Skype

[KeithD]

A lot of folk on here talk to each other on the phone. If all those folk who obviosuly have a computer (otherwise you wouldn't be reading this :rolleyes: ), installed Skype and a cheap headset/microphone, it would cost NOTHING for charges :D

We've just bought this http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=441S&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=voip3212&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0&InMerch=1 , normal phone, and Skype.....very nice as well. It must be, the wife hasn't switched it off for 3 days :icon_lol:

If folk use Skype, PM your usernames between each other, don't publish them on here.

Remember, Skype to Skype anywhere in the world is FREE :Hellooo:

I only noticed the other day, they also do text messages for 5p :)

[KeithD]

Text via Skype....to Philippines 3.7p.....HK 3.5p.......dearer from the UK to UK.....nothing new there then :D

[walesrob]

Text via Skype....to Philippines 3.7p.....HK 3.5p.......dearer from the UK to UK.....nothing new there then :D

Great idea Keith, but it relies on the broadband connection, and I don't know if you've got the same problem, but after 4pm till midnight most evenings, we have dial-up speeds, which renders skype useless, unless you like doing stuttering Dalek impressions :icon_lol:

On a more serious note, anyone else getting seriously slow speeds with their broadband in th evening and weekends? I'm beginning to wonder if its my ISP.

[KeithD]

It's the contention on your ISP Rob. If you want faster, you need to ask if they can upgrade you from 50:1 to 20:1, although it will cost more. You get what you pay for.

You could switch to Talk Talk, although the chances of them having done your exchange is 0:0 :icon_lol: (they do allow 30GB's download a month, unlike BT, Tiscali, who cheap tariffs allow 5GB's at most on Fair Usage).

[robeth]

It's the contention on your ISP Rob. If you want faster, you need to ask if they can upgrade you from 50:1 to 20:1, although it will cost more. You get what you pay for.

You could switch to Talk Talk, although the chances of them having done your exchange is 0:0 :icon_lol: (they do allow 30GB's download a month, unlike BT, Tiscali, who cheap tariffs allow 5GB's at most on Fair Usage).

been using skype 3 yrs ago and keep crashing my pc...so i stopped...y is that? and need VOIP phone which i dont have right now...in PI.

[robeth]

okeiz...just noticed there's a VOIP phone link there...lol...

[KeithD]

I think the Skype software has moved on since 3 yrs ago :)

[baboyako]

you can send an sms using chikka for free!

[KeithD]

you can send an sms using chikka for free!

...and they do what exactly with all these mobiles numbers they get? :NoNo:

[baboyako]

...and they do what exactly with all these mobiles numbers they get? :NoNo:

well it's just one peso to send an sms back.. am i missing something?

If the sms replies go to your skype email account? then just use gprs so you can send/recieve emails. (even davao has gprs)

I dont understand :Erm:

[andypaul]

Great idea Keith, but it relies on the broadband connection, and I don't know if you've got the same problem, but after 4pm till midnight most evenings, we have dial-up speeds, which renders skype useless, unless you like doing stuttering Dalek impressions :icon_lol:

On a more serious note, anyone else getting seriously slow speeds with their broadband in th evening and weekends? I'm beginning to wonder if its my ISP.

If i were you Rob i would be kicking up a huge fuss, do others on your exchange get the same problem?

Sounds like someone is using more than there far share of the bandwith avaiable and bt or whoever might be intrested.

[KeithD]

Rob, night time is like Internet rush hour, so if you supposed speed is 2MB/s, then you'll probably average 1.2 MB/s. As you are on 50:1 as is 99%+ of the country, if everyone downloads at that time, speeds can be slower than dial up, as the 50:1 shared line has a set bandwidth. Which is why I use 20:1

You can get 1:1, but this is around £200 a month, but it is all yours.....

[KeithD]

well it's just one peso to send an sms back.. am i missing something?

If the sms replies go to your skype email account? then just use gprs so you can send/recieve emails. (even davao has gprs)

I dont understand :Erm:

Mosty companies that do things on the cheap with SMS make their revenue by selling on mobile numbers to Telemarketers around the world, as they have to pay the individual telcoms they use, the same as everyone else for using bandwidth.

I prefer to pay a bit extra in order to know my number is secure, but that is my choice.

When you hear someone say, I keep getting marketing calls on my mobile, how the hell did they get my number? That will be because of the service Baboyako used, passing her friends private numbers onto the world telemarketing database.

If you SMS with Skype, the reply goes to my mobile.

[KeithD]

This is in Chikka's T&C so as I said, they have to pay for bandwidth, and they can do that anyway they wish, upfront, or hidden. All Chikka does is take out the FROM bandwidth charge, as does Skype, and similar PC services. But the arrival bandwidth still has to be paid for by someone, and I doubt Chikka are a chartiy.

