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Review by rant_at_home See Profile

  • Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
  • Cost: $4 per month (12 month contract)
Was reliable for almost 4 years
All Canadian Service was down for almost a week in 2016
Lost all credibility, would not go back.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I bought the Nettalk DUO adapter in the spring of 2012, hooked it up, followed the instructions, and had VOIP phone service with a Canadian number for almost 4 years for between 40 or 50 bucks per year.

However, in early 2016, Nettalk got in a dispute with their Canadian Number provider and lost all Canadian service for 4 or 5 days. Luckily, I had not re-upped and have since left.

member for 15.7 years, 1291 visits, last login: 336 days ago
lodged 7.6 years ago

PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Not a surprise.

NetTalk said in their US SEC reports last fall that they were not making money and might have problems continuing to go on.

Now they applied for permission to stop filing SEC reports.

AFAICT the only reason NetTalk is hanging on is that they hope to collect money from a patent lawsuit against MagicJack. I might be wrong....

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

1 recommendation

cb14

Member

Re: Not a surprise.

How can they lose credibility when they never had it?

Anone5d06
@optonline.net

Anone5d06

Anon

Net Talk

I have had NetTalk for years. There were one or two glitches. I would rate them very highly. I hope that they don't go under because I am prepaid for a few years.






Review by cmarslett See Profile

  • Location: Pflugerville, Travis, TX, USA
  • Cost: $5 per month (12 month contract)
Price, very functional and reliable, easy to transfer my land line number, easy to talk to customer service
Worse than Vonage for a fax machine, and Vonage was pretty bad!
$30/YEAR and works just as good as the $50/month land line!
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I've only called support once, and I was very pleased with that time (easy to understand the person, quickly resolved my cockpit error problem, and I didn't spend a lot of time on hold (might have been lucky, but that was my experience).

I don't need all the extra features - just voice calls, caller ID and the occasionally need for call waiting or 3-way calling. That's in the basic plan and it works well. And call quality is great, even when my internet goes out and I fall back to using my cell phone tethering (this does require a good cell phone plan and a good router, though).

I bought the netTALK DUO on sale at Fry's for $29.95, and it works flawlessly. Excellent pairing with ASUS AC68U router feature set.

Good experience - I had the phone working an hour after I brought it home!
Good experience - after I and my wife were comfortable with it (maybe a week), we called support and they walked us through changing our land line number to the netTALK phone and that worked flawlessly as well. Much to my surprise!

Bad experience - in spite of their promises, my FAX machine worked even less well than it had on Vonage. I would not recommend netTALK if you have to do any FAXes. If you can go to Kinko's for the occasional FAX, then it's great, though.

And after reading the negative reviews after writing this one (I was curious about what I was not noticing), it looks like netTALK is not so hot a choice in Canada. But for someone in the US, everything I said still holds!

And it's still working fine for me, in the summer of 2016. I do have a much better internet connection now, though: 200/20.

member for 17.3 years, 432 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
updated 7.6 years ago


linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

The reasons for reviews

The best reason is to give companies an idea of what they are doing right or wrong. The next best reason is to help readers avoid a bad product.

It always good to realize that just because A works well for you does not mean it will work well for B, or in any other country. I had a very bad experience with Vonage. I would not recommend it even though I know others who have a wonderful experience with it.

I read reviews very carefully before I buy. And because of this review I am thinking about learning more about NetTalk. I don't Fax so it is not an issue with me.
linicx

linicx

Premium Member

I did check

I looked at the NetTalk site and I find it very interesting and inexpensive enough. I don't think it will work for me as my telco Internet service is 10.00 Mbps Down and .080 Mbps Up. NetTalk web site states their product works best with a connection minimum of 0.125 Mbps Up and Down. I fear I will be unhappy with the phone quality because of my slow uplink speed.
cmarslett
join:2006-11-22
Pflugerville, TX

cmarslett

Member

Re: I did check

That is very true, most (maybe all) of the VOIP services need at least 1/8 Mbps and I notice a quality difference if I use the tethering feature on my Virgin Mobile phone that is usually around 1/4 Mbps.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Re: I did check

When I had cable the residential was 4/.80. VOIP quality was not very good. I was able to use the Business 10/2 for a week. The VOIP quality was wonderful the cost was double.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

heaven allmighty...

...are they still in business? Apparently, it needs a stake through the heart and a lot of garlic...
cmarslett
join:2006-11-22
Pflugerville, TX

cmarslett

Member

Re: heaven allmighty...

