CNET PRIZEFIGHT: Internet phones vs. plain old telephone service

Regular phones vs. VoIP
Round 2: Setup
Getting a dial tone

A VoIP service is usually easy to set up, but it's not as simple as setting up a POTS line, which requires nothing more than connecting your phone to a phone jack. Setting up a VoIP phone service can be as easy as connecting the adapter and your phone to your broadband connection and resetting the modem. But if you don't get a dial tone right away, you'd better be comfortable monkeying around with your network settings. This is especially true for DSL subscribers, who will need to input account settings before getting a dial tone.

Then there's the DSL dilemma: most DSL subscribers get both phone and broadband Internet service from the same company. (Only a handful of DSL providers sell data services separately from voice services, which is also known as naked DSL.) This predicament means you can't drop your phone service without losing your Internet connection. Put another way, it means that a VoIP phone, for most DSL subscribers, requires a new phone number.

Winner: POTS