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 Review by discjoker 
UPDATED: 343 days ago
member for 7.7 years, 982 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Billerica,Middlesex,MA
 $13 per month
 about 3 days
 "Plug and play! It"
 "None so far."
 "Phone Power combines reliabilty, features, and price. The service has been perfect for me."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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Update 12/24/08: Still perfect! Absoloutely no down time or problems. I would love to comment on their tech support but I haven't needed to use them (which is a good thing).
Update 9/2/08: With the addition of some more features on the web portal I am changing my website rating from "4" to "5". I can do everything I want and need to do.
Update 8/11/08: I have had Phone Power for about 4 months. Phone Power is still meeting my expectations. I have had no outages, no hiccups, no distorted calls, no dropped calls. The service is flawless so far. With my old provider (Viatalk) those who I called constantly complained of a poor connection (garbled audio, etc). Have not had one complaint since switching to Phone Power. VERY happy! Highly recommend!
Original Review:
I have been a VOIP customer for 6 years. My first 4 with Vonage and my last two with Viatalk. See my Viatalk review if you would like to read my experience with them (not good).
After deciding it was time to leave Viatalk, I searched for a replacement provider. I am a big believer in VOIP and knew I was not going to return to landline. After researching several providers I decided on Phone Power.
Signing up for Phone Power was easy and straightforward. I needed to provide them with the standard info (address, etc). One thing I liked about their sign-up was you could choose your port date and didn’t' have to fax anything to get the port started. I also appreciated the fact that they showed ALL charges. Taxes and fees were clearly stated when signing up.
My adapter arrived in a few days. Plugged it in and I had service. My number ported on the date I had chosen. Since then service has been perfect. Calls connect every time (both incoming and outgoing). Calls are as clear as a landline and I have not experienced any dropped calls.
So far so good with Phone Power. They provide reliable service with plenty of features.
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Review by negma
UPDATED: 354 days ago
member for 3.5 years, 22 visits, last login: 321 days ago
Irvine,Orange,CA
Contract price not specified.
"Setup, Number Porting, Support"
"Occasional choppy line for receiver,"
"Excellent Service for the price"
| Web-site:
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I placed the order (2 years for $200) about 3 weeks back and got the hardware within a week. Set up was a breeze and I was able to make outbound calls immediately. My number porting date was set to 11/25/2008 and it happened on that date around 3 PM. No problems whatsoever on number porting. I had to chat a few times to get some information on order status, number porting etc and the experience has been really good and fast. The only minor complaint I have so far is the occasional choppy voice on the other side (On my phonepower side, I always heard everything clearly) and it could be due to variety of reasons. I am not going to complain too much and wait and see if the problem persists.
My setup:
1. HSI Cable @ 9Mbps download and 768 Kbps Upstream
2. PhonePower is BETWEEN HSI cable modem and my personal router.
3. I have been switching between Low and High CODECS due to choppy on the receiver's end.
I will keep posted.
Dec-12-2008 - Update: The choppy call has not happened for the last 2 weeks and my setting is still HIGH CODEC. The voice quality continues to be extremely good. In December they are giving free international minutes to selected countries, which goes to show they are trying to add features all the time and not sitting on initial offerings.
Followup comments:  anon58
join:2002-03-23
Sunland, CA
| FYI about Audio Issues w/VOIP The majority of audio issues are caused by latency in the internet connection. ALL VOIP service is entirely dependant on a solid, stable internet connection to function at it's own peak levels.
The best way to have the ISP resolve latency issues is to report streaming media problems. The ISP's will troubleshoot these reports, however, if you report VOIP problems DUE to latency issues they'll simply tell you to call your VOIP provider, knowing full well the VOIP provider has no ability to resolve a connection issue of any kind. | |
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 Review by Rook008
UPDATED: 363 days ago
member for 7.8 years, 2836 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Far Rockaway,Queens,NY
$22 per month
about 5 days
"Great Call Quality, Low Price, Easy Set-up"
"None so far"
"Great Call Quality, Low Price, Easy Set-up"
| Web-site:
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After getting my last bill from my Phone Company and realizing that last month I paid $42.30 and made only 2 calls, I need to do something different. I decided on Phone Power based mostly on reviews from DSL Reports. I also like that they have a presence here.
Anyway, I placed the order online for their Residential 500 minutes plan and got a confirmation the same day. They kept me updated through E-mails. The Equipment (Grandstream HT502) arrived a few days later and I could make calls immediately. Installation was quick and painless. I was porting over my old Phone Number and that took a little while to go through, but that was a minor inconvenience.
The initial bill was $27.61, which included the cost of shipping the Equipment and the first month of service. The next 2 months should be around $12.66 ($9.95 plus taxes and fees) for the service. After that, the regular price of $17.95 plus taxes and fees goes into effect. Should be around $22 monthly.