My phone is still working, but it sounds like I should be looking around. Does anyone know if they have a reasonable competitior?
notonto
join:2015-06-26

notonto

Member

The Duo

did not work for me, it needs a high quality connection. Seek alternative codecs for low quality wires.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Corporate governance issues

Glad that the service works well for you.

People do need to be aware that this is a troubled company.

»Civil war at NetTalk and a fight over DID numbers

Troubled Telecom Business NetTalk Adds Lawsuit to List of Problems
»www.themiddlemarket.com/ ··· 4-1.html

Their SEC reports in 2015 kept saying that they might not have enough cash to stay around.

Their only SEC filing for 2016 seems to be that they have suspended filings.
»www.sec.gov/Archives/edg ··· -12g.htm

Review by Pseudo Fiber See Profile

  • Location: Helena, Shelby, AL, USA
  • Cost: $3 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
Adapter is WiFi capable and easy to configure
Bad call quality and unreliable. Support is almost non existent.
If you are lucky enough to have good quality it may be a good option as a backup line
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I originally signed up for this as a backup line to my landline connection. There is no ability to select a server or voice codec.

I have had extremely choppy call quality via wifi connection and direct Ethernet. I have a very stable VDSL2 75Meg connection and no issues with any other VoIP service. I have tried port forwarding and QOS with no success. I believe it's the device since even the dial tone is choppy.

I have contacted support many times via ticket with no response and calling and chat has had me in a hold queue each time for over an hour before it just disconnects on me regardless of the time of day.

Bottom line I would recommend someone who is not tech savvy to look into other options like Vonage, Basic Talk, VoIPo and even MagicJack over this service. VoIP.MS would be my first choice if you can follow instructions to configure your own ATA or IP phone.

This unreliable service is not worth possible cost savings.

member for 8.2 years, 284 visits, last login: 7.7 years ago
lodged 7.8 years ago


cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Are these bozos still in business?

Wow. However, except for VoIPo, I would not recommend any of those other providers you listed.
Pseudo Fiber
join:2015-12-23
ARRIS NVG599

Pseudo Fiber

Member

Re: Are these bozos still in business?

As an option for a more reliable connection over Nettalk I would ha. I have Voip.MS as a backup and it's actually good. If I was someone who wanted something that just worked, it would be VoIPo or the more popular Vonage who don't know about it. If I had a choice between magicjack or Nettalk then I would go magicjack.

That being said, after my affair with Sunrocket back in the day I still have a reliable land line as my primary home phone.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

The walking dead....

NetTalk (as has been discussed in »VOIP Tech Chat) has been involved in serious legal disputes among its own board members, and financially is running on fumes.

Their only hope is the patent lawsuit they have going against Magic Jack.
Pseudo Fiber
join:2015-12-23

Pseudo Fiber

Member

Re: The walking dead....

Wow.. I know they had some disputes with CLEC and even a state. Guess it hasn't or isn't getting better for them.
RaviN
join:2010-06-11
Redondo Beach, CA

RaviN

Member

tl;dr: Voipo good, netTalk horrible. Details below.


I had netTalk for a while. The first year was all right, then it went south. The TOS changed w/o notice so that "unlimited" dropped to 1500 minutes/month. We went over inadvertently and the service stopped without warning until the next billing period. Quality and availability kept dropping after that until finally it became untenable. There is NO support. They put in a chat and ticketing system that is pure window dressing. Can't get a representative, can't get an answer to a filed ticket.

I got a separate Voipo box during the mess based on recommendations from this site and have been well pleased. I ported the netTalk number over to a second Voipo account recently and let netTalk lapse. There were some startup glitches with both Voipo accounts but their phone and email support is legit and fast. During the second account signup, they even offered to have the netTalk number ring through to the existing Voipo account (less money for them) but we elected to have two separate lines on separate 2 year agreements. The accounts are linked so that we can see them from a single login.

netTalk's marketing is still on overdrive. I continuously got offers to add services and have longer contracts. After I let the service expire, I am getting bombarded with emails to renew.

Review by vlogalot See Profile

  • Location: Fort Pierce, Saint Lucie, FL, USA
  • Cost: $3 per month
Crisp and clear sound
So far none
Great affordable service if you have a fast Internet connection

When it comes to phone service it is just like dating, you might try a lot of bad dates before you find the one.

