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Review by aniskhwaja 
UPDATED: 91 days ago
member for 6.4 years, 53 visits, last login: 12 days ago
 Huntington,Suffolk,NY
 $16 per month (12 month contract)
 about 1 days
 "Good voice quality, immediate provisioning, excellent customer service"
 "Website doesn't mention BYOD or ATA options, LNP info is also not readily available"
 "Best there is right now"
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I have had service with several VOIP providers including Optimum Voice, ATT CallVantage, VoicePulse, and ViaTalk in the past. I provisioned this line for in-laws who currently have CallVantage. The problem with CallVantage is their price and we have an old Centiallum ATA which refuses to work properly behind the router and if you put it in front of the router it slows down the rest of the network also doesn't give control over things like setting up port mappings etc. Since I couldn't convince ATT to give me a new ATA so bye bye ATT.
Lost OV when I got Fios.
Left VoicePulse after a great year and went to ViaTalk after VoicePulse started missing incoming calls and randomly sending them to voice mail even when we were not on phone. BTW we are on Long Island and have FIOS and a very good router so no room for excuses.
ViaTalk has been rock solid, but then a few months ago they started dinging us with the BS charges every month, originally I had planned on setting my in-laws up with ViaTalk but this just killed that idea. The worst part was their CS rep's attitude towards the whole thing, "oh this its our right to amend the charges at will" Why the heck did you sell me 199.00/yr with a free year, if your definition of 199,00 is 199.00 + whatever we want from you. If I knew you were going to rape me at will I would have stayed the hell from you. VTBrendan, another lost sale for you and when my contract is over it will be bye bye ViaTalk.
Anyway back to VoiceStick, I called their support number at 5:30 p.m. on Friday after their official closing time, got through to a tech rep, asked him if I could do BYOD since I have a PAP2 and didn't see it on their web, he said sure. I also asked him if it was possible to get the line provisioned immediately. He said that would be fine, as soon as I place the order he will process it. I asked him to stay on the line since it was after hours and I had a customer service rep, didn't want to take the chance of losing him. He stayed on the line, no pressure on my to hurry things up and like, He made me miss my days living in Roswell, good manners and respect are very scarce these days. He also emailed a comprehensive document and SIP settings immediately and I also got the account info email immediately. The signup forms are quite simple and one page for basic info, and one page for credit card info. I had to ask the rep about LNP since it is not covered in the FAQ or anywhere else readily apparent. The link is way down near the bottom of the front page, you have really scroll down to find it.
I downloaded their Soft Phone a little later at night and it worked without issues on my macbook pro running Leopard. Things got a little rough when it came to provisioning my PAP2, they have a couple of different proxies one on port 5060 another on port 80, I was assigned the proxy on port 80. PAP2 required additional settings for this configuration which were not covered in their documentation or anything I could find on forums, so I opened a ticket at 1 am or so, also sent an IM through dslreports to BruceN, who answered it at 7:30 and gave me additional info. By that time I had figured out the settings by trial and error and gotten the line to work. In any case it gave an opportunity to work their customer service and measure their responsiveness and I was impressed by both the personal attention and the timeliness of the response.
My only concern about their CS are the timings 9-5 EST on weekdays only means that if I have a problem that requires troubleshooting, I will have to be home during business hours. They should extend the CS hours to 7 or 8 and should have some coverage on the weekends.
It has been only a day but so far all calls in and out have been fine. The voice quality is better than CallVantage, and we haven't missed any calls so far.
I will update this review after a few weeks if something bad happens. VoiceStick so far appears to be one of my better VOIP experiences.
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Review by bigbear74
UPDATED: 103 days ago
member for 4.3 years, 40 visits, last login: 69 days ago
Stockton,San Joaquin,CA
$24 per month
about 1 days
"Excellent Customer Service,Best International Rates,free softphone download from website"
"USB Device Stick Not very easy to install on Windows XP! Website Needs Improvement"
"Best internatinal Rates and Certain Countries or cities are free with Global plan!"
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I ordered the $24.99 Global Talk plan that includes calls to certain countries and cities for free! Downloaded the free softphone from there website and was able to immediately start making calls using a headset! I didn't care for the USB Stick Device because it gave me an error and wouldn't install on my computer! Ordering was fast and after credit card was approved was able to start using service immediately! I love the i2bridge feature, which let's you use your cell phone or landline to make international calls at low rates or free to certain countries and cities!
