizmo directly after modem.

QUESTION: IS THERE ANY NON-VALUE ADD BY PLACING THE GIZMO AFTER THE MODEM?:

" suggest that you setup Dynamic Rate Limiting on your Gizmo after you've gained the results. Dynamic Rate Limiting allows the gizmo to limit the bandwidth provided to other devices while the SunRocket phone is in use. This will only be effective if the gizmo is directly connected to your modem.

a) Open a web browser (such as Firefox or Internet Explorer)
b) Input 192.168.251.1 in the address bar of the browser.
c) Log in to the gizmo with the password "welcome" (lower case)
d) Click "LAN" on the left-hand side.
e) Under "Rate Control" select "Dynamic Rate Limiting"
f) Subtract 120 from the lowest upload rate resulting from the speed tests you performed earlier.
g) Click "Save LAN Settings"
h) Reset the gizmo."

 

[TotalEclipse]

I've been having the same problem with incoming calls, very annoying.
They did a firmware upgrade, but problem still exist.

Originally posted by: DoozerM
Yep, that is what I am talking about - at least on the outbound calls. On the inbound, callers will call and you will pick it up but it is dead air, and the person calling you gets dead air as well. Lately, this has been happening to quite a few people... and the complaints are starting to pile up. It does happen randomly BTW.

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: Robor
Thanks for the info on the firmwares for the WRT54G. I'm still waiting on my Gizmo to arrive. Hopefully I'll be back online today.

Hey Robor, welcome back!

Hope you have better luck this time with it!

 

[DoozerM]

Originally posted by: TotalEclipse
I've been having the same problem with incoming calls, very annoying.
They did a firmware upgrade, but problem still exist.

Originally posted by: DoozerM
Yep, that is what I am talking about - at least on the outbound calls. On the inbound, callers will call and you will pick it up but it is dead air, and the person calling you gets dead air as well. Lately, this has been happening to quite a few people... and the complaints are starting to pile up. It does happen randomly BTW.

Yeah, I got the same firmware "upgrade". All it does is turn the Silence Suppresion off. Which technically is not a firmware upgrade, just a firmware tweak. I sent a note to support myself and they claim they are aware of the problem and that for some people the "upgrade" has fixed the problem.

 

[DoozerM]

Originally posted by: georgepa


doozerm-

I have not noticed anything. Perhaps a CLEC issue? I am on Global Crossings on 2 numbers and Level 3 for my 3rd signature number, and have not noticed issues yet.

Hi Georgepa - I hope you don't get the issue.. My wife is ready to kill me, since we just got rid of our Verizon POTS. The incoming logs shows the calls as coming in, and the outgoing logs as well for the outgoing calls. It is just that instead of hearing ringing on the outbound, or when you pick up the phone on inbound, you head dead air. Since it is random, not everyone is going to see it. But since my wife is pregnant and is home all the time now, she experiences it quite a lot (approx. 50% of the time too).

 

[georgepa]

doozerm-

Congrats on the new addition. Is this your first? My daughter just turned 9 months old. Awesome stuff. If this is your first, you'll be in for an amazing time.

My wife is home with the baby and we have not noticed any problems aside from one time when I tried to call her and she could not hear me. I don't know if that was related. Hope whatever it is does not take but a couple of days to set right.



ridefree-

In light of the fact that SR is now advertising their 15 month deal for $199 prominently on the website

SR website

you may want to change the header of this thread to $199 for 15 months=$13.28 per month.

 

[Kelemvor]

But that's without the free phones. Just in case that matters for some people...

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: georgepa

ridefree-

In light of the fact that SR is now advertising their 15 month deal for $199 prominently on the website

SR website

you may want to change the header of this thread to $199 for 15 months=$13.28 per month.

Good call, george.

$13.28...sheesh. I just paid my cell phone bill today. $88.xx, and that's a month where I didn't exceed my allotted minutes!

 

[georgepa]

Franky-

True. Good to have both deals listed somehow in the introduction post. They also have that "$100 international calling card" thing going on. For those who use all international minutes (and then some) that is the best SR deal, as it means an additional $64 in savings. The "3 months free" deal and the "free phones" deal each mean an extra $50 saved. Now, MAYBE calling SALES in CANADA would result in this 15 months/$199 deal WITH the free phones thrown in? After I am done with this client here I'll try a mock signup on the phone with them from my cell phone while driving home, to see if that can be done. I'll report here later.

Gotta find the best deal possible.....gotta find the best deal possible.....

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: georgepa
They also have that "$100 international calling card" thing going on. For those who use all international minutes (and then some) that is the best SR deal, as it means an additional $64 in savings.

Yup, true that. This one excites me the most, I call international all the time.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: georgepa
ridefree-

In light of the fact that SR is now advertising their 15 month deal for $199 prominently on the website

SR website

you may want to change the header of this thread to $199 for 15 months=$13.28 per month.

