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Review by neftv 
UPDATED: 3 days ago
member for 9.1 years, 3174 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Broomall,Delaware,PA
 $13 per month (month by month)
 about 5 days
 "fairly good international rates for me, decent voice quality, Still have the service and works for me."
 "Service has nothing new to offer compared to like ViaTalk and others, dhcp request every 180 seconds noticed in my router logs"
 "Service been stable to me but I wished for more feature set to play with."
| Web-site:
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Call Quality:
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(ratings match consensus)
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I signed up when Broadvox had waived the set-up charges so my total upfront cost was the first month service and shipping. Not bad.
I really like the service so far but I think they still need to resolve some issues. It appears outgoing caller ID is not working, the web portal is not complete. 911 not available. I have a semi local number but I really wanted a number for my town since it was listed in the portal. It amazes me that Broadvox can't tell me when I will get the number. Portablily of number not yet available and I dont know what solution Broadvox will have for us that use DSL so we don't lose DSL when the number is transferred. From reading from others the Dish Network modem line won't work on the regular residential account, this should get addressed too. I have not used the voicemail feature yet because I went to set it up but I got side tracked and didn't set it up. So now when I press *123 to get to the voicemail it responds "Greeting one is not set up thank you good bye" and it hangs up. SO now I don't have voicemail till that gets corrected. When the voicemail does work I will like to see how the fax and voice messeges get sent to email. The above issues don't hinder me from placing calls or recieving calls. The voice quality is pretty decent and they got good international rates (for the countries I call) not like P8' rates but better than my regular landline for sure. My hope is that by the early summertime Broadvox will have everything in place and fully functioning. Sometimes patients has its rewards and I hope that will be the case with Broadvox.
**Update 4/12/04**
My voicemail issue was resolved after I followed up two weeks after the ticket was made so see what was going on. The ticket was sent to provisioning the first time instead of repair and thats why the ticket just sat there. Well they reset my voicemail and also gave me a full month's credit.I am greatful for the support I did get so far. As it stands though the ticket system is going to get an upgrade and its suppose to be the best in the world real soon I am told. I'm looking forward to the coming changes in the portal and the CPE.
**update 6/22/04
I was not one of the chosen ones to test the new CPE but I can't wait for that to come.
I have occasionally gotton people that call my Broadvox line to get a message "all lines busy, please try again later". I reported it once but it happened again. Broadvox reduced some of their international rates of which made me happy for the two countries my mom and I would call. Hope they can stay like that. The issue with Cell Phone caller to my broadvox line getting silence till the call is picked up is unresolved and dismissed that it's something to do with the Cell phone systems in my area because the problem is not duplicated from Broadvox tech. I'm hoping one day to port my land line number to Broadvox but thats not going to happen till 911 is working and I think Broadvox has to have a number from the CO that serves me to be able to port my home number to Broadvox. I really can't port nothing yet till either Covad DSL or Verizon allow naked dsl. Other than those things above things seem to be going ok with Broadvox at this time.
**6/22/04 addition
Sometimes the support people jump to quick in closing the ticket and not really resolving the issue Ticket 2515 2518 I think it was. The discovery of finding a local number as a zone instead of town name was left alone too.
**7/20/04 update.
Broadvox service seems very reliable up to now placing calls and getting calls have be trouble free. Still awaiting for the new CPE, offer on the 2000, some things still not functional on web portal, 9-1-1, CPE control, etc. It's been mentioned that a new voicemail system and online address book will be better with new system and looking forward to that. Hopefully it will include private numbers going to voice mail. That's about all for now.
