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Review by bsp0238 See Profile

  • Location: Rowlett, Dallas, TX, USA
  • Cost: $21 per month
  • Install: about 10 days
Sound quality
everything else
There are more complete offerings elsewhere for about the same cost.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Packet8's customer service favorite phrase is "coming soon." Most of the features that are "coming soon" are already available from other providers. They've been promising these features since at least September and probably longer than that. If you want a bottom of the line system with few useful features, then this is your company. You're better off finding another provider that is more complete.

member for 19.2 years, 30 visits, last login: 13.1 years ago
lodged 18.2 years ago


Review by (hidden by request)

  • Location: Tacoma, Pierce, WA, USA
  • Cost: $48 per month (12 month contract)
having a US number in a foreign country and in a hotel
billing, quality of calls, service, rate increases
Not a good company to do business with
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I signed up for packet8 fourteen months ago. We lived in foreign country and we were able to have a US number, we lived in an hotel for 2 months and we kept our phone: that was great!

I had multiple problems to set up but I finally got it to work. The quality was bad but when you are living in the third world you put up with a lot of things! We moved back to the US and kept our service. We then realized the bad quality continued here and our conversations stopped unexpectedly here also... The goof ups with getting E911 were pretty bad. It took 2 months to get the E911 and the new number we had to get to sign up for E911 to work. We then got messages threatening us that they will cancel our service after we had signed up and paid for E911 for at least 4 months (they had had problems with their server).

But, it worked most of the times...

Now, I make quite a few international calls and that's where I can add to the reviews you have so far. The billing issues have been constant. The rates get updated and typos are made or country codes get forgotten and huge increases (666% on rates to France) are made effective without warning. On one instance, the billing department was effective and corrected the typo in their rate sheet within a week but in others they would just say the rates were subject to fluctuations (a 666% increase a fluctuation...not in my book!). I was even told by a billing supervisor that before I was to make a phone call with Packet 8 I had to "check the rates on the international table to know what I was going to pay." I find that to be a very cumbersome procedure. If I have to log in, why don't I use messenger instead! The increases are made with no warning or communication. The fact that they do not have a customer service department to deal with non technical issues I think is telling...

The good news is: there is a life after Packet8, check Via Talk.



(review was emailed from domain thewiredcity.net)
lodged 18.3 years ago


Review by Racket8 See Profile

  • Location: Lincoln, Loudoun, VA, USA
  • Cost: $19 per month (12 month contract)
useless dta good for target practice
salesman misleading, customer service a joke
Go elsewhere.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Sales rep led us to believe that we had 45 days free trial It's in our notes. We are on a Wimax connection, which absolutely wails at up to 1Gbps, but has too many sporadic retransmits for voip to work properly, as much as we tried to make it work. P8 tech support expressed surprise that the sale rep sold us the service as this is a known issue. We called to cancel the service in 10/05, and Ed*** the Supervisor at P8 graciously waived the disconnect fee, so at that point we felt that we were even, though we had to eat charges in October for cancelling outside of the free trial period. In December they ran a $20.50 charge against our VISA. When I called 2 days ago the CSR (Ka***) told me that they had no "notes" regarding the cancellation and I would have to speak with her supervisor (Me***) who was out of the office. I asked her to add notes to the ticket detailing our problem and then called back the next day. We got CSR Ni*** who read back Ka***'s notes that spun the facts into the idea that we wanted to cancel now (12/05) and asked to have the fee waived. Follow closely. I asked to speak with a supervisor (Ed***) but of course he was out and I had to call back later. Ni*** gave me his own extension and told me to ask for him specifically, as if he was the go-to guy for special treatment at P8. I called back later and spoke with Bi*** who said that Ni*** was unavailable but he would relay the fact that we called to follow up. B*** was of course just as helpless as Ka*** and Ni*** at that point to actually solve anything. A couple of hours later I called back and reached CSR Ch*** who tried to transfer me to Ni*** but after 15 minutes on hold the call was dropped. Big surprise. So, I waited for a couple of more hours and called back, this time reaching La*** who told me that Ed*** was busy but she would have him call me that day. Ed***, of course, never called. On 10/7 I called and reached CSR Je***, who listened patiently while I re-explained the problem for the nth time, and she was able to pull up a tech support ticket from 10/14/05 that reflected the cancellation and the waived disconnect fee, and had no idea why the original ticket was not processed correctly. She created a new ticket for me and let me know that it would take about 21 days to process a refund. I am not holding my breath. At least Je*** got it, the others seemed more focused on giving me a run-around. If this was the first time that I had experienced failed contract terminations from service providers it would one one thing, but DIsh Network, AT&T, and AOL among others have done roughly the same thing and this gets old, guys.

What is clear from this storm in a teapot is that despite the glowing reviews form other P8 customers there is a systemic lack of accountability at P8 mostly exemplified by lost customer contact records, buck-passing and lack of supervisors to handle billing disputes early and effectively. I can only guess that the labor costs involved in taking my calls exceeded the 20 bucks that they fought so vigorously to keep. Lesson to the fat cats, don't piss off former customers because they will cost you more in referrals than you'll ever make by appearing to do sloppy work and billing on closed accounts. Next time around I'm calling anyone but Packet8 and given no other choice I'll go back to PSTN.

member for 18.3 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 18.3 years ago


n1zuk
making really tiny tech things
Premium Member
join:2001-10-24
Malta

n1zuk

Premium Member

Fault to be spread around

Seems like the problems you had can be spread around to be the fault of several people. Yeah, you certainly got the run around from the Customer Support department, and they deserve to get blasted for cheeping out and making you unhappy (I agree, a poor marketing business practice).

