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Lingo Review: VoIP |
| Visit Lingo Website | |
| Solid plans from reliable company; unlimited calling to 45+ countries; discounted first month with code | |
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While the important thing with VoIP is always call quality, we can't help but notice when a product is well packaged and presented. Lingo sends you a nice little package and a slick, fairly detailed instruction booklet. The Lingo hardware itself is not remarkable; it's the fairly standard Linksys VoIP router. The setup is very thorough, just about the opposite of ViaTalk's four steps. The steps here are very exact, and we suggest you follow them to the letter.
Still, we were up and running with Lingo shortly. Call quality seemed ok, though maybe not as nice as ViaTalk's. There was a slightly far-away staticky sound, though it was otherwise audible. As with ViaTalk, there's a bit of a delay between dialing and ringing. Lingo offers a free first month with additional months coming in at $21.95 on the Lingo Smart Talk plan, which provides free unlimited calling to the 45 countries listed below. You also get 500 minutes to India. It doesn't include calls to cell phones in most countries, a common limitation on VoIP plans. $19.95 per month covers calls across the U.S. and Canada. Two lower cost plans are also available: $7.95 per month for 250 domestic minutes, and $14.95 per month for 500 domestic minutes. Lingo no longer requires a yearly contract, and has dropped its annual contracts and annoying refund and rebate recovery fees. Since you're paying month-to-month, you can cancel at any time without penalty. You will owe any unpaid minutes, taxes, or monthly service fees. Should you decide not to send back the equipment, they'll charge you $75.00, so make sure to mail it back. Lingo's outsourced tech support was easily reached, but it was scripted and trying. Cancellation was particularly frustrating, as they try to start your 30-day trial period from the order date, and not the day you received your equipment. Cancellation also requires that you go to two different extensions, the second of which seems engineered to force you to give up. Included with the Smart Talk plan is a free month of Lingo Unwired, a service that allows you to use your cellular phone to take advantage of your unlimited international calling. Once you register your cellular phone number with Lingo, you're given a discount calling number. You will pay any airtime charges that your cell phone carrier charges for a call to Virginia, but not international calling rates. We tried it on a few local calls to get a feel for sound quality. Calls sounded a little squelched and distant at times, but it's not a bad alternative given the costs usually associated with calling internationally from a cell phone. Of course, this still won't allow you to call other cell phones. And after the free month, it's $9.95 per month. Lingo comes out cheaper than Vonage, but international calling, at least, is more limited. However, we also give it a knock for the hassle we experienced during cancellation. Countries covered by Lingo Smart Talk. The ** indicates that calls to mobile phones are also included: Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil (Rio De Janeiro, Santos, and San Paulo only) Canada Chile China** Cyprus Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Guam Hong Kong** Hungary India** Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Peru (Lima only) Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg only) Saipan Singapore South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand UK US Virgin Islands USA Vatican City Venezuela (Caracas) |
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| Plans: | World Unlimited: $21.95/mo America Unlimited: $19.95 America 250: $7.95 |
| Setup Fees: | $14.95 S&H |
| $ Back Guarantee & Cancel Policy: | None unless equipment is not returned |
| Promotions: | Free first month, free activation, equipment, shipping (World Max); Free equipment (America Unlimited) |
| Countries Included: | Smart Talk: Over 30 - see review for list; Hello America: USA and Canada |
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