**8/4/04 update
Well it's been a more than a week since receiving the new DTA and I feel this has improved the quality of the calls when comparing the Sipura on the g.711 mode which is what I use now. The new DTA has the MTU set for 1492 when the DTA is in DHCP mode something that I would expect if I was using PPPoE. Presently the MTU issue is in a pending ticket with Broadvox. I placed the DTA in between my modem and router. I checked to make sure the DTA was in DHCP mode by going to it's web page. I find that it adds 2-3ms in latency to my connection, no big deal as long as the quality is stable. Since last review here in the east I experienced people not being able to call me because of a fast busy and this was due to capacity issue by a vendor Broadvox uses. Broadvox swiftly addressed the issue with the vendor basically fighting them to get more capacity asap and it appears to have been done. Reliablity goes down one notch for the past events of fasy busy but expect it to still be very good as far as call quality now with new DTA. So far I find it very interesting how the new DTA works. I want a job in this network field this stuff is interesting, I want out of my present TV engineering job. That's about all for now. One more thing Kudus to Jeffery Williams for being very proactive with customers and for getting the new DTA sent to me.
9/13/04
Service with the new DTA is working well for me so far. I decided to put the DTA behind my router because of the the MTU being set as if I had PPPoE and I don't being on Cable Modem. I want to try the LNP, hopefully it will be available soon and I hope 911 service will become a part of the service even though I think 911 service is a joke based on how things where handled on 911. Broadvox web portal has been and is being changed. They seem to have made the site work quicker. Some features still need to be implemented. As for placing calls and getting calls and using basic voicemail the service been good. I like the call logs. That's all for now.
****update 11/16/04
I've made my broadvox line my primary line finally. I have it working over Cable HSI. For the time being the service is working great (I.E. getting and making calls, voicemail). I don't know about the MTU issue and 911 service. The web portal interface is getting better, I'm liking it. LNP service is available but didn't work for my number for some reason therefore I made Broadvox number my new number now. That's it for now.
****update 1/25/05
Service is working good for me. If they can get over a few humps Broadvox will be perfect. The humps being the DTA issues, Portal completion. That's all for now.
I enjoy Jeff's involvement in the forum as he tries to help out. Keep up the good work Broadvox, I know your real busy.
****update 4/6/05
Service still working good for me. DTA MTU is fixed for me. Tech portal support seems to be good response within 24 hrs. I hope that they can do combined international and national calling plans like others do.
****update 7/20/05
Overall I am happy with the service. No problems to speak of. Asking questions to tech support can take some time for response back though.
***Update 9/01/05
I tested 911 today. It works. The pleasant 911 guy new who I was. Then like 1hr and 20 min later someone from Broadvox calls to make sure everything is alright. It turns out when I placed the 911 call out I get listed in a red alert list at Broadvox. If I dont answer or I am off hook Broadvox would send the police out to check things out. Very nice. Thanks Broadvox.
***Update 1/16/07
I fugure I give this an updated review. Nothing much has changed in about two years as far as features. Service been stable with me. I have since been using Verizon simulated dry DSL service with the Westell 6100 modem/router. I have has to put the DTA in PPOE mode with the modem in Bridge mode since no one has an answer on incoming port setting when I put the 6100 in router mode with firewall. The set up now allows for pings to the internet but I really perfer the 6100 in router mode with less devices in the way to the internet. I am seeing demo account of another service and I see some features that are nice that Broadvox does not have for some reason even though there where alot of expections when they moved to the new system a while back. Thats it for now.
**Update Oct 6 2009
I was among the many Residential Broadvox customers forced to move to Phone Power on Oct 5 2009. Transistion went well, kept the same phone number and phone plan I had with Broadvox.
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Review by Network Guy
UPDATED: 25 days ago
member for 9.2 years, 3695 visits, last login: a few hours ago
New York
$20 per month (month by month)
about 3 days
"CHEAP!! Call quality compares to POTS. Reliable. Portal features are a plus."
"LNP process is mediocre at best. Helpful tech support is a coin toss."
"They're worth a shot. Patience is a virtue when it comes to LNP and them, however."
| Web-site:
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*** UPDATE OCTOBER 14, 2009 ***
Well... I sadly report after four years with Broadvox, my service has been handed over to Phone Power as the company is exiting residential VoIP service market.
Dial tone always worked, calls always came in crystal clear.
The DTA2102 SIP adapter shall sit in my computer room unplugged now. It is technology collector's piece at this point. They probably don't want it back, nobody has asked for it at Broadvox.
Oh well.....