I was on the lookout for a cheap yet good service for my inlaw, she was paying $39 a month with hr cable provider, and having tried many services myself before I knew which ones to steer clear of.

I had been circling Nettalk for a while but was weary after having been burnt by both Magicjack and Vonage, but I shelled out $15 for a device which came with 3 months free, I figured worst case scenario I was out the price of a pizza.

The Installation was a breeze, plug it in and it works, a few moves on their website and you are up and running, I did not port a number so I can not talk about that process.

I have a fast line 75 Down and 10 Up, so for me the Nettalk line is crisp and clear in quality, I did however try it on someone else 1.5 and it was horrible.

I like the black list feature they have where you can easily prevent certain numbers from ever calling you, and it works.

Another great feature is the App, if you are not home start the app and all calls to your Nettalk line will be forwarded to your phone, no cryptic key combinations to do, once you are home just close the app. Never again be stuck at home waiting for a important call.

My conclusion is that IF you have a fast Internet connection you can not go wrong with this, it is affordable and the quality is great, if you have a slower connection I do not suggest to get VoIP at all, the quality will suffer and be horrible if as much as a cell phone log on while you are talking.

www.nettalk.com



member for 8.2 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 8.2 years ago


Davesworld
join:2007-10-30
Thermal, CA

1 edit

Davesworld

Member

It's the quality of the connection, not the bandwidth.

By all accounts, 1.5mbs should be able to handle 15 simultaneous phone calls if nothing else is eating the bandwidth. Latency, packet loss and jitter are the only things that matter once you are over 100's of kilobits per second. The extra bandwidth won't do a lick of good unless the quality of the connection is high. Assuming bandwidth ensures better call quality is a common rookie mistake and there are tests including those on this site that will tell you what your connection quality is and how high the MOS score is. The best VOIP quality in existence is over a carrier grade T1 or higher which is only 1.5mbs for a T1 and costs hundreds of dollars per month. I can assure you that neither you nor your friend have a carrier grade connection but many consumer connections are capable of near this quality at times.

Review by ericthered0 See Profile

  • Location: Naperville, Du Page, IL, USA
  • Cost: $3 per month (12 month contract)
cheap, great quality, stable, connects to router
dns. spotty support, usb drivers, 3000 minutes
can be a good choice
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

for support, enter CHAT to get a callback... you may or may not get a callback.
I had an outage recently, it got fixed within 12 hours after I reported it
The service seems to be sensitive to router's dns -- some verizon phones have a problem on incoming calls with the wrong DNS.
I have never gotten the usb drivers to work with the device, but I am now direct connected to my router by way of a switch.'
It was easy to port my # and was free at the time.
I've had 2 outages in 3 years and service was restored. Not too bad but not perfect.
I have 2 of these ((duo and duo wife) both work well. WIFI version is finicky to set up, the wireless utility never worked for me. Just access the IP address.

member for 13.4 years, 18 visits, last login: 5.5 years ago
updated 9.4 years ago

cmarslett
join:2006-11-22
Pflugerville, TX

cmarslett

Member

Purchased a couple of years ago. Great substitute for landline how I use it

This is an excellent review! Exactly what I would say.

Hooked up to a standard phone/answering machine, it works great filtering out junk calls now that "Do not call" seems to be becoming completely worthless. And SO VERY CHEAP compared to AT&T land line and even other VOIPs.

Review by thebaz 568 See Profile

  • Location: Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $4 per month (12 month contract)
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I got recommended by a friend to purchase this device. I went to future shop and got my number immediately after registering. I ported my number from bell perfectly fine. It is great, you pay $40 a year and get all the features free. I use it to call locally, and I also use the pay ad you go method to call to Poland and Germany. The call quality is pretty good both locally and internationally. I paired this up with my 20/10 TEKSAVVY connection by the way. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to replace their expensive landline with a way more affordable solution.

member for 9.7 years, 46 visits, last login: 8.1 years ago
lodged 9.5 years ago

Stewart
join:2005-07-13

1 edit

Stewart

Member

International rates

NetTALK international rates are pretty high, especially when calling mobiles. If your usage is heavy, consider using a separate service for overseas calling.

With services such as Localphone and Rebtel, once set up, you call a Toronto number from your NetTALK line or mobile; it rings directly to your contact abroad. You can also use them with a SIP app, softphone, or an ATA or IP phone.

Even less expensive are independent VoIP providers such as CircleNet.us and CallWithUs.

