Really old thread !!
I recently found an local DID provider while shopping on ruten
It would cost your inlaws the normal 1.6NT/3min to dial you.
Your monthly cost would be $180NT + incoming 0.3NT/min
or $400NT (“free” incoming - the extra 220NT is equivalent to 12.2 hours)
You can prepay, which is an advantage given you’re in the States.
I have a Skype phone that I use to call landlines and cell phones in the US.
Most of my family is completely computer illiterate. My Skype phone has a US number in the 949 area code that my family can call dial like any other number in the states. I can also call anybody in the states and talk up to 5 hours per day, every day if I want, with no long distance charges.
I don’t have Skype installed on my computer, and I don’t need to have my computer on to receive or make calls. The Skype phone uses my DSL and our WiFi connection to connect to the internet. It works 24/7 just as if it was a land phone back in the states. But it is floating around the house here in Taipei.
I pay $30 USD per year for the inbound call that I receive. No per minute charge and, as I said before, my family uses their land lines or cell phones to call me. I have never made a Skype to Skype computer calls but it does work.
The plan that I use for my unlimited calls to the states costs me $30.05 USD per year…but there is a problem trying to buy that package here in Taiwan. It seems they can track our IP address of the computer your are using to pay the bill, and won’t let you buy it while you are here. They want you to pay 2.1 cents per minute…. I had to make sure that I set up the Skype outbound account (call made from here in Taiwan to land and cell phones in the States) while I was visiting my brother in San Diego. You can then set the service to auto renew each year so you don’t have pay the 2.1 cents per minute. After that you can use the phone anywhere in the world.
The reason I went with Skype was because it was the easiest for my family to call me without having to use a computer and ends up costing me only $60.05 per year for all calls.
I do however have a few complaints:
If the internet is slow our call will drop or sound distorted.
There is a one or two second lag time that can sometimes cause confusion.
I have noticed that when I make call sometimes the person receiving the call is actually saying hello on the other end for about five seconds before Skype bothers to connect us. The person on the other line may hang up before we get connected. After that the call is just like normal.
I have to pay extra if I want to call here in Taiwan. (I have a cell for those calls)
You cannot buy an inbound Taiwan number that people here in Taiwan can use to call us. (as I said, I have a Taiwan cell phone for that.)
I bought the phone on the internet(Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype with Boingo Hot Spot Manager) for about $120 USD… that was more than a year ago. There are other desktop models that are cheaper. I just liked the fact that we can carry it around the house like a cell phone just so long as we don’t get too far from the WiFi/DSL router. Or you could just leave your computer on all day for free, but you would still have to pay for the service.
[quote=“david3377”]The reason I went with Skype was because it was the easiest for my family to call me without having to use a computer and ends up costing me only $60.05 per year for all calls.
I do however have a few complaints:
If the internet is slow our call will drop or sound distorted.
There is a one or two second lag time that can sometimes cause confusion.
I have noticed that when I make call sometimes the person receiving the call is actually saying hello on the other end for about five seconds before Skype bothers to connect us. The person on the other line may hang up before we get connected. After that the call is just like normal.
I have to pay extra if I want to call here in Taiwan. (I have a cell for those calls)
You cannot buy an inbound Taiwan number that people here in Taiwan can use to call us. (as I said, I have a Taiwan cell phone for that.)
I bought the phone on the internet(Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype with Boingo Hot Spot Manager) for about $120 USD… that was more than a year ago. There are other desktop models that are cheaper. I just liked the fact that we can carry it around the house like a cell phone just so long as we don’t get too far from the WiFi/DSL router. Or you could just leave your computer on all day for free, but you would still have to pay for the service.[/quote]
If you were to use MagicJack, you would only be paying US$20/year for unlimited calling to/from the US. You could get a local US number in any US area code so that your family could call you for free from any landline or cell phone. It comes with voice mail and e-mails you the WAV file of the message.
The only benefit to Skype that you mention over MagicJack is that your computer has to be on. You plug the MagicJack into a USB and then any phone, including cordless so you can walk all over your house, into the MagicJack. The sound quality is absolutely crystal clear as long as you have good bandwidth.
[quote=“CraigTPE”][quote=“david3377”]The reason I went with Skype was because it was the easiest for my family to call me without having to use a computer and ends up costing me only $60.05 per year for all calls.
