Yak Review by WhichVoIP.com

VoIP companies come in all shapes and sizes; some serve large, multi-location enterprises while others, such as Yak, are tailored for the home. As a subsidiary of Globalive Communications, the same company responsible for founding the popular Canadian wireless company known as WIND, this Canadian company is slowly growing by providing affordable, simple calling solutions to homes throughout Canada.

The Good

The main product offered by Yak is its digital home phone service. This is ideal for people simply looking to replace a landline phone service with a low cost voice solution that is based on VoIP.

Phone service starts at $4.75 per month as an introductory price for its Basic plan. After the two-month period, the price doubles to $9.50 per month. This plan provides unlimited local calling and 200 minutes are allotted for long distance calling to the rest of North America. The two plans above this option, the Premium and Deluxe, provide 500 and 1500 long distance minutes at $13.95 and $19.95, respectively. Overage minutes, outside your chosen plan, cost 1.9c per minute for Canada and 2c/minute for calls to the USA.

All plans come with a modest 11 free features such as unlimited Yak-to-Yak phone calls, voicemail with email attachment options, call waiting, call forwarding and a few others. Each plan also has the option for international calling, most of which are offered at low rates. There are no setup fees, number porting is available and E911 (i.e. emergency calling) is included.

To use Yak, your regular analog phone is used to connect with a Cisco SPA122 ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter). The device leases at $2.95 per month or may be purchased outright for $25. Optionally, the service can be used through the softphone application X-Lite that can be installed on a computer. Further, mobile apps are available for both Android and iPhone devices.

The company also offers two different kinds of Internet service. DSL comes in 4 tiers beginning at $29.95 per month for the High Speed 60 plan, which allows 6 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds, and 60GB of usage. The most capacity is available with the High Speed 300 plan at $55.95 per month that provides 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds, along with 300GB of usage. Cable Internet services vary depending on region, with speeds comparable to DSL though prices and bandwidth are slightly higher, with an entry price of $39.95 per month.

Yak appears to have a decent support section on its website, including a FAQ and many guides related to the feature set, the online portal, the ATA and the softphone. You can also contact support and expect a response within 24 to 48 hours, though there is an escalation process. Customer support can be reached 7 days per week with reduced hours at the weekend.

The Bad

Services are not overly expensive but pricing is a little higher when compared to offers from other VoIP companies. One of the biggest drawbacks in the pricing lies in the fact that none of the plans include unlimited long distance minutes.

International pricing is competitive for many countries but some of the pay-as-you-go rates are a little pricey. However, Yak does offer add-on packages for specific continents which may reduce your monthly bill, depending on your calling patterns.

Features are limited so be mindful of this if you are looking for an extensive feature set. Yak only offers 11 modest features, though in fairness, these features do cover the needs of most home phone users. There is no mention of fax support or even an Internet fax solution so be aware of this.

An ATA is great for those that do not want to invest in an IP phone but users are limited to the specific Cisco product provided by Yak. This means you may not be able to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) if you already own an ATA from a previous VoIP company.

The Bottom Line

• Calling solutions starting at $4.75 per month (and $9.50 monthly after two months) includes unlimited local minutes and 200 long distance minutes to North America.
• A Premium plan at $13.95 and a Deluxe plan at $19.95 per month respectively include 500 and 1500 long distance minutes.
• Customers are required to use the Cisco SPA122 ATA provided by Yak to connect an analog phone to the Internet.
• Service is compatible with the X-Lite softphone for Windows or Mac. Apps are available for both iPhone and Android devices.
• A variety of cable and DSL Internet services are available. Pricing is subject on location and bandwidth requirements.
• Home phone and Internet bundles start at $36.95 per month.

Overall Thoughts

The Yak service is relatively inexpensive but not exactly remarkable for core calling needs. International calling is actually quite a good deal if selecting a package for certain regions though pay-as-you-go pricing will depend on the country being called. Though the service locations are somewhat limited, Internet pricing for cable and DSL are competitive. The bundle with home phone service and Internet is a decent deal when compared to packages offered by many larger companies.

Those seeking a simple digital home phone service or a competitively priced Internet service should consider Yak especially if calling patterns are primarily local phone calls. If seeking a more business oriented service or if frequent long distance calling is necessary, it may be better to seek alternative options that offer a richer feature set and unlimited long distance calling.

All User Reviews

Yak reviews are listed in chronological order.

---

Disclaimer: The opinions, views and ratings expressed in these VoIP Reviews are those solely of the reviewer who submitted the review. Whichvoip.com does not necessarily agree with any of the expressed opinions, view or ratings.

WhichVoIP Visitor Comments

#1 : Posted by Jack S.

I would like to switch to your Basic Home phone plan, keep my present number and use Rogers cable internet. Can I do it? What is needed, just a Cisco SPA122 adapter?

-> Response: You will need to contact Yak directly in order to sign up for service.
Get them to check that they can port your number. Usually it is fine but there are a few corner cases depending on the rate center that your phone number resides in.
You can always run the VoIP test on our site to test your Internet, though it should be fine.
Yes, Yak provides a SPA122 adapter for this to work with your regular phone.

 

---

Free tools and resources available to you based on your interest in Yak:

• 
  
  Write a Review
• 
  
  Yak Ratings Plot
• 
  
  Compare Provider Ratings
• 
  
  Compare Provider Rates
• 
  
  VoIP/Speed Test
• 
  
  Provider Directory