Some rates (to major city landlines or large mobile carriers, US$/minute):

Destination NetTALK Localphone CircleNet
----------- ------- ---------- ---------
DE landline 0.022 0.007 0.00701
DE mobile 0.119 0.052 0.02836
PL landline 0.024 0.010 0.01028
PL mobile 0.116 0.024 0.01628

Both of the above provide a small credit at signup, so you can test without making a payment.

Review by jsciiijd See Profile

  • Location: Petersburg, Petersburg City, VA, USA
  • Cost: $4 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
Inexpensive, mostly reliable
TECH SUPPORT!!
Try them, but be ready to walk away if it doesn't work because you won't get much help.

Yesterday, I posted a question to NetTalk Customer Support (because their Chat support was not available.) I quickly received an automated confirmation. That's the last thing I heard from them. It's 24 hours later. Their web site says my ticket hasn't even been assigned. I just want instructions for moving my phone number from an Ethernet DUO adapter to a WiFi DUO adapter.

member for 11.1 years, 9 visits, last login: 7.2 years ago
lodged 9.8 years ago







Review by imacamper See Profile

  • Location: Citrus Heights, Sacramento, CA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Not Bad When It Works
Unreliable
When It Quits and You Need Support, You'll Wish You Never Bought It
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Look past all the happy customers that have posted reviews but haven't owned or used this device for long. I bought a NetTalk Duo in April of 2012. Initially it was fine. Call quality was good to OK. I was using it as a second line for those times I needed to be on a long conference call for work and didn't want to tie up the main household line.

Then one day it quit working. Calls to tech support left me on hold for hours at a time. Then the call would end with some sort of trivial "try this" suggestion and "if you still have problems, call us back" which meant more hours of hold time. Finally in frustration, I took to social media and got a reply that way. Finally after about 2 weeks of back and forth along with many lost hours, my service was restored. This was close to my renewal period in April 2013. I can look past one issue and things were working again so I went ahead and renewed.

Things were good for a few more months and then call quality became crap. My network hadn't changed and I'm savvy enough to use a home router flashed with Tomato firmware so I can prioritize the NetTalk traffic. It was not my network. My customer support experience was no better this time. Many more wasted hours and little resolution.

Move forward to early Feb 2014. Again my Duo just quit working. I log into their site to find they have a new ticket system. I created a ticket on Feb 9th and as of today (March 31), I have yet to get a reply. I've posted to the ticket several times since but still nothing. I took to complaining on social media again and did receive a reply from some third party that said he was managing NetTalk's social media campaign and would get me help. Still nothing but crickets.

I have since given up on this company!!! I have no more time to waste and will not be renewing in April. I have moved to the new MagicJack Plus and so far it is much better than the original MagicJack I had for 5 years before trying NetTalk. While still not perfect, at as little as $20 per year the MagicJack Plus makes a great second line and is an exceptional value.

member for 18.8 years, 17 visits, last login: 10 years ago
updated 10 years ago


Ripped Off
@comcast.net

Ripped Off

Anon

Nettalk Duo

This is deception at it's best. They claim you can port your number, but not true in my case and the supposed customer service is only open for six hours when people are working and can not call them.

Found out Office Depot is the same. You buy it you are stuck with it. I have made my last Office Depot purchase.

Review by ncasino See Profile

  • Location: Saint Louis, Saint Louis City, MO, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
DO NOT BUY NETTALK DUO PROBLEM
Buy Magic Jack no headaches
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

We bought three NETTALK DUO and ALL OF THEM CONSTANTLY GO DOWN EVERY 2 or 3 hours. We requested tech support and could not get hold of them. We did the CHAT ROOM nobody is supporting them. We waited for 2 hours and not none of them. We let the all our nettalk expires after one year. Then now we see renewal notice. DO NOT BUY NETTALK since it does not worked. We went backed with MAGIC JACK and ALL OF THEM WORKS WITH NO PROBLEM. I AM REPORTING Nettalk to the Better Business Bureau. Try to see if you could talk them even the CHAT room this will tell you that they do not support their products. I have three of them and willing to give away since it is not worth a penny. For this review, I will be holding them for demonstration of this bad products. They should be removed at the Micro Center on anybody who is selling them.

member for 10.1 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 10.1 years ago


Patsy
@rylinkservices.net

Patsy

Anon

Nettalk has NO customer support

Nettalk gadget in the beginning had good customer support. Now it has NONE. You cannot talk to a human and there's no one there in the "online chat". I finally got a reply email, automated response with a link but the link didn't work. I intend to tell as many people as possible NOT TO BUY this product because the is ZERO support. DIGUSTED

