Reviews for Phone Power Unlimited Residential - Special 3 Month Offer

Ratings

Posted: 10/15/2009

Reviewed by: osubucks69 (xxx.xxx.128.65)

Have used since May and have not had one single problem. You honestly can't tell your using VOIP and not a land line. We also have very good internet service with lots of bandwidth so I'm sure that helps. No complaints here.

Ratings

Posted: 09/23/2009

Great VoIP

Reviewed by: Graham Crispin (xxx.xxx.171.30)

After reading some of the negative comment I thought I would tell you of my experience with them. A little less than 2 years ago (roughly, I believe) my first VoIP went out of business. While I loved their service, I lost some money with them. Fearing the same would happen with PhonePower, we initally signed up (using one of their promotions) for a few months. We wanted to check their service, use the features and decide if we want to prepay for an entire year.

Well, my wife and I our on our 2nd annual agreement with them. The phone quality is great (we have Cox and use their Premier Service with PowerBoost, upload @ 20Mbps & download @ 2Mbps).

What sets them apart for us is their web site. Not only do we get/have all the features you would expect a phone service to have in today's world but thy also provide us the luxury to go online and listen to our voice mail (either through their web site or in your email's inbox). My parents have Vonage, my sister has T-Mobile's Call at Home (or whatever it is called) and when compared to PhonePower neither offers the features and price that I get with PhonePower.

Besides, I think they are running a special now, prepay the first year and get the second year for free (I am not eligible for it because I was an exsisting customer). You can also get a $30 rebate if you go to voip-rebates.net. How can you go wrong? $220 for 24 months?

Ratings

Posted: 09/18/2009

Phone Power Transfer

Reviewed by: Goodspike (xxx.xxx.186.27)

I've been with AT&T Callvantage for at least two years, and only changed because they were canceling their service. This review will cover only the transition from AT&T, since quite frankly I haven't been with Phone Power long enough to judge reliabilty.

My main concern was that I was transferring two different phone numbers with AT&T, and they were important numbers not to loose. My fear was that the primary number would be transferred and the secondary number lost. Since the wife uses the secondary number, that would have been very bad for me!

To avoid any problems I placed the order over the phone, instead of on-line. The process was quick and courteous, and I have no complaints about that whatsoever. First rate. I then started to receive a serious of emails, a total of at least five, keeping me advised as to the progress. I became concerned when one of the follow up emails didn't mention the second phone number. After waiting several hours for another email mentioning that number, I contacted customer service. The first attempt to reach them by phone resulted in a wait, so I sent an email instead. It was answered a short time later indicating everything was okay, and after that I received the second email I was waiting for. I'm not sure there was a mistake on the second number, but their process kept me well informed and perhaps helped prevent one.

A bit later the VOIP device arrived. It's rather tiny compared to other VOID devices I've seen, but I plugged it in and everything fired up fine. The device claims it takes up to 15 minutes to boot the first time, but I didn't check that. It did pass through traffic to my router almost immediately. A few hours later and I checked the two phone lines, and they both worked (outgoing only at that point). I also set up the various service settings using the website, so that when the service was transferred, everything would be operational.

When the transfer of service day did arrive, it happened right on schedule and without incident. In the morning everything was going through AT&T, and by noon everything was going through Phone Power. Call quality seems just as good as AT&T, which is rather good.

There are two things I'm very happy with in the change over. First, the Phone Power website is much better than what AT&T's site was. Second, when I'm answering the phone I no longer have to hit "1" to have it know that's the line I want to pick up on. That was perhaps something AT&T did only when you had it ring multiple phones simultaneously, but since that's how I always have it ring, that was annoying.

Anyway, so far, soooo good. Very happy with the changeover.

Ratings

Posted: 08/28/2009

voip service

Reviewed by: tone (xxx.xxx.57.21)

I really enjoyed the service, when I received it and saw how easy it was to hook up and it was very Clear. I am very dissatisfied with the features, you can't more than one feature at a time. If I use call blocking for in coming, then I can not use call blocking to block my incoming. I was told there is a glitch in their system.. Their system features conflicts with each other. This is the only reason I am looking to discontinue my service, I had no problem with my features with other companies.

Ratings

Posted: 08/14/2009

Reviewed by: wildbrain09 (xxx.xxx.233.218)

I've used several VOIP providers in the past and this one has been the best so far. I loved Sun Rocket and after they went out of business, tried one that didn't end up being very good. Signing up with Phone Power has been a pleasant surprise. My order was processed quickly, the equipment came soon thereafter and I had no problems installing it. I am very pleased with the quality of the phone lines and all the features that are offered. So far, so good! I highlt recommend Phone Power.

