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Review by foxvalleyman 
member for 7.6 years, 25 visits, last login: 2.5 years ago
lodged 7.6 years ago
 Elgin,Kane,IL
 $21 per month- (12 month contract)
 about 6 days "cost," "customer service,tech support" "appears to still be in beta,has along way to go"
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After reading several reviews here I decided to take the plunge and try voip.Via talk pricing was competitive and had some good customer reviews.I signed up and received my voip adapter promptly, set up and ready to go.I connected to a phone near my cable modem and tried it for a week - quality was ok so I ported my current phone # . After 3 weeks I received no notice of my # being ported but received a cell phone call that my phone was inop, so I tried to call Via Talk on my voip phone and got their canned greeting,selected tech support and got a busy signal. I finally had to call them on a hard line (which worked fine ) and got them to switch my phone line to ported #.My voip phone now worked but I still could not contact phone support, so I opened a support ticket.I received an answer 24hrs later that said the problem should be fixed -no help- Then I noticed that my calls had an echo and cutouts. I opened another support ticket and waited another 24hrs to have them ask for details on how my router was set up. I complied and waited 24hrs to have them tell me to have my router manufacturer enable Qos.My router manufacturer ( motorola) did not know what Qos was and suggested that I try a port trigger and that I would need info on port ranges and type.Via talk gave me the asked for info (24hrs later) -no help-. In the meantime I saw a posting here that said that a Qos router could solve my problem. I sent another support ticket asking about this and a day later I was directed to a web site to help me set up my current router.This web site while informative did not help so another support ticket and I asked about getting a new router with a voip adapter. This time I waited 3 days for an answer and was told that they had routers, and the price but not how to order one.So by now I am a little irritated and send another support ticket asking for help in ordering a router telling them that my quality is poor and could use a prompt answer. This time I wait another 3 days and get an email from Michele Noel asking "what information is it exactly you are wanting to know?"
I know that Via Talk is a relative newcomer, and that their prices are good, I even know that sometimes the customers equipment and isp can be at fault (my service is 4mbs and rarely goes down),but they do not have the 24/7/365 live support that they advertise, the support they do have is not helpful enough, and they are still having technical problems (my phone support has come up and gone down several times ) and caller Id is working intermittently I have tried to be patient and work within their system using support tickets, but my patience is waning.
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Review by superman123
member for 7.6 years, 5 visits, last login: 6.1 years ago
lodged 7.6 years ago
- Boise,Ada,ID
- $22 per month
- (month by month)
- about 8 days
- "Cheap, Easy Install, Good Customer service, No contract"
- "Searching for those right now, Voicemail did not spoke my number when dialed."
- "Seems like a good service"
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I tried Lingo before and it took me 10 days and more than 10 hrs on phone, but I could not get it installed. Finally Lingo sent me another box and then we could get it online. Tried Packet 8 but could not get a good overseas (india) calling. Finally when I tried Via Talk, I was little skeptical with VoIP, and infact chose Via Talk for the fact that they don't have any contract terms and yet they are cheaper than counterparts like Vonage. Besides, Vonage did not offer local numbers in Idaho.
I was surprised at clear voice quality, including to calls made to India. When I used Packet 8, my folks could hardly hear me but in this case the voice was clear and there was no trouble in connecting either. Since then I have called few more times to india, couple times to canadian cell phones and couple to US long distance calls and all of those have been seamless. I was little troubled by the fact that I could not get the fone to ring when I tried to dial it using my cell, but the problem was mysteriously resolved on its own. Also to note that the Voice Mail spoke some different number than mine when I connected to VoiceMail. Don't have explaination on those yet but may be folks from Via-Talk can provide.
Overall I have been using it for like 5 days and quite happy with it. I will keep you folks updated if there is any new development.
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Review by maddisai
member for 7.7 years, 45 visits, last login: 6 years ago
updated 7.7 years ago
- Fredericksburg,Stafford,VA
- $15 per month
- "As everyone mentions, Service is good in many ways"
- "Problem with International Calls, Not good voice quality (to India)"
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Hi, I signed up for service this afternoon. I got an email confirmation that my order has been received. But seems like no one has taken any action till now as the order status didn't changed till now. Is this normal?
Updated on 8/29: I am really glad that I choose ViaTalk. Service is working great. But I see only problem with International Calling to India. When I make calls to India, the other person couldnot hear my voice but I hear their voice clearly. If ViaTalk could fix this problem, it would be great.
Updated on 9/7: I don't know what happend to ViaTalk Tech support. They could not able to resolve International Calling problem till now. Tech support team always tells "we are working with the provider". Not sure when they will fix this. Giving me hard time in making International Calls. I am reducing the call quality rating because of this.
