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Review by REMoon See Profile

  • Location: Roswell, Fulton, GA, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 10 days
System and Features work well
Currently;Not all calls ring some go direct to VM (HSI issues)
Acceptable service at a fair price Better internet service=better phone
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I have the freedom annual plan, been using for about 4 years (3 year on COX in LA 70817, 1 year on charter in GA 30076.
Phone worked much better with COX in LA. Has been spotty with the Charter HSI problems but is improving as I resolve the HSI problems one at a time.
Only contact with their Tech. service was at install and when I complained about the not ringing here on CHARTER they sent the BPA 410 to replace the orig. 310. Both incidents were responded to well.
I have looked at other providers but am overall satisfied and don't want to muddy the water until I get satisfactory internet performance

BPA 410 Adapter,Netgear WNR 3500 Router, Charter 10Mb HSI

UPDATE: Still working with charter on HSI issues for ring in and dial out intermittants
»/testh ··· 65/3b9f2

Update 11/21/10: Charter internet is getting more stable as we continue to work through the service issues (tech support is verrrrrry weak) Currenty testing speeds of 18mbs down and 2.5 mbs up.
The intermittant ring in problem is still there but less frequent. I am statring to wonder if it is caused by the fact that I am still using my LA area code and phone number?? The callers indicate that it just rings w/no answer and no voicemail pickup. I have set the QOS priorty to high and dedicated the BPA 410 port on my router.
Later
Ralph

member for 14.4 years, 21 visits, last login: 12.1 years ago
updated 12.9 years ago

REMoon
join:2009-10-12
Roswell, GA

REMoon

Member

Packet 8 VOIP follow up

3/19/2011:
Packet 8 voip has been greatly improved since the Charter internet has improved with their advertised free upgrades. It seems that upload speeds above 2Mbs greatly improve the quality of the phone service.
R

Review by Subaru See Profile

  • Location: Greenwich, Fairfield, CT, USA
  • Cost: $24 per month
  • Install: about 4 days
Very Easy to Set up, Decent Call Quality
had lots of issues with Outtages on Packet 8's end
Good if you can Deal with some tiny issues
Web-site:
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About 2 months ago I signed up for the Packet 8 VOIP service, I wanted something Cheap but good call quality. A few people Recommended that I get Packet8, So Ordered the stuff I needed from the site and in about 4 days my package arrived in a white box; very easy to set up only took about 15 min. worked Great however about a month later Packet 8 had some servers fail which caused the service to go out in a large area, it would come and go, Lucky for me I did not need to make a call into the Job at the time.

I know some of this cant be avoided but it would really help if Packet 8 sends out emails to the customers letting us know if they are going to do any work or anything like that.

Also The Packet 8 Website was updated since I've been with them, the new site is MUCH better then the old.

I will try and keep this updated on how the service is going.

5/10/07

Service is still good still some issues on my end due to my ISP I tend to get a lot of dropped packets indicated by the flashing Line light on the ATA.

Some odd issues like my password wont work the first time when trying to check the voicemail but trying it again works.

Update 2 years later no major issue still

2/18/11

no longer have this service

member for 22.8 years, 10015 visits, last login: 1 day ago
updated 13.1 years ago


Review by Redbluffian See Profile

  • Location: Red Bluff, Tehama, CA, USA
  • Cost: $23 per month
Rock Solid Reliability
Cost
Solid service, not the cheapest
Web-site:
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Going on our fifth year of service. No problems, no issues no complaints, no outages. Since the last update we have added a second line and another virtual number. I know we could probably get cheaper service, but we have been burned before by shoddy VOIP providers and don't want that experience again.

Bottom line is rock solid service.

member for 18.4 years, 102 visits, last login: 12.5 years ago
updated 13.1 years ago







Review by dplantz See Profile

  • Location: Roslindale, Suffolk, MA, USA
  • Cost: $14 per month (month by month)
  • Install: about 5 days
Cheap Fax Line that works
taxes and fees higher than most other voip
good value for the money if you are looking for t.38 based fax
Web-site:
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I was looking for a fax line to replace one I have from comcast that works great, but will go up in price after I port the other line to phonepower. I would rather pay smaller fee with long distance to fax vs 24.95 plus 5c a min from comcast.