That the service didn't work for you seems NOT to be Packet8's fault, but a problem with your ISP (if I read your review correctly). I think any VOIP service would choke on the excessive amount of retransmitted packets. So was your DTA really "non-functional", or just so at your house? You can't blame a service for a function they have no control over.

I don't know about the reseller (I didn't deal with one, ordered direct and got my DTA and connection for free). I would direct my anger and frustration at them, if they knew of the existing problem between your ISP and VOIP service.

Review by freedumb878 See Profile

  • Location: Shreveport, Caddo, LA, USA
  • Cost: $22 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 30 days
Good hold music
Customer service and Tech support not very supportive; defective power supply; replacement never sent yet
Don't rely on it if you need decent phone service
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

*** UPDATE 12/1/2005 ***

Shortly after my review of Packet 8 and the horrible customer service experience I had with them, I am now a happy VoicePulse customer. I have been with them VoicePulse since mid July and there service has been great. The voice quality and feature set is outstanding. There customer service has been great as well. Their website needs a little work but it does the job.

*** END UPDATE ***

Well, where do I begin? I placed my order online 06/03/05 (Friday evening) and received my equipment on 06/09/05 (Thursday). I felt that was pretty good service and turn around time.

After receiving my equipment I proceeded to set everything up. I wasn’t able to power up my DTA310 because I received a defective power supply. I took a closer look at it and I could tell that this item was used because of some minor surface scratches. That's not a big deal since I am "renting" the equipment, but couldn't they have tested it prior to sending it to someone else?

Anyways, I called (call #1) customer service, and was transferred to Technical Support. I was told that they would send me out a new power supply. I waited about 1.5 - 2 weeks and no word about the new power supply. I called (call #2) back and spoke with Tech support and they had no record of me calling in the first time around. I am a patient guy so I just assumed it was a friendly mistake and asked if they would re-issue the part. This time they gave me a reference number and told me that it should be on its way shortly.

After waiting another 1.5 weeks and not hearing anything, I called (call #3) again. Again, customer service passed me on to Tech Support. After talking briefly with this department, I told them I wanted to talk with Customer Service. They transferred me back where I was able to talk to a supervisor named Edward (Ed). He was friendly and acted like he wanted to help straighten this out. He gave me his number and told me to call him back the next day and he should have some news for me. I didn't have time to call him back so I just waited a few more days before calling. I misplaced his number so I called (call #4) the general customer service number once more. I talked to one of Ed's subordinates and he relayed a message to him. Ed was supposed to look into the issue further and give me a call back at my house. I never heard from Ed. I waited till today, 7/5/05, and called (call #5) back to see if anything has progressed. I told the Customer Service rep that I have talked to Ed and he was working on resolving the issue. I asked if I could speak with him, but instead of putting me through to Ed, he put me on hold and went to talk to him personally. When the rep got back on the phone he told me no new information. He just said that Ed did his part a few days ago by informing someone in the shipping department that I am waiting on this power supply. I asked again if I could talk with Ed. He put me on hold and came back saying he couldn’t find him (this is a couple minutes after he just spoke to him, hmmm). Anyways, the rep told me that it looks like the part should be shipping out tomorrow (07/06/05). How he magically came up with this information, I don’t know.

So it has been over an entire month since I order Packet 8 service. If this is any indication of how the service will be in the future, I recommend going elsewhere. This is absolutely unacceptable and I can't see how they can't escalate this issue.

I asked them if they had direct correspondence with their shipping department and they said, "not at all." They only communicate via email. That is absurd IMHO. There has to be someone that can get the ball rolling.

I just can't believe that I have even waited this long. Not living in a huge city, my options are sort of limited. My intentions, like many of you, were to save money by getting rid of my land line. So far I have only been able to waste my time with it

Are there any packet 8 reps that read these forums? If so, I hope you guys can pass this along to someone that gives a damn about their customers. If anyone ever asks me about VOIP I can definitely tell them who not to use if service is of any importance.

Thanks for reading,

Chad

member for 18.7 years, 11 visits, last login: 15.5 years ago
updated 18.3 years ago


Nate425
Premium Member
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA

Nate425

Premium Member

No good at all

At this point, it looks like you're stuck with them since you passed your 30 day trial period. Even though you were never able to use it... I would call them up and see if you can get another free month since you never used the first month, and if they don't let you, you should drop them pretty quick.

What is the first 6 numbers of your phone number? Maybe someone can find another provider in your area. Good luck!
freedumb878
join:2005-07-06
Shreveport, LA

freedumb878

Member

Re: No good at all

My current phone:
318-797
City:
Shreveport, Louisiana

I contacted Voice Plus via email and they promptly responded with the following:

We recently received additional numbers in the 318-415 Shreveport, LA area. You can sign up for service and choose one of these numbers during the sign up process.

Anyone have experience with this company?

Nate425
Premium Member
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA

Nate425

Premium Member

Re: No good at all

Voicepulse is one of the very best out there. (Although I just noticed you said voice plus...not sure if that's a different company or a typo...)

