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 Review by djrobx 
UPDATED: 130 days ago
member for 9.5 years, 4609 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Valencia,Los Angeles,CA
 $11 per month (24 month contract)
 about 36 days
 "Good pricing and features, great call quality"
 "Alphanumeric Caller ID not shown with voicemail"
 "So far so good! Will update review with reliability info later."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Three month update: 7/20/09
-----------------------------------------
Generally happy with my choice. It's not quite as good as CallVantage was, but good enough for the price. The call reliability is pretty good.
Problems:
1) Sometimes my voice echoes back to me. Loudly, for short periods.
2) Caller ID doesn't always work, sometimes shows OUT OF AREA. Logging into phone power's website shows the data, so the data's availble, it's just not making it to my phone.
3) The voicemail system sends you email attachment, but does not include caller ID NAME information. That information is availble on the website call log.
4) I've had a couple landline calls disconnect on me. Rare though.
Original review: 5/23/09
---------------------------------
CallVantage announced closure, so I needed new service. I found PhonePower who is run by people I trust; Jim and Ari were responsible for DSLExtreme who I've had good experiences with. I took PhonePower up on their 2nd Year Free promo. After the shipping/handling fees and taxes, that works out to $11.45/month for the first two years. Not bad! PhonePower does the right thing and begins billing on your port date, kudos to them for that.
Call quality seems to be excellent, perhaps a little better than CallVantage which was already pretty good. It might help that I'm in SoCal, not far from PhonePower's headquarters, while CallVantage terminated somewhere across the country in Georgia.
The majority of features I'd like to use are here. The only one I really miss is Caller ID names in the voicemail email and web interface. It shows the number that called but not the name, even if it's in your contact list. Seems like a strange omission to an otherwise very rich feature set. That info is available in the call history, so they do have the data. A Safe Forward number ought to be implemented too, although I can somewhat simulate that by setting up a locator plan. I'm told big updates are coming in Q3 so I'll just stay tuned until then.
Porting my number from AT&T CallVantage took a VERY long time, just about a month. AT&T refused to port saying the address was wrong when it was in fact correct. PhonePower stuck with it and kept me in the loop during the process. Despite the welcome email saying the inbound service would be in effect at "midnight" - the actual port took place around 10am PST of my activation date.
The setup process was pretty straightforward. I received my Grandstream HT502 in the mail the day after they shipped it. If you want to set it up behind your own router, it's not clear what ports actually need to be forwarded - Tech support just tells you to put it in a DMZ if it's behind a firewall. I can't do that with the way my network is set up due to a limitation of the AT&T U-verse RG. I forwarded typical VOIP ports and it seems to be working. It'd be nice if PhonePower could work out what's really necessary for people who need to use the DMZ for something else or want tighter control over their firewall.
Overall very happy!
Followup comments:  
44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY | Ports to Foward I guess you did not see my reply in the PhonePower to someone
who was having a similar issue? Here ya go:
»Ports to Forward | |
| |
djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T CallVantage
·Time Warner VOIP
 ·RoadRunner Cable
2 edits | Re: Ports to Foward Thanks, but with AT&T U-verse, it's impossible to put anything "in front" of the AT&T's modem - it's a built in modem/router combo. I can't use DMZ, because I am running my own DHCP server for a few different reasons. AT&T's RG gives you no way to set a DMZ host if it's not serving DHCP.
I did read your link with the WRT54G instructions, but if you follow it to the end, PhonePower gives you some ports to forward, but then proceeds to instruct you to still put the PhonePower device into the DMZ!
I can treat the U-verse hardware as a "dumb" modem, but then I will have to ditch its built in wireless functionality. I have too many devices in my central closet at it is, I don't really want to add yet another router or wifi access point.
Its been fine all weekend without DMZ, so hopefully it'll be OK!
