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Review by baj475 
UPDATED: 255 days ago
member for 5 years, 2128 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Chico,Butte,CA
 $23 per month
 about 1 days
 "Good value, Knowledgeable tech support. Reliable"
 "Tech support by email."
 "Excellent"
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Switched from MagicJack (MJ) to Future Nine (F9) because F9 is a LOT more reliable and, unlike MJ, I could get local numbers and there is no need to keep several Windows computers running 24hrs day. Setup takes a little technical savvy but is not that difficult. I suspect most dslreports followers would not have a problem. While tech support is by email, response has always been fairly quick the very few times I needed help. Nitzan is very knowledgeable. I am very happy with F9's service. I have two Linksys PAP2Ts, the America Free plan with 3 DID numbers. $23.50 month. Been a F9 customer for 6 months.
Web site looks better, although old site got the job done.
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 Review by UHF
UPDATED: 265 days ago
member for 7.5 years, 3005 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Independence,Buchanan,IA
Contract price not specified.
about 1 days
"Low cost, great support"
"Web interface needs a few tweaks"
"excellent value and support, worth checking them out"
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I've only been using Future Nine for about a month. I signed up based on the excellent support that Nitzan provides in the forums here at DSLR.
I'm also using another VoIP provider and my calls default to them, so my usage so far with Future Nine has been fairly low. I only use VoIP for outgoing calls, all my incoming calls are on a standard Qwest POTS line.
Positives:
Cheap
Top notch support. Nitzan goes above an beyond to help
Bring your own device
Pay as you go available
Able to set my out going CallerID to my POTS number
Accepts PayPal
Negatives:
Web site is ugly, but they are working on that.
Can't easily search available DID's before signing up, although signup is free.
Have had a few random calls with poor audio. Not sure if it was on my end or not, but when routing the calls to another provider they sounded fine.
As I noted above, I have had a few calls with poor audio quality, but the vast majority of my calls have sounded excellent.
Overall all I'm pleased with the service, and I have no doubt that it will continue to improve over time.
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 Review by n1zuk
UPDATED: 274 days ago
member for 8.1 years, 3137 visits, last login: a few hours ago
South Burlington,Chittenden,VT
$7 per month
about 1 days
"Pricing, Choice of service, Responsive support"
"Still in Beta, and waiting for some features"
"Hope they stay on course, will be a great provider"
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Update 26 Feb 2009
I took the plunge the other week, and switched to Future Nine to be my primary home provider. I was unhappy with the problems I was having with my previous one ("Maybe Phone"), and my experiences with F9 gave me confidence to give them a shot.
First, my situation: We typically use only 100-200 min/month of outbound domestic dialing. However, we average 800-1000 min/month of international calling. I had been using F9 as one of my international providers, and call quality has been very good and reliable. I wished to maintain my home DID, even though a good portion of our domestic calls are handled by two cell phones.
I ended up going with the Bare Essentials plan for $75/year. I also was given a discount on porting my number (typically $25), as I've been testing and using Future Nine from near their beginning. With no other junk fees tacked on, this has my monthly cost for my low usage domestic calling down to $7.20/month.
The good news is everything works as it should. Voice quality is excellent. The service has been reliable. I've learned my way around the control portal, and have most of the features mastered.
Future Nine has been testing their setup to begin implementing E911 for those who chose to use it. Current reports are that once up and running, those wishing E911 service can get it for a $1/month fee.
As I say in all of my VOIP reviews: "It is a telephone. It should work." And in Future Nine's case, it seems to do so just fine.
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(Original review from June 2008)
Future-Nine is one of the new upstarts in the VOIP provider market. The two major things going for them are the value of their services, and the responsiveness to customer's needs.
I'm using them as a PAYG (Pay As You Go) provider for my international calling (about 1000+ min/month). Their call quality and pricing have been exceptionally good for the two months I've been using their service.
Their support has been quick to address any issue, even if it isn't a problem with your call. They have been taking customer input on features and changes to the service they offer. One great feature is to be able to choose the quality of the call routing you use with each individual call. This is great if you find a route that is temporaily unavailable (it *IS* the Internet, after all!), you can try again using a different routing.
They also have all the bells and whistles VOIP customers expect -- web dialing, callback, dial in access numbers (like a prepaid calling card), 3-way calling, and many more. So far one of the best I've come across.
On the negative side (but then, they are new, growing, and in Beta), they have had some hardware issues with servers going down. They have been quick to resolve these issues, and get their hardware more reliable. Also, their web site is a little less than intuitive to navigate - certainly not as slick and professional as some other providers. But then, what is more important? I want a phone that works. I already visit many slick web sites.
I know that many VOIP providers come on as gangbusters, only to fade over time. I'm hoping that this one breaks that model, as they have a great amount of potential.
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 Review by DeeChandel
UPDATED: 278 days ago
member for 1.7 years, 543 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Edmonton,AB
Contract price not specified.