Also, Nuvio services your area...they are top notch as well. I'm currently using them. Although I will say that they recently upgraded their system and are experiencing a few problems as a result of that...none of them affecting calls though. The features that appear to have issues at the moment is the name on caller ID and a couple voicemail issues (you can still get voicemails though). They know about them I believe and will hopefully get that worked out pretty quickly. If you go with Nuvio, I've had great success with carolina net at »carolinanet.nuvio.com/html/ . Good luck!
freedumb878
join:2005-07-06
Shreveport, LA

freedumb878

Member

Re: No good at all

Yes my bad, that was a typo. I mean VoicePulse

I just called back Packet8 to cancel the service and man let me tell you, they don't want you to cancel. The customer service rep was telling me since my "trial" period has elapsed I will incur the 59.00 early termination fee. I told her to let me speak with a supervisor and she put me on hold for about 10 minutes and got back on the line saying that he was on the phone and was too busy. She then practically pleaded for me to just wait a couple more days. I told her no. I said that I want verification that cancellation has taken place and I want assurance that I won't be billed the 59.00. She put me on hold again to see what she could do. Low and behold the supervisor Ed picked up. I told him that I wanted to cancel the service. He told me that they will do it and that I would not be charged the 59.00 fee.

Wow, I can't believe they expect me to wait forever and then threaten me that I will have fees imposed on me. If that were the case I would have just cancelled several weeks ago. I was giving them the benefit of the doubt that they have problems with their shipping department. Also, The TOS also states that customer shall have a 30 day trial which never happened.

Anyways I am going to do a little more research on VoicePulse.

Thanks for your input Nate.

Chad
freedumb878

freedumb878

Member

Re: No good at all

Just got the cancellation email and had to share the final resolution, it's pretty funny.
CUSTOMER GOT SICK AND TIRED OF WAITING FOR HIS POWER SUPPLY CORD THAT HE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE THE 9TH OF JUNE! DECIDED THAT HE WANTED CANCEL HIS ACCOUNT. DIDN'T WANT TO WAIT ANOTHER MONTH FOR IT TO SHIPPED TO HIM.
LOL, I didn't want to wait another month!?!? Who in there right mind would? Those are the words from the customer rep, not mine.

Anyways, I got a kick out of it.

Chad

Nate425
Premium Member
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA

Nate425

Premium Member

Re: No good at all

That's good stuff...haha

Did they charge you the disconnect fee?
freedumb878
join:2005-07-06
Shreveport, LA

freedumb878

Member

Re: No good at all

No, they waived it.

paulhaskew
Unoffical Dominos Spokesman
join:2002-01-10
Vancouver, WA

paulhaskew to freedumb878

Member

to freedumb878
That is funny... I cancelled both of my lines with Packet8... I was 9 months into each... Pretty sad company...
packet8SPT
join:2005-07-06
Santa Clara, CA

packet8SPT

Member

Packet8 Support

freedumb87 - This is definitely not the level of support any customer should experience when contacting Packet8. Normally issues such as this that require equipment replacement should be handled through our technical support group, which it sounds like you did initially. A ticket would create and the equipment would be shipped out. I will forward this information to our support management to investigate why the ball was dropped. We appreciate your feedback, as it will help us continue to improve all of our customer’s experience. If you need any further assistance please send me your information (account number, e-mail address, and contact number) off line.
freedumb878
join:2005-07-06
Shreveport, LA

freedumb878

Member

Re: Packet8 Support

Thanks for the feedback, albeit a little too late for me to attempt to rebuild my relationship with packet8. I'm glad that my review may help your company improve future customer relations.


Like you explained in your post, I initially talked to technical support on a couple occasions. My first conversation was the day after I received my order. The technical rep told me that he would get a new power supply sent out to me. He never gave me a ticket or reference number. After waiting over a week, I called back to inquire about the replacement part. I was told that they had no record of my initial call. This time they gave me a ticket number and told me that it would go out very soon.


I waited another week and after not hearing anything, I called to inquire again. After talking to tech support first and them not knowing anything about the status, I wanted to go to customer service and explain the issue. After all, that's what customer service is for right?


In my opinion, there is a major lack of communication between all departments (CS, Tech, Shipping). I also felt that everyone I spoke to was not very understanding. Everyone was polite and had good phone etiquete but there was a major lack of concern, even with the Customer rep supervisor that I talked with.

I truley hope this helps others.