*** UPDATE MARCH 9, 2006 ***
Holy shiit, I have had Broadvox for a year already?!?!? Wow time flies.
Well what can I say... Broadvox continues to be rock solid. This thing just never goes down. Maybe one time or two I will notice chopped voice calls but it is so rare that I couldn't even recollect how often it has happened.
I've changed the credit card on file three times to date. Not due to them, just some financial reorganization on my end. Nothing to worry in this regard, as every time the info was updated successfully and the charges were processed as normal.
It is no wonder why they provide no tech support, IT IS NOT NEEDED! lol
Service is great, calls are clear, uptime is superb. You couldn't expect more from a VoIP telephone company.
*** UPDATE APRIL 4, 2005 ***
This is my post-experience 1-month review 
It's now been three months that I'm paying Broadvox for telephone service, and a little under one month since my old number ported over from Verizon. It hasn't been a pleasant experience getting them to follow through with technical issues, and by all means I still wouldn't recommend unless you have patience to wait on them to do something, but otherwise this has been a blessing in disguise for me.
I had a brief issue with fast busy signals on incoming calls, and even though it was aggravating getting to the bottom of it between Broadvox and the retards from Verizon, it was finally solved. I've been POTS-less for a little while now, and I couldn't be more pleased.
The line was tested with the home alarm system I have, and it works fine. The same goes for faxing capability. There's still no E-911 service nor do they offer non-emergency 311 dialing, so if that's a deal breaker for you, don't do it.
A line that is lightly used shouldn't cost $40 per month, and that's what I was paying Verizon for stripped down, basic service, so I'm alright paying $20 for unlimited local and long distance calling I'll probably hardly ever use despite its limitations.
****************************
Just as with many disgruntled telecom users like myself disgusted with the increasing surcharges and fees padded onto the monthly phone bill, I decided to take a stab at Internet telephony for home. I feel some of you may benefit from a complete account of what entailed getting this service in order to make your own decisions about getting this, so feel free to read this through. I'll try to be as concise, yet as detailed as possible.
*** ORDERING ****
After weighing in all the options, pricing, and essential features (or lack thereof) of several companies, I chanced it with Broadvox Direct. I lucked out and got in on their unlimited local and long distance calling deal for $20 per month, no taxes or any other fees as of this review.
Ordering was a breeze. They took all the necessary information, clearly disclosed upfront setup and ATA shipping fees, and took my credit card info to complete the order.
The ATA arrived in two days. Installation was painless, though if you're a VoIP n00b like myself, you will want to skim through the installation guide and save yourself the extra couple of minutes figuring out why there's no dial tone.
*** IF YOU WANT TO TAKE YOUR OLD NUMBER WITH YOU, READ ON ***
The painful, disappointing yet expected part of this ordeal was taking my home phone number with me to Broadvox. As I was told, by the time I signed up for VoIP with them, Broadvox had just begun taking requests for local number ports. It was strongly emphasized that in order to successfully complete a LNP request that the billing information to the carrier currently owning the number had to match the information given to Broadvox. Taking heed to this, I made sure all the information was entered correctly, and the request was sent.
This is where the headache began....
Understanding that their policy allows up to 60 business days before the port goes through, I was patient and didn't pester them about it at first, and also continued to pay for two phone bills while the process was taking place. You must do this, or else the old carrier keeps your number, and the LNP will not go through.
Waiting and assuming they were handling it was the first mistake. Several calls to technical support yielded the same useless response: "The request has been submitted to the carrier, and we're waiting on a response. We rely on them for updates, so there's nothing we can do until then." I rolled with that for weeks, but once the request entered it's eighth week "in progress" patience was looming thin.
Fortunately a fellow member from this site presented to me what had proven to become the only way to push the request through. I was given a direct contact to the person in charge of LNP provisioning. Even though I was peeved by the unresponsiveness of Broadvox in getting this done, I had planned on talking to this individual about my situation politely.
I talked to the person, very nice guy, and explained what my situation was. He looked into it, and within hours he returned the call. The guy was very apologetic, and offered to personally resubmit the order and see to it that it follows through.
