mgaleano Posted October 24, 2005 Posted October 24, 2005 Hello all I think the best one for making overseas calls is www.pennytel.com. Its like a prepaid phone card. Pretty good. We use it for international calls and sometimes local calls. If I could get rid of my local phone line which I pay $25 with for nothing I would give it away! I looked at www.skype.com. Found they were not as good. There is also engine voicebox which is a bit expensive I think. But maybe good for some people What are other peoples experience on this? Any other prepaid voip providers around that are worth a look? Matt
BexTech Posted October 27, 2005 Posted October 27, 2005 Being from the UK, I use www.sipgate.co.uk for incoming calls and calls to other Sipgate and several other SIP providers. Sipgate offer for no monthly fee a standard incoming phone number, for and area in the UK. This may be off benefit to people outside the UK as they can then get a UK telephone number. (Requires use of a UK proxy server to sign up if outside the UK). I have had no real problems with Sipgate in about 18 months of using them. For the last 7 months have been using www.voipbuster.com to make completely free calls, however a couple of days ago they switched from 0c/min to 1c/min on calls to the UK and France, one of them up until recently were also offering free calls to Australia. So now use www.voipcheap.co.uk and www.sipdiscount.com which are all from the same company. You can sign up to the above three no matter where in the world you live. I now don't have a phone-line, but use a Linksys PAP2 ATA connected to my router over a Telewest cable broadband service, to this I have connected a couple of corded phones and a couple of DECT cordless phones, means I don't need the PC on to make or receive calls.
djOS Posted October 27, 2005 Posted October 27, 2005 I use Engin - best part is that I just plugged in my normal cordless phone into it (engin voice box) and now I can call anywhere in Aus for 10c untimed and OS for aprox 3.5c per minute! It also has a proper local phone number attached and is only $9.95 per month plus $150 for the voice box which you own.
BexTech Posted October 27, 2005 Posted October 27, 2005 That engin voice box looks like a Sipura ATA re-badged. [Edit] Just read it is a Sipura but locked. Shame you have to pay for an incoming number, defeats the object of saving money. This is where I like Sipgate as you don't pay any monthly fees and you get a free incoming number. Might be worth you looking at the other 3 providers I listed, you may find a destination you call there for free.
djOS Posted October 27, 2005 Posted October 27, 2005 That engin voice box looks like a Sipura ATA re-badged.[Edit] Just read it is a Sipura but locked. Shame you have to pay for an incoming number, defeats the object of saving money. This is where I like Sipgate as you don't pay any monthly fees and you get a free incoming number. Might be worth you looking at the other 3 providers I listed, you may find a destination you call there for free. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Correct, it is a Sipura box. Oh one other very cool thing about Engin is that you can call other engin users for free - it's great for me as my father is in Adelaide and im in Melbourne and now it costs us nothing to chat! (thats 800kms distance for non-aussies) Btw, the minimum line rental here in Aus is $18.95 and local calls alone cost 29c, (normal long distance calls are timed and alot more), so Engin is a real bargin!
BexTech Posted October 27, 2005 Posted October 27, 2005 That's what I liked about VoIP Buster, however you could call anyone on any landline for free in many countries, not just those who are also using VoIP. Now using Sip Discount as they still offer free calls to UK land lands (also several other countries). Great for me, I'm paying no phone line rental and paying nothing to call regular phone numbers. With Sipgate I can call other Sipgate users for free also several other VoIP providers, but rarely need to, as I use SipDiscount for free calls. Have Sipgate for a standard incoming number.
ascl Posted October 29, 2005 Posted October 29, 2005 I'm using nodephone. Its not the cheapest VoIP provider (eg compared to Engin), but I think I can deal with the higher cost (eg 6c/min against 3.5c/min), for the brilliant quality (and really, 2.5c/min is not going to kill me!). I'm already an internode subscriber, so this was the logical choice for me. No up front or subscriber fees (above the usual net fee), apart from the cost of the hardware (which I was buying anyway). I'd strongly recommend going VoIP if you make any number of OS calls... and if you are with internode, nodephone is very very good (to the point I can't tell if its a VoIP call or a telstra land-line call).
smeg888 Posted October 31, 2005 Posted October 31, 2005 I've been using MyNetPhone for a few weeks now. It uses the Netcomm V100 VOIP box, which comes prepackaged with $5 worth of mynetphone calls. Rates are 10c for local calls, 10c min for national calls and 29c for mobile and very cheap OS rates. We use it now for all outbound calls and have not had anyone comment about call quality. We'll see how we go for a few months and maybe ditch the Telstra landline. regards
djOS Posted October 31, 2005 Posted October 31, 2005 I've been using MyNetPhone for a few weeks now. It uses the Netcomm V100 VOIP box, which comes prepackaged with $5 worth of mynetphone calls. Rates are 10c for local calls, 10c min for national calls and 29c for mobile and very cheap OS rates.We use it now for all outbound calls and have not had anyone comment about call quality. We'll see how we go for a few months and maybe ditch the Telstra landline. regards <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Engin is 10c untimed local & long distance to anywhere in Australia - mobile calls are the same @ 29c per min.
BexTech Posted November 4, 2005 Posted November 4, 2005 You can get a USA phone number for free and point it to your SIP service from: http://phone.ipkall.com/ipphone/ You can get a UK phone number for free and point it to your SIP service from: http://www.uknumber.co.uk/voip.htm
riley454 Posted November 4, 2005 Posted November 4, 2005 Can anyone tell me why i would change from my current service to VOIP? I pay $80 month for unlimited free local calls, I may make(at most) 6 interstate calls and 20 local long-distance calls a year with generally competitive rates. Possibly 6 short overseas calls a year. I also have unlimited 512k net access up to 1000Mb/month. Excess net usage only slows down performance to dial-up speeds with no surcharge, and my average bill based on the above usage all inclusive is around $90 month. Am I getting ripped off or is this a fair deal? And is there a cost benefit to ME in VOIP?
datvman Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 I find the call quality of VoIP quite crap, and the time delay is quite an annoyence too. You can tell the Indian telemarketers use VoIP
djOS Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 I find the call quality of VoIP quite crap, and the time delay is quite an annoyence too. You can tell the Indian telemarketers use VoIP <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No probs here, ppl cant tell that im on voip unless I hammer the crap out of my uplink and then my voice will break up.
BexTech Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 Same here, unless I tell people I'm using VoIP they wouldn't know, and when I did tell them they said they couldn't tell the difference.
DavoNogo Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 I can tell you which one I DON'T like - iiNet... Problem after problem after problem.. Well, once they absorb more phone companies, I'm sure they'll learn a thing or two.. their internet is great though
ascl Posted November 5, 2005 Posted November 5, 2005 I have never experienced echo or delay or anything using nodephone. And, providing QOS is enabled on the router at my end, neither uploads or downloads affect the quality at all. Of course, having the ISP provide VoIP helps this a lot, since they can enable QOS (packet prioritisation essentially) on the downstream too.
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