"Cost, customer service, quality of voice, reliability"
"Website could be better"
"Excellent service and quality"
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------ update February 22, 2009 ------
I have been using their service now for over six months and have two pay-as-you-go accounts. The service has been very reliable and the voice quality very close to POTS. Customer service is very responsive. Also, still the cheapest rates for most countries. Keep up the good work Nitzan!
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I have been using FN for nearly two months and have nothing but positive thing to say about their service. The voice quality is excellent and customer service is top notch. Their rates are amongst the cheapest in the VOIP world.
I would recommend their service to anyone without hesitation. Thing to be kept in mind is that they are mainly a BYOD service provider.
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Review by westec2
UPDATED: 302 days ago
member for 302 days, 0 visits, last login: 302 days ago
Tucson,Pima,AZ
Contract price not specified.
"Quality & Price"
"Outgoing CallerID options, if anyone would actually pay for it anyway?"
"Amazing!!!!"
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This service is really amazing... we cut our phone bill from $22-40/mo to $0-5/mo. We're using Pay As You Go, F9 is the cheapest I could find that had good reviews.. and I can see why. I'm sold on voip now.
I used the faq on the F9 website to do the setup for a new linksys pap2t from amazon, and used ipkall for a free phone number. I did ditch dd-wrt on my linksys wrt54g router, and switched to tomato for it's better QOS options (do a google search for instructions to setup voip on tomato.)
I connected the pap2t line 1 output to our media center so that it goes out to each room in the house.. all work great, including 3 cordless phones 
I gave a 5 for tech support even though I didn't need any... I saw the guy from F9 helps people a lot on here.. that's really nice considering how little $ they must make off us (or at least, people like me.)
The lacking feature on the website is a comprehensive list of rates, but if you type in the number, it tells you anyway.
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 Review by lolwhat
Posted: 308 days ago
member for 8.4 years, 3647 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
Fishers,Hamilton,IN
 Business customer
$5 per month
about 2 days
"cheap, but rock-solid"
"Web site needs a bit of work"
"gets 'er done"
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I've had Future Nine's PAYG plan for a couple months, for my small business. Actually, PAYG is for outgoing non-800 calls only ($0.01/min. in the U.S.); all incoming calls, as well as outgoing toll-free calls, are no extra charge. Customer service is always responsive whenever I've had a concern - which happens almost never. Call quality is perfect, except when my Internet connection is acting up (not F9's fault).
Only down sides:
- The Web site is rather utilitarian. I don't know how much this impacts F9's ability to get new customers.
- I'd love outgoing CNAM, which F9 doesn't provide. However, that's one reason why it's cheap. Wholesale carriers who provide this feature charge a rather extortionate amount for it.
Overall, two thumbs up.
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Review by shollander
UPDATED: 317 days ago
member for 7.6 years, 77 visits, last login: 40 days ago
USA
$13 per month (month by month)
about 5 days
"price, voice quality, tech support, CID name, no hidden fees"
"no automatic billing, no safe forward number, no E911"
"Highly recommended !"
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UPDATE: Just successfully ported my number in exactly 3 weeks. Service is still excellent, no problems to report.
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This is my first time using a BYOD provider so I bought a Linksys RTP300 from ebay (approx. $16.50 incl. shipping). Once I got rid of the Vonage firmware it was a breeze to setup F9. They have very clear instructions on their website. (I must admit it is much more enjoyable to use my own device which can be configured to my own specs, than being stuck with the providers device and configuration .) Call quality has been excellent, much better than what I have experienced in the past from voip providers (Packet8 and ATT). I did have a little issue in getting my DID number. It took them 5 days to get it to me, claimed it was because their carrier was being slow because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Otherwise I have not had any serious issues.
Tech support is excellent. Always a quick and relevant response.
Call quality is excellent on both ends.
No hidden fees. They are commited to charging you only the advertised price. No taxes and fees. With my previous provider (ATT) for a $24.95 monthly plan, I was paying over $30 /month after taxes and fees. With F9, They advertise $13.50 a month and that is all that is deducted from my account at the beginning of the month.
Everyone seems to complain about their website. It's not the prettiest, but there is a lot there and it grows on you after a little.
One thing I wish they had was a way to charge my credit card automatically. The way they have it currently set up is you have to manually add money to you account (through paypal or google checkout). It's just a little inconvenience. They told me they might add this functionality at some point in the future.
Another missing feature is a safe forward number. The ability to set a phone number to ring only when your ATA is offline. If you need to be reachable 100% of the time, this could be a problem. (There is a way to configure a second number to ring after your ATA rings, but then your voicemail will never pick up. If you use an answering machine instead of voicemail this is not an issue for you.)
They don't currently offer E911 but it seems that they have plans for adding it in the near future.