Geo.,
I assume you really mean because of this as S/R has been all over the place.
Their deal changes about every time someone does a new post to this forum (not that that's bad).

There have been deals for the 12 month, the 13 month, the 15 month and all with 2 phones, or 3 phones and now (according to a few of your latest posts) possibly 4 phones.
All with, or without various international deals added or changed.
Oh where, oh where will it all end? I'm sure that FAR is right around the corner.

 

[georgepa]

hey, as with some of the other VOIPs, ya know a few peeps who want to get in on the savings and ditch their landline, ya get it for for free and then some...

Seriously, the 15 month/$199 deal has been around since November. It seems to be the current staple of deals. Many don't need phones or want to get them later.

In fact, if you look at the Sunrocket site, the phones are no longer offered in any way shape or form. Even the old trick of "clicking on the phone the bird is standing on" is no longer an option. Don't know if that is temporary or if the 15 months/$199 deal is now the thing. Anyway, just to let you know that the 2 phones are currently not part of Sunrocket's official deal.

Yeah, I was shocked to get the 4 phones from them. I assume if I had called back again that night, yet another pair would have shown up that day.

 

[RideFree]

Yeah, I know, then you could go into the phone business.
You have posted about the business of phoning the Canadian sales dept. - so the free phone deal is not really dead.
Combined with your renewal deal, 13 months seems pretty accurate for now + the two free phones. . .

We could always title the thread, "Deal Du Jour".

 

[RideFree]

Joe,
Thanks for the help
Jim B.

 

[georgepa]

UPDATE:

Yesterday I wrote in a post:

"Now, MAYBE calling SALES in CANADA would result in this 15 months/$199 deal WITH the free phones thrown in? After I am done with this client here I'll try a mock signup on the phone with them from my cell phone while driving home, to see if that can be done. I'll report here later.


Well, on my way home I called SR and asked this way: "Hey, I'm interested in signing up with Sunrocket. I see that you have the 15 month deal advertised, not the free phones anymore." He replied: "Yes, that was last week's special deal. We don't have the phone deal anymore." So, I said: "I heard from a friend that he got the $199 for 15 months deal and also the 2 Uniden phones when he signed up. Can I get that, too?" He put me on hold for a minute to check (I assume he talked with his manager/supervisor) and when he returned he said that if I signed up right then he would give me the 15 months for $199 deal with the 2 phones included. I said I had to talk with my wife first, being that this is such a big step, and all.

Bottom line: It can be done. $199 for 15 months with 2 free phones.

If you valuate the phones at $55 for the pair and factor them in as a monthly savings of $4.58 ($55 divided by 12) true cost of service has now effectively dropped to $8.70 per month.

Boggles the mind, especially since other parts of the deal did not change (i.e. additional $3 international call allowance, free signature number with voicemail, free E911, etc.)


As always with these special deals that require actual call-in rather than online signup: Signing up to this double-dip deal still does not take away any reward opportunities for a friend. All that needs to happen is for the person who has been referred to give the sales guy the primary phone number of the referrer, mention that he/she was told about this deal by that person, and 25 rewards points are put on the referrers account.

 

[georgepa]

UPDATE for those who experienced call drop issues the last few days (doozerm, azoomee, TotalEclipse)

It appears resolved, back to normal. Several posters in other forums who had reported some of the same issues in the last few days are now saying calls go through normal, no matter how often they are attempted. One poster wrote:

"I did a full reboot of the entire system - modem, router and gizmo - and since then tested it on about 30 calls: so far no issues. Either they worked the kinks out or I did the right thing."

Please try on your end and report here, but it looks like that whatever they had going on is no longer an issue. Let us know if your experience differs. Perhaps try rebooting the gizmo/Innomedia adapter, like that poster did.

 

[azoomee]

GEORGEPA,
Good to hear on this -- the dropped call thing was a little annoying....

I'll check it out later today after work.

 

[astrosfan90]

Thanks for the updates george, I'll check this out when I get home tonight as well.

 

[agrall]

Originally posted by: georgepa
agrell-

Call SALES in Canada, as described above. I would imagine they'll send extra phones to you as well. Just phrase it that you are unsure whether you should continue with SR and that you heard that it can be done. See what they say. They seem very forthcoming. Someone in another forum renewed and then found out about this method. So, he called them yesterday to see if he can get free phones post-signup. They could not do it, but instead they put 50 points on his account, enough to get the phones or anything else in the rewards section. Worth a try for anyone who either is ready to renew, already renewed or just converts from one type of account to another.

Let us know if they give you a goodie, agrall. Sure hope so. At least us "oldtimers" know that they'll take care good care of us a year after starting with them. I was afraid when I first signed up with SR last year that after the initially great deal they'll go up in price with lame excuses (increased cost, 911 cost, federal fees, etc.) Not so.

Hmmm....

I called the sales line, and the person there did not know how to change my plan from month-to-month to annual and transferred me to the customer service line. I was in a wait-queue there, so I hung up and plan to call back later.