Voice quality is excellent. By that I mean I couldn't tell the difference between my traditional landline and Phone Power.
The calling features are excellent, with Caller ID, Call Waiting, Voicemail, etc. included. I like that as my previous Phone Company didn't included any of them and charged twice as much.
Even though I am a new Phone Power customer, so far I am very pleased with the service. I have not dealt with Tech Support, so my numerical rating is an optimistic one, as is my Reliability Rating, as I've only had the service a few days.
But so far all is well.
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Review by sizquier66
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 1.1 years, 8 visits, last login: 330 days ago
Otto,Macon,NC
$10 per month (24 month contract)
about 7 days
"AWESOME Customer Service, great voice quality, VERY low price."
"More website features would be good."
"AWESOME for the money!"
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I originally signed up for Vonage but then I found out that they could not port my number over from Verizon so I dropped them. I'm glad I did because I found PhonePower! These people are really great. First, the price is very low, I signed up for the yearly deal and got a year free plus a free cloned line. This keeps my cost to about $10.00 a month for 2 years. Second, tech support is awesome! When you call, you actually get someone in the USA, not in India or somewhere else overseas. They are always VERY helpful and do all they can to get your issue resolved. I could not be happier with my service with PhonePower, especially since I'm saving over $60.00 month since I told Verizon to take a hike. I got tired of them nickle and dime'ing me all the time. Phone Power is awesome! Give them a try and you'll see I'm right.
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Review by Dmangusto
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 1 year, 2 visits, last login: 331 days ago
Sherrills Ford,Catawba,NC
$10 per month (24 month contract)
about 8 days
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After receiving my first AT&T bill when I moved and choking on the near $80 price tag just to get the 2-3 features I wanted, I decided to get serious about checking into VOIP. I checked into several and saw rampant complaints about some (especially Vonage, Yikes!) and mixed reviews about others. I saw a lot of positive reviews about Phonepower and no significant negative ones so decided to roll the dice. I couldn't be more pleased so far. I completed my online order for the 1 year prepay $199 (with the second year free!) with no snafus and a few days later the equipment showed up with nice idiot proof instructions. I installed as directed between the cable modem and the router, and it fired up immediately with no problems to my internet connection. Even though I was porting my AT&T number, and that wasn't due to changeover for another week, I was pleasantly surprised when within 5 minutes I could make outbound calls that displayed my home number on CID. when I first started playing with it, I was a little disappointed by the static and background hum on the line, but after installing a small Monster (PowerCenter200) line conditioner on the wall outlet, the noise all went away and everything was clear as a bell.
My number ported over mid-day today and everything so far is working great. My wife has been yacking all day and says her only gripe is that the line is so quiet when she is talking, she's afraid nobody is listening at the other end (they probably aren't, I never am... but at least they're still on the line  ) .
My only (minor) beef is that I get the beep-beep-beeeeeeeep like you do when conference calling when I turn on my phone instead of just the steady dialtone. I'll probably contact their tech support to see if that can be fixed.
I expected this VOIP changeover to be a challenge and require playing with my router settings, calls to PhonePower and Charter etc. but it has been pleasantly uneventful.
Hopefully things will continue to be this smooth, so far so good!
Followup comments:
discjoker
join:2002-02-18
Billerica, MA | "Stutter Tone" The stutter dial tone you reference might indicate a voicemail. I get a solid dial tone except when there is a message waiting. | |
| | ed56
join:2008-01-13
Cincinnati, OH
 ·Vonage
| Re: "Stutter Tone" VOIP can be a challenge if your internet service is NOT up to snuff, or if your local computer is used for on-line gaming or bit torrents. That is when you will most probably need to tweak your router for QOS settings or contact your cable company (but most people blame their VOIP company and leave it at that). VOIP requires low latency and low delay that is not required for simply loading web pages and email.
The vast majority of complaints really have nothing to with the VOIP company, and many folks throw in the towel and want their money back AFTER the free trial period. As with satelite television, cell phone companies, etc., there are concellation fees, and if you paid up front, usually no refunds. So the complaints roll in to various discussion forums, the larger the VOIP company the more complaints as the number of new subscribers and cancellations is greater. | |
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discjoker
join:2002-02-18
Billerica, MA
1 edit | Re: "Stutter Tone" edit: wrong post....sorry. | |
| | Dmangusto
join:2008-11-21
Sherrills Ford, NC
 ·DIRECTV
·PHONE POWER
| The stutter tone was voice mail. i only use my phones' voice mail, but when I don't answer a call waiting call, it shifts to the electronic voice mail. PhonePower offered to turn it off if I wanted, but it only happened the one time so I just left it alone. | |
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 Review by softimage
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 7.2 years, 493 visits, last login: 11 days ago
Planada,Merced,CA
$10 per month (24 month contract)
about 10 days
"good call quality, price, setup was a breeze"
"slight delay when ringing otherwise none yet"
"for the price you cant ask for more really, otherwise pay for pots"
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after getting dry loop dsl, i ordered the 2 year deal they have going, ported over my number and it took about 10 days for the number to be ported but i didnt have to do anything other than wait. the phone adapter came much sooner than i thought it would and was able to make a out going calls, i did to test the quality and it sounds just as good as pots service.
so far so good. i'll update if anything happens but for the price i cant really ask for anything more.