--
AT&T U-Hearse
Your funeral. Delivered.
| |
| | |
44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
| Re: Ports to Foward said by djrobx :Thanks, but with AT&T U-verse, it's impossible to put anything "in front" of the AT&T's modem - it's a built in modem/router combo. I can't use DMZ, because I am running my own DHCP server for a few different reasons. AT&T's RG gives you no way to set a DMZ host if it's not serving DHCP. I did read your link with the WRT54G instructions, but if you follow it to the end, PhonePower gives you some ports to forward, but then proceeds to instruct you to still put the PhonePower device into the DMZ! I can treat the U-verse hardware as a "dumb" modem, but then I will have to ditch its built in wireless functionality. I have too many devices in my central closet at it is, I don't really want to add yet another router or wifi access point. Its been fine all weekend without DMZ, so hopefully it'll be OK! O' come on what's another few watts?  | |
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Review by StevenS
UPDATED: 135 days ago
member for 135 days, 2 visits, last login: 131 days ago
Marstons Mills,Barnstable,MA
$11 per month (24 month contract)
about 4 days
"Fantastic LIVE sales and customer service - THANK YOU . . ."
"A couple of dropped calls the first day - okay since then"
"Loud and clear with great features"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I am hooked up using Comcast as my ISP. The Phone Power service and handholding has been no less then fantastic. They know what customer service is! Live people located in California who know what they are talking about. Thank you Jim in sales and Dave in customer service. You're great!
The first phone call I made got a response from the person I called "Where are you? It sounds like you are next door."
Sound level and quality 100% better then my old Verizon land lines! WOW !
Other the couple of dropped calls the first day I am 110% pleased.
Great job Phone Power!
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Review by Stewart
UPDATED: 143 days ago
member for 4.3 years, 1393 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Reno,Washoe,NV
$11 per month (24 month contract)
about 11 days
"Excellent voice quality, free cloned line"
"SIP credentials not provided"
"Awesome for those who use the phone a lot"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Phone power claims "Try our top of the line call clarity, reliable network and top notch tech support ...". In voice quality, my tests definitely support that claim.
Basic quality measures (level, tonal balance, distortion, noise, etc.):
I made test calls from a Linksys SPA-2102 registered to Phone Power, and from my at&t POTS line. The attached pp1.wav consists of three clips. Each clip has a few seconds of a call to 775-825-0020 (a milliwatt test tone local to me) and to 800-437-7950 (answered by a high quality recorded male voice). The first clip is a capture of the voice packets received by the ATA (what an ideal IP phone would sound like), the second a recording of the ATA output, and the third a recording of the POTS line. The recordings were made at the earpiece terminals of a standard "2500" corded phone. All clips were normalized to about the same volume.
IMO, the ATA output is slightly more intelligible than the POTS, though a bit harsher. pp1.png shows the comparative spectra, purple = PP, green = POTS. I'm in a rural area and more than 12,000 feet from the CO, which I suspect is responsible for the rolloff of the green curve.
Some reviewers have complained that PP is too loud. Indeed, it's about 8 dB above POTS, measured at the 2500 set earpiece. I have a bit of hearing loss, so I'm happy with the result. If it's a problem for you, just turn down the "FXS Port Output Gain" on your ATA, or your phone's volume control.
Many VoIP providers have packet loss or excessive delays on their network (or their upstream carrier's network), especially during heavy traffic times, resulting in choppy voice. PP is excellent in this regard. pp2.png shows the RTP analysis of a ten minute call. As you can see, only one packet out of >30,000 was lost. This is typical of what I would see pinging my BRAS (at&t basic DSL, interleaved profile), so it's likely that PP was not responsible for any loss. Jitter is also very low; no packets were discarded due to late arrival.
Echo is very well controlled. When only one party is speaking, it's inaudible. When both speak at the same time, some echo is heard, but no worse than on a long distance POTS call.
Long latency is a problem with many providers. On a call from PP to my POTS, acoustic latency was 190 ms outbound +170 ms inbound = 360 ms; my DSL connection is responsible for about 50 ms of that.
Though I did not do any objective tests of outbound voice quality, I did call several knowledgeable friends with POTS lines and corded phones, and asked them if there were any impairments. None were reported, and I've received several compliments about the quality.
I'll be adding to this review in the next day or two.