Thanks,
Chad

Review by alekdavis See Profile

  • Location: Folsom, Sacramento, CA, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 10 days
Sign-up cost (with promotion), phone support
Echo (intl calls), dropped calls (U.S.), Web errors, installation, no response from e-mail support, more...
Great expectations, bad results
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I recently moved and did not want to sign up with SBC because of all extra costs they impose for a service that I do not use that often (I do not call that much). I read the book "Talk is Cheap" by J. Gaskin and liked the idea of VoIP. I did some research about VoIP providers and considered Vonage (established), Packet8 (established, many good reviews, sign-up promo), and BroadVoice (established, good reviews, best international rates). I picked Packet8 because of the free sign-up (no cost after rebates with promo). The trouble started at the order page. When I submitted the final info (credit card, etc), got an ASP error. Tried several times, no avail. Clicked the Support link, got similar errors. Sent a note to support. Still got no response. Called support. The guy said he could sign me up, but would not offer the same promotion, so I kept trying. Finally succeeded. About 10 days later got the box. Not sure why it took so long to send the hardware (FedEx took just 2 days to deliver). Plugged everything in and followed instructions. The phone didn't work. Couldn't make outgoing calls and couldn't receive calls (although the activation went fine). Called support. After 30 minutes of trying and resetting the Packet8 router, got it finally working (apparently, there was some issue with the router). Several local calls went fine. The next day I had a car emergency and had to call my insurance several times. In all cases, the calls dropped. Actually, after several minutes of conversation I could hear them, but they couldn't hear me; this has never happened to me before (I had to use my cell phone). I call Russia a lot using a prepaid card. Every call to Russia on Packet8 was accompanied by a high quality echo. At this point, I'm going to cancel the service before my 30-day trial expires. Not sure if I go back to SBC or just use the cell phone. It's a shame, because I recommended VoIP to a bunch of friends; now since I tired it myself, I'll be more cautious. BTW, I didn't realize that you need to dial 1-area code for local calls, which is a bit annoying; however, had the call quality been acceptable, I would've lived with it.

member for 18.4 years, 5 visits, last login: 18.4 years ago
lodged 18.4 years ago

aamoore
join:2004-07-31
Kansas City, MO

aamoore

Member

Sorry about your experience, but I love mine!

Good Day! I'm sorry for your problem, but my fiance has the same service and it is awesome! We have had no outages or problems with this service. First day, we had a little echo, but so did SBC, so it must be something else!

Anyways, it could be your ISP or you may have firewall on your computer, check this out!

Have a good day and all the best!
alekdavis
join:2005-10-10
Folsom, CA

alekdavis

Member

Re: Sorry about your experience, but I love mine!

Thanks. Since a few users praise the service, I assume it works for some. Don't know why I have so many problems. Not sure why the firewall would be an issue, since this is not a software phone and my computer is not even turned on when I make calls (I use WEP for wireless, though). It could be an ISP, but what am I gonna do? We have only one choice of cable broadband provider, so it's a monopoly. BTW, came from work yesterday, wanted to make a call, the line was busy. On any number. Had to reboot modem and router. It happened before, and I have not been using it even for a week. Whether it's an ISP, Packet8, or whatever, it's just too much hassle to troubleshoot the phone every day. I'm off the wagon. :-(

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

Sly

Premium Member

Re: Sorry about your experience, but I love mine!

Did you try putting your DTA/BPA in the DMZ of your router? That helps resolve any router issues as it bypasses all router firewalls, etc. Also are you using the service over a wireless connection? If so then that is where your echo is coming from. Also many cordless phones operate on the same frequency as wireless b and g networks (2.4Ghz) if you have one of those phones then either turn off your wireless network (if you are not using it) or change the channel that your wireless operates on until you don't get any disconnects. I had to turn mine on auto channel select and set the router to automatically choose mixed mode (b or g) rather than g only... This fixed my problems.

Make sure that you don't have any screwed up manual settings on your dta's configuration pages. Set it to automatically detect settings via DHCP and make sure that your router has DHCP enabled. If not then your computer and your DTA could be sharing the same IP and that could cause you problems such as busy signals and dropped calls.
alekdavis
join:2005-10-10
Folsom, CA

alekdavis

Member

Re: Sorry about your experience, but I love mine!

Thanks for the suggestions Sly. I'm not sure what you mean by "service over wireless". The hardware is connected as: cable goes to modem, modem is connected to Packet8 device, Packet8 device is connected to wireless router. I use wireless for laptop, but the phone is plugged in the Packet8 device (the phone is wireless, though). I guess you may be right about any or all of the issues you mentioned, but I already canceled the service (it was too just much hassle and I hardly need the regular phone anyway), so maybe I'll try them the next time. They can also help other people experiencing similar problems. Thanks again.
Applebrook
join:2005-06-10
Tracy, CA

Applebrook

Member

Check your broadband provider

I have had packet for the last one and one half year as well as a legacy phone and SR. true legacy phone(sbc) has no problems but Packet 8 has been a very reliabvle service for me I call Pakistan , Germany and the call quality is very good.
regards your echo go to www.testyourvoip.com and check you latency .
good luck
alekdavis
join:2005-10-10
Folsom, CA

alekdavis

Member

Re: Check your broadband provider

Thanks, I'm glad you like it. I wish I could say the same, I really do. Testyourvoip can be handy, although I do not understand why you need to register to try it.
packet8SPT
join:2005-07-06
Santa Clara, CA