I do however have a few complaints:
If the internet is slow our call will drop or sound distorted.
There is a one or two second lag time that can sometimes cause confusion.
I have noticed that when I make call sometimes the person receiving the call is actually saying hello on the other end for about five seconds before Skype bothers to connect us. The person on the other line may hang up before we get connected. After that the call is just like normal.
I have to pay extra if I want to call here in Taiwan. (I have a cell for those calls)
You cannot buy an inbound Taiwan number that people here in Taiwan can use to call us. (as I said, I have a Taiwan cell phone for that.)
I bought the phone on the internet(Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype with Boingo Hot Spot Manager) for about $120 USD… that was more than a year ago. There are other desktop models that are cheaper. I just liked the fact that we can carry it around the house like a cell phone just so long as we don’t get too far from the WiFi/DSL router. Or you could just leave your computer on all day for free, but you would still have to pay for the service.[/quote]
If you were to use MagicJack, you would only be paying US$20/year for unlimited calling to/from the US. You could get a local US number in any US area code so that your family could call you for free from any landline or cell phone. It comes with voice mail and e-mails you the WAV file of the message.
The only benefit to Skype that you mention over MagicJack is that your computer has to be on. You plug the MagicJack into a USB and then any phone, including cordless so you can walk all over your house, into the MagicJack. The sound quality is absolutely crystal clear as long as you have good bandwidth.[/quote]
Keeping the computer on was the reason I went with the Skype. I have a laptop and so does my wife. We both like to roam around the house a lot and don’t want to leave the computers on. The look and feel of the Skype phone is that of a cheap cell phone. It is always on and is supposed to sit next to the land line phone, but it seems to grow legs and ends up all over the place. I figure the extra three or so dollars was worth the convenience, and not having a PC on all day.
I’m not sure how much electricity would cost to leave the computer on all the time but I would guess it is more than $4 USD per month. Could be quite a bit more, my old PC used to draw about 120 watts, more than $10 USD per month. Thats $120 per year. I’m sure it would be less with newer more efficient computers…. Or at least I think I’m sure.
I was hoping that there would be a MagicJack phone that was stand alone available before we came to Taiwan. I still haven’t seen one, but I haven’t been looking lately.
I hear what you’re saying. I don’t like to leave my computer on 24/7 either, but since I don’t make or receive that many calls, I can just turn it on when I need it. If someone calls me (which very seldom happens) and I’m not online, the email notification goes to my smart phone and I just fire up the computer and call back. My computer is never left on just for the sake of making/receiving VoIP calls. But if that is an issue for someone, and you’re only talking about a US$40/year cost difference, it’s probably worth it for the convenience.
The lag and distortion you mentioned is seldom a problem with MagicJack because the service doesn’t rely on bouncing calls around the user network like Skype does. MJ has their own server. As long as you have decent bandwidth and you’re not downloading/uploading a bunch of things simultaneously, the call quality is the same as a local land-line. My dad, who is the most picky person I know and will hang up on calls if there is even the briefest lag and bitches if there is any distortion, said it sounds like I’m right next door.
Eventually, MJ (or a competitor) will probably come out with something that can be plugged directly into the router, but until then, the minor inconvenience is well worth the annual cost savings and the excellent sound quality.
I do need to keep the phone on 24/7.
Yes I agree that the lag can sometimes be a pain.
Most of the time I don’t notice it, but I am a little picky and like a very clear connection.
Voice quality is almost always perfect. (Unless the internet is slow.)
It is sure nice having conversations about paying less than 10 dollars a month for unlimited call to and from Asia. When I was in college my brother came home to visit and ran up a $2000 USD phone bill calling his girlfriend inside the USA. That was in early 90’s.
Who would have ever thought, ay? Kiss long distance phone bills good bye.
What astonishes me is that these kinds of services haven’t caught on faster. Retail VoIP has been around for a decade or longer. I used Lingo about 8 or 9 years ago, followed by Vonage (still the best for power callers) and now MagicJack.
It won’t be long before VoIP calling is free, or at least part of a total Internet package. Heck, we’re pretty much already there. I am still using as a back-up, free VoIP to/from the US using a patched together SipGate - SipSorcery - Google Voice solution on my smart phone. It’s not as reliable as MagicJack, but I can call from anywhere I get a 3G or wireless signal.
As for the OP’s situation, still gotta teach the family a few Internet basics and one of these solutions would really solve the problem.