Thx
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Review by eddie99
member for 7.7 years, 8 visits, last login: 6.5 years ago
lodged 7.7 years ago
- Austin,Hays,TX
- $15 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 12 days
- "Good Price,works great with a QOS router"
- "had to buy a new router"
- "looks like a winner"
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It took 7 days to get my adapter box, from day that I ordered. Send in two service tickets: static/echo and Fast Busy. Customer Service said I needed a router with QOS (Quality of Service) to solve the static and echo issue, even thou no other internet active was going on . The last few days all call outside of my area code get Fast Busy signal.
Update: Looks like a router problem. Service works great now. For me the upgrade to a router that support QOS did the trick.
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Review by tj008
member for 8.9 years, 564 visits, last login: 2.9 years ago
lodged 7.7 years ago
- Fremont,Sandusky,OH
- $11 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 3 days
- "Reliable service, Good Call Quality and Caller ID with Name"
- "To get the best rates like other voip cos, you have to sign for a year"
- "Good service plus there are officials from VT that watch BBR"
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I have had ViaTalk for over a month. Service with the cute little Linksys PAP2 adapter is great. Having Caller ID with Name on incoming calls is nice to see again. In fact, caller id with name is sent on outgoing calls also.
I used a viavite from their early days of marketing to the voip community. Finally used it since they had the things on my top five list of must haves.
Glad I did - I havent been sorry.
Another nice feature is that the PAP2 adapter has a second line. I have configured that line with FWD. It really has cut down on the number of boxes and the use of space on my desk. 
Keep up the good work ViaTalk!
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Review by scarredknee
member for 8.6 years, 10 visits, last login: 7.4 years ago
lodged 7.7 years ago
- Pleasant Grove,Utah,UT
- $23 per month
- about 21 days
- "Fast shipping of equipment; Easy Installation"
- "Online Support can take awhile responding; Phone support very inconsistent"
- "Could turn out to be good service, if the company pays attention to customer feedback"
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I ordered this service on July 27. I received the equipment approximately four days later along with a free T-shirt. I plugged the adapter in to my router, and it was instantly up and running with my temporary phone number. I tested the service a few times over the next couple of days while waiting for my main number to be ported, and call quality was great.
I went on vacation for a week and returned to find that my old phone service (with Qwest) was not working and I realized that my number had probably been ported. However, the Viatalk adapter was not updated to reflect this, and it took a call to tech support to fix it. (on hold ~10 minutes)
The phone service worked as expected, with high call quality and reliability. However, after a trouble ticket was submitted to support to correct the Caller ID time, my service stopped working without explanation. I submitted a trouble ticket (because it was a weekend night) and had to wait for about 12 hours for a response. Since this was my main phone number, I was very anxious to get the service fixed. The response was a canned response to unplug the adapter. I had of course already tried this to no avail. I decided to reply telling them this, and additionally give them a phone call. I waited on hold for over 1 hour 30 minutes!!! Then, I realized the only reason I was moving up in the queue was because nobody was actually answering the phones and people were hanging up. This is ABSURD!!!
After replying back and forth a couple of times, I was very frustrated and posted a message on the BBR forums about my experience. Only then was I able to get the proper attention to my issue. After having no phone service for over 36 hours, my issue was finally resolved. There turned out to be a configuration problem on their servers.
I will persist with this service, as it's the only reasonably priced service that will port my local number. However, if I experience anything like above, then I will switch back to traditional phone service.
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Review by rocky76
member for 8.8 years, 126 visits, last login: 5.6 years ago
lodged 7.7 years ago
- Ashland,Middlesex,MA
- $23 per month
- (month by month)
- about 5 days
- "Easy to set up, simple to use, responsive tech support"
- "it's in beta - which meant problem occuring and being fixed time to time"
- "good service and responsive support - which you might need time to time"
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I've signed up for the Viatalk after reading several postings on this site.
The package arrived pretty quick. I've placed the order around 3PM thursday and it arrived Tuesday noon. The tracking info showed that it was shipped Sunday(probably picked up Monday) by UPS ground.
Installation was extremely simple. I just plugged the phone adapter and it just worked.
No activation was required.. only bad thing is that they started billing me from the day I placed an order.
The web interface seems to be ok and it has enough features.
Caller ID with name works - it didn't with packet8.
Caller ID seems to have wrong time though. I thought it was my phone, but I think it comes from phone company, so the problem must at the viatalk's end.
From time to time the voice gets chopped off at the end. Little annoying, but it's nothing major.
Also had some major problem the day after I got the service started, but they fixed it after around half a day. I submitted the ticket for this and they apologized for the problem and promised that it won't happen again.
It's been only a week since I got the service so I can't say much, but the experience is ok so far.
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Review by talei
member for 11 years, 66 visits, last login: 5.9 years ago
lodged 7.7 years ago
- Portage,Porter,IN
- $14 per month
- (month by month)
- about 2 days
- "Fast delivery of product, reliable service"
- "Modem needs to be recycled ever few days"
- "Great value, well worth pursuing as a VOIP option."