packet8SPT

Member

Packet8 Support

Dear Customer
Thank you for sharing your challenges.  I can assure you that this is not a typical experience with VoIP.  We have thousands of very satisfied customers (including myself, with two lines!) who are not experiencing any quality issue. I have better than land line quality all the time.  It is usually as simple as plugging in VoIP and enjoying the service.
The quality of your VoIP connection is very dependent on your internet connection quality.  Sudden packet loss and large shifts in latency are the actual cause of dropped calls and echo.  Home router bugs can also degrade the connections to our servers or cause dropped calls by tearing down the sessions.   If you would like, we can help you determine the cause and hopefully resolve the issue.
As a first step, I recommend that you try the following:
Setting Packet8 device with a static IP address on your home network and setting the same IP address into the DMZ of your router.  Also opening all the ports via DMZ  reduces the possibility of dropped calls as it would be less likely for the router to disrupt the sessions (in case there is a bug) 
SET STATIC IP/DMZ:
We are now going to set a static IP to the DTA and push it through the DMZ of the router. The first step we are going to take is to configure the DTA with a static IP address and set this IP address into the DMZ feature of your router. This should eliminate any firewall issues that could be causing call quality problems.
You will want to first locate your DTA's IP address. You can do this by simply picking up the phone connected to the DTA and pressing the reset button once. The system will now read you the current IP address of the DTA. Once you have the IP address, you will want to place this IP into the address bar of your browser (with no 'www' in front of the IP) and press 'enter'.
Step 1: Setting a Static IP
Please click on 'LAN' on the left hand side of the DTA's configuration page (located on the black bar). Once you have clicked on 'LAN', please then click on 'LAN SETTINGS' located on the top part of your screen. You should now see a page that reads "LAN Configuration" with empty fields below it. This is the page where we will now set a static IP address for the DTA.
Please select the circle next to 'Specify fixed LAN configuration.' You will now want to enter in the following information:
IP Address:  (enter the IP address of your DTA)
IP Netmask: 255.255.255.0
IP Gateway:  (Please see 'Finding your Gateway IP' below)
IP DNS Server: 63.209.12.18
Finding your Gateway IP:
You can find this information by doing the following: On your Window's desktop, please click 'start' and then select run. Please now type in 'command' within the 'Run' window. Please then click on 'OK'. You will now see a black DOS Prompt window. Within this window, you will want to type: ipconfig/all and then press 'enter'. You will now need to look for the 'Default Gateway' address. This IP address you will now want to enter into the 'IP Gateway' box within the DTA Configuration page.)
Step 2: Power-cycling the DTA
We will now need to reset the DTA to make sure that the settings are in effect. To do this, please click on 'Reset' on the left side of the DTA Configuration Page. You will now want to select the first option, 'Reset and execute Main Application.' This will now power cycle the DTA, bringing the new settings into affect.
Step 3: Placing a call
You have now set a static IP address for your DTA. It is now time to place a test call to ensure proper internet connectivity. Pick up the phone attached to the DTA-310 and dial the following: 0120555. You should now hear the Packet8 voice mail system.
Setting DMZ:
(The suggestions below are general guidelines for setting DMZ on most routers. If you are unable to configure the DMZ feature with the suggestions below; please refer to your router's manual or Technical Support Department for further assistance).
You will want to login to your router by going to the default gateway address (mentioned in step 1). The router may require that you supply a login/password to login to the configuration page. If this is the case, please enter your login information (if known).
Once you are logged into the router's configuration page, you will need to search for either one of the following tabs or links (if neither are present, please resort to your router's manual for further instruction):
- Advanced
- Setup
- Advanced Configuration
- Firewall
- Security
- Filters
- Applications
- Gaming
- DMZ
Once you have clicked on one of the following listed above; you will need to then look for 'DMZ' within some of the configuration pages. This feature can be hidden fairly well within various menu options and settings. If you are unable to locate the DMZ settings; you may need to set up special application rules or disable filters.
Once the DMZ feature is located; simply insert the DTA's IP address into the DMZ field and press 'apply'. If the menu requests an internal our public setting; please select 'public'.
Once DMZ has been applied you will need to try placing a call with Packet8.
If the above does not resolve the problem and you would like to provide your contact information offline, I can ask one of our senior technical support agents call you and run couple of tests while on the phone to find out if your internet connection quality is causing the issues.
alekdavis
join:2005-10-10
Folsom, CA

alekdavis

Member

Re: Packet8 Support

Hi. Since I've canceled the service, I'm not going to try the suggestions, but they may be helpful for tech-savvy users experiencing similar problems. To me, it's just too much hassle. I do not really use regular (non-cell) phone that much, so having Packet8 working does not worth the effort of messing with DMZ, static IPs, etc. I followed the instructions of the broadband company to set up the modem and router and, after reading the post of the satisfied customers and promotional materials about Packet8, assumed that using the system would be just a matter of plug-and-play. Maybe if I knew in advance that the system would require complex troubleshooting effort, I would be mentally ready and go for it, but now I will just use my cell phone and save myself $20/month. On another note, I kinda see that some of the issues can be attributed to broadband provider, and my setup (although, as I said, I just followed the instructions in the manuals), but the fact that your support does not respond to e-mail does not add to the company's credibility. Thanks for the post, though. It's nice that you monitor the forum.
packet8SPT
join:2005-07-06
Santa Clara, CA

packet8SPT

Member

Re: Packet8 Support

Dear alekdavis,
If you ever decide to choose VoIP again, please let me know. I will have one of my tech support people help you through the set up process. For the great majority of customers Packet8 is just plug and play, with great results. Some situations require router configuration, and a small number of internet connections cause poor quality due to "packet loss" and "jitter".

Our tech support will walk you through the process until all is set up.
Packet8 Support
alekdavis
join:2005-10-10
Folsom, CA

alekdavis

Member

Re: Packet8 Support

OK, thanks.

