Look before you leap

Ole Eichhorn sings the praises of Vonage, a service that allows you to use your internet connection for telephone service, using a standard telephone. According to Ole, it's cheap ($60, one-time fee), and will be big.

There's only one catch...the little gray box that Vonage sends you to hook up to your network (not to mention most network equipment) requires AC power. As I found out recently, when you don't have power, you don't have a network. No network, no phone, if you're using Vonage.

Given that my cell phone was also out (because the towers require power, and many wireless phone companies were having trouble keeping the towers powered thanks to Isabel), if I didn't have my land line, I'd've had a lot of trouble getting a hold of anyone by phone. As much grief as I am inclined to give Verizon, they kept the phone lines going throughout the storm and after.

So, sure, Vonage may be very cheap and cool, but unless you've got a generator, it's not as reliable as POTS.