Attachments: pp1.wav 473,362 bytes
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Review by Quo
Posted: 155 days ago
member for 155 days, 3 visits, last login: 96 days ago
Kent,King,WA
$19 per month (month by month)
about 1 days
"ease of transition from CallVantage"
"Soild VoIP service provider"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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My company had me on AT&T CallVantage in my home office. When CallVantage made their announcement, we were allowed to find our own phone provider. After doing a lot of research and comparison, I chose the Phone Power month-to-month option for my home VOIP service. The telephone adapter arrived quickly and I hooked it up with no problems, was even able to make outbound calls on it immediately. When the date arrived that I selected to have my phone number ported, it happened seamlessly and without any action from me. Couldn't have been a smoother transition. The free cloned line is a great feature. I have had no call quality problems or drops or reboots (CallVantage was notorious for that) whatsoever after a month of service. My only complaint is that when someone calls me, I get a 1 before the 10-digit number in my caller ID. I did not have this with Qwest (land line), Verizon (land line) or CallVantage (VoIP). Not a big deal, just a visible format thing, but sure would be nice to get that stripped. I've emailed their customer service about it, and they respond quickly, but think it's a function of my phone.
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Review by bmize13
Posted: 157 days ago
member for 3.6 years, 963 visits, last login: 17 days ago
Dallas,Paulding,GA
$23 per month (month by month)
about 5 days
"Great documentation, responsive Customer Service"
"Lack of features"
"A few-frills phone company that seems to offer solid voice service"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I've just gotten off the ground with Phone Power, so the review will be short. Lots of good with them so far, though I did have to contact Customer Support to help set up the modem off the bat. Not sure what the problem was, but they were able to get the issue corrected in short order. I did find it annoying that I typed in my question (for virtual chat), only to have the rep's first response be, "Hi. What's your issue?" A very small bother, but still... On the flip side, the virtual tech support was quite impressive.
I am disappointed with the feature set of Phone Power, though I certainly knew what they offered going in. There are only a couple of features that I use regularly, and would like to see them replicated on the PhonePower plan. For example, wild-card call blocking is great (I block all 800, 866, 877, and 888 incoming calls... Can't do that on Phone Power). Also, Emergency Failover is missing from this service.
Overall, I have to give good marks for the first day. They sent a nice looking box, sent in a timely manner, and the service does seem to work quite well so far. Were the feature set slightly richer, I think this service may be the one to beat. As it is, Emergency Failover is too important to dismiss...
If you want a good second phone, DO consider Phone Power.
Followup comments: | | 
ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Features Simple-should the power go out or your ISP have an outage do you really want callers to hear "the number is not in service" etc or would you rather get the call on your cell phone or an alternate number? | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
| Re: Features said by bmize13 :I'm assuming you read the whole review, including the part that says plainly, "though I certainly knew what they offered going in?" I want to be honest in the review, rather than simply cheer on / bash a service. This is just an honest view of the service so far. If they are as good as you believe them to be, it'll rise to the surface. Well then why did you give call quality and reliability only a 60 without explaining why? Same with installation unless plugging in a box and waiting 10 minutes caused you to break a sweat, what gives? | |
| | | | bmize13
join:2006-04-17
Dallas, GA
·VOIPo
·PHONE POWER
·ViaTalk
| Re: Features I'm sorry, Mr. Helper. I'll do my best to ensure all reviews meet with your stringent expectations in the future, rather than communicating the actual experiences of any given user. Perhaps an Approval Committee would be in order? 
Call Quality has been rated an 80... Never was a 60. Why 80 rather than 100? Simple... Some choppiness. Not as much as other providers, but present none the less. There's not a "90" selection, so it gets 80.
Reliability at 60? That would be because I have reached 'dead air' on a couple of occasions. Not much, and very possibly related to initial setup. HOWEVER, THIS IS A REVIEW OF MY EXPERIENCES WITH THE SERVICE, and not a grandstand by which to elevate or trash any service unduly.