Ratings

Posted: 07/22/2009

PhonePower Leaves Others In the Dust

Reviewed by: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.193.103)

I've had PhonePower for a little over half a year, and I am pleased with my choice. There are some potential issues you need to be aware of, though:

Setup was challenging, at least for me—without constant help from tech support I don’t think I could have managed it. I had to access the setup menu of the modem via computer in order to configure it properly for my particular IP. Just getting into the online menu of the modem was tricky because I have a router that uses the same IP address for administrative tasks. Don't be scared, but be willing to spend at least an hour or so to iron out the kinks. Some users will probably be able to just plug it in and start dialing, as one can assume that the default settings of the PhonePower modem are designed to conform to the broadest range of customers.

Be aware that you will need a backup phone while you port over to this service, as you may need to call their tech support during setup. If PhonePower suddenly becomes your only means of contact with the outside world while you're still just setting it up, then you're up the creek without a paddle.

Generally speaking, when you hear a dial tone, you know you're good to go--not so with PhonePower. The dial tone is a false one, since it is automatically generated by the modem itself. The dial tone on the PhonePower modem simply means, "Okay, go ahead and dial, and I'll see if we can connect." If you don't believe me, pick up the receiver without connecting the modem to the internet. You'll hear a dial tone, even though there's no way you can dial out. Kind of silly, if you ask me.

Porting over my old phone number took longer than I thought it would, but this isn't necessarily the fault of PhonePower, since porting requires the cooperation of my old phone company, which was probably less than pleased to see me go. On the plus side, though, I was still able to dial out with my new PhonePower line while waiting for the old number to port, it's just that anybody dialing in to my old number couldn't reach me for about a week.

There are two minor flaws with the hardware (meaning the phone modem): 1) The dial tone expires quickly, so you better know what number you're dialing as soon as you pick up the receiver, or you'll have to hang up and try it again. 2) As has been discussed in many other PhonePower reviews, the volume level is too high. Sometimes I have to actually hold the receiver an inch or two away from my ear to keep from hurting my eardrum.

I signed up for the 2-year prepaid plan, with the second year free. They don't really tell you what you'll end up paying with this plan, since the taxes included in the price are only for the first year, but I've calculated it out to be $291.61 total for TWO YEARS SERVICE, including taxes and delivery. Assuming this number is correct, this would work out to $12.15 per month for a total of 24 months—but it’s prepaid, so you’re not charged by the month. I only mention the figure as a basis for comparison to other plans out there. After 24 months, of course, your account would revert back to their standard rate, currently (as of this writing on 22 July 2009) at $19.95/month ($23.40 with tax) on a month-to-month or $16.95/month ($20.18 with tax) with a 12-month commitment. The prepaid plan is only good for two years, but it's still the best deal going, unless you want to count SKYPE, which is not nearly as reliable as this service is. I asked PhonePower why I couldn’t renew on the two-year prepaid plan, and they said that they make very little money on the prepaid plan, so it has to end by a certain time. Given how low the price is, one can hardly blame them.

Call quality is on par with any other VOIP out there. But for the increased volume, there really is no discernable difference between a PhonePower call and any conventional landline. Using the account features, I've been able to block unwanted calls from those pesky telemarketers, even that sleazy company that tries to sell extended car warranties. It's nice to have that online filter, since it still allows people I know to call me without any problem. Anonymous callers with no caller I.D. get a busy signal. Yay!

I have experienced some echo problems on very rare occasions, but this can be caused by many different factors that are beyond PhonePower's control. Don't make any operator assisted calls unless you're willing to pay an extra $3/call (but this feature can be disabled). Overall I'd give them a solid B++ rating. They get an A+ for price and overall value. Truly, if you want the most bang for your buck, there's no better service out there.

Ratings

Posted: 07/05/2009

Reviewed by: jsuever (xxx.xxx.173.5)

Just switched from voip.com -- their 2yr-for-1 was very enticing.

The setup was very easy, the sound quality very good.

I seen a review about the volume setting of the ATA being too high -- I agree with that assessment; however, it is a very minor issue.

I would recommend PhonePower to anyone.