I found few voip companies supporting t.38 packet 8 does and does not have a year contract. I ordered it 5 days ago, got my box plugged it in validated the account and rebooted. sent a test fax to an efax number I have and it work fine, a little slower to connect, but it works fine



Wish that I could have kept the fax number, but packet 8 does not port fax lines, my parents are the only people to fax me regularly at the point so that is not a big deal. Love the fact everything plays fine since I 3 voip lines from 3 voip companies.



I would have have added the tax, but I am not sure of the tax amount yet. Will update after the first months bill.

member for 23.6 years, 8367 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 14 years ago


lineofsight
join:2003-01-03
East Saint Louis, IL

lineofsight

Member

PhonePower has a solution for you

With PhonePower, using their HT-502, you have 2 phone ports. The second can be cloned (free) so that you can talk on one phone port and make or receive your fax call on the other (or talk to 2 different people at 2 different numbers at the same time.
The voicemail supports inbound faxing. It delivers it to your email as a tif file.
I use a fax machine on phonepower and it works great.
You don't need to have a dedicated fax line.
If you want to have a special phone number to hand out to people, then they offer virtual phone numbers that will ring your real number.
My HP L7680 printer/fax/copier/scanner listens to the phone line when it is answered and automatically seizes the line if it is a fax call. If I answer it myself and gear the fax beeps, i dial 123 on the phone, the HP grabs it and I hang up.
This might save you some headaches and cash.
dplantz
join:2000-08-02
Bradenton, FL

dplantz

Member

Re: PhonePower has a solution for you

I will try this option out once my line ports on the 11th of March. I like your idea. this would be cheaper and still allow me to have a fax number if I chose to do so. I will see how well my brother fax works with fax. Thanks for the tip.

eXcessiVe
join:2006-11-04
united state

eXcessiVe to lineofsight

Member

to lineofsight
Cadillac Phone Service FTW

Review by snowdog0 See Profile

  • Location: Elkhart, Elkhart, IN, USA
  • Cost: $28 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 14 days
Works as advertised
website clunky
continually rising charges and fees made it no longer viable.
Web-site:
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Update 8 Feb 10 - I dropped this service about 2 months ago due to continually rising bills. Very little explanation about why the price/fees have increased and no explanation about why I was getting charged a 911 fee for New York when my service is Indiana! Overall, Packet8 served it's purpose and was a great bargain at $19.99 per month. But now, whatever rate they are charging, was to much for me. Bottom line, if you can afford it, it's wonderful service.



Update 30 Mar '08 - No problems as long as HSI is working. Just changed to Verizon DSL. We shall see how it cooperates.

Update 25 September '07 - Still going strong. No connection troubles but seldom delays in calls especially to cell phones.

Update 5 June '07 - Noticed an increase in my bill that was not due to overseas calls. Turns out they are all federal taxes and fees. What started out at ~$21/month is climbing. I'm currently being charged ~$28/month. If they climb more I'm going to look elsewhere. Service still works well. I'm still happy. Website though recently revised, needs more work. It's gotten faster but is still difficult to navigate. Be patient, you'll find what you need.

Update 28 March '07 - Since I relocated from overseas I installed the adaptor on my brother's network and the phone worked. It's been almost 5 months now and I have had no issues with the Comcast service. I can now use more features like "Find me - follow me" and call forwarding. Was disappointed with the price increase since my last update as they did not inform us but, the service works and works well. Just ensure you have a tech who knows what he's doing.

UPDATE 29 Sep - Still very happy with the service. Glad I'm fairly adept at networks and computers because I've heard Packet8's tech support is second from the bottom. Set that aside, the service is very good, sound quality is very good on average on my only outages are dsl related. Would I recommend Packet8? YES! Do I still? YES.

UPDATE 7 Feb - Still working very well. Would be great but have noticed an occasional delay in the time a person leaves a voicemail and the time the system reports it as either a broken dial tone or LED on the front panel. This happens about 50% of the time. I still highly recommend them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------

UPDATE 25 October - Still running well. The clarity is very good although I get occasional dropouts of packets. It's not a big deal as I can usually fill in the blanks or ask the person to repeat what they said. Overall, this is still a good deal for the money. Am still happy with the service.

Packet 8 Rocks!
----------------------------update 2 complete----------------------------------------------

Update 22 Sep - Advice. Don't restart the adaptor without good reason as your personal setting wil go bye-bye. I learned this the hard way when I was informed that my voice mail wasn't picking up after a reset. I checked my settings online and sure enough, voicemail was turned off. Also, when your internet connection drops, it will take a short period of time for your adaptor to reconnect to the service. I think mine took 30 minutes the last time it happened.