Do note the beginning of the review that stated I'm just starting out with them. Should the service continue to work as it should, the values will change. Should it go south, they'll also change accordingly. Frankly, I feel the review was quite generous in putting Phone Power in a positive light. | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
2 edits | Re: Features said by bmize13 :I'm sorry, Mr. Helper. I'll do my best to ensure all reviews meet with your stringent expectations in the future, rather than communicating the actual experiences of any given user. Perhaps an Approval Committee would be in order? Call Quality has been rated an 80... Never was a 60. Why 80 rather than 100? Simple... Some choppiness. Not as much as other providers, but present none the less. There's not a "90" selection, so it gets 80. Reliability at 60? That would be because I have reached 'dead air' on a couple of occasions. Not much, and very possibly related to initial setup. HOWEVER, THIS IS A REVIEW OF MY EXPERIENCES WITH THE SERVICE, and not a grandstand by which to elevate or trash any service unduly. Do note the beginning of the review that stated I'm just starting out with them. Should the service continue to work as it should, the values will change. Should it go south, they'll also change accordingly. Frankly, I feel the review was quite generous in putting Phone Power in a positive light. Thanks Much better! I was just curious, and no you don't need an approval committee although since the RIAA feels they are the majority ya might want to consult with them, lol.
Run this test during and\or shortly after to find out what is really going on when you have choppiness. It could very well be you ISP.
»speedtest.phonepower.com/repeat.html
I have the same problem with dead air every so often 1 call every (4-5) days with Verizon DSL. Do you have a dynamic or static IP and is your device before or after the router.
Support has concluded it is because my ht-502 is before the router and is not being sent a keep alive because of this. With Verizon DSL the IP changes every few days and when the public IP address changes it seems PhonePower won't pull the updated IP until I try making a phone call or someone calls me?
---Email From PP support--------------------------------------
The keep alive is invoked when my network sees the registration traffic request coming from a private IP. With the device in front, no keep alive is sent, so if your IP changes, then the Grandstream will have no way of relaying the IP address update to my network.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Let me know as I'm sure PhonePower would like to have more data on this. Thanks | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Features Simple speedtests are not really a good indicator of line quality. RockyBB turned me on to one from Nuvio that I think is WAY better...
»voiptest.nuvio.com/ | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
| Re: Features said by ptrowski :Simple speedtests are not really a good indicator of line quality. RockyBB turned me on to one from Nuvio that I think is WAY better... » voiptest.nuvio.com/ Only problem with nuvio is no max pause or jitter? | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
| Re: Features said by ptrowski :said by 44402812 :said by ptrowski :Simple speedtests are not really a good indicator of line quality. RockyBB turned me on to one from Nuvio that I think is WAY better... » voiptest.nuvio.com/ Only problem with nuvio is no max pause or jitter? Sure it shows them. Audio and video jitter. Can you attach a screen shot? Thanks | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Features Run the test, it's all there. | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
| Re: Features said by ptrowski :Run the test, it's all there. Problem with that is your not testing the route to PP but instead to Nuvio. As you can see the results are not consistent. | |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs: | Re: Features When you start you can put in whatever website or IP address you chose. | |
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 Review by srm59
Posted: 158 days ago
member for 158 days, 100 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Glen Cove,Nassau,NY
$10 per month (24 month contract)
about 10 days
"Price, Features, Customer Service, Reliability"
"Haven't found any yet."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I am one of the AT&T CallVantage refugees. I was happy with CV and all the features. I will miss them but have found comfort in my new favorite phone company, PhonePower.
While they might not have every feature that CV had, the do have the important ones, Call Filtering (Blocking), Call Forwarding, Good Voicemail System, and reasonable international rates. Other key features such as Control by Phone are coming soon. They also have some new features that I didn't have before such as Music on Hold, Call Transferring and a unique second line clone.
I have been with PhonePower for a month now and I am very impressed. The install was easy. I was able to place the TA behind my router, right out of the box and it worked well. It is compatible with my alarm system wit no tweaks needed.
The only thing lacking is a more robust Voicemail system that would include the Caller Name in the notifications and allow me to control key features by phone such activating or deactivating Call Forwarding and allow me to place outgoing calls remotely. I used this feature frequently with CV when I wanted to place a call and show my home number as the Caller ID or to take advantage of the international rates. PhonePower does have a Click2Call option but it does require you to be in front of a computer. Although I have successfully navigated and utilized these features using the Opera Browser on my Blackberry.
Overall I have found the service to be reliable. The few times I spoke with Customer Service they were well spoken and knowledgeable. Plus I am impressed by their active participation these forums. I'm looking forward to the upcoming enhancements as well as many years of good service with PhonePower.