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Review by sparkleclean
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 4.5 years, 123 visits, last login: 106 days ago
Kansas City,Clay,MO
$13 per month (18 month contract)
about 15 days
"Call Log and Line Cloning are great features"
"None so far"
"Quality service for the money"
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After being on Sunrocket, then Nuvio, I checked with forum members who were using PhonePower, prior to signing up. I liked their features, but wanted input as to voice quality and reliability - no real negatives from their input.
My order was delayed due to porting my number, which was not PhonePower's fault - they went out of their way to get my # ported over. The ATA was shipped on time - once received and hooked up, it registered with their server and outbound calls were working. My # ported on 9-10-08 and it started working that evening.
So far, I have had no down time and call quality is excellent. With the call log, you can highlight a number - click to block that #. This is GREAT for robo calls! You can also Clone your line - this acts almost like a second line and works well.
Overall I am very happy with my decision! While Nuvio was reliable, they made no enhancements to their basic features + raised their rates. That prompted me to look at other services.
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Review by thatguy5245
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 5.5 years, 355 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Dunbar,Kanawha,WV
$14 per month (18 month contract)
about 9 days
"Works quite well with excellent quality."
"Have to use their adapter. Call log is limited to last 10 of missed, dialed and answered."
"Might not be as feature rich as others but i def trade that for their reliability"
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Let me just state that I have been around the block when it comes to VOIP offerings. Having never wanting to go mainstream I have sampled the following providers in order.
1. Packet 8
2. SunRocket (How I miss thee)
3. ViaTalk (Hard to believe they have talk in their name, unless it is when you are talking to yourself about the service being down again)
4. PhonePower
So far PhonePower is right behind SunRocket in being the choice in VOIP.
PhonePower like others in the VOIP industry have mimicked SunRocket's pricing structure of $200 for a year's worth of service. Of course it is not really $200 as everybody pays Uncle Sam some green but I appreciate not being charged every month fees and taxes after I made the commitment and paid the $200 with another company. I don't mind paying if I know what it is and more importantly all at one time so I don't have to worry about anything until my contract is up.
I signed up for the "VoIP Residential Unlimited" and received 6 months free with my 1 year prepayment.
Here is the breakdown of my invoice:
Summary of your Initial Fees
Service Price:* $199.95
Hardware Price: $0.00
Hardware Shipping: $14.95
Regulatory Recovery Fee:* $11.88
911 Cost Recovery:* $11.88
Federal, State and Local Services
(FSLS) Recovery:* $14.60
Total Initial Fees:* $253.26
* If you ordered a Non-Prepay package this charge will not be final, it is an estimation. Your initial charges will vary based up your activation date and are generally less than 1 full month of service. Your first month charge will be based upon when your line is active and you have received our hardware.
So the normal cost per month is $21.11 but because of the 6 months free it drops the cost to $14.07
Now as I previously mentioned I had signed up for the "VoIP Residential Unlimited" but as it turns out this is not entirely true. The plan includes 3,000 outgoing minutes and does provide unlimited incoming minutes a month. So while it may seem misleading they are very generous and it is spelled out in their TOS when you sign up unlike other companies who add to it later and never notify you of any changes.
I signed up 5/10 and selected the earliest available date available for my number port which was 5/19 and the equipment was received before the port date. Porting our number was so easy. I didn't have to fax or email any signatures as they just took my info from their site. Imagine that things can be simplistic and still work too!
On 5/19 I hooked up my adapter and ....
Dialtone....Check
No fast busy...Check
Place a call...Check
Both parties could hear....Check
Our number showed up on their Caller ID....Check
Hanging up and on to Check # 2
Phone Rings.....Check
Their Caller ID shows up...Check
Everybody can hear....Check
It works!! The call quality is great no echoes are complaints from the people on the line.
Now PhonePower's website and feature set is pretty basic. It does have a pretty good layout for navigation though.
There is no custom caller id (assign a contact's number to say something else so "Wireless Caller" doesn't show up but instead "Sues Cell" shows)
****"10/4/08 Edit You can do this by adding the person as a contact"******
The call log is very limited at a total of 30 calls that is divided to missed answered and dialed.