The LNP request was resubmitted on 3/1/05, and the land line at home associated to the number to be ported went dead on Friday evening on 3/4/05. Called the guy again the following Monday and explained what had happened, and within two hours, the port was successfully completed on their end. Even though I effectively waited two months for a process that took this one helpful individual six business days to push for completion, I was very grateful and thankful that it finally did happen.
For those of you waiting on a number port to take place, good luck. I was confided on for this direct contact so I can't give it out. If you're experiencing the same dilemma I did with them, you will eventually get the "hookup."
*** NOW FOR THE REST OF THE USEFUL REVIEW ***
Call quality does compare to POTS service. There is the occasional hissing on the phone, or what others have called "digital silence" when no one is talking, but it isn't overbearing and it normally happens when the call is first placed, and it then goes away. Weird, but I guess it happens.
Faxing isn't officially supported, and it showed when I tried. Placing a trouble ticket fixed the issue.
Yet another issue I was experiencing *perhaps I'm the only lucky one experiencing the kinks* is fast busy signals on incoming calls. It didn't matter from which telecom carrier I was calling, or at whichever time of day, it took several times redialing my number before the call went through. Tech support acknowledged there was an issue, and they're working on it with their carriers as of this review.
Broadvox was beta testing E911 service, and it is alleged it will be offered publicly soon. I'm not holding my breath on it. I'm personally thankful enough for getting a dial tone for this much cheaper. Others will disagree, this is my stance. Take it for what it's worth.
Bottom line... For me personally, you really can't beat $20 per month for unlimited local and long distance calling, and several popular features that the mammoths charge you a recurring fee for. So far I can consider them reliable, there hasn't been a time that I've lost dial tone since signing up. However, if you have absolutely no patience in working with them when something breaks, try AT&T or Vonage.
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Review by migueldcf
Posted: 95 days ago
member for 1.2 years, 5 visits, last login: 95 days ago
Montreal,QC
Contract price not specified.
"No customer service, frequent quality issues, no more support for residential, tickets go unanswered until you complain"
"Broadvox has dropped support for residential customeres and is focusing on business sectors. Advise you switch providers ASAP!"
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Broadvox Direct used to be a great deal for $19.99 for unlimited Canada/USA and a free second virtual number.
However, as of a year ago they decided to focus on business customers only and dropped support for residential. Service is non-existent. Line quality is horrible. Tickets will go unanswered. They have not cancelled the service however, and are simply waiting for you to cancel.
My advice: Switch providers ASAP!
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 Review by usa2k
UPDATED: 158 days ago
member for 6.7 years, 3649 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Canton,Wayne,MI
$40 per month (month by month)
about 4 days
"They support T.38, and send outgoing name, solid performance"
"Some start-up devices need help and patience"
"They are a Price/Features leader"
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Update 6/03/09
===========
This product seems to only exist for legacy customers.
They have their focus on Commercial/Business clients.
Home users look elsewhere.
»[Broadvox Direct] I think I am getting the hint.
Update: 6/15/08
============
Not much to add because I left Broadvoxdirect some time ago now. No bad reason, just wanted to try something different. I think they abandoned the Residential world. therefore, I say it is likely best to look elsewhere.
New 03/28/2005
=============
The pricing I have is higher now, but a reseller »voip.net still has these prices.
NEW in 2005, BroadvoxDirect changed their unlimited package back to $29.95. Existing customers have not been adversely affected by changes for new customers.
»www.BroadvoxDirect.com has been such a good experience for me that I am leaving Vonage after 18 plus months of perfect service to use BroadVoxDirect as my preferred and primary phone service.
The presence of jgwilliams has not hurt them any. He is fair and supportive of other competitive services, and responsive to BVX questions. You can note he rarely initiates a topic; only speaks where he can offer perspective or help.
My stated monthly cost of $40 is roughly what Vonage started at for unlimited calling in all 50 States and Canada. Now I have two unlimited lines and two free virtual lines for the same price. Plans are getting cheaper (Vonage is $25 unlimited and for the same features I would pay around $56 a month.)
