Before you sign on to a VOIP service or plan, make sure that your broadband connection is up to snuff.

Voice Over IP (VOIP) needs a certain amount of bandwidth to be usable. Bandwidth is the amount of digital data that can be transmitted in a certain time period.

In general, an upload speed of 88 Kbps is recommended, although each VOIP service provider will have their own requirements.

You can test your current broadband Internet connection (provided through a cable or DSL service) using the free web tools. Here’s a couple to try:

• Vonage broadband speed test — automatically tests your upload and download speeds.
• TestYourVOIP.com — tests your broadband connection in a real VOIP call (requires Java enabled browser)