Reviewers Comments:

Warning for anyone considering Packet8: My first experience with VOIP was with SunRocket and it was great. It was feature rich and the price was exactly as they said it was, $199.00 per year and no HIDDEN charges. More about the hidden charges later. Unfortunately SunRocket went out of business. In the process of discontinuing service SR made several recommendations relative to other VOIP providers, Packet8 being one of them. Their price seemed reasonable albeit higher than SR though they didn’t have the robust features of SR. I went ahead and ordered their service. About a week later I received my equipment, which I installed with ease (most VOIP shouldn’t be any more complicated than installing an additional telephone on an existing line). From the get-go the sound quality was terrible, something I never experienced with SR or my current VOIP system. I called customer service, which I found to be a nightmare to work with. They hardly can say the word English let alone speak it. According to them all my problems were the fault of my ISP (Internet Service Provider), which happens to be, Verizon’s FIOS (Fiber Optic Service/System) and it is excellent. The sound quality issues were, listening to myself (echo), jitter, clipping and poor fidelity. These problems were evident on at least 30% of my calls except for fidelity problems, which were on 100% of the calls. Another problem was calls not going through when dialed requiring a redial. Dropped packets, jitter, echo and poor fidelity are features P8 provides as part of their lousy service. I finally corrected the lousy service by switching to T-Mobile’s Talk Forever From Home. This happens to be the best of the three VOIP systems I have had, though it is not as feature rich as SunRocket was but it’s only $10.00 per month. About the P8 HIDDEN charges: Once I was on with P8 I noticed three additional monthly charges from P8 each and every month on my credit card statement. I called about these fees and found that they were charging all kinds of “taxes and fees”, some of which were “per minute” that were never disclosed in the original agreement. Needless to say my phone bill more than doubled. Just before I dumped P8 I received an Email from them informing me that they were going to levy additional sales taxes, which would have tripled my phone bill. Finally I had enough of the lousy service and deceptive charges so I started looking around and found the T- Mobile VOIP plan. Their plan requires that you have a qualifying ($39.99 / month minimum) cell phone plan. I went to the local T-Mobile store after having reviewed their Web Site. I switched my cell service and VOIP to their system. There was no waiting for the equipment as they gave me everything I needed on the spot. Took it home, plugged it in and the system worked. The call quality is the best VOIP I have had and is on par with the Verizon FIOS phone service, which happens to be excellent. T-Mobile handled switching my phone numbers to their system; I didn’t have to do anything. P8 took their good old time releasing my number to T-Mobile; it took about two weeks before they released it. My cell number was switched within two HOURS. The long and short of it is be careful of which provider you sign with. One of the things that makes T-Mobile’s VOIP so good is their router gives voice packets priority over data, which eliminates lost/dropped packets, jitter and echo.

Reviewers Comments:

I had read some pretty bad reviews from this system. I figured that I would give it a try. I got the system within 5 days and it was operational within 5 mins, no joke. Vonage took 45 at the same location ( I have since cancelled Vonage). This system is a great option for 2 locations with multiple lines. I highly recommend it.

Reviewers Comments:

Packet 8 is the best VOIP company I have used to date. Got burned by SunRocket and before that I had VIA Talk, which was real bad on dropped issues. Packet 8 might not have all the features other VOIP providers have, but their service is rock solid. Had one issue the second day and the owner of the company got on the phone with me and resolved the issue in under 30 min. and I have not had any issues since. I was so impressed by that!!! With all the company's I tried I used the same High Speed Internet Company Road Runner. I have their Turbo service for $54 a month / Cable modem SB5120 Motorola. I just upgraded my phone with packet 8 to UIP165P Uniden and turned off the other internet box they sent me on sign up. Smooth tech support on switching box to built in phone & box combo keeping same number. The new phone system works great while feeding all other phones I had in my home and garage. My brother has Lingo and his works good so far to. He also got burned by Sun Rocket. My system is connected like this: Road Runner Turbo Cable Service into High Speed SB5120 Motorola Modem to Packet 8 Phone equipment UIP165P to my 8 port Linksys BEFSR81 router feeding Direct TV HD box and 4 computers and use extra ports for computer repair testing. I would recommend Packet 8 an 8 by 8 company to anybody.

Reviewers Comments:

I have a small business and needed a new phone system. I did research and decided to go with VOIP. We have 8 phone lines in our building. Having Packet 8 service has been without a doubt the MOST frustrating experience I have ever had. We have CONSTANT dropped calls. When the phone does work we get echoing and garbling all the time. I have spoken to tech support on more occasions that I can mention. They have had me try everything they can possibly think of to fix the service with no results. I am now trying to find a new service. When calling other companies they have told me that the problem is too phone lines on one DSL line. Packet 8 has never mentioned that of course because that would not be to there benefit. The service was misrepresented from the beginning from the sales rep. I asked a lot of questions to be sure this was the service I wanted. The rep told me what he thought to be the truth, but in reality was not at all what I wanted. I am going to try another VoIP service who is going to put in a T1 line. Hopefully this will fix the problems.