Update: Customer care is sending me a new USB Stick for free! They determined my USB
Stick was defective!
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 Review by prestonlewis
Posted: 104 days ago
member for 5.2 years, 1454 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Sacramento,Sacramento,CA
$5 per month
"Reliability, call quality, tech is online in the forums, low cost, instant use"
"Web page is pretty behind the times."
"Well worth the money."
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For most average users, you have to use between 700-800 minutes/month in order to pay for a flat rate plan from a VOIP company. If you use less minutes, you're better off going with a pay as you go plan like VoiceStick offers. VoiceStick is consumer friendly: use can use an adapter instead of their software, you don't need the "stick", no waiting time either download their software or setup an adapter after your account is created, you can choose the entire 10 digits in our phone number they give you for free unlike other providers who only allow you to choose the area code and prefix.
Everyone wants something different in their VOIP usage. Perhaps having the transportable "stick" works for you. However, I like adapters and being able to setup my account, choose my own entire phone number, and get registered in literally minutes was fantastic. Combine that with reliability, call quality and tech support and you can't beat VoiceStick.
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 Review by Prayer
UPDATED: 104 days ago
member for 6.5 years, 965 visits, last login: 11 days ago
Warminster,Bucks,PA
Contract price not specified.
"Low amout needed for N2N, clear talking & listening, Bruce came back"
"I got too many VoSP."
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Next2Nothing is $0 monthly if I make no calls. Works great as backup VoSP. I have so many accounts that I don't use VoiceStick every day. It works every time I try to use it. Clear conversations. In a year I'll choose the best to keep and reduce all the extras. These guys might be a winner then.
Followup comments:  BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Thanks! Thanks!
Bruce Nicklin | |
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Review by cbrain
UPDATED: 108 days ago
member for 8.1 years, 3260 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Silver Spring,Montgomery,MD
$1 per month (month by month)
about 1 days
"BYOD, quality, reliability & fax works"
"Frequent major changes without notice from 8/12-2007. Value ? ..."
"Things appear to be getting better."
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***update 2-29-2008***
Bruce is back and things are looking up. I never used my balance after VoiceStick raised rates so I can test the improvements. I'll post my findings.
»[VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick
»[VoiceStick] BETA test proposal for MyGlobalTalk
***update 10-24-2007***
I read about Voicestick charging monthly fees here on BBR. They never sent me notice or directly addressed my other issues. I made several more unsuccessful contact attempts then sent notice to change my account to outbound only. Incoming stopped almost immediately and my account login was restored. Sometime over the weekend outbound began to work again but no contact from Voicestick. They have now raised the outbound call rate to $.02/min and charge for a full minute for a 1 second call ... their notice was the charges in my call log. Bottom line ... there is no longer any call where Voicestick beats a competitor. I'll use up my prepaid deposit and stop sending calls.
***update 9-26-2007***
Yesterday morning I attempted to login to "MyAccount" to make a deposit if the balance was below $5. I don't use this line much now but wanted to keep it active and available. My login was rejected. I tried again around noon, that evening and today. This afternoon I sent support a note from their website. After my inquiry, VoiceStick informs me ... "Your account requires activation before you can use it. Please see the attached document for verification purposes." I later discover they also cut my outbound service. All this without notice! I've maintained a positive balance with VoiceStick for over a year and not had a single money or support problem during that time.
»[VoiceStick] Can't login to My Account - Can anyone else?
»[VoiceStick] Now Charging MOnthly FEES 
***update 9-6-2007***
I made several attempt to contact VoiceStick by email, website and phone, both to their public number and direct to people I was referred. I didn't get a single responsive answer. I was looking for a rate of around $6 U/L incoming or $10 U/L in with a bucket of outgoing. I have better options than the plans they now offer. Last week I informed my contacts to use another incoming. I will continue to use VoiceStick where appropriate. Outgoing calls are easy to change but I need a more responsive provider for incoming and I didn't like the change without notice.
***update 8-20-2007***
Seems like the very day I give Voicestick a glowing review, they change the plan without notice. This does change everything. Do your own research. This can still be a viable option for low volume users. I expect more for what they now cost and I have better options.
