Net Phones Grow Up

Put to the Test

We tested seven Internet phone services, from the Davids and the Goliaths of the industry: AOL Internet Phone Service, AT&T CallVantage, Comcast Digital Voice, Primus's Lingo, 8x8's Packet8, Verizon's VoiceWing, and Vonage.

In our tests over the course of a month, the most impressive service was AT&T CallVantage (soon to be owned by telecom behemoth SBC). Call it Ma Bell's revenge if you will, but CallVantage delivered the best call quality around the clock. We made dozens of calls with CallVantage, often while downloading or uploading large files, and encountered just one instance of a (barely perceptible) echo.

That said, no VoIP service is perfect. The first adapter that AT&T CallVantage sent us (a Linksys model) didn't work with our router. After spending a couple of days trying to get the Linksys adapter to work, AT&T tech support sent us a D-Link adapter, which worked perfectly.

This problem was the biggest setup headache that we encountered. We installed AOL, Packet8, and Vonage without a hitch; Lingo and Verizon VoiceWing required only brief calls to tech support; and a professional installer configured Comcast Digital Voice for us.

Every provider delivered reliable call quality, aside from an occasional glitch. AOL's service was great during the day, but it suffered from clipped sentences and garbling during long-distance weeknight calls, particularly when we simultaneously downloaded video. Verizon calls came with soft echoes from time to time, and Lingo and Vonage conversations had some clips and garbles during evening hours. Comcast and Packet8 delivered great audio quality; but Comcast's service is relatively expensive (see the chart, "Internet Calling Plans: How They Compare"), and Packet8's package lacks fax support.

Is there an advantage to going with a big-name VoIP vendor? Not necessarily. AT&T, our Best Buy, is a big name--but Packet8 calls were clearer than Verizon VoiceWing calls, proving that the little guys can provide winning service, too.