Review by smj7 See Profile

  • Location: Kansas, Seneca, OH, USA
  • Cost: $28 per month
  • Install: about 8 days
Good Sound Quality, Simple Install, Extensive Area Code Coverage
No Caller ID with Name...
A fine service, but needs to keep up with other VoIP Co's features
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Received my DTA in just over a week. Setup was painless on my Linksys router using DHCP. Had to upgrade the DTA firmware in order to activate some of the features, but that was simple as well. Sound quality has been much better than I expected from VoIP. A few occasional voice dropouts and that's about it.

As of the time I write this review I have only been using the service for about 24 hours. At this time I can say I am very pleased.

10/10/04 - After six months of using the service I'm still satisfied with the call quality and reliability. I've never had to contact tech support, so I can't rate that part of the service fairly. I decreased the "Value for Money" rating due to the fact that there are other similarly priced services out now that offer some of the services I would like to have including virtual numbers. P8 has been promising virtual numbers to residential customers for quite some time, but until now have only made it available to their business customers in the Virtual Office package. It appears to me that P8 has shifted their focus away from the residential customer and are concentrating on obtaining and satisfying business customers. I sincerely hope this doesn't become a trend for P8.

11/24/04 - Virtual Numbers were finally made available today. The total time between my order for a Virtual Number and activation of said number was mere minutes, bumped up my VFM rating to reflect. Still very pleased with all aspects of this service. It could still use a few more features though.

06/10/05 - After 14 months with Packet8 I'm still fairly pleased with the service. Call quality is still as good, if not better, than local POTS and definitely better than my cell phone. -- For the record, both are Verizon. Also, still haven't had to make a call to P8 support which is a plus.

A few complaints I do have include the lack of features, and the new $1.50/line "Regulatory Fee". To my knowledge there have been no new features added to the service since November of 2004 when P8 introduced virtual numbers. But, they have handed us a price increase disguised as a "Regulatory Fee" which has raised my bill $3.00 per month. I have lowered my VFM rating to reflect this.

9/24/05 - I received an email a few weeks back from P8 that stated they accidentally sent out their subscribers email addresses attached to a newsletter. Well, today I got my first spam message as a result of that address leak. It was addressed to "VoIP Customer" pushing Lingo service. I have had this address for four years and up until now have managed to avoid any spam on this account. I know that mistakes happen, but this is still very irritating!!

member for 20.9 years, 1443 visits, last login: 14.8 years ago
updated 18.5 years ago


P8Support
Premium Member
join:2004-05-24
Santa Clara, CA

P8Support

Premium Member

Residential Features

Smj, We haven't forgotten our residential roots and loyal residential users. We are working on making some of the many improvements suggested on this website. Hang tight and thanks for supporting Packet8!
P8Support

1 edit

P8Support

Premium Member

Virtual Numbers

Virtual numbers are now here. Just log on to our web interface and add the feature. Thanks for being patient and thanks for supporting Packet8!

Anrey
@velr.res.tor.fcibroa

Anrey

Anon

Re: Virtual Numbers

Packet8 promised canadian area codes for virtual numbers. but at present just US area codes available. Do you planning to add canadian area codes for virtual numbers?

P8Support
Premium Member
join:2004-05-24
Santa Clara, CA

P8Support

Premium Member

Re: Virtual Numbers

We are still working on getting Canadian DID's or rate centers. Hopefully in 2005!

Review by orapunzel See Profile

  • Location: Canton, Cherokee, GA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Don't know any - NEVER got my order shipped!
Slow. Calls from my LL to their CS dropped by them! Charged when I never got my order even shipped.
They charged me and never shipped. CS can't answer me why and what what taking so long. AVOID!!
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Value for money:

I heard all thes great things about VOIP and decided to go with one.

So, since I'm in Atlanta area and heard Clark Howard (our resident consumer advocate guru) had VOIPs listed on his site, I went to see what he recommended. Packet8 was one. I had heard of Vonage but not Packet8. So, I did some research, and it SEEMED that Packet8 was a better buy. More features, less money. Enhanced 911, etc.

So, I after looking at them and reading their site for a while, I finally went with them after 2 weeks of asking around. Wish I had done some more research before I did that.

I put my order in on August 9. I was told by them over the phone and email that my order would ship right away and I should get it within 5 days or so. Nope.

I get an email from them 2 days after I completed the order via their website telling me that E911 ISN'T available in my area...this after their cart indicated that it was. (I'm in what's considered the Atlanta NW area if you want to see for yourself when you click on Georgia in their checkout.) If I don't reply within 24 hours, they will continue with the order. So, I didn't. I figured I had another land line, no big deal. Also 3 cells phones. So what ... we're metro area... E911 has to be coming soon, right? (Well, now I'll never find out. So, that's moot.)

I wait until August 19. I called them b/c I still hadn't received my adapter or anything at all via snail mail (nor email). They tell me my order is going out THAT day. I should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday. Fine. I wait, again.

(Side note, on this call to the CS Dept, I noted that they sounded rather tinny. I was obviously calling from a landline. Of course, they are using their only VoIP. I wasn't impressed with the quality. It was also hard to hear at times.)

Today is Wednesday the 24th. Nothing in mail. Nothing from UPS or anybody else. I call. My order STILL hasn't been shipped!! It's been 15 days!! What on earth could possibly take them so long? They have no answer for me.

Not only that but they charged my card for $35. WTHeck? I'm told this is a charge JUST for shipping and handling. HUH? I'm only in Georgia, US... not the Georgia over near Russia. >:(

Even the CSR is mystified as to why the charge is so high.