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Review by boundgrid
UPDATED: 161 days ago
member for 4.9 years, 91 visits, last login: 139 days ago
Santa Fe,Santa Fe,NM
$22 per month (6 month contract)
about 7 days
"Cheap International Calls"
"Call Forwarding, Web Site Design, Voice Mail, Account Modification Page"
"I'd get Skype for the same services for about $5/month."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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I used Phone Power for more than a year. So many dropped calls internationally. Also international call quality is inferior.
They have no Pay As You Call feature as opposed to almost all VOIP providers. Id' keep the service solely for this.
Call forwarding never worked as described in web site.
Voice Mail does not work as set.
Web site design is very clumsy.
Most importantly, almost half the features advertised as available is in fact not available due to adapter, due to this and that.
They have good tech support but not 24 hours neither via phone or email. For the monthly charge we pay, there should be 24 hour tech support.
I'd rate the company C or 5 out of 10.
Cheers.
Followup comments:
44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
1 edit | Review Just curious as to why you gave such low marks for the website. Sure it may not be "eye candy" but the more "eye candy" a website has the slower it can be. Not to mention most every else rated the website between 60-100. Same with the installation, all you do is plug it in wait 10 minutes and it works. I would think that would be a 100.
I really don't understand value for the money being 40? Considering everything you do get for $20 or under a month! You mentioned some of the features don't work with the ht-502. Which ones?
Where are you calling internationally? I call Ireland every now and then and my friends sound like they could hit me with a stone and never had a dropped call. Crystal clear and more natural sounding then my old POTS line. You do realize that depending on where you call internationally they may not have the most reliable phone service. JMHO | |
| 
srm59
@optonline.net
| Which Service Are You Reviewing? I agree with hack4fun and I wonder what service this reviewer is talking about. I have had PhonePower for about two months now and couldn't be happier.
Call Forwarding not working as described? This has become one of my most favorite features. My callers have all commented about the "Music on Hold" as it connects them, they love it. Although I wish I could control the forwarding by phone, but that is coming soon. Meanwhile, I can control it through my Blackberry while on the road, which works well for me.
All the calling features work fine for me. I love the cloned second line and call blocking features. And International Calling? My wife speaks to her family in Mexico several times a week for long periods, and she has yet to experience a dropped call or any trouble on the line. The calls are clear as a bell!
I wish the VoiceMail were a little more robust, but I am happy to wait as I understand updates are coming later this year. Especially since the rest of the service has been rock solid! | |
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Review by bennynations
UPDATED: 162 days ago
member for 162 days, 0 visits, last login: 162 days ago
Smyrna,Rutherford,TN
$10 per month
"Very smooth transition from Vonage."
"Should have found them sooner."
"No problems..love the service and quality"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Here is the email that I sent to Phone Power:
I would like to thank you for a very smooth transition of my phone number. I am extremely pleased with your service, your price, and the ease of use. I made the switch from Vonage and have verified a savings of $305 annually. I could not be happier and I have already started sharing this information with others.
A Very Happy Customer!!!
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 Review by N9MD
UPDATED: 173 days ago
member for 4.1 years, 1679 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Wayne,Passaic,NJ
Contract price not specified. (18 month contract)
about 3 days
"Plug 'n Play"
"Hmmm! None that I've encountered."
"It works flawlessly and it's cost effective with a full feature set."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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04/3/2009 ---
This is my first review of PhonePower. I've had an account for one year at this point. Here's my take on each of the rated categories:
1) Easy to negotiate website --- with all the feature I've come to depend on in my experience with numerous other VoIP providers.
2) Took the Grandstream adapter out of the box, plugged it in behind my LinkSys WRT54G router, watched while it auto-registered, and started making calls.
3) Good audio quality on both sides of the conversation.
4) I have experienced no downtime or difficulties whatsoever, thus far.
5) I did contact support on-line early on with questions relating to how certain features functioned ... I have had no problems or issues that needed resolution. My questions were fully answered within a day. [I am one who believes that an on-line email or trouble ticket system allows the support reps to consider the issue, ask higher ups for help (if necessary), and then compose a timely, reasonable and accurate response --- rather than speaking with a telephone rep who is programmed to say: "Unplug everything".. "Reboot" .. "It's your ISP!" .. "You're hard of hearing." ]
6) As I've said in other posts --- Value for the money is in the "pocketbook of the beholder", dependent on one's personal needs and uses for VoIP. PP suits my usage pattern rather nicely.