Anyway, for the most part, this service is really cool and works very well. I have recommended it to quite a few people and I warn them that support takes a while via e-mail...
------------------------------update complete---------------------------------

Being overseas it's very hard to get hold of US based merchants to do business. This service was mentioned to me after I winned about a $400 dollar phone bill early this summer. I ordered the service via referral and after receiving my adaptor Friday, I was VERY happy. Setup was nothing more than plugging the power adaptor into the outlet, lan cable between router and adaptor and then the phone. I called the number to activate the service, punched in my unique code and was greeted with: "your service is now active. You can hang up and make calls".

Talk about stoked! I immediately called my fiance and was impressed with the clarity. I understand that each firmware upgrade makes it even better so in my opinion, look out baby bells, VoIP rocks.

member for 23.5 years, 154 visits, last login: 12.9 years ago
updated 14.1 years ago


Review by addicted2 See Profile

  • Location: Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified. (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 3 days
Quality business phones, Great call quality, Great tech support
None yet
For a small business owner this is an excellent solution
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

Note: This review is for business class hosted VOIP service (also referred to as hosted PBX).

Just split up in a business partnership and did not want to buy another on-site pbx networked telephony. We are talking, for an entry level brand name PBX about $7,000 plus set up and any maintenance.

Now down to just two of us but plan on adding another couple of employees in the next six months.

Went with the Unlimited Extension PLUS 6755i for $65 per phone per month. That includes the phone, phone number and service. The phones are made by Aastra and have all the business features you would expect from an executive phone. Also, this plan offers many features such as auto call attendant, call park, call forwarding, etc that our on-site PBX had. My total cost for two phones is $130 per month. One heck of a value for a small business that wants to create the image of a large company.

For those complaining about tech support, my experience has been amazing. Have contacted support on three or four occasions for some configuration questions and got right through to a knowledgeable and professional tech. Perhaps the business customers are given priority. I don't know since I don't use their residential service.

Call quality and reliability have been fine. No issues and this is on an AT&T DSL line 3Mbps down / 512Kbps up. As I add more employees I will probably have to upgrade to a faster DSL connection if available or a T1.

One other thing. I did not just buy blind of their website. I called in and spoke with a salesman who knew his stuff. I am pretty tech savvy and would know if I were being given a line of bull.

All in all, after two weeks of service, my experience has been very positive with 8x8. Remember though, this is for a business and bought a business package. Residential may be a whole other story.

One last comment. Most of the reviews for VOIP services are for residential service. Broadband Report's VOIP Chart "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" does not provide a fair representation in regard to average cost since a business hosted VOIP (also called a hosted PBX) is, obviously, going to cost more than residential VOIP skewing the numbers higher on a business review such as this.

My purpose here is to provide my experience to other small business owners that might be looking for another solution than going out and buying an on-site PBX. I spent a lot of time on research on other sites to find the solution that worked for me. Unfortunately, this site does not have a lot of reviews or information on hosted VOIP business solutions.

Perhaps Broadband Reports needs to have two separate VOIP charts for "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." One for residential and one for business.

I will try to come back in the next three to six months with an update.

member for 20.1 years, 184 visits, last login: 12.9 years ago
updated 14.2 years ago

PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

Packet8

Very useful, thoughtful, and informative review.

Thank you for all the information!

Review by donbarger See Profile

  • Location: Birmingham, Shelby, AL, USA
  • Cost: $32 per month
Very Reliable, secure service, good business service,
creeping prices
Been with P8 since 2004, very satisfied
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I have been with Packet8 for over 5 years. I have used it all over the world and it has worked consistently. I have also recommended this to over 100 new users.

My voip device failed after 4 years of usage in various countries. It was probably due to the poor electricity in my countries. They replaced the unit promptly with no problems.

member for 14.2 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 14.2 years ago







Review by scholztec See Profile

  • Location: Scottsdale, Maricopa, AZ, USA
  • Cost: $32 per month (month by month)
  • Install: about 10 days
Excellent call quality, easy setup
Not as cheap as others, no online voicemails, lousy CP
As good as the local telcos, but you'll pay for it
Web-site:
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I switched to Packet8 after SunRocket imploded. I was looking between them and ViaTalk. Since 8x8 had been around for quite some time as a business VoIP provider, I went with them. Not wanting to commit to a contract, I opted to do monthly service at $24.99/mo. Fees bring this to $32.59. Packet8 does offer 1yr contracts for $199 (presumably not including the aforementioned fees).