[quote=“CraigTPE”]
What astonishes me is that these kinds of services haven’t caught on faster. Retail VoIP has been around for a decade or longer. I used Lingo about 8 or 9 years ago, followed by Vonage (still the best for power callers) and now MagicJack. [/quote]
I believe what’s holding it back is that the use cases are pretty bad right now.
It will be interesting to see how the simplification of the use cases will really accelerate adoption of VOIP. Because the key to huge adoption of VOIP is that you don’t know it’s VOIP.
One of the drivers I believe will be things like Apple Facetime, which is sooo dead simple. The scenario on an iPhone4 to iPhone4 is: Facetime their phone number you get a free (international) video call. Done. That’s it.
Right now the scenario is, set up machine, download Skype, set up Skype, load the credits, leave the computer on, etc. YUCK.
There are rumors of a dual-camera, Facetime-enable iPod Touch coming using an e-mail address as the way to initiate the call, which could very well end threads like this. You send your loved ones a (basically cheap as shit) iPod Touch with your contact in it, they put it on their WiFi and it’s done.
[quote=“mabagal”]
Right now the scenario is, set up machine, download Skype, set up Skype, load the credits, leave the computer on, etc. YUCK.
.[/quote]
I don’t have Skype on any of my computers, nor does my computer need to be on to talk on the phone.
My Skype phone looks, feels, and rings just like a land line phone.
When friends and family call me, most do not know that I’m on a Skype Phone.
None of my family has Skype accounts. They just pick up their phone and dial a number.
I do however have some friends in Europe and Canada that use Skype and call me from their computers.
The main difference is that I pay no long distance bill.
Vonage also has VoIP phones that do not need the computer “yuck” part that is such a hassle.
MagicJack is by far the cheapest with good quality, but with a little bit more of the “yuck” factor.
This site has a nice breakdown of all three:
tech.spotcoolstuff.com/internet- … ype-vonage
Good link.
My folks are back in the States and they started at Vonage, then a MagicJack, and are now using Skype. If this FaceTime iPod Touch rumor is true, then I’ll get them one of those and put Skype on it for them. If not, maybe I’ll get them a Skype phone. Either will simplify things a lot and the FaceTime would also open up some new scenarios.
For example, my dad still likes to wrench in the garage on some old sports cars we have, and I’m often helping him on diagnosing stuff. Having a mobile dual-camera “phone” will make this so much faster for us.
Vonage did heavy, good marketing in its day, but I’ve learned never to underestimate the marketing prowess of Apple. They will message it so it’s cool and dead simple to stay connected with the important people in your life. And it’s $200.
Speaking of VOIP. I’ve used Skype, had Vonage and tested out Magic Jack. The one I would recommend personally would probably be the OOMA system. It’s like a Vonage box, where its connects directly to a router and you plug a phone into it. Their original system the Hub was basically a $249 up front and NO fees ever… ever. The newer system is the Telo and also $249 (sometimes $199 on sale) for a new more advanced box which essentially has no fees ever. No monthly fee, no annual fees, but they do have a premium service where you can pay for added value add-ons. They even have an iPhone app ($9.99) and requires premium service where you get some pretty great domestic and international calling.
Personally I left an OOMA system at my main home in the USA and brought out another OOMA unit to Taipei, for free calls back to the US. The sound quality has never been an issue, unless your internet is border-line dial-up speeds. Just thought I’d put this out there for people looking for a VOIP that technically doesn’t require a monthly fee ever.
Oh and on the topic of FaceTime! If your iphone 4 is jailbroken with My3G or 3Gunrestrictor or Facebreak, you get what I’ve seen as better video quality than skype on two macs connected via wi-fi! Recently tested FaceTime call over 3G on China Unicom (cuz I’m in Beijing at the moment) to my wife on at&t 3G, while on her dinner break at work and worked wonderfully! Tested a few more times, like walking towards a subway station and being able to show her Wal-Mart in Beijing, while she was at home or just facetime chatting it up while she was shopping at a local Target was way more fun that just a simple voice call! All that while being on the other side of the Pacific Ocean! If Apple can get FaceTime out as an accepted standard, then I’d totally drop Skype!
Oh there are a few pitfalls to the use of FaceTime, as is seen in this parody - http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6274b0c232/iphone-4-commercial-dad