Reviewers Comments:

I have had this service since 4-07 and am very happy with it, The only thing that I didn't like was that one day after hook up they offered 2 years for the price of one. I called and asked if I was able to get that offer and they said it was for new customers only, well if they don't call you a new customer after only one day what are you. The hook up was easy and fast anybody can do it. Lots of bells and whistles that I haven't figured out yet, But some of them I really don't need Yes I recommend the service It's not as bad as a lot of people are saying about it, then there are people that are never happy and have to find something bad about everything

Reviewers Comments:

I ordered packet8 after reading all the reviews. The ordering process was smooth and quick. Service was activated within three days of ordering. However the sound quality on my first line was horrendous, poor than my earlier VoIP provider. Considering this I decided to wait on activating my second line. Meanwhile Packet8 indicated that they were unable to port my primary no so I decided to cancel. That is where the problem started. THERE IS NO ONE AT PACKET8 WHOM YOU CAN SPEAK TO CANCEL YOUR SERVICE. They seem to have made this process difficult and ask you to leave a message for cancelling with the promise of someone calling you back within 24/48 hours to process the cancellation. NO ONE EVER DOES. The fact that you can speak to the CS for any other issues with five minutes and to no one ever for cancellation gives you the idea of how the business is conducted. After indicating my intent for cancellation 2-3 days earlier, Packet 8 still went ahead and TRIED to CHARGE my CC even though I was at the 9th day of my 30 day free trial. I had already covered my bases due to the same kind of practices by another voip provider and had anticipated a few of these. The point is that if Packet8 service does not meet your needs and you need to cancel, be ready for a lot of unnecessary aggravation and tension. Be prepared. A few tips for cancellation with Packet 8: 1. Indicate your intent of cancellation in writing and maintain the documentation with date/time (s). Fax/email the letter. 2. Also open an online case (Packet8 allows you to open cases) and maintain a log. 3. Use virtual credit cards to protect yourself from unnecessary attempted charges by the service provider. Save all documentation and use it for the battle ahead :) (if need be) Good Luck.... you will need it

Reviewers Comments:

Deceptive trial period. Trial period advertised as 30 days. Fine print says it's 30 days or 300 minutes, whichever comes first. 300 minutes goes much faster than 30 days for average usage. Hefty cancellation fee, $60 for canceling within 1st year. Very poor website, clunky and hard to navigate. Most features not accessible via web, including voicemail. One big reason I prefer voip is managing features and vmail over the web. When I had some voice quality issues soon after signing up, I decided to bail before my trial period expired so I would not be stuck in case it didn't improve. Luckily the 300 min trial was extended to 1000 min for Sunrocket orphans, because my 300 min was gone within the first week or two. Customer service was very helpful at getting me changed over to a new service, and extended my trial period through a very lengthy number porting process (lengthy at least partially due to packet8 mistakes).

Reviewers Comments:

DONT BE AFRAID..to sign up to Packet8. If you are new to VoIP or are not satisifed with your existing service provider, Packet8 could be a good one to consider. I have tried ViaTalk, Vonage, Lingo and now Packet8. I can assure you none of them is anywhere as bad as many of the reviews say they are. Perhaps some disappoint you from a customer service (particularly, tech support) aspect. But when it comes to ordering, setting up and service quality they are all at least in the same ball park. There is one basic requirement for a good VoIP experience - and that is a good broadband internet connection. If you don't have a reliable broadband internet connection, VoIP will not be reliable and good, no matter who says what. After reading some of the dreadful reviews on Packet8, I feel compelled to write about my absolutely positive experience with them. I ordered Packet8 service over the phone on Friday morning and expected the service to be up by the following Friday based on their 'promises'. But lo and behold, the equipment shows up on Monday PM, takes about 10 minutes to set it up - most of the time being unpacking, reading the manual (YES, RTFM!), and hooking up the adapter to my home network (that has 7 computers, 2 wireless access points, etc.). I get the dialtone within seconds.. and I have been up and running since. Not one glitch. Quality has been great. I have no hesitation to recommend them to anyone. I DO ADMIT, I AM A TECHIE AND SO CUSTOMIZED THE ADAPTER SETUP TO HAVE STATIC IP ADDRESS ON ITS WAN PORT. THIS MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO A MORE RELIABLE SERVICE SINCE IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON MY ROUTER'S DHCP TO GET THINGS STARTED IN THE EVENT OF A POWER GLITCH AND THINGS LIKE THAT. FOLLOW THE MANUAL CAREFULLY IF YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO CUSTOMIZE THE ADAPTER SETUP. IF YOU DON'T DO THIS PROPERLY, YOU MAY END UP WITH NO SERVICE AT ALL...AND WRITING UP THOSE DREADFUL REVIEWS. REMEMBER, THE DEFAULT LAN PORT ADDRESS OF THE ADAPTER HAS TO BE 'COMPATIBLE' TO YOUR COMPUTER'S (SAME SUBNET). IT IS THE LAN PORT THROUGH WHICH YOU TALK TO THE ADAPTER FOR CONFIGURATION/CUSTOMIZATION.

