Packet8

CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
Detailed editors' rating
Installation and interface: 8.0
Features: 9.0
Performance: 7.0
Service and support: 8.0
Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 139 reviews
• See all user reviews

Product summary

CNET editors' review

• Reviewed by:
  Neil Randall
• Edited by:
  Matthew Elliott
• Reviewed on: 07/16/2004
• Updated on: 03/25/2005
• Released on: 03/12/2004

You need to know two things about the Packet8 VoIP service. First, its unlimited-minutes residential plan, priced at $19.95 per month, is among the cheapest you'll find. And second, it's the first VoIP service to offer 911 that's close to what you get with a traditional landline phone (it's the same 911 service that cell phone callers receive). Dubbed Enhanced 911, the service provides that an emergency operator will receive caller information on his or her screen when you call. (With other VoIP services, calls to 911 aren't always treated as emergencies, and they rely on callers to provide their name and location.) In addition to its residential plans, Packet8 offers plans tailored to businesses, videophone service plans, and flat-rate plans for callers to Europe and Asia. You can transfer your current number to Packet8 service (area codes are available in all but four states in the United States), and you can also purchase a second virtual number in another area code. Under light network traffic conditions, Packet8's voice quality is comparable to that of landline phones, but like many VoIP services, conversations proved difficult when we were uploading files to the Web during calls. Still, with its low rates, excellent geographical coverage, and E911 support, Packet8 has plenty to offer as a replacement for your current phone service.

The adapter sits between your phone and your router and lets you make calls over the Internet.

As with other VoIP services, setting up Packet8 is simple: plug in the phone adapter to your network router, connect the power cord to a wall outlet, connect your home phone to the adapter, and you're ready to go. If you have a cable modem without a router, the setup is equally easy, but DSL subscribers without routers will need to configure the adapter to supply the DSL username and password. (The same is true of all other VoIP services we tested, of course.)

Packet8 recently introduced a dual-port adapter. Available at retail for around $70, the Packet8 BPA-410 adapter has two phone ports for dual lines. You pay the standard $29.95 activation fee for the first line and a $9.95 activation fee for the second line. Each line carries its own monthly service charge. For example, you'll pay $19.95 for each line if you want unlimited monthly minutes for each.

Once the service is working, you control your account through a Web-based interface. Everything you need is included here, particularly under the Edit Setting portion of the Account Details screen. You can change your personal information, upgrade your rate plan, view your call activity and past bills, forward calls, set anonymous call blocking, change your voicemail password and the answering speed, and disable or enable international calling. You can also manage many call settings via the phone instead of PC should you be away from home and decide, for example, you want to forward calls to your cell phone.

Packet8 offers two residential calling plans. The Freedom Unlimited plan costs $19.95 per month and offers unlimited local and long-distance calling in the United States and Canada. You won't find a cheaper unlimited-minutes plan, although Lingo and BroadVoice offer comparable plans at this price level. For callers outside the States, the Freedom International plan also costs $19.95 per month and provides a number in a U.S. area code and 1,000 minutes to U.S. and Canadian numbers. Each plan includes a $29.95 activation fee.

Should you feel the need to see the people on the other end of the line (and have them see you), there's also a videophone-calling plan between similarly equipped subscribers. It's only $19.95 per month, but you're hit with a hefty $499 equipment charge for the videophone itself; plus, Packet8 adds the $29.95 activation fee on top of that. There is a $250 mail-in rebate that's good through June 2005, but if you cancel before the first year, you'll be charged a $200 early termination fee. At the time of this writing, Packet8 supports only its own videophone, so for now, early adopters with their own videophones are out of luck.

Unlike most VoIP services that offer low, pay-as-you-go calling-card rates to international destinations, Packet8 offers four flat-rate monthly packages, ranging from $39.95 to $79.95 per month, for unlimited calling to Europe, Asia, or the Philippines. These monthly plans are a boon for frequent overseas callers. Lingo is the only other service we know that offers flat-rate international monthly plans, and Packet8 performed much better than Lingo on our voice-quality tests.

Regardless of the plan you choose, you'll get features that include voicemail, call waiting, caller ID, three-way calling, call forwarding, and a choice of area codes within the large Packet8 coverage area (Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, and Maine are the only states not included). Since we first looked at the service, Packet8 has added a number of other cool VoIP features. It now offers local number portability, which means you can transfer your current number to Packet8 service. You can also sign up for a virtual number, which is a second number in another area code. It'll cost you a $9.95 activation fee and $4.95 per month after that, but callers in the area code you choose will like you because they'll be able to make local calls to you. You can also now call 411 for information at 75 cents per call.

Most impressive, Packet8 is the first VoIP service to offer true 911 support. With Enhanced 911 (E911), emergency calls made with the Packet8 service are treated the same as those made with a regular landline phone. (E911 was created so that a cell phone caller's location could be determined.) While most VoIP services will connect 911 calls to a public safety answering point, or PSAP, like a standard landline phone, the calls aren't always routed to an emergency line at the PSAP, and you need to tell the operator your location over the phone. With Packet8, 911 calls provide a screen pop so that the emergency contact will automatically have your phone number and address in front of them. Packet8 charges $1.50 per month for E911, plus a $9.95 activation fee. And you need to enter your address on Packet8's Web site so that any 911 calls will be routed to the closest PSAP. We wish that E911 was free and didn't require the extra step of signing up for it, but we'd recommend doing so for anyone planning on replacing their current phone service with Packet8. E911 is offered in all but four states where Packet8 has service.