****"10/4/08 Edit They now allow you to view your log for 30 days, now it is not as long as some providers but much better than their initial 10 calls per category plan and if you want the logs you have the ability to save them in CSV format as well"******
Of course like every other VOIP provider you can check voicemail online or set it to go to your email. You can block and forward calls but unfortunately you cannot setup a "network outage" emergency forward. You can set change the quality settings to conserve bandwidth and now they recently added a feature called "Cloned Line" (think ViaTalks extra line feature same phone number but you and your spouse can have two different conversations with two different parties at the same time). They also say "Virtual Number" is coming.
Overall PhonePower is what I wanted and that was a reliable working VOIP solution. Now it doesn't every feature in the book but it does look like they are improving it that area and honestly I don't care at this point. I had all of those features before but I didn't have the most import feature of VOIP, which is being able to talk!
Followup comments:
discjoker
join:2002-02-18
Billerica, MA | Custom Caller ID There is Custom Caller ID, however they don't call it that. When you add someone to your contacts, the calling name will show up as what ever you enter. | |
| | thatguy5245
join:2004-05-25
Dunbar, WV | Re: Custom Caller ID Thanks for pointing this out. I didn't bother adding but two contacts and they were showing up the same as always. Not quite custom but it does work. Unfor it includes a "," even if you don't type one. | |
| | joeyroberts
join:2008-11-27
Columbus, OH
| On my phone, I get the name that I added in contacts, but the name seems to come instead of the number. (My phone display shows the name from my contacts on the first line and "unavailable" below that.) Is this just how PhonePower currently works or is there some configuration thing I might be missing? | |
| rdwarrior
join:2007-07-20
Conway, AR
| PhonePower I tried them and their support isn't that great. Also, the quality is pretty bad. I just went back to TeleBlend and the quality is pretty good and their support is nice. With taxes and everything, I only pay around $17 per month. They definitely don't have limits on their unlimited service so it is really unlimited. Thumbs up to TeleBlend! | |
| | thatguy5245
join:2004-05-25
Dunbar, WV
·PHONE POWER
 ·Suddenlink
| Re: PhonePower Teleblend??? Are you serious? They opened their doors just to make a buck on SunRockets demise. From what the majority state here in the forums support with them is terrible. What ISP to you have? I have to assume that this a problem because of your ISP just like the other guy who blamed AT&T yet wrote a negative review for PhonePower for being lousy.
Just remember this is Voice Over Internet Protocol meaning you should have a reliable connection on both ends. Make sure your end is not oversold like SuddenStink Cable does. | |
| 
PhonePower
Premium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA
2 edits | The call log fully updated The call log now shows the last 30 days, but click on the "detail call log report" button and you can see, print and/or download call logs for any lenght of time you select.  | |
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Review by mikeshoup
Posted: 1.1 years ago
member for 1.4 years, 49 visits, last login: 78 days ago
Denver,Jefferson,CO
$12 per month (month by month)
about 3 days
"Great value, Quick and Easy Install"
"No BYOD, No 24/7 Tech Supp"
"Great service for the money"
| Web-site:
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(ratings match consensus)
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I purchased this service to use for working from home. I do Technical Support, so reliability and sound quality are quite important with any phone service. Not wanting to pay the prices the local telco charges, I decided to look into VoIP solutions.
After looking around, I decided to purchase PhonePower and so far, the service has been fine.
I placed the order, and about thirty minutes later, I was e-mailed saying my ATA was being shipped. The GrandStream Handy Tone 502 arrived on the same day my service was scheduled to start. I simply hooked up the WAN port of the ATA to my router, and the Phone 1 port to a telephone jack.
As the instructions said, I waited 10-15 minutes. Picked up the phone and heard dial tone. Tested by calling my cell phone. Worked great.
My only dissapointments is there is no BYOD support or softphone support. This is okay as the device they ship to you works great.
Also, tech support is not 24/7, so if your phone goes out on a Sunday, you'll have to wait for Monday. Fine by me as I have yet to have service problems.
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Review by groingo1
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 5.7 years, 27 visits, last login: 71 days ago
Port Orchard,Kitsap,WA
$12 per month
"Low price and ample features"
"Echoooooooo and MUST have a very GOOD ISP and patience"
"If you don't have an excellent ISP, great packetting it aint a gonna work!"
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(ratings well below consensus)
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I had been fighting with these guys for months trying to resolve the line noise issues, echoing and broken connections and in the end after four routers (theirs) and countless tests and time I had to pack it in because ultimately it was a fifty fity split on who was at fault, my ISP or them.
Ultimately many months later my ISP (Wave Broadband) has after 8 months of testing finally admitted that they have oversold internet, the equipment is 12 years old and cannot keep up so now they are replacing the works, from nodes to repeaters so they can offer up to 20 meg services.
I did go back to Qwest (it sucks) till something better comes along.
The real kicker, I haven't had their service now for a year and I just got an email from them telling me the hardware has been shipped...I didn't order anything though.
Looks like they're still screwed up.
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Slight delay when ringing
Give me a break :(