I’ve been wanting to get into a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone service for a while now. I’ve looked at Vonage, the Cox Bundle, the Magic Jack and others but they seemed either too expensive or the reviews didn’t look so hot on the cheaper ones. That’s when I found out that my hosting company (the ones this site run on) now offers VOIP services. The features were amazing, I already knew the service is outstanding and the price was incredible, as low as $8.25 per month, so I signed up.

Here’s my honest review of HostGators VOIP service.

HostGators VOIP service company is known as VOIPo and here’s a quick list of some of the features that got me hooked.

Residential VoIP Features Include…

• Caller ID
• Call Waiting
• 3 Way Calling
• Advanced Voicemail
• Online Control Panel
• Online Voicemail Access
• Online Call History
• Cloned Telephone Line
• Contacts
• Custom Caller ID
• Custom Call Routing
• Call Forwarding
• Outbound Call Routing
• Failover
• E911
• Telemarketer Block
• Virtual Numbers
• Do Not Disturb

View All Features at www.VOIPo.com

That’s just some of the features. There are a bunch! I’ll go into a little more about some of the features and also cover a few problems I had with the whole process now.

The Ordering Process

The ordering was simple and it only took a few minutes to complete. The only issue I experienced with this process was after completing my payment I was redirected to the VOIPo control panel. I would have rather been redirected to a Thank You page with instructions on what to expect. Not too big a deal, I received an email shortly showing they had received my payment and another one shortly after that letting me know that my account was being set up and that I would receive my phone number and login details soon which I did receive shortly after that.

There was what I thought was a problem when it didn’t seem to show my coupon had been applied during the ordering process. It showed that my VOIPo coupon had been applied but the next billing date showed due in one month and I used a pay one month get one month free coupon (I’ll give you a coupon for a free month at the end of this review if you want it). Once I received the login details I saw in the billing section that the free month was credited so it turned out to not be a problem after all.

The only other issue I had is that it sets to automatically rebill which I wasn’t thrilled about. Especially since I was using Paypal to set it up and wanted to pay a couple of monthly payments and then pay the full year in a couple months. It really wasn’t an issue though because once logged in I was able to change the billing from paypal to my bank card and the option is there to pay a full year at any time within the admin area.

Setting Up The VOIPo Adapter

I received my free equipment from VOIPo on the 4th day after ordering, (I ordered on Wednesday and received on Monday but didn’t count Sunday since the mail doesn’t run).

The adapter turned out to be a linksys router with three ethernet ports and two phone jacks. The instructions included 4 steps to complete installation though I’ll admit the “Quick Reference Guide” could have just as easily been called the “Quick Way to Get a Migraine”.

A picture in the instructions would have been nice or even an even workflow starting at the wall would have worked. As it was, I was able to search google a bit and then come back and the instructions made more since. It really was simple to set up though once you get it figured out.

I’ll save you the trouble and start at the wall for you.

• The internet comes from the wall and into the modem.
• From the modem to the new adapters internet port
• From one of the new adapters ethernet ports to the internet port on your existing router or straight to your computer if you aren’t using a router.

That’s really all there was to it. The instructions tell you to reboot your modem, then your new adapter and finally your existing router or your computer if you didn’t already have a router and everything syncs up and works.

One issue I want to make you aware of is with the line cloning feature.

When reading through the features there was one called line cloning which would allow you to make or receive calls on one phone while the other was already in use. Basically like having two  phone lines but what I apparently missed or what wasn’t made clear on the site is that it doesn’t work on one phone system with two handsets, you actually have to plug another phone into the VOIPo adapter. If I would have known that in advance, I would have bought two seperate phones instead of one with dual handsets.

VOIPo Call Quality

So far I’ve called numerous people and everyone tells me that it sounds perfect. Not tinny or canned like many reviews I’ve read for some of the cheaper services.

I also tested my “mother in law” number (I just made that up). With HostGators VOIPo you have the ability to add virtual numbers for any city in the U.S. for $24/yr. or you can just pay pay a monthly fee if you prefer. We set one up local to my wife’s mom that lives in Florida so she can dial a local number and the number forwards to our new home phone. That way she doesn’t have to worry about long distance charges and my wife stays happy and that’s good for all of us here at our house.

Overall Conclusion

Overall, I’m very happy that I went with this service. Most of the things I thought were issues turned out to be non-issues with the exception of the cloned line thing but I’ll just get another phone and that will be the end of that problem.

For the price (only $8.25/mo with annual purchase) and with all of those features, it just can not be beat.

If you would like to receive a free month service with your order, visit www.VOIPo.com now and in the box marked…

* VOIPo Referral: enter: 4053847372