MY NUMBERS
734-437-xxxx Livonia MI
734-437-xxxx Livonia MI
647-722-xxxx Toronto Ont (Virtual)
904-482-xxxx Jacksonville FL (Virtual)
I feel Vonage is continually redefining the phone adapter they are using, and it is their down-fall with the manufacturing problems they have been having.
ATT CV also is floundering with the D-Link adapter. The bandwidth hogging, and troubles behind a router, and a NON-SIP protocol. Now they are going the Vonage use lots of different devices route. (And $30 too.)
BVX did start with the Sipura, and now is using the Mediatrix 2102. They have readily exchanged adapters for their customer base. The Mediatrix is a solid performer with T.38 supported by the adapter, and by the BVX switch. This is a first in reliable FAX transmissions.
A reliable Telephone Adapter(TA) combined with a reliable service at a decent price makes BVX the only smart choice for those served by Rate Centers they currently have. Their coverage is wide, but I hope they will expand further in North America.
The BVX click-to-call web interface will allow any phone to call any phone via their web portal. This counts as two calls, but on the Unlimited plan this is an amazing feature. I can force home to call my Nextel that has free incoming minutes as an example.
BVX does not offer incoming NAME; just NUMBER. I expect NAME and NUMBER in the first half of next year. They do offer an address book in their portal that will display any name you define. This is almost better because I can put my daughter's friends in instead of a parents name that I cannot remember or at least connect to the right kid.
The call treatments, and Follow-Me features are great to send an unwanted call that has a number passed to a busy signal, and to have family ring your cell phone if nobody answers at home
BVX has a directory listing form. This sets your outgoing name (give it 3 weeks) and allows you to be listed in the local white pages. You can even receive a phone book.
Personally, I like to stay unlisted. I'm not on a do-not-call-list, and I still don't get all the telemarketing noise. VoIP seems good for that where numbers are widely available so you are not re-using someone else's number.
In LNP, they let you select to keep you existing number as a Virtual number, or have it ring the newly moved number for a temporary time, or just ditch the old number like I've decided to do. The LNP is web based and is intended to work with little human intervention. I am optimistic of a swift LNP report.
I also like that their portal will state useful updates/problems/announcements and you can look back at any of those notices in a calendar.
In summary I want to say you cannot compare price and features of BVX with any other service and feel short-changed. And yet there are new cool things coming yet.
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 Review by TSI Martin
UPDATED: 248 days ago
member for 3.7 years, 467 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Chatham,ON
$20 per month
"Very cheap has all the features I would want!"
"Doesn't have a # to call them. All their troubleshooting is done by tickets in the configuration."
"Cheap, reliable, free secondary line"
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Have been with Broadvox Direct since I got transfered from Voip.net. My account was & still is $19,95. Since I live in Canada all I have to pay in difference is the exchange rate. Which is still cheaper then adding taxes. I have yet to ever pay anything above $24,00. My adapter is still the original voip.net adapter. Has 2 RJ45 & 2 RJ11 Jacks. It's plugged into a Linksys router using Tomato/MLPPP firmware (fixppp.org).
I use DSL for my Internet connection. (8000/800 kbps) Fast
Have never really had to call them but have had issues which were quickly resolved.
I use the member site & don't spend much time on their website. Installation is quick & easy when you know how a phone & the internet are plugged in. Setup with a router is a breeze. Option in the members section to change the port used. Fairly simple site to navigate but lacks user-friendliness. Could use some much needed upgrades.
All in all, my needs are covered & it is very cheap to have.
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Review by TraderEd
UPDATED: 1.7 years ago
member for 5.8 years, 460 visits, last login: 120 days ago
Marietta,Cobb,GA
$12 per month
about 5 days
"Good value for the dollar$. Good sound quality. More features than my P8 line."
"Harder to setup than Packet8."
"Tech support bent over backward to make sure New DTA2101 worked w/Packet8 DTA-310"
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New service for use along side existing Packet8 service. Located behind Linksys WRT54G. Using Comcast cable RCA DCM-315 cable modem. Network= 2 Win98SE desktop computers, 2 Windows XP Pro computers, 1 XP Home laptop and now 5 VOIP phones.
