How I Beat SBC, ADT, Vonage, VoIP, Time Warner Cable, and an RJ-31X Jack: Part One in a Three-Part Series

It all began in April 2005 and seemed simple enough. I was through with paying the whopping phone bills from SBC each month for local service, long distance, and a few additional features such as voice mail and Caller ID. So I decided to make the plunge and try Digital Phone service from Time Warner Cable. A few weeks later, we were all hooked up, the call quality was great, our ADT home security system appeared to be handling the change well, and I was even paying Time Warner an extra few dollars each month for voice mail service.

But then the original, nagging question returned. Why pay Time Warner Cable the rates they were asking, plus extra for voice mail service, when I could switch to Vonage and get unlimited long distance, plus all the accompanying extras, for a mere $24.95 per month?

So I placed my order for Vonage service, got the hardware in the mail, hooked things up, and left Time Warner Cable in the dust.

All was well. VoIP was good. Service was cheap. And then it happened….

Continued in Part Two