Ratings

Posted: 06/26/2009

Don't get confused with their own 5* ratings

Reviewed by: rajeev_raj@hotmail.com (xxx.xxx.104.5)

Used it for couple of months. Calls are dropping time to time. Sometime you have no dial tome. Recently moved apartment and could not get the connection up and running. Tried with their tech support who asked me to try all different ways to configure the IP address again. I even got the dial time BUT no out going calls. I have the dial time and no outgoing calls. No solution !! No solution !! OK. Cancel my connection as I am in month to month contract and not able to use it anyways for approx a month now. Sorry!! You have to give a 30 days notice so they will now deduct one full month of service charges. There is no one to escalate. No one to listen. I am finally happy that I am atleast out of the mess. I have a viatalk for more than 2 yrs and also bought a Magic Jack recently. I am very very happy with the results I am receiving for $20/year. Yes it has given me one issue in last one month when I had to just restart it to fix. Getting a good value of my money and in a way recovering my lost money to Phone Power also.

You are a better judge as where you want to spend your money but my suggestion is either go for Vonage/Viatalk or go for magic Jack.

Ratings

Posted: 06/12/2009

Reviewed by: pgprivacy (xxx.xxx.108.114)

I 'm going to post my whole review after this little blurb. First I have been in the computer field since I was a teenager and am 29 now. Before making your mind up whether to get PhonePower based on the mixed reviews\horror stories? Think about this saying "There are two sides to every story and somewhere in the middle you will find the truth?".

With any service that goes over the internet there are going to be hiccups. In a perfect world the internet would be perfect eg. ISPs would clear congestion immediately on their networks, servers would not crash, there would not be any mis-communication, people would meet each other in the middle over disagreements. Since this is NOT A PERFECT world and s#$t does happen, it takes alot less effort to smear a company on the internet then it does to work with them.

Before you order PhonePower take the time and do some preparation. A good place to start is by running this test a few times spread out over 24 hours.

http://speedtest.phonepower.com/repeat.html

If you need some help interpreting and\or unsure about the results give them a call. Most people would agree taking 10-15 minutes to help ensure trouble free
service is alot better then porting your number, then b!@#ching that PhonePower, ISP, etc. screwed you over?

Next VoIp is NOT perfect! I will repeat NOT PERFECT! If you ISP is experiencing packet loss, jitter, congestion, your call(s) may sound like s@#t? There is generally not much that can be done about this? For instance out of hundreds of calls we make a month, we might get one that has a slight echo. Granted our ISP is not the best but is certainly not the worst.

Lastly, remember why you are switching to VoIp? TO SAVE $$$... It usually is a trade off between quality of service vs. cost and features. Will Verizon give you Caller ID, Call Waiting, Voice mail, 5,000 long distance minutes, plus the ones in the link below for 20.00 or less? Just something to think about before someone reading this feels the need to whine because there service "sucks"

http://www.phonepower.com/services/voip/features.aspx

If you like this review, have something to add, need a little extra help, etc. feel free to contact me at this url.
http://www.dslreports.com/useremail/u/1387637

---MY REVIEW---

I ordered my service on the 26th and put in a request to have my number ported ASAP. My number was ported without any problems; in fact Verizon hit the button within an hour of getting my device.

Hooked up my device to my Linksys WRT54G and my voice had a 5 second lag and was choppy. Tech support called me back 3-5 times after being disconnected and trying different options. The DDWRT firmware showed that I was using 70kbps of upstream bandwidth? After giving up on phone support simply because I was so frustrated because it was so time consuming I decided to see if someone on Live Chat could help me.

Well I decided to re-group my thoughts and started out by asking him if anyone had problems with the Linksys WRT54G. In fact they had and he said it had to do with the SPI setting not turning off. I remembered turning it off before but nothing happened. So I’m like what the hell I’m going to give it another shot. That made all the difference!

To give back to the community I made some screen shots to show people my setup with a Westell 2200 in bridge mode. Just follow them and you will be good to go. Also make sure to setup a DHCP static IP and a DMZ.

»www.mediafire.com/napster

Concept is the same for most any router to work with PhonePower the location of the options are just different. As an added bonus I added a voice mail they left me to show how friendly\laid back they are. I asked to be called back in the mourning and the rep made it with 11 minutes to spare.

Special thanks to DSLR label PcInTech (www.wildcatrecording.com) who runs an indie record label out Massena and cleaned up the audio for me.

Ratings

Posted: 06/02/2009

Phone Power Review

Reviewed by: edherd (xxx.xxx.179.2)

I used my own SPA942. Set up was EASY!
Just do it!
I never reviewed any other product in my life. I had to recommend this one. It worked better than I expected. All the features with only a fraction of the cost. They couldnt port my phone number while vonage could.