Two business plans are offered, as well. We're not sold on the Business 2000 plan, which costs $15 more per month than the unlimited residential plan and provides only one line and only 2,000 minutes per month. What business wants to count its minutes? The Virtual Office plan works on an extension-by-extension basis. For each extension, you'll need the Virtual Office kit, which includes a business speakerphone, and each extension costs $39.95 per month. You get unlimited minutes within the United States and Canada with this plan, as well as advanced voicemail, extension-to-extension dialing, three-way conferencing, and an autoattendant. Each extension can have a different area code if you wish, but unfortunately, as with the residential plans, there is no fax option yet. Fax is another feature that Packet8 intends to add in the near future yet doesn't currently offer--an important consideration for business users.

All plans are paid month to month, with no contract, although all include an activation fee or a hardware charge. Packet8 includes a 30-day money-back guarantee for all of its plans.

We judge a VoIP service's performance on how calls sound under baseline conditions, as well as during data uploads and data downloads. The overall weighted average is based on calls made under these three conditions. Baseline conditions are given the highest weight of 66 percent; audio quality during data uploads and data downloads each factor 17 percent of the weightings. The scale for the voice-quality ratings is from 0 to 10.0, with a perfect score of 10.0 equaling our reference analog connection.

Under baseline conditions, Packet8--like nearly all of the VoIP services we've tested--delivers nearly the same the audio quality as that of a regular analog (landline) telephone connection. (We define baseline quality as the audio quality of the VoIP service when the telephone adapter, or TA, is the only device sending and receiving substantial amounts of data over the local network on our tests. During these tests the only other devices permitted to transmit and receive network traffic are the broadband modem and router.)

Where all VoIP services seem to show their limitations--and Packet8 is no exception--is that they exhibit varying amounts of background noise during calls. In Packet8's case, the noise is a barely audible rustling sound. Oddly, the noise was perceptible only on the VoIP side of a conversation (users on the other end of the call reported no noise during normal conditions) and only when the call was dialed from the VoIP side; incoming calls appeared to be free of the background noise. Some users might not even notice the noise, and it did not adversely affect the ability to make or receive calls.

We tested Packet8 with an 8X8 DTA310 TA. It connects to an available port on your Ethernet router, which is the most common connection scenario we saw with the TAs that came bundled with the VoIP service subscriptions. (Some services instruct you to place the TA before your router on your home network, that is, between the modem and the router.) Unfortunately, most home and small-business broadband connections don't have enough upstream throughput to support both voice and data packets. The result is that under circumstances where you are sending large amounts of data from your PC, such as uploading photographs to an online photo-finishing service, the voice quality of calls on Packet8 will be adversely affected. Broadband downstream throughput is usually high enough to allow a Packet8 user to hear the person on the other end of the call just fine, but this person will have great difficulty understanding the VoIP user--as whole words and parts of sentences drop out. Under these circumstances, it is not really possible to have an intelligible two-way conversation. Depending on how frequently you upload files from your computer, however, this might not be a significant issue for you.

We noticed a drop in both upstream (10 percent) and downstream (19 percent) Internet data throughput speeds from our test computer while making calls with Packet8. We experienced similar throughput losses with nearly all of the VoIP services we tested--the throughput degradation we saw with Packet8 was about average for the services we've tested. This drop in data throughput indicates that the DTA310 TA is at least somewhat successful in giving priority to the voice-data packets, in an attempt to minimize the loss of audio quality. However, as mentioned above, the TA doesn't do the job well enough, as we found it almost impossible to carry on a phone conversation while simultaneously uploading files.

Of the VoIP services we've tested, Packet8 was the slowest to connect a call from the moment the last digit was pressed to the moment we heard ringing. It took Packet8 between about 7 and 10 seconds to make such a connection--compared to approximately 2 seconds for our reference analog line.

Performance analysis written by CNET Labs manager, Daniel A. Begun.

Find out more about how we test VoIP.

The Packet8 site offers a large selection of FAQs, covering topics that range from virtual-office components to operating instructions, troubleshooting tips, installation procedures, and details about features. Technical support is also available by phone Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT. We called anonymously four times regarding billing and site login, and each time the call was handled quickly and efficiently.

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User reviews

• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 139 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars Write review

• Showing 3 of 139 user reviewsSee all 139 user reviews

• 0.5 stars

  19 out of 23 people found this review helpful

  "Run...Run AWAY from Packet8"

  by ggw98 on June 28, 2005

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• 0.5 stars

  8 out of 9 people found this review helpful

  "I worked there and I feel your pain!!"

  by employee from packet 8 on March 14, 2006

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• 4.5 stars

  4 out of 5 people found this review helpful

  "For the money, this service can't be beat."

  by cedrowilli on April 2, 2005

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• See all 139 user reviews Write review

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