 Review by bthornhill 
Posted: 1.8 years ago
member for 4.5 years, 1117 visits, last login: 24 days ago
 undisclosed location
 $23 per month
 about 5 days
 "Excellent Price, Innovative features, reasonable implementation en français"
 "Cannot attach your own device, some ISPs present quality problems, no softphone, no Mac or Linux support"
 "It's been my primary telephone for three years"
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After three years with Primus TalkBroadband, I have seen the entire cycle of growth pains and I feel they have matured into a reliable provider. I have not had a POTS telephone since shortly after I ordered the service.
From a cost point-of-view, they are far superior to anything the telcos or cable providers are offering. Primus has a simple pricing structure and I picked the middle of the road option which includes every conceivable calling feature (and a couple that the telcos couldn't conceive). By installing their equipment right at the point where my old phone circuit enters the house, I was able to do a simple rewiring (10 minutes) and put every phone in the house on the new service.
I declined the additional $10 for unlimited long distance because they once had a $3 for 300 minute package. (This is no longer offered, but existing customers can still have it). I rarely exceed 300 minutes, so this package offers the best value for me. This works out to 1c per minute, so we literally have no concept of LD costs anymore. The kids are free to pick up the phone and call whereever they want whenever they want. (Primus rates are in effect 24/7, anywhere in Canada/USA).
They have a somewhat less-than-state-of-the-art website which provides some simple configuration options, a chat forum for users to share ideas and a pretty extensive call handling feature (this number is blocked, that number goes straight to voicemail, this number rings differently, etc) There are some directory features on the website as well, but they are far from well-implemented.
Probably the most unique feature of the website is an "assistant" popup which tells computer users who is calling and provides a number of instant handling options such as sending the call to voicemail or even transferring it to the wife's cellphone. Unfortunately, the Caller ID function stopped working about a year ago, making this feature useless. It is also unavailable to Mac OS X or Linux users, which leaves about 10% of people in the dark.
The bottom line is that the service is far less expensive and offers far more features than the telcos. If your internet connection is good, the quality is 95% as good as the old telco line. Since your internet connection may not be good (some work great for surfing and email, but not for advanced uses) I highly recommend you thoroughly test it before porting your number or cancelling your old account.
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