BVD DTA2102 worked in front of router but rest of network didn't see the internet, hiss-boo. Tech supoort jumped thru hoops to make it work with existing services and network. All happy now behind Linksys router w/network working fine. lost the ability to access DTA from the web behind the router.
Haven't tried fax but will shortly. V/M looks very interesting but documentation a little sketchy, but maybe I just haven't found it yet on their web site.
It's very early in our relationship but I'm a happy camper!
** Finally pulled the plug on BVD after approx 1+ year. Couldn't get in touch w/customer service. They didn't respond to emails so finally just canceled the credit card number they were charging and put theie DTA back in box in closet. It doesn't make a very good paper weight or door stop.
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Review by gworkman7
UPDATED: 1.8 years ago
member for 4 years, 790 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Tucson,Pima,AZ
$19 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
"Service has been reliable for over 2 years"
"Need help...nobody home !"
"If it works...it's good."
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My adapter will not show a ready light and I can no longer use the phone. Called tech support three times. After 15 minutes of "please wait" the system automatically cuts you off (thank God for speakerphone). On my third call, I pressed 0 when the system was ready to cut me off. I was instantly connected to a lady who re-provisioned my box. She said it would take "a little while" and to call back or open an on-line ticket if the problem wasn't resolved. She assured me that she would see the ticket open the second it was submitted and call me right back.
Guess what...Didn't work. Ticket opened, no response. This was over 12 hours ago. Still...no service.
I did have Lingo for a short while (until they dropped unlimted calling to Mexico). The two times I had issues, I spoke to somebody immediately. May be time to take them up on one of their "we want you back" offers.
Followup comments:  gworkman7
join:2005-10-18
Vail, AZ | Updated Service was restored this morning when I woke up. | |
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Review by Gaines
UPDATED: 3.1 years ago
member for 5 years, 57 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
Nashville,Davidson,TN
$19 per month
"Excellent quality and TONS of features (some they don't even advertise)"
"Not available in all areas"
"VOIP phone lines are rarely as reliable as normal phone service, but if you want VOIP then BVD is the best service by far"
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I was extremely happy with BVD until the reliability went downhill. My wife uses our house phone for three way business calls and we went through months of dropped calls during three ways before we finally gave up. BVD did not have a solution for us, so we switched to Viatalk. Things have been a bit bumpy getting ViaTalk working perfectly, but since we were albe to bring our own device (SPA-3000) we have the ability to tweak things until it's right. We're not on our own either. VT support has been very helpful in getting our device settings right even though they could have simply said it was our problem since they didn't sell us the device.
I guess what I'm saying is that, BVD is more expensive than VT, but if you can get it to work well it's a great service.
INITIAL REVIEW BELOW:
I have tried other VOIP providers, but none of them offer the features and quality that BVD does. Not only that, but the few times I had a question or problem that BVD support couldn't answer, I posted them on the forums here and one of the senior developers responded to me personally. What other provider can say that?!
Among the features that drew me to BVD are:
Customizable Caller ID - I have a phone that speaks the name of the caller when the phone rings, but this is useless if their caller id only gives their phone number. With BVD you can set up a phone book with names and phone numbers of everyone you know so that, when they call, it shows the name you want rather than just their number.
Fax and Voicemail to Email - I'm on the computer more often than I'm on the phone, so I love that when someone leaves me a voicemail or sends me a fax, it gets sent directly to my email inbox. No more dialing the voicemail to listen to your messages, just play them on your computer. Also this is one of the few VOIP providers that has high enough quality service that you can send faxes using your VOIP line.
Free Unlimited Long Distance - Yes, I know most VOIP providers give unlimited long distance, but do other VOIP providers give you the ability to make long distance calls from other places for free? For example, if I'm in a computer lab at on a college campus and need to make a long distance call, I can't just pick up a campus phone and make it...at least not without BVD. With Broadvox Direct I can sit down at a computer, pull up my BVD portal, put in the phone number to the computer lab and the phone number I want to call, and it rings both places. I get an incoming call in the lab and it rings the person I'm calling for me. That means free long distance anywhere you have internet!