Service setup and number porting were stupidly easy. The equipment showed up on time, pre-programmed, and worked out of the box. This is the type of setup your mom could do.

Call quality is excellent. Only twice in 2 years of service have I had call quality issues, and they were solved by calling back. Packet8's business heritage shows. Their service costs more than their competitors, but it "just works".

The only issue I have with Packet8 is their control panel. It is very clearly oriented to business customers with multiple lines. Support for customer-owned VoIP devices or softphones appears to be non-existent. Also, they offer an option to have voicemails sent to an email, but VMs are not available online thru the control panel.

Cost is somewhat of an issue. I pay $32.59/mo, but I could do a 1yr for $199. I recently decided to audition ViaTalk (their svc is $199, but for 2 years). Not until VT was setup did I begin to appreciate how great Packet8 is. Call quality, device support, & tech support are practically non-existent with VT. My VT review is coming soon.

I suppose you could say that you do indeed get what you pay for. Packet8's service is 2x the cost of VT, but it is worlds better.

I have a feeling I'll be sticking with Packet8

member for 17.1 years, 1315 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
updated 15 years ago


Review by andegold See Profile

  • Location: Plainsboro, Middlesex, NJ, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
It just plain works! - Update at the End
None that matter
It's great for the home and I'm taking the plunge for my office too.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I had originally ordered Vonage but after three weeks they couldn't even manage to find my request for LNP that been faxed (and confirmed received) to them three times. The Packet8 set up was extremely easy and quick. My house is new construction and in anticipation of VoIP the inside was never connected to the Verizon NID. After four or five months running over Comcast Verizon finally brought DSL to the neighborhood and I've been running over that connection for about two months now.

So, I have a Verizon land line for 911, the alarm, and scattered local calls when someone else is on the main line, and use the Packet8 line exclusively for everything else. I can listen to streaming audio, use a GoToMyPC connection and use the Packet8 phone with no noticeable degradation to any of them.

There is an occasional echo which is really annoying but it's never gotten in the way of a call.

There have been a few small outages but nothing serious.

Lack of 411 and even direct dialed 555-1212 service is annoying but I generally prefer SuperPages.com anyway.

Recently added time and date stamp to Voice Mail is long past overdue and it still doesn't work yet.

Interestingly, time and date stamping has always been available on their business class service as is seven digit dialing which is not currently available to residential customers.

I have just ordered a three station Virtual Office sysem for my business running over a Comcast Pro account. This could save several hundreds of dollars a year but would be better if it did not require a minimum of three stations. Two would be enough for me.

02/15/2005 Update - Still moving along well at home. Have been using Virtual Office at work for about a moth now. Have old Verizon line forwarded to P8 for incoming calls while LNP is pending. Occasionally get some quality issues but have only had one or two dropped calls. Nothing I can't live with. My biggest problem is getting used to being tied to my desk again after three years with a multi-line cordless system. Their plain business package probably would have worked with the old phones but I wanted some of the advanced features of the PBX.

So, after one month I'm still favorable and think it's a great solution fo any business that needs the features and more than three sets. For smaller operations that don't need to transfer calls or set up extensions and seperate voice mail boxes it's probably overkill.

08/10/2005 Update - Over one year later and still chugging along nicely at home. There are occasional very short outages and other glitches but they piss off the wife much more than they do me. 411 has been added and this is a very good thing as I do not like the changes that have been made to SuperPages.com over the past several months. The time and date stamp on voice mail now works. Actually, it works better than on Virtual Office in as much as the residential time and date stamp are announced before playing the message and the Virtual Office stamp is announced after the message. I usually delete the message before I realize I might have wanted to know when the message came in.

Also still very happy with VIrtual Office. Features are fantastic. Can't really comment on bandwidth as I rarely if ever have more than one extension in use at a time and other internet traffic in the office is generally low as well.

I received my 911 stickers for both accounts but no word yet on implementing 911 on my home phone which is a Verizon number that I ported in from a different CO.

