Review by bmn 
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 7.5 years, 2720 visits, last login: 18 days ago
 hiatus
 $25 per month
 "Cheap, Unlimited local AND long distance, seven digit dialing, caller ID with names, LOTS of calling features, Faxing works"
 "DTA doesn't have a very powerful ringer driver, the rare outage!"
 "Packet8 provides reliable, quality VoIP...."
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Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
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-- UPDATE: 04.27.2007 --
It has been awhile since I updated this review. Packet8 has gotten a lot better in the last few months. Faxing now works with their service, although to get support you have to pay for fax service. It has worked reliably, with few outages that I have noticed, and the sound quality has been excellent lately (probably because of the special firmware with the high quality codecs enabled I'm using). The only downside is that we're now paying the BS fees that typical telephone line subs have to pay and its pushed the cost of the service up (damn telcos).
Oh well. Sticking with them. Great service and with the number of features they offer with virtually unlimited long distance minutes, I'd highly recommend them to everyone, even non-techies now.
-- UPDATE: 07.29.2006 --
The support rating stays at average since I haven't had to use it... They rolled out Caller ID with Names awhile ago and so far its worked quite well. There haven't been any outages that were their fault (only mine... always remember to update billing information when your credit card number changes). The voice quality has been superb, both incoming and outgoing.
-- UPDATE: 02.11.2006 --
Just an update... Packet8 finally released some long awaited features and they seem to be working quite well. I'm really liking the seven digit dialing and multiple ring option. Reliability and call quality have been excellent these last couple of months, especially after the upgrade to the newest, at that time, phone adapter (BPA-410).
-- UPDATE: 11.14.2005 --
Just an update to my review... I've upped the tech support rating on them now that I've had a chance to use them again... While I was updating to the newest firmware version on my DTA310, apparently the firmware was corrupted in transit in such a way as to brick my DTA when it was loaded. The tech I spoke to while troubleshooting it was very helpful and patient. The second tech I spoke with when I had to move my service to the new device that I had to purchase was also very helpful.
There were some reliability issues with the service after Hurricane Katrina - ie calls were not routed to the area, but that issue was only temporary and has since been resolved.
-- UPDATE: 08.09.2004 --
Packet8's service has improve a great deal in the months since my last review. The outages that used to plague the service back then seem to have subsided for the most part (knock on wood). Even then, I still would not recommend replacing your land line with VoIP at this point, regardless of who provides it. Packet8 has yet to provide fax and modem service though, even though it isn't that hard to provide that service (just a different codec)...
-- UPDATE: 04.08.2004 --
Packet8's service seems to be less reliable as of late. In the last two or three weeks, the service has had two MAJOR outages lasting longer than an hour. And what's worse is they have both happened AFTER HOURS, meaning that technical support was unavailable. I would beware if you are planning on using P8 to replace you hard line.
-- ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW --
I've had Packet8 for several months now and so far the experience has been good. To start, I signed up in the middle of the month, so instead of charging for a full month, they prorated the first month, as should be expected. Setting up their DTA was so easy that anyone could do it. The only problem with the hardware the provide is that the DTA has a weak ringer driver, so if you have an older phone with an actual bell in it (I have an antique phone), it won't ring.
As for call quality, its been good most of the time. The service is packet loss sensitive, so if one or two packets are dropped, you get words or sentences that get cut off.
As for the rest of the service, the unlimited long distance feature rocks. We've been calling relatives all over the nation a lot more. And the calling features (voice mail, call waiting, caller ID, etc.), in addition to the unlimited local and long distance make it worth $20 per month.
The only draw back with the call features is that the caller ID doesn't show the caller's name in addition to the phone number. Hopefully they can figure out how to get that working in the future.
And finally, the only major down side to the service as a whole is the fact that it won't support faxes or modems. I knew about this when I signed up and had hoped that I could tweak my modem settings to get it to work, but don't waste your time as I haven't been able to get it to work yet. They claim that they will support modems and fax machines soon. Until then, I guess I'll just have to rack up the one minute phone calls to ACTS (»www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/se···acts.htm) in Colorado. 
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