Free Second Number - Lets say you live in California and you have parents in Florida. VOIP is great if you want to call them since long distance is free, but what if they don't have VOIP and they want to call you? With BVD you get a free second number anywhere they have coverage. In other words, you can get a Florida number that's local to your family so they can call you without long distance charges. It's also great if you do a lot of business in another city and want a local number for your clients who live there. Extra numbers after the first free one are only a few bucks and 800 numbers are pretty cheap too.
There are other features that make this service the one I'm sticking with, but those are some of the highlights. If that's not enough for you, BVD always seems to be working on some new feature.
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Review by raderator
UPDATED: 3.7 years ago
member for 6.3 years, 1129 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Conklin,Broome,NY
$20 per month (month by month)
about 8 days
"Free 2nd #, 7 digit dialing, g711, VM to e-mail, no cancellation fee, online # porting, E911"
"Business-oriented portal is confusing, $47 setup, CID name must be in Contacts"
"Reliable & cheap, get thru VOIP.net for $19.95 rate (total) & chat support"
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We've had VOIP.net (Broadvox reseller) for nearly a year. Reliability has been near 100% (went down for a couple of hrs during the LA power failure). Features are great, price dirt cheap. Free virtual number. Perfect sound.
VOIP.net is the best value out there. No one else has the same combination of features, price and RELIABILITY. It just works.
Why people mess around with other providers which are not as reliable or don't have the same price or features is a mystery to me.
The 500 outgoing minute plan is also a bargain, $12.95, and they round to the second. No free virtual number though.
The web portal is kinda ugly and confusing but you can do a very cool thing with it, make a free phone call between any two phones no matter where you are.
But in the end, reliability is what matters most in VoIP and this service is unmatched in that regard.
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 Review by nunya
UPDATED: 3.8 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 3313 visits, last login: a few hours ago
O Fallon,Saint Charles,MO
$20 per month
about 4 days
"Sound Quality, Price, Extra # included, # of exchanges avail."
"Lack of Documentation, Quirky Install, Website Portal"
"Avoid Broadvox Direct at all costs."
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I have not been using Broadvox too long, so I will update as time goes by. So far I can tell you that sound quality is better than Vonage (in my experience) but still not up to par with POTS.
You can definitely tell that this is business service that has been stripped down for a residential offering. They have a little work to do there.
The web portal to access your account needs a lot of fine tuning as well.
I would say their biggest problem right now is a lack of documentation. (For example, the "Knowledge Base" has disappeared completely.)
Overall for my general use, things have worked well once up and running.
Compared to Vonage, I am happy with Broadvox so far. Hopefully they are working on hammering out the kinks. I'll update.
**Update**
2-20-05. Working well. A few VM hiccups. Beats the pants off of Vonage in quality. Sorry to see Broadvox raised their price. I was going to add a second line until I realized that they now charge $29.95/month.
***Update II***
11-13-05 and BVD has been working pretty well. I don't really have any complaints. I may be leaving BVD for a BYOD provider that works with Asterisk and costs less (not sure yet). I'll probably trial a new provider before leaving BVD. I do have to take points away from BVD for their customer support. They need to work on it. I am adding points for their portal web page because it has stabablized and I haven't hab any problems with it in a long while.
**Update**
01-08-06 BVD has worked well for me. I canceled the service because I went to an Asterisk system and do my own termination now. I would reccomend BVD to the average user if they could get in at the $19.95 price I had. There is still a company somewhere that resells BVD at that price. I had much better luck with BVD than Vonage. If BVD would/could lower their price back, they could snag a lot of customers.
***Update 5/30/06***
Broadvox direct has continued billing me for service after cancellation and equipment return. For, get this, 6 months! I'm in the midst of filing a lawsuit now because they will not stop billing me. My CC company isn't helping much either. Stay away from BVD is my only advice!!
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Broadvox Direct
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