I wrote about Linksys and their declining customer service in the past but this time its about their anti-competitive practices.
Just recently I purchased a Linksys PAP2 VoIP adapter thinking I could use it to connect to my VoIP provider. It does say on the box that it is a Vonage start-up kit but nowhere does it say that one requires service from Vonage. It only makes mention that if you sign-up with Vonage you'll get a discount of some sorts.
After trying to get this thing to work and researching a bit on the net I discovered that Linksys used to sell a version of this same device without it being tied down to Vonage. However, Vonage must have put enough money in their pockets to convince them to pull it. You can't find it anywhere. Vonage must have also put enough money into Linksys pockets to go out and buy Sipura. The Linksys PAP2 is actually a Sipura SPA 2000 I believe. At one point Linksys licensed the technology but now they gobbled up Sipura so they can probably pull their products from the market as well.
I'm finding it almost impossible to find a decent device like the Sipura SPA 2000. Its ridiculous what is going on in this industry with service providers trying to tie you to their service and give you no choice whatsoever.
Since the Sipura looks to be the best product for what I need out there I might bite the bullet and just purchase it. If it disappears as a product or support falls of the planet due to Linksys at least it will give me a couple years of good use I hope.
No wonder SipPhone sued them. I believe they won the case. I'm 100% behind them.
In light of this I'm seriously considering whether I'll ever again buy a Linksys product for myself, my companies and any clients.
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