»[VoiceStick] Is VoiceStick now charging for incoming calls on N2
***original review 8-16-2007***
Signed up online for the N2N plan in July 2006 and had incoming working on an old P8 adapter in minutes. Inbound test calls ring instantly (SunRocket & some other VoIP's have a delay) and the quality is great. Outbound did not work. The signup promised $5 test credit for outbound but it was not posted so I made a deposit online. Still not working the next day so I sent an email. It was answered quickly telling me no reason on their end outbound not working and they posted the $5 intro credit. I played with my settings and got outbound working. This & signup have been my only contact with VoiceStick other than my ongoing service. This gives me little to rate support on except to say ... not needed is how I'd like all support to be.
I was a low volume user for the first year but gave out the number in June to replace my SunRocket inbound. Around the same time VoiceStick did some system upgrades and I had the only problems I noticed during the next 2 weeks but the service has again been solid since. I started sending more outbound calls around the same time & they all work well. Their member portal says outbound costs $.02 per minute. I never looked before but they actually bill out far less, closer to $.012 and outbound 800 calls around $.002. Last week I sent several multi page faxes over this line with complete success.
*MOnOwall is a major reason for my success with VoIP. If you don't love your router, try it. »m0n0.ch/wall/
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Review by Hilbe
Posted: 155 days ago
member for 5.6 years, 2983 visits, last login: a few hours ago
New Albany,Franklin,OH
$1 per month
"Quick and easy setup. Good call quality."
"Billing oddities since the plans seem to be changing."
"Very cheap and easy solution to store a number."
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I signed up with VoiceStick Next2Nothing plan. We rarely use our home land line anymore, so I don't see a reason to pay $10 to $20 a month for it. I enjoyed that I'm only out $1 per month (minimum charge) at worst case. Its nice that I can port my existing number in, have E911, and keep the charges down.
I had a hard time finding the SIP information required for VoiceStick. Once configured correctly, my PAP2 was working like a charm with VoiceStick.
Right now there is new leadership and plans are changing. As a result, some of the billing is wacky and VoiceStick has been very good at addressing these issues.
Overall I think VoiceStick is the low cost provider everyone who wants the security of E911 but not the expensive phone bill to keep that luxury.
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 Review by navjun
UPDATED: 165 days ago
member for 3.2 years, 643 visits, last login: 110 days ago
Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
$20 per month
about 10 days
" cheap by minute outgoing especially internationa calls"
"get charged for 800 numbers and free DID & incoming is gone"
"cheap internationals plus ok Us calling"
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I've had them for over a year , and thy keep going down..last time it was 2 weeks a go , but they notified us after they went down that they are upgrading the servers, so they can be more stable.
when they work they are awesome ,and they have great prices... but they don't always work so you do need a backup service, I use gizmoproject as my backup, I can't even remember the last time they had a problem , they are rock solid . I don't know why they are not used more by people.
I use a pap2 and on one line have VS and the other Gizmoproject. Its a great piece of hardware.
good luck to you all
.......................
Recently they have been more reliable , though the prices have gone up , but still competetive and also no free DID and incoming on next2nothing plan.
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Review by voip_user
UPDATED: 220 days ago
member for 2.1 years, 872 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Middletown,Middlesex,CT
Contract price not specified.
"Inexpensive; fairly good voice quality"
"Very limited tech support"
"Cheap and better service if you can support yourself"
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I have used my old SunRocket AC-211N with this service and it works quite well. I setup using the instructions on this forum and it was quite straightforward. If you are technically able and don't use more than a ton of minutes (literally) i would recommend VoiceStick's Next2Nothing plan.
You get a free US phone number, voicemail, voicemail to email and unlimited incoming calls all for FREE. Also the outgoing calls are amongst the cheapest among other BYOD providers. I have heard about reliability issues with them but for me i have been able to get dial tone whenever i picked up the phone and was able to call people whenever i wanted.
At about 1.18 cents/min you can get 1200+ minutes of outgoing calls for $15 the typical price which most VOIP providers charge for 500 minute plan. They also their innovative i2Bridge, you can dial in from any registered phone number into your i2Bridge and call anywhere in the world from your VoiceStick line at super cheap rates.
