Vonage vs. Verizon [was: Anyone had experience with Comcast SMC modem/router? ]

[Ben Scott]

On 1/17/07, Michael ODonnell <michael.odonnell at comcast.net> wrote:
>> the 911 concerns are not about *if* calls can go through, but
 > whether calls will *always* go through, and properly
>
> It probably doesn't pay to be too arch about it - even the
> conventional land lines can have their problems.  One icy night
> in southern Chelmsford approx 10 yrs ago my wife spun out in
> her car, which was crippled after she hit a curb.  When she
> tried to contact the cops from a nearby house by dialing 911,
> she could at first get only busy signals and then on all
> subsequent attempts it just rang with no answer...        :-/

  Wow.  That's actually a pretty serious failure.  The E911 system has
some fairly sophisticated functionality, up to and including seizing
trunk lines to make the calls go through (i.e., your call to Aunt
Marge gets dropped if someone dials 911 and the trunk is busy).  They
also have, or at least used to have, multi-party 24/7 technical staff
on-site at the central call handling centers.

  To say nothing of the redundancies in conventional POTS design
(which really is, in general, some of the most robust engineering I've
ever seen in the public sector).  (Emphisis POTS here -- anything more
than -48 VDC talk battery and the whole story changes.)    Redundant
in-building power wiring, redundant battery banks, generator backup
for the batteries, dedicated line for each and every subscriber (pair
gain not withstanding), no electronics anywhere for outside plant,
auto failover for trunk routing, etc.  The infrastructure I've seen in
most Internet provider systems can't hold a candle to it.  Obviously,
any system can still fail, but for the most part, *none* of this
exists for Internet service -- especially home Internet service.

  Note well that there's a huge difference between the technical
engineering and the customer service that controls it.  For the Big
Bells, the two are just about inversely proportional in their quality.

-- Ben