Charge for Use. The personal computer to mobile aspect, the mobile to personal computer aspect and the mobile to mobile aspect of the Chikka Services shall be subject to the customary tariffs imposed and charged by the mobile carrier involved on each of the respective aspect.

[KeithD]

Sussed it :)

They make money from the people you text as one source of revenue.

Charge for Use. The personal computer to mobile aspect, the mobile to personal computer aspect and the mobile to mobile aspect of the Chikka Services shall be subject to the customary tariffs imposed and charged by the mobile carrier involved on each of the respective aspect.

-----------------------

Chikka and its affiliate companies = Telemarketing

-----------------------

Still, it is up to the individual how they wish to save money, but I prefer the folk in the Phil to only be charged 1 peso for an SMS, and know there mobile numbers are privatr, while I have the money to easily afford 5p.

Here's the info on the corporate model http://newsbreak.com.ph/newsbreak/story.asp?ID=768

[walesrob]

Rob, night time is like Internet rush hour, so if you supposed speed is 2MB/s, then you'll probably average 1.2 MB/s. As you are on 50:1 as is 99%+ of the country, if everyone downloads at that time, speeds can be slower than dial up, as the 50:1 shared line has a set bandwidth. Which is why I use 20:1

You can get 1:1, but this is around £200 a month, but it is all yours.....

£200 :yikes:

My isp, Virgin don't do lower contention rates than 50:1, but looking around, Demon have a 20:1 Home office package for £26.99. Only problem is I gotta give 50 notes to Virgin to "please release me, let me go" :Brick:

[equaliser]

We would love broadband but we are over 4 miles from the local exchange. BT say on their website that the best we can hope for is 288 kbps. Any advice other than moving house?

I'm sure lots of people in our area would love to get broadband. How do we get BT to accomodate us?

[baboyako]

Sussed it :)

Still, it is up to the individual how they wish to save money, but I prefer the folk in the Phil to only be charged 1 peso for an SMS, and know there mobile numbers are privatr, while I have the money to easily afford 5p.

Here's the info on the corporate model http://newsbreak.com.ph/newsbreak/story.asp?ID=768

I don't think thats quite how it works. if you register your roaming PI phone, then its only 1 peso - they also have computer accounts, which may well be 2.5pesos.

Going a bit off topic, the skype wifi (mobile) phones seem like they can put vodafone out of business. :icon_lol:

[KeithD]

We would love broadband but we are over 4 miles from the local exchange. BT say on their website that the best we can hope for is 288 kbps. Any advice other than moving house?

I'm sure lots of people in our area would love to get broadband. How do we get BT to accomodate us?

I doubt it would be that low, as the new MaxDSL they all now use go up to 5 miles, so my guess is BT haven't a clue what they are talking about :Erm: & 288 kb/s is still X5 the speed of dialup & worth the money.

Rob lives next to the exchange and get 0.27 kb/s :Hellooo:

[andypaul]

£200 :yikes:

My isp, Virgin don't do lower contention rates than 50:1, but looking around, Demon have a 20:1 Home office package for £26.99. Only problem is I gotta give 50 notes to Virgin to "please release me, let me go" :Brick:


I would complain about the service and check the t&c to see if there is a way to say the service is not good enough and you want out.

Spending a few hours complaining can save you a lot of money.

Once got a refund on a non refundable cathay paffic ticket as expedia gave me poor service in dealing with an enquiry (long story) took a few emails and phone calls but well worth it.

Most employees in customer service just want an easy life and are not worried about spending the companies money as long as they don't get any complaints which go to their line manager.

[KeithD]

ISP T&C :icon_lol: :Rasp: ...they cover everything, including they can give you a crap service, limit your bandwidth, charge extra when they want, etc, and the OFCOM/OFT does bugger all about it.

Problem with ISP's is they are not LAWFULLY bound to give you the release code.

[andypaul]

I don't think thats quite how it works. if you register your roaming PI phone, then its only 1 peso - they also have computer accounts, which may well be 2.5pesos.

Going a bit off topic, the skype wifi (mobile) phones seem like they can put vodafone out of business. :icon_lol:

In the us mobile carriers are ensuring phones don't have wifi if at all possible to stop voip phones taking off. But the newer phones like the nokia e61 have voip capablities.

Vodafone and the others i think from what i read are looking at going down the voip route (they have no other option imo)which might be good news for all of us if it makes calling phill as cheap as calling the uk.

[andypaul]

ISP T&C :icon_lol: :Rasp: ...they cover everything, including they can give you a crap service, limit your bandwidth, charge extra when they want, etc, and the OFCOM/OFT does bugger all about it.

Problem with ISP's is they are not LAWFULLY bound to give you the release code.

I agree they do put a lot of cover alls in the small print, but still worth a go imo.

I work for a large IT company and I am amazed what we as a company will write off and how when decisions on compenstation or deaing with situations how much leeway is given to fairly low ranking employees.

[KeithD]

....it makes