Sandy
@start.ca

Sandy

Anon

Re: Nettalk has NO customer support

said by Patsy :

Nettalk gadget in the beginning had good customer support. Now it has NONE. You cannot talk to a human and there's no one there in the "online chat". I finally got a reply email, automated response with a link but the link didn't work. I intend to tell as many people as possible NOT TO BUY this product because the is ZERO support. DIGUSTED

I very well agree with Patsy as NETTALK service is now the worse ever I've experienced. I've Vonage and Nettalk and when I put Nettalk no on Vonage Simulring feature and that messes up my vonage phone. I've written to Nettalk and no one has answered back to me since 1 week now. I'm also having problems with incoming calls and many times I make a call there is no answer,no ring no tone on the nettalk phone. Totally DISGUSTED.

robstee
@bell.ca

robstee

Anon

Re: Nettalk has NO customer support

I agree with the above there is no one to talk to and the online support I have never been able to get through to. I have been trying to contact someone and have not been able to in almost 2 years!! If it weren't for the low cost of the phone and "hey" it does work 80% of the time I would not continue to use it. I had no service last year for a couple of months (I could call out but no one could call back)
and I finally got a recorded phone message stating that they would give me a 3 month credit on next renewal and here I am renewal time and no credit and no response from on line support (that is the only way you have any hope in getting them) but there are always so many on line ahead of you (that # doesn't change) and after 30 minutes or so it says they are unable to assist you and will do so at another time. My advice find something else if you want "any" sort of customer support!! Rob, Guelph Ontario, Canada

Anongulus
@24.42.99.x

Anongulus to Patsy

Anon

to Patsy
Nettalk's customer service has always been horrible. On the other hand, the service usually works well and it is SUPER DUPER cheap. If you have a problem, though, it may take a while. I want to renew my service but I really hope they stay in business!

mangolynn
@qwest.net

mangolynn to Patsy

Anon

to Patsy
I purchased NetTalk earlier this month (Feb 2014) and have exactly the same problem. It is not easy to install, TOTALLY screwed up my wi-fi for my 2 computers and it is absolutely impossible to reach any customer service via phone, email, or anything else. Everything directs users to their "FAQ's". Great. But what if you don't have internet because their system screwed it up, and what if your issues aren't addressed. I emailed a week ago, got an automated reply that they'd opened a ticket, and absolutely no response since. I don't care if they give this product away. With no customer support... that's what it's worth. Nothing. Save your money. Forget nettalk.

Review by (hidden by request)

  • Location: L5B
  • Cost: $10 per month (24 month contract)
The NetTalk gadget is preferable to that of MagicJack which is in 2 parts
It was a rare occasion when I was able to conduct a normal telephone conversation.
The amount of frustration this program cost me they can't pay me for it.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

It's certainly would be cheap.  If it really worked.  I was subscribed for almost 1 year and had one problem after another.  Granted, some of the problems might have been solvable if I took the time to research how to fix them, such as sound quality, echos.  I am not blaming all the problems on the gadget because I can't be sure.  But frequently I would come home and there is no dial tone and I had to re-set everything.  Or I am talking to someone and my phone goes dead while they apparently could still hear me. Or I dial out and the phone immediately hangs up.  Or I dial out and it rings a few times and then I  get disconnected. 

NetTalk expects you to pretty much solve all your own problems.  I believe that there is a problem with my gadget now

(it no longer connects, not because I don't know how, I've done it often enough) but because I think it's fried.  All their Tech Support had to tell me, twice, after explaining my problem in detail, is to wait for the red light and the green light etc etc which, I know, would work if the device was functioning properly but it isn't.  To get a replacement I would have to buy a new gadget which includes another year's subscription and which, to my regret, I already have paid for another year.  I emailed Customer Service saying I wanted my money back because Tech Support won't help me but got no answer - their web page does say that "all sales are final".  Isn't this exciting?

(review was emailed from domain yahoo.com)
lodged 10.2 years ago

PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Not too surprised.

My very inchoate impression is that NetTalk has seen better days.

If you care to state what your calling needs are (what country are you in, how much inbound minutes and outbound minutes do you use monthly, do you want equipment provided for you or can you go BYOD) then people might have other suggestions.

There are a variety of [good] VoIP services out there.