les.net vs voipstreet.com

[brunski]

Hi,
Could some one shed some light as to what is a better choice between these two providers?

Thanks!!!

 

[darmock]

Hi Brunski

I have been using les.net for about a year with minimal problems. They power my 888 number and it works flawlessly. I suspect that the problems people seem to be having with Les is related to their setup. Les really needs to update his instructions for the current Fpbx which is what the vast majority of people use.

VOIP street has been around for a while but I don't personally use them. Sorry.

Darmock

 

[Solotechie]

I'm a fan of VoIP Street. Haven't used les.net, but from the comments I've seen on other forums, and from my great experiences with VoIP Street, I'd go with them.

 

[wardmundy]

All I can say about les.net is that $3.99 for a U.S. DID with unlimited incoming calls is the best deal on the planet. And the sound quality is excellent atleast from Canada to below the Mason-Dixon line.

 

[stefchik]

I have not used les.net but I have been using voipstreet since August 2006 and I must say that their service is 100%, their support extraordinary with a response of an average of 15 minutes, I would go for them at anytime.

 

[rjm]

I just set up and evaluated both les.net and voipstreet. I ended up with voipstreet for two reasons. The first is clearly service. Lightening quick response times, helpful techs, call back numbers that work, above and beyond diagnosis. The other reason was poor quality tech support line. I figured that if they couldn't get that right, my calls wouldn't be either. I also wanted a certain area code which they didn't have.

 

[vbrief]

I use both

LES.net is a one man show, and if everything works, then your number is ok. If you have a problem though, there is no one to speak to.

That said, my decision would be based on what the number is used for. For mission critical, always working, always perfect, I would avoid LES.net (and many would argue VOIP entirely), but for a hobby or personal use, I would say LES.net is unbeatable.

From a sound quality perspective, they are equally clear.

 

[frontline]

Case in point

LES.net is a one man show, and if everything works, then your number is ok. If you have a problem though, there is no one to speak to.

les.net server went down Saturday morning. Panic time because the DID's were out. Calls to the support number were greeted with a message saying we only provide support during daytime business hours Monday to Friday. Emails were not answered. No information was given to even acknowledge they (he) was aware of a problem until Sunday morning. This and an earlier similar but even longer outage was attributed to a power outage at the server location. No diesel power generators there?

Once the total blackout regarding support issues is understood, les.net is generally reliable and in the market range for pricing.

 

[mtennant]

I heartily recommend vitelity.net.

I put all my voip eggs in their basket a while back and have never been disappointed. They were recently acquired by a larger company out in the Colorado voip world, which I see as a good sign.

All the best to Ward and his partners in this new venture. Nerd Vittles has always had tasty treats that satisfy. I'm sure this will be no different.

 

[Fortel]

In California, I've tried a number of providers. VoipStreet and Vitelity seem to come out on top.

My experience has been that there are some tradeoffs between the two in terms of cost / quality / reliability- and in many of my installations I'll use a mix- one provider for inbound- another for outbound. That can be set up to offer some redundancy as well.

Peter

 

[Titanous]

All I can say about les.net is that $3.99 for a U.S. DID with unlimited incoming calls is the best deal on the planet.

Actually CallCentric's Dirt Cheap DIDs are the best deal at $2.95.

 

[frontline]

canadian

Just to keep the record complete it should be noted that Les has (without notice) switched his billing to Canadian dollars. Also he has always deducted a payment fee. All that together makes his prices quite higher in USD than posted.

I can't find any reference to Canadian dollars or his recent decision to make the change on the website. If someone has a reference I would like to see it.

 

[brunski]

thanks for the heads up!!

 

[andygee]

Actually CallCentric's Dirt Cheap DIDs are the best deal at $2.95.

How is the quality here? Any better than les.net? I've found on many occassions that les.net is les than desirable in call quality. I use les but would love to find an occassional service that has better quality without a huge costs.

Andy

 

[Titanous]

How is the quality here? Any better than les.net?

While I've never used les.net's inbound service, I have used CallCentric, and the quality was almost flawless. No reliability issues either.

 

[lesnet]

Hi.
Regarding the outage that Saturday, that was serverbeach (again). They have had two significant outages that have affected the service we provide.
They also have details on what happened (both times), and what they are doing about it on their support forum.
http://forums.serverbeach.com/showthread.php?t=7240
Les.

 

[frontline]

lesnet support

Hi.
Regarding the outage that Saturday, that was serverbeach (again). They have had two significant outages that have affected the service we provide.
They also have details on what happened (both times), and what they are doing about it on their support forum.
http://forums.serverbeach.com/showthread.php?t=7240
Les.

The question for you is what you did to inform in a timely matter or for that matter even respond to your clients support requests. What can you say is incorrect in my earlier evaluation of your performance in that regard?

Do you in fact ignore all support requests other than business hours mon-fri as you did in this (and the earler) case?

 

[jpe]

LES.net is a one man show, and if everything works, then your number is ok. If you have a problem though, there is no one to speak to.

That said, my decision would be based on what the number is used for. For mission critical, always working, always perfect, I would avoid LES.net (and many would argue VOIP entirely), but for a hobby or personal use, I would say LES.net is unbeatable.

From a sound quality perspective, they are equally clear.

I used to be a big fan of Les.net. Referred a dozen people. A few months ago I had a crash with no backup on my laptop. I lost my login to their website. I don't do recurring billing and I could not log into pay on the account. Sent numerous emails over 2 months. All I got was an automated reply. The account seems to have been cancelled as it no longer registers.
They were a good service, but if your CRM sucks so does the company.

My main DIDs are handled by my DSL ISP as part of my service. I use VoicePulse and VOIPJet for outbound. I also use a couple of Stanaphone DIDs.

 

[troycarpenter]

Actually CallCentric's Dirt Cheap DIDs are the best deal at $2.95.

Sorry to come in late on this one...Just did a lookup on that special and it indeed looks good for starting from scratch AND if they have DIDs available in your area at that price.

But if you want to keep your existing number, LNP for CallCentric its $25 to transfer plus $5.95 setup fee and then $5.95/month. I went with les.net last year because I could port my existing number (which started with Bell South, then ported to Vonage, and now les.net) and still have the $3.99/month price.

I've used les.net now for just about a year. Before Ward's first recommendation back then, I had little problems emailing Les directly and getting responses. Now that he's gotten more exposure, it's harder to to get help. There have only been a few problems along the way, including one unexpected number port when one of the major East Coast carriers shut down (or something like that...). So while customer support is less than stellar, I've had very few quality issues, especially after les.net switched to the new East Coast carrier.

 

[jaschenck]

I use VOIP Street and VoicePulse
3 DIDs with Voip Street which have worked great for over a year, when I have had small issues support has been great. The call quality is better than voicepulse although I have had no problems with voicepulse talking to most people with some people my 82 year old mother for example can understand me fine when I use voip street when I call her with voicepulse I have to repete myself a lot also Faxes go out much better over voip street.
I just have my out bound rules setup so if I dial 9 XXX XXXX 0r 9 XXX XXX XXXX the calles go out voipstreet it work well for me like that and I save some since most of the time voicepulse is cheaper but with them it depends where you are calling.


James Schenck BS/IT MS/ITM
Egraph Design Inc