(Another side note: On this day, their CS dept DROPPED my call to them. So, I had to call them, again! Argh. And it was extremely hard to hear the CSR.)

I had just been doing some more research on reviews for Packet8 when I found this site and several others. MANY, MANY folks complained about a one year contract. Contract? This was news to me. Their site represents the service as month to month. Not so. It IS a contract after you complete your initial 30 day free trial.

And the "free" 30 day trial was a problem for others. So, I go and look at my account online at their site. I find a bill already created! UGH! I haven't even received my adapter or activated (obviously) and there's already a bill on my account! Apparently, they've decided to start my billing as of yesterday... the same day they charged me for S&H on an order STILL not shipped.

Well, I'm one to follow gut instinct. Not to mention the overwhelming amount of bad reviews I found. I canceled the service. Now, I'm told that they can't guarantee that the order won't ship and that I won't be charged for such. That if I get it I should refuse it. However if I can't refuse it, I should pay to ship it back. Ummmmmmm, no.

I'm calling my bank and having my card number changed and having that "hold" for the S&H refused. I don't need any further hassle from these folks. I'd rather have the hassle of not having my bank card for a few days until the new one is issued rather than them charging my account for months on end for no reason as I have read them do to COUNTLESS others.



member for 18.6 years, 47 visits, last login: 17.8 years ago
lodged 18.6 years ago

packet8SPT
join:2005-07-06
Santa Clara, CA

packet8SPT

Member

Packet8 Support - Order issue

I would like to apologize for the frustration you had experienced due to this issue. I assure you that this is an isolated incident, and with your permission, I would like to research your order to determine why this occurred, and also work to help you resolve any outstanding issues. If you would like my assistance please send me your information (account number, e-mail address, and contact number) off line. I will forward this information to our support management to investigate and resolve this issue as soon as possible. We appreciate your feedback, as it will help us to continue improving all of our customers' experience.

Thanks,

Packet8 Support
RiftReaper
join:2002-02-21
Vancouver, WA

RiftReaper

Member

Re: Packet8 Support - Order issue

judging by what this guy says in his review. you don't need to improve your CS, you need to totally revamp it!

Review by PCInTech See Profile

  • Location: Massena, Saint Lawrence, NY, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
All the talk time you need, good support, cheap.
Very thin on features by today's standards. Stability.
There's better services out there now.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I signed up for my first Packet8 line in December of 2003. Delivery of the DTA was only 5 days across the country. I was online and calling everyone I ever knew across the US and Canada in about 3 minutes. Call quality was just "OK" at the time, but kept getting better and better with each firmware upgrade (sometimes every few days!) I've changed my number a couple of times, and Customer Service is always there when I need them and takes care of things immediately, at no charge. I enjoy not paying Verizon most of all, and I'm saving SO much $$$, that I got a SECOND Packet8 line in March, which arrived by express delivery the next day! It's actually a PLEASURE to pay the bill every month to these folks. The service is reliable and solid as a rock, in my opinion. I have many people in my area who are SO impressed with my service, not to mention with my tiny little BILLS, that they'd LOVE to sign up... if ONLY there were local phone numbers here in our rural little corner of New York State. (Which I don't understand, because Level3 has service at our local CO.) I've gone totally POTS-Free now, and hope I never have to deal with Ma Bell again. I hope Packet8 continues to develop features, add rate centers and keep up the effort for stellar service... as well as continue to keep the price-point LOW. There's a few more features I'd like to see, like FAX, virtual numbers, better voice mail and account management, and the ability to manage features without logging into the Web Site, but... I'm sure they will come in time. My experience has been nothing but positive, and I'd advise anyone to sign up with extreme confidence. You can pay more with other providers, and get less. You can also pay the same or less, and get less. The choice is yours, but I'm one very happy Packet8 fan!

UPDATE 12/24/04: Still a happy P8 fan! They since have added Virtual Numbers, FAX, and a host of dialing features like *69 call return and others. I'm keeping the service on one of my two lines, but the lack of a local number has forced me to also put in VoicePulse. They also offer excellent service and price, as well as the features that P8 is "missing". Most importantly, a LOCAL number in my area, and Call ID WITH name. I also enjoy having a choice of 7, 10 or 11 digit dialing with VP, but these things don't make me love P8 any less. Still reliable, still fast and friendly Customer Support and always there when I need them.

UPDATE 05/27/05: Cancelled the last of my Packet8 lines, finally. Service reliability has gone WAY down hill, and the price has gone UP since they started adding a JUNK FEE to the bill. They never did add any more features, and by today's standards, it's rather primitive, and they never did get local rate centers. Since trying someone else, I know that there's better values out there. I wish P8 well, and hope that someday they catch up to everyone else in features, reliability, voice quality and overall value. It was nice for a year and a half, but it was time to move on to better things for me.

UPDATE 08/17/05: Cancelled 4 months ago and they STILL keep billing me. Tried 6 times to resolve with their billing department, each person told me they've cancelled the account and I would receive a refund. Yet... they STILL kept billing me on the next cycle. The account overages on my debit card caused my bank account to be CLOSED because of this. I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy now. Thankfully, I actually have a FAR better service with VoicePulse than I ever experienced with my long, tedious run with Packet8.

member for 19.8 years, 4436 visits, last login: 8.9 years ago
updated 18.6 years ago

NoVaVoiper
join:2003-10-21
Arlington, VA

NoVaVoiper

Member

Have you checked lately?