I like the option of selecting a phone number from an on-line listing by state, area code, rate center. I got lucky, finding a xxx-x000 number in my home town exchange. And I'm comfortable with the PP-provided and provisioned adapter. My early penchant for BYOD PAP2T experimentation with various providers has been replaced, for the most part, with a "set-it-and-forget-it" mentality. [Although I still have a few BYOD providers registered on a bunch of adapters at different locations.]
Meanwhile, I'm impressed with the track record of the two principals who started PP ... they previously had founded DSL Extreme, a major ISP that they later sold ... moving on to other projects. One of these guys actively posts in the BBR Forums as PhonePower.
If you check the reviewed entities shown under my avatar, you will see four VoIP providers. I have severed my service with one of them. The other three providers have all been given 100% across the board ratings in my reviews. It is difficult to select a favorite from these three. Each has various points that suit my varying needs.
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Review by tgitech
UPDATED: 189 days ago
member for 4.5 years, 19 visits, last login: 184 days ago
Dunkirk,Calvert,MD
$10 per month
about 1 days
"great customer service, highly reliable"
"help portion of web page needs a little better organization"
"Highly recommended"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I have used PhonePower for a little over a month and am quite happy with the service. I used my own adapter, a Linksys SPA-2102, and it was straightforward to perform the initial provisioning … you simply point the device to a PhonePower download address and it downloads/configures the device.
The voice quality has been great, easily as good as my old provider (Comcast). I am using the default high bandwidth (G711u) codec and haven’t tried the lower bandwidth codec (yet). I chose the prepay for 1 year and get the 2nd year ‘free’, with unlimited* outbound minutes - *there is a limit of 5000 outbound minutes at the time of this writing and they just lowered the overage per-minute charge to 0.02/min.
My total initial cost was about $240 (including taxes/fees) which works out to a “true” cost of $10 per month assuming you keep the service for the 24 months.
The reliability has been 100% for me. I haven’t noticed any downtime at all, however, I’m not a ‘heavy’ phone user, with less than 200 outbound minutes used for a month. Also, I am fortunate in that my internet service is very reliable.
I ported my Comcast number, a process which took almost exactly a week from my initial request. Immediately after the number was ported, incoming callers received a ‘this number is not in service message.’ The solution, obtained through their customer support, was to power down/power up the adapter, immediately after which things were fine.
I have noticed for some incoming calls, the ringer on the phone will partially ring (for less than a second) right after the call is answered. This is a little strange and I’ve never encountered it before. It really isn’t an issue for me and might be due to the adapter settings, the fact I’m using their free cloned number (two lines) with a two-line phone or something else. Maybe there is a tweak that can be performed within the adapter that can help? I haven’t pursued this with PhonePower since it is such a minor issue.
A nice, and unexpected, surprise is that PhonePower sends the “Voice Mail Waiting Indicator” signal, which flashes a light on phones that are equipped with the capability. Mine are, and it is nice to have both the visual indication of voicemail, as well as the stuttering dial tone.
The service capabilities PhonePower provides are great, and appear to extremely competitive if not better than the other providers I researched. For example, the voicemail-to-email option is convenient and reliable. You receive a WAV audio file as an attachment to an email message so you can listen to the voicemail on your computer. All the other features, E911, Caller ID, call waiting, forwarding, etc are included.
The website is good, well laid out and usable, but the FAQ/Help section is a little disorganized and there are some minor inconsistencies. You can find the help you want, but it does take a little hunting around. I did notice the help section says that when the ‘do not disturb’ feature is activated, the caller will get a busy signal, and in another area it says calls go directly to voicemail. I haven’t used the feature, so I don’t know what the truth is.
I read here on dslreports where a PhonePower rep said they plan on adding even MORE features, and am particularly looking forward to their emergency failover feature (see »Upcoming PhonePower enhancements). In October 2008, they said this would occur Q2 of 2009, so hopefully it will happen on schedule.
I appears that PhonePower is actively working on improving and adding features and flexibility, and they have obviously become an extremely ‘high value’ provider – their feature set, cost, and reliability combination looks to be almost unbeatable if you are willing to commit to the 1 year (2nd year free) plan and will use the service for more than a year.