Recently VoiceStick has started porting number and they did port my SunRocket number over in 2 weeks. Their customer service is very limited but you can send an email and will get a response usually under 24 hours. Yes we cannot call 24x7 to reach a person but then i prefer sending email then and can wait for a response.
VoiceStick (and any other VOIP provider) cannot become your only phone line but it is great option for anyone looking to add a second line.
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Review by real_goose
UPDATED: 301 days ago
member for 7.2 years, 416 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Grosse Pointe,Wayne,MI
$2 per month
about 1 days
"good international rates"
"Useless support; multiple charges added with little notice"
"Unreliable with deteriorating call quality and terrible business practices"
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After the call quality to Greece became unacceptable to my wife, I began shopping for a new VOIP provider with good rates to Europe and pay as you go pricing. We’ve used VoiceStick for 60 days. Right now I rate it as OK, but if VoiceStick can improve support and their website I would rate it higher.
I urge others to compute the costs of unlimited and pay as you go for your calling patterns. Folks that come out better with unlimited must be making a tremendous number of calls. In our case paying by the minute is much less than half the cost of any unlimited plan.
I signed up for the Next2Nothing plan which has no monthly cost and includes a local number with no charges for incoming calls. Soon after ordering, I received an email with all the details I needed to connect. A Sipura SPA-2000 was set up and we started making calls. VoiceStick would prefer to sell a $60 VOIP Gateway and that is the only hardware they support. I already own my ATA and I'm unwilling to buy a proprietary unit. I found all the details I needed to setup the SPA in the Broadband Reports VOIP forum.
Call quality to Europe is generally better that calls in the US. Since we started, call costs to Europe have gone up a little and calls in the US have gone down. At first US calls cost more than calls to any of European countries we call. Now calls to the US are a little cheaper than calls to Greece, but US calls still cost more than France or UK.
The pricing on the website is full of errors and contradictions. Several countries have more than one rate listed such as separate lines for Greece mobile at $.02 and $.18. The main page still lists international rates that are no longer valid such as UK $.09 but the current rate is higher. There are no listings at all for France as I write this.
We were experiencing severe problems connecting calls and then for a weekend, all international calls were rejected as invalid numbers. I opened a case with support that was an exercise in frustration. The response was slow and after discovering I was using my own ATA, the case was closed. I later learned from a VOIP forum posting that there was a 2 day problem with invalid translation tables. My conclusion is that either support was unaware of their internal problems or purposely lied about the problem. Neither is a good situation.
The hope I see for VoiceStick is the involvement of Bruce Nicklin the new Vice President. He is active on several VOIP forums and appears to be trying to reform VoiceStick. If he succeeds, VoiceStick could be the long term winner for us.
9/29/2007 update
Bruce Nicklin has left VoiceStick and so have I.
Now that VoiceStick has decided to charge monthly for their free DID, I opened a ticket for them to either change me to an outgoing only plan or cancel the account and refund my balance. I received a response that simply said "Thanks you for using i2telecom's Voicestick Product." I can no longer login to my account so I assume they canceled it, but my dial tone was still active! I did print a copy of my account page showing the balance so I can go after my credit card company if VoiceStick does not come through with a refund.
I basically stopped using VoiceStick 2 months ago and switched to callwithus for outgoing calls. We had no dial tone seemingly every other time my wife attempted to use the phone. Before that time the call quality to Greece deteriorated so badly that it was hard to get her to agree to even try using using VoiceStick.
So for the last 2 months I have been trying to use up the account with my few domestic long distance calls. The call quality seemed good to me but folks on the other end reported echoes and there were several disconnects.
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Review by suilobo
Posted: 317 days ago
member for 7.2 years, 251 visits, last login: 209 days ago
Staten Island,Richmond,NY
Contract price not specified.
"Good voice quality, Cheap service..."
"Not many features, bad Tech support, you need have some tech knowledge"
"Good overall service if you know what your doing. Recommend!"
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I was a Sunrocket user, and as you know they went out of business. So I ported my number to them. Porting took about 3 weeks.
First MG-3 came, quality was horrible.
Then they sent us a Grandstream Handytone, after some figuring, everything is working fine. Voice quality is very good.
International rates are cheap.
They are definitely recommended if you know how to configure you router.
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