I’ve been a Vonage customer since pretty close to their beginning. I had, for the longest, one of their Cisco ATA-186 VoIP adapters that I’d consider small enough to travel around with, but broadband in a hotel back in those days was just plain odd and not as normal as it is now some years later.

Vonage has had other miniature offerings that could be packed up and plugged up while traveling but none seem to have the same feature set and usability as the recently released Vonage V-Portal. Gone are the days of multiple offerings from Vonage; they wised up and support one definitely good adapter.

The best part of summer is getting away, but even when taking a break from the real world, everyone still needs to be in touch with work, loved ones, or both. Vonage offers a number of ways to do just that:

• Domestic Travel: Did you know that you can take your Vonage adaptor with you while traveling domestically you can make and receive calls for the same cost of using the adaptor at home? Just plug in an adaptor in to a high-speed Internet connection, and your home phone number comes with you virtually.

• International Travel: If you are traveling or moving abroad this summer, Vonage offers a way to make calls back to the U.S. without getting charged an arm and a leg on your cell or using cumbersome calling cards. Plug in your Vonage adaptor and you can make calls to the U.S. for free.

• Virtual Number: While abroad, you may want to add a local phone number to your Vonage account so locals can call you for free. Vonage has you covered here, as you can add a local international number in several locations for an additional $4.99-$9.99 per month (more details here).

• And, as always, Vonage’s $24.99 Residential Premium Unlimited Plan includes calls to the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and landlines in Italy, France, Spain, England and Ireland are included.

The V-Portal, which is a Vonage adaptor and one-port router combined, comes with a built-in LCD screen. Among its features, the LCD helps customers with troubleshooting, displays call logs, and allows users to set call forwarding.

Dimensions(in mm): 126L x 124W x 31.9H

With some upcoming trips coming up, it means that I’ll be able to tote this around and save money while making phone calls and not use up my cellphone minutes. Also when it’s not plugged up, via the Vonage control panel – a web based method to maintain your account – I can forward all calls to my cellphone.

Save money, easy to pack… I can dig it. Monthly fees do apply.

[ Vonage ]