Packet8 just (last week) added a whole bunch of rate centers. They definitely offer the most of any provider at this point. Have you checked recently to see if yours is among them?

alphapointe
Don't Touch Me
MVM
join:2002-02-10
Columbia, MO

alphapointe

MVM

Virtual Numbers

Packet8 also offers virtual numbers now. I have two of them, and I love it.

darenh
@chartertn.net

darenh

Anon

Voicepulse vs. Packet8

Since you have both, can you compare and contrast the two providers? I've just about narrowed the field to these two, but also considering AT&T's service. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Daren
Lets Go
join:2005-03-05
Homer, NY

Lets Go

Member

Other Providers

Thanks for your comments about USAdatanet in my earlier post. Since you seem to give them a good review why did you choose voicepulse instead? Do you look into USADatanet? I am looking for a customer friendly provider with solid service. I have been to he** and back with Vonage and don't want to make the same mistake.

Review by scookstlmo See Profile

  • Location: Ballwin, Saint Louis, MO, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 180 days
Price
Tech Support, Customer Service, Poor VOIP Quality
If you have a choice of Packet8 or nothing, go with nothing!
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I signed up for Packet8 service through a promotion that CompUSA was offering last February. The promo was for 3 mos free service, free adapter, no activation fee. This was the worst decision of my life, Packet 8 has been a miserable experience since day one! Not only did I not get the 3 mos free service, but I got charged not one $29.95 activation fee but two due to their system screwup and an ill informed customer service rep that couldn't find her way out of room with a sign marked EXIT. Another rep actually had the gall to tell me that I ordered two services from them and that they shipped me two adapter boxes (I purchased my only adapter box through my local CompUSA)!! It's been six months and the problem still hasn't been straightened out. Packet8 claims that I never signed up through CompUSA in spite of the fact that I even forwarded the confirmation email they sent me upon signup back to them with tons of references to the CompUSA promotion. I'm fed up and so is CompUSA and I am in the process of getting my account terminated; fortunately my CompUSA store manager is assisting with this and sending it up the ladder to corporate HQ. Each and every time you attempt to speak to someone at Packet8 you get a different story and after six months, I'm calling it quits. This is the worst Customer Service that I have ever experienced with any company, bar none! I don't know which is worst, its arrogance or its ignorance!

Not only are Packet8's Customer Service and Billing Departments all screwed up, but the service can be described in two words "IT SUCKS"!!! I repeatedly had problems with one-way audio (you can hear the other party but they can't hear you) and dropped calls. Calls to Packet8's tech support is like rolling the dice, you never know what you're going to get. Some techs are knowledgeable and can help you through some of the issues, but others are clueless. One tech had me convinced that the problem was with my ISP (Charter) and had me schedule a service call only to find out that it wasn't my ISP but that my adapter needed a firmware upgrade!

Well, about the best thing that I can say about Packet8 is that when the service works, it works well, it's just that it rarely works correctly and I've only been able to make very few calls where I haven't experienced problems and that's not worth $20/ month.

If, after reading this, you still decide to go with Packet 8, then you are truly a masochist and love pain and aggravation. Believe me, you'll get plenty!

member for 18.6 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 18.6 years ago

JackR61
join:2005-08-17
07301

JackR61

Member

I have iconnecthere

iconnecthere has some customer service issues, but the overall service is great. Quality is normal, meaning you don't think about it. I've had maybe 2 scratchy calls in 4 months. No big deal.

I now see you can buy them at places like Amazon, but on their own site they offer free shipping of the free adapter, and a free month, meaning you only pay activation fee [ once ].

Hope your service works out. Mine is great.
RiftReaper
join:2002-02-21
Vancouver, WA

RiftReaper

Member

Re: I have iconnecthere

So do you get your paycheck from Packet8 on the first or the 15th? ive always wondered
AeroMonk
join:2005-08-24
Saint Peters, MO

AeroMonk

Member

Re: I have iconnecthere

nice shot, I was also wondering, cause it definitely seems like he's gettin' paid by them. lol

Review by sgier See Profile

  • Location: Rose Hill, Butler, KS, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 6 days
The features are real close to telephone co.
Name on caller id, call dropping
Run away, find a cheat landline and stick with it.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I had to drop Packet 8 They dropped calls and that was when the service worked. I called (from my cell) tech support for help and was placed on hold for as long 30 minutes. Just like an other gentlemens response posted here you can get right through the sales line but not support, HMMMM.

When dialing out it took a very long time to connect to the other party even if it was a local call. When visitors came to my house I had to leave them instructions on how to use the phone since they must dial all 1 + 10 digits. I never had to call 911 but as slow as it was to connect on regular calls I do not want my wife to ask the rapist for time out so she can get the cops on the phone. For your safety stay with landline.

I ported over a landline phone number then later when I wanted E911 service they stated that it was not available on ported over numbers and I had to drop the phone number that I had had for years and opt for one of theirs. Their tech support constantly screwed up any changes in my account and I had to montior every change they made.

To cap off the bad service when I disconnected they charge me a disconnect fee of $59.00 that was buried deep in their contract. What a bummer.

member for 21.7 years, 92 visits, last login: 13.8 years ago
updated 18.6 years ago