Reviewers Comments:

Packet 8 is simply the best business decision I have ever made. Our company began researching telephone options after we decided to open a second office in Texas. We have 15 employees in 2 locations. Naturally, I called all the big boys first, and could not get a call back. Another business associate highly recommended Packet 8 Virtual Office. The features Packet 8 provides vs. traditional service are unbelievable. However, the most impressive aspect I have experienced with packet 8 is the immediate, professional and patience of its customer service center. Being new to VOIP, I had numerous questions and called many times. Packet 8 customer service techs were wonderful. I would highly recommend Packet 8 service.

Reviewers Comments:

I just switched from VoIP.com and what a positive difference in service with Packet 8. Voip.com's customer service is quite pathetic and they had a series of technical issues unresolved. When I called Packet 8, I got a representative immediately who was extremely courteous. She answered all my questions and I was signed up no time. My equipment arrived within 3 days and my existing number was ported in 7 days. The sound quality is extremely good. I recommend Packet 8.

Reviewers Comments:

I have been a Packet 8 customer for 3 years. My service stopped working and I called technical support. I spent almost 2 hours on the phone troubleshooting with tech support. They decided to send me a new phone adapter. My phone started working again the next day and then stopped working the day after that. They cancelled the order to send me a new phone adapter because the phone was working again for 1 day, and told me I had to do more troubleshooting on the phone with tech support!!! I ended up spending at least another 2 hours working the issue out with the customer service dept. What terrible tech support!!! This is how they treat customers of 3 years??!!! Don't waste your time with this company!!

Reviewers Comments:

I have just cancelled my Packet8 service. From the setting up of my account to now my interaction with this company has been so completely unsatisfactory that I feel compelled to describe it in detail in the hope that no one else will have a similar experience. My husband and I were sunrocket customers, and we only ever had 2 complaints with that service - it shut down, and it recommended packet8 as a successor. Based on the recommendations sunrocket gave, we decided to look at Packet8 as a replacement voip service. Our main concerns were that we could manage our account online, and that we could take the service with us as we knew we would be travelling to the UK for several months following the start of service with whichever new company we chose. We decided to try Packet8 under the 30-day trial period, and felt confirmed in that decision when we received the following email from an account manager, which specifically informed us that overseas use would be possible. [quoted email:] Hello, My name is Shaun I'm a Packet8 account manager. I'd like to apologize for the delay in getting a response back to you sooner but hopefully I can still help you out if you are interested in getting switched over to Packet8 from sunrocket. If you have not already found a new telephone service provider let me start by answering your questions. If you plan on taking your hardware to the United Kingdom your packet8 telephone service would work fine as long as you had your broadband phone adapter connected to any type of high speed connection. The adapter itself is similar to the gizmo you were probably familiar with while you were using Sunrocket, really all you have to do is disconnect the gizmo and plug in our equipment in it's place. I'd be happy to answer any further questions for you if you happen to have any and/or I can set you up right over the phone and get your service set up immediately. Feel free to contact me at the information enclosed and thank you for your time. Shaun Packet8 Account Manager [end quoted email] Initially, our phone service was good but not great; the line was not as clear as sunrocket had been. Of itself, this did not seem to be a big problem, however later, together with the other issues we encountered, it helped change our minds about staying with p8. Our first reaction to the online account management was not positive, since we found ourselves unable to access or manage our voicemail online as we had been able to do with sunrocket. We were also unable to find literature anywhere on the website or in the start-up package on how to access our voicemail via the phone. We called the helpline several times and were unable to reach a representative on any occasion. As such, we suddenly found ourselves completely unable to retrieve messages, and somewhat frustrated with trying to get help for what should have been a simple procedure. In trolling the website and brochures to find any information relevant to our account and phone use, we came across the following clause in the terms and conditions which suggested that despite what we had been told by the account manager, customers are not in fact allowed to change national location when they start with a regular US account (all information in "" is taken from the packet8 website, 10.15.07): "INTERNATIONAL USE. Unlimited PSTN Plans are only for the personal use of individuals whose primary residence and place of operation of the Service is the United States or Canada. Any use found to be inconsistent with this location restriction will result in the plan being automatically changed to an International User plan or termination of the Service at the sole discretion of 8x8. 8x8 reserves the right to immediately terminate or modify the Services of any End User using Unlimited PSTN Plans if 8x8 determines, in its sole discretion, that End User is using the Unlimited PSTN Plans outside of the United States or Canada. If the Service is used outside of the United States or Canada at any point as determined solely by 8x8, then 8x8 reserves the right at its sole discretion to immediately move the End User's account and any other accounts of that same End User to the International user plan retroactive to the billing period that the first unit was used outside the United States or Canada." At this point, we decided it would be best to switch to another voip provider so that we could move back and forth internationally without fear of losing our service and/or phone number. On reviewing the terms and conditions, we deduced that as long as we disconnected from packet8 at the end of a 30-day monthly term, or at least paid for the full term that included the date of disconnection, we would not have to worry about a disconnection fee. This was based on the packet8 website's clear categorization of our plan (the freedom choice 500) as a monthly plan, and the description of the 'term' in the terms and conditions text, which specifies it as being defined by the service plan and renewable on a monthly basis: "TERM. The term of this Agreement ("Term") begins on the date that End User purchases Services and continues for the duration of the service period as defined by the service plan that is selected by End User ("Plan"). Subsequent terms of this Agreement automatically renew on a monthly basis without further action by End User unless End User gives 8x8 written notice of non-renewal at least thirty (30) days before the end of the monthly term in which the notice is given. End User is purchasing the Service for full monthly terms, meaning that if End User attempts to terminate Service prior to the end of a monthly term, End User will be responsible for the full month's charges to the end of the then-current term, including, without limitation, unbilled charges plus any applicable disconnect fee, all of which immediately become due and payable. Expiration of the term or termination of the Services does not excuse the End User from paying all unpaid, accrued charges due in relation to the Agreement hereunder. If End User chooses to cancel the service before the end of the current Term, Disconnection Fees may apply as set forth below." With this in mind, we established an account with another provider that allowed for both online voicemail management and overseas use. In order to ensure the transfer of our original sunrocket phone number to the new provider, we kept our packet8 account open. When we were finally settled into our new location in the UK, I tried again to contact packet8, this time to cancel the account. This was on October 6th. At this point we had moved, our new provider had established service and our number had been transferred. Rather than the simple ending I was expecting, I was informed that even though we had a month-to-month, not a yearly contract, we would still be assessed the disconnection fee. I informed the representative, Christina, that I was unwilling to pay such a fee - especially given the dissatisfactory experience we had from the start, and requested to speak with a supervisor. Despite spending 26 minutes on the phone the first time (starting at 5:46pm PST) and 13 minutes the second time I phoned (starting at 6:29pm PST), most of this on hold, I was told that the supervisor (Rene) was too busy to speak with me, but I could call the following morning to discuss my situation with him. I also was invited to leave my contact number so that he could call me. Having no other choice, I agreed. A few minutes after, I received an email letting me know that the office would in fact be closed the following day, so I wouldn't be able to speak with anyone then. A copy of that email follows: [quoted email:] "Dear Ms. ****** Just wanted to inform you that tomorrow our office will be closed due to it being Sunday. Our business hours are from 5am-7pm PST Monday thru Saturday. I do apologize for the inconvenience once again. Thank-you -Christina- When responding to this email, please perform a reply with history so that the following conversational identifier "[THREAD_ID:1450132]" is included in your response. [end quoted email] The following Monday, even though I had specifically mentioned to the representative that as I am currently in the UK I would only be able to receive calls during a set part of the customer service workday in the week, I received a call and message from Rene, the supervisor, during the time I said I would be unable to answer (6:23 pm, PST, October 8th). Today, having received no further communication from packet8 and being generally unwilling to spend any more time waiting on hold or haranguing customer service representatives in the hope that anyone would consider my rights as a consumer, I called to cancel my account, and have been assessed a disconnection fee. After the representative, Esmerelda, completed the cancellation of my account, I again waited on hold for the chance to talk to a supervisor about the experience I have had with packet8. After waiting on hold for some time (the call lasted for 23 minutes from 10:52am PST) I was again informed that the supervisor would not be able to speak with me. Upon further questioning, I was given a 'claims' email address as the only way to provide any customer feedback to a company that, as far as I can tell, is in sore need of it. Now, at the end of this experience (I hope), I feel that I have been taken advantage of, on the basis of a logic that (correctly) assumes that as a consumer I haven't got the time, financial resources or energy to stand up to a company that is happy to take my money but could care less about whether it holds up its own end of the customer-company contract. I don't believe that my experience is typical of all account holders (they couldn't possibly be in business if it were), but for me it was an absolute failure.