Just about 18 months of service now. No outages in longer than I can remember. Sometimes there is delay and static but nothing worse than a cell phone. Call quality could be better but reliability is excellent. Still don't have 911 working but I do get updated E-mails from the tech working on it about once a month. They've credited me the 911 fees. 7-digit dialing is fantastic. Virtual office still working great at work.

UPDATE 01/23/2007 Over 24 months of service and still happy. Have cancelled residential account and had that number ported to Virtual Office. Currently running three VO lines over Verizon DSL. Downloads will affect quality of call but normal browsing does not. FiOS is on the way and will probably switch as soon as possible. Packet8 still can't resolve my address properly for E-911 but I have a landline for the DSL anyway. Added a T38 fax not too long ago but don't use it enough yet to really review it. I can't port my old fax line to it because they are limited as to which COs this equipment is in.

FINAL UPDATE 2/19/2009: I've been using the residential service now for four years and really still have no reliability problems or anything to complain about other than the price creeping up slowly over time. As a result of the price creep I am in the process of making the final changes and porting my number over to T-Mobile At Home. T-Mobile does not offer the same full feature set as Packet8 including, in particular, CallerID with Name. This was one of the biggest complaints about Packet8 in prior years until they finally added it about a year or two ago. Now I'm back to number only but am only paying $10/month for service instead of $30 and I only have to know one set of voice mail commands across my cell phone and home phone.

3/12/09 - T-Mobile does have CallerID with Name. They provide different CallerID services to their @home subscribers than to their mobile subscribers and my account wasn't coded properly. As of today my last Packet8 number (originally a Verizon Landline from the CO two towns over) was ported in to T-Mobile and all Packet8 accounts are closed.

I had a great experience with Packet8 and would absolutely still recommend Virtual Office but for my residential landline needs it just didn't make economic sense anymore.

member for 21.6 years, 3393 visits, last login: 1.5 years ago
updated 15 years ago

TeleGirl
join:2004-03-15
Olathe, KS

TeleGirl

Member

Cool!

Great review! Let us know how the Virtual Office works for you. Did you order the Switchboard application w/your Virtual Office.
uplike247
join:2002-04-22
Newark, CA

uplike247

Member

Re: Cool!

PACKET 8 IS SO EVIL

TO ALL PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT. THEY ARE SO EVIL.

I HAD TO PAY A DISCONNECTION FEE!!!!!! f%%$##$! i SPENT ALMOST $1,000 ON LONG DISTANCE FEE AND THEY STILL WANT
TO HAMMER ME WITH A DISCONNECTION FEE
rfanta
join:2005-04-03
Princeton Junction, NJ

rfanta

Member

More detail please

Why were you almost charged $1k?
Disconnect fees??
....

I'd like to consider Packet 8 and Vonnage, amongst others...

terrywin
join:2003-08-28
Hillsboro, MO

terrywin

Member

Re: Cool! ($1k)

I'm guessing he was using 10-digit dialing, which is treated as international calls. My room mate recently made a few of these calls (although, I don't think none got through, still charged account about .66).

** Remember P8 Requires 11 digit dialing in US **

You can disable international calling on the P8 DTA device internal website if you'd like to avoid this. As for the disconnection fee, I was aware of it before signing up, and even seen the $59 disconnection fee mentioned on their website before signing up, but was also well aware of it by being a member at this website.
enzotortoise
join:2005-07-01
Sunnyvale, CA

enzotortoise

Member

Re: Cool! ($1k)

This response is really directed at uplike247.

Does he (I'm assuming it's a he) read the fine print on all of his services. Almost everything has some sort of disconnection fee. I have sbc dsl for my internet and they charge $150 for disconnection. I have dirctv and they charge $150 for disconnection. I have sprint for my cell phone and they charge $75 for disconnection. I can keep going, but I think my point is made; which is EVERYONE INCLUDING OTHER VoIP PROVIDERS CHARGE A DISCONNECTION FEE!!

As you can see Packet 8 has a fairly cheap disconnection fee in terms of other services.

Disconnection fee's are part of life in the service world.

Review by cableguy965 See Profile

  • Location: Lynchburg, Lynchburg City, VA, USA
  • Cost: $29 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
works good always on
some time can not call altell coustomers twice in 4 yrs echo sometimes
FOR THE PRICE CANT BE BEAT
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

i recently upgraded to the uniden uip165p awsome phone system
doubled my range for hand helds

member for 22.4 years, 645 visits, last login: 9.1 years ago
lodged 15.2 years ago