Keep in mind that they are still in beta, so some (minor) features are missing, but will hopefully be added eventually.
All in all, it is a value that cannot be beat. Their prices are without question the lowest around (including international rates - I call the UK for less than 1 cent a minute!) and the service is also great - not what you would expect for the price. You can read this article »ezinearticles.com/?Things-to-Kno···=1464025 from the CEO of Future Nine, I think he hit the nail right on the head.
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Review by hwittenb
Posted: 318 days ago
member for 5.9 years, 2534 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Moraga,Contra Costa,CA
$8 per month
"Excellent call quality quality, low cost"
"Web page needs some work"
"Good Value"
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Future Nine is a little voip gem.
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Review by EarloftheWes
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 1.2 years, 60 visits, last login: 14 days ago
Sherwood,Washington,OR
$13 per month
about 2 days
"Call Quality. Customer Service."
"Generic Website and Interface. No e911 (yet). Scalability"
"Would do it again."
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For years I've been using Comcast's phone service without much issue. I wanted to save money on my phone bill so I ordered a MagicJack. I acquired an old computer from my Brother-in-Law and dedicated it to MagicJack. The call quality was ok. But it didn't work all the time. Worst of all, it didn't have inbound Caller ID with name - a feature that to my wife was a deal killer. So MagicJack goes back.
A few weeks went by and I was at my friends' house and we were discussing technology and he said that he used Vonage and was happy with it and very happy with the price savings. I had tried Vonage in the past and it was ok. I liked Comcast's call quality better so I sent Vonage back as well. I still wanted to save money so I read the reviews of VoIP providers on BBR and Future-Nine had good reviews. I read many of the posts by Future-Nine employees to find out what type of service they provide. I was happy with what I saw so I took the plunge.
On September 22, 2008, I ordered a Linksys PAP2 from Future-Nine's website. On the 26th of September it arrived. I plugged it in and it started working. I made a few outbound calls and the call quality was acceptable. In my opinion it's not as good as Comcast's but acceptable for the amount of money I'll be saving. I wonder if Router and ATA affect call quality. It was as good or better than my friends Vonage phone so I decided to keep it.
I requested my existing Comcast number be ported to Future-Nine on the 27th of September. Future-Nine made the request to them on the same day and new we're waiting for Comcast to release it.
For now, we're only making outbound calls until the port is complete.
My wife is happy with the call quality of outbound calls and I'm very happy with the money I'll be saving. I'll be paying for my next month via a yearly contract which will reduce my monthly amount even more.
The biggest headache has been getting the ATA to function correctly. I've had some delay issues. I've had to reset and play with the settings to get it working in an acceptable manner. See my other posts if you're really interested.
I would have ordered a PAP2T from buy.com. It's the newest version available whereas the one from Future-Nine was the previous version. That's probably the only change I would make. (I like newer versions.) When I replace the PAP2 that I have, I'll probably spend between $100-200 and get a really nice one because I think it will provide me better sound quality - yes, it would be an experiment and it might not make a difference at all.
Today, Future-Nine's website is very generic. The signup process is not automatic (meaning, you can't just select what you want and the system sets everything up) and the purchasing of minutes and the site telling you what plan you are on are not what one would be used to. But, put your money into their system, tell the owner what you want and he'll get it ready and configured the way you want - and in a quick amount of time.
Other users have talked about the scalability issue of the service being so dependent upon manual processing of requests. The owner knows of these concerns and is working to improve the user experience.
If you are a technical person and don't need things tied up with a pretty bow, plow ahead. If you aren't that technical and like to pay for extras like a pretty website you may want to sign up for another provider. But, you'll pay more and at the end of the day, the service will be just as good if not better from Future-Nine. And besides, once you get it up and running, how often are you really going to want to go to their website anyway?
I'm looking forward to e911 availability. I'll post updates as time goes along.
17 October 2008
Porting of my Comcast number to Future-Nine took place on Thursday. The phone was down for about 6 hours during the process.
Interestingly, other Comcast users who dial my phone number actually ring the Comcast line. It looks like Comcast has to tell it's system that my former Comcast number is really a former number.
I'm still amazed at the great customer service that this company offers. They get an A+ in my book.
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Review by flroots
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 2.8 years, 144 visits, last login: 17 days ago
Miami,Miami-Dade,FL
Contract price not specified.
"Good call quality, great prices, and exceptional support"
"As a BYOA some technical knowledge is required; also in Beta so long term reliability not proven"
"Great service for BYOA provider"
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I started using their free toll free outgoing call service about 2 months ago without investing any money. It worked so well in that regard, I just added $10 via Google Checkout. Now I make most of my outgoing calls with them at 1 penny/minute. I've asked a few technical questions via email and received immediate and relevant responses. My only reservation is that they are currently in Beta test mode and more time will be required to establish long term reliability. It certainly appears they are on the right track.
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Future Nine Corporation
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