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Ordering the ViaTalk product was simple. When I received the modem, all I had to do was plug it in, connect to my router and I was ready to go. Looking at the call logs, they had already made sure my line was prepped and ready to use before I ever go the modem. The call quality is excellent (although calls to cell phones does produce a very light echo of yourself on your side). So far, this sure beats Verizon.
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Review by stugpanzer
member for 8.4 years, 50 visits, last login: 4.3 years ago
updated 7.7 years ago
- Sandwich,Dekalb,IL
- $22 per month
- (month by month)
- "Call Quality is Great - 7 digit Local Dialing"
- "Occasional Drop-outs"
- "Worth a Look!"
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I started my VoIP trek in September, 2004 when I received my over-bloated phone bill and decided I was sick of being “nickel and dimed”!
Vonage was not an option for me as they were unable to transfer my number (I need that for a small home based business).
I first tried Lingo which had awesome sound quality, but didn’t work out as I couldn’t receive calls from anyone in the SBC footprint. I then tried Packet8 and am currently a Packet8 customer and have been reasonably satisfied with their service. Recently, I have not been happy with their quality, so I started shopping again.
ViaTalk; I called and talked to someone there and got all my questions answered. I then signed up for one month as I want to test this before I decide to stay with them. I ordered their service on a Saturday night and received the Linksys box on the following Tuesday.
Installation; I connected it to my router; hooked up a phone and had a dial tone and was able to use it right away. No problems here. Everything is included for connecting.
First test; call a local number with just the seven digits…so I call my Packet8 number and that worked fine. I then called the ViaTalk number from Packet8 and there was the beloved caller ID, with the name! Packet8 only shows a number.
Call Quality; I have an advantage here as I still have Packet8 and so I am able to compare. The sound quality from ViaTalk is much clearer than Packet8. My son likes to use a cordless phone as his “TeamTalk” while gaming online and he said his friends aren’t saying “what” like they do on Packet8. The best way to describe the difference in quality is that Packet8 is muddy sounding and occasionally has that “Matrix” electronic, synthesized sound where the ViaTalk line is crystal clear.
Reliability; I rate this a little lower than packet8 at this time. I noticed that once in a while when I call the ViaTalk line and chat with my family, I have experienced a type of drop-out of call quality from my end…calling in. It has happened about 5 times in the week that I have been testing. I am not too concerned though as I believe that ViaTalk with continue to improve their infrastructure.
Website; I love the call log on this service and on my Packet8 service, but ViaTalk is sometimes as much as a day behind on updating their Call Log. I would like to see it become more real-time.
Tech Support; I have tried calling the last couple days to address some of the questions I have, but have either been on hold for long periods of time or have been directed to leave a message. I resorted to submitting online tickets to address the questions. Packet8 customer service is like calling a hole in the ground, so I’m not sure how they compare.
Conclusion; From my testing that I have done and just for the quality, I believe I will switch to this service from Packet8. They will transfer my number and I believe that once I have their service for a few months, I will take advantage of paying up front to realize an even better savings.
***Sigh***
I hate to say, but it appears that I will have to cancel this service. The LinkSys box crapped out and when I called them...on a Thursday...they had me go through some diags but with no luck. Since I called Thursday night, they said they could send a box on Friday for Saturday delivery. Well, I recieved the new box on Tuesday. Thank goodness I still had my existing VoIP service in place or I would have been without phone service for 6 days! That is a huge concern and enough, in my opinion, to steer clear for now. Looks like my VoIP trek will have to conintue elsewhere. Calling today to cancel.
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 Review by sgarrand
member for 13.1 years, 6678 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 7.7 years ago
- Ware,Hampshire,MA
- $15 per month
- about 1 days
- "BYOD plans."
- "Poor quality over time, long hold times, indifferent support."
- "May work for others but it did not work for me."
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After one and a half months of trying everything possible, I could not get decent sound quality from ViaTalk. It would break up and echo consistently and I would have to hang up and use another VoIP provider I have. I tried them, they turned out to be very poor, and I have now cancelled. After my years of experience (since 2002) with VoIP I just did not have the patience for ViaTalk. Good luck to everyone else that tries them.
** Below was a review after a week, above is after two months.**
I started off corresponding with their support team about the value of a pre-launch offer I received. After a few e-mails I wrote back saying I would like to sign up and they called me to set things up. That night I told them to call anytime up until 1 or 2 AM because I work late. They called around midnight and I gave them all my information with a promise that I'd get an e-mail with instructions on how to set my own device up. I got that e-mail less than 12 hours later (11:30 AM) and my device worked immediately with perfect calls.
After a couple of days of using my own device I decided that the quality was so good that I'd start considering them more seriously and take them up on the free shipping and activation of their device. I received their device the next day and it is a Linksys PAP2. It has worked even better than my device (as I thought it would) and I can't find a flaw in the sound quality. I hope they release more calling features and a more advanced portal but as it is I like it a lot.
The prices are competitive and the support staff gets back to you very quickly by e-mail. Also the hold times are not long and they are very helpful and friendly on the phone. It's still early and I can't review reliability yet but I will update this.
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