They have been very responsive to support requests and seem to have been around for several years and (hopefully) will be around for quite a while longer. If you are considering going over from traditional landline phones to VOIP (and have a reliable internet connection), or you are ready to switch from one VOIP to another, check out PhonePower!
Based on my one month with them so far, I can highly recommend their service!
UPDATE - 5/23/09 - Voice quality has varied over the past month - overall still quite usable, but some degradation has been seen in a few calls. In some (rare) cases, there has been echoing and a kind of 'half duplex' experience (only one party can talk at a time). My internet connection is solid and reliable, and all tests appear to show the connection can support the calls.
Followup comments: 
PhonePower
Premium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA | Wow! Thank you for the stunning review. We are working diligently on improving every aspect of our service and website. Especially the Knowledge Base section. | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
2 edits | Re: Wow! Thank you for the stunning review. said by PhonePower :We are working diligently on improving every aspect of our service and website. Especially the Knowledge Base section. I ported from Verizon and my number got ported with an hour of receiving the HT-502. Welcome to the club of satisfied PP users. | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
3 edits | VoIp Quality I just wanted to make you aware, and please don't take this as being sarcastic, rude, etc. Although you make "think" you have a solid connection based on up times, pings, jitter, etc. in reality it constantly fluctuates.
Case in point I was having problems with my voice sounding like the transformers a couple of months ago. Matt had me run a VoIp quality test from their website right after each phone call that was messing up. Not to my surprise the jitter was outside the acceptable range. All VoIp companies have a jitter buffer much like the ESP protection on portable CD players. When the jitter buffer empties due to a poor connection at any given time problems will arise.
I talked to Verizon and they have since put me on a different router and that seems to have cleared everything up for now at least.
Also it may help if you put the HT-502 before the router so no traffic is being blocked or filtered? As well as plugging the power brick directly into the wall because it is susceptible to electrical noise? If you must put the ATA after your router make sure SPI is turned off and it is in the DMZ. Cheers | |
| | tgitech
join:2005-05-13
Owings, MD
·PHONE POWER
| Re: VoIp Quality I appreciate the comment. I have an Linksys SPA-2102 ATA behind a Linksys WRT54G router running Tomato firmware with QoS enabled for the ATA's MAC address. I have Comcast as my ISP and don't have the option for any other broadband provider in my area  . Jitter does vary during different times, with a representative snapshot above ... I have seen it as high 10ms, which I would think could be a problem. Power brick for the ATA is in a UPS which is WELL filtered and WELL grounded. I had Comcast digital voice previously without quality problems ... however, as you and I know, it rides on a different frequency on the cable and is prioritized differently than 'standard' VoIP. Since I can't get into the ATA configuration settings to tweak any parameters, I probably can't conclusively isolate the quality issue ... may enlist PP's stellar customer service to see if something can be done to help improve this intermittent issue. | |
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44402812
Hack The Planet
Premium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY
1 edit | Re: VoIp Quality said by tgitech :I appreciate the comment. I have an Linksys SPA-2102 ATA behind a Linksys WRT54G router running Tomato firmware with QoS enabled for the ATA's MAC address. I have Comcast as my ISP and don't have the option for any other broadband provider in my area . Jitter does vary during different times, with a representative snapshot above ... I have seen it as high 10ms, which I would think could be a problem. Power brick for the ATA is in a UPS which is WELL filtered and WELL grounded. I had Comcast digital voice previously without quality problems ... however, as you and I know, it rides on a different frequency on the cable and is prioritized differently than 'standard' VoIP. Since I can't get into the ATA configuration settings to tweak any parameters, I probably can't conclusively isolate the quality issue ... may enlist PP's stellar customer service to see if something can be done to help improve this intermittent issue. Just for troubleshooting sake don't plug the ATA into the UPS, because it has been known to cause issues.
»Heads Up
Also try putting the SPA-2102 in front of the router if you can? Sometimes even some DMZs block certain ports, have seen it on many Dlinks. I'm not saying your does, but for TS sake can you put the HT-502 in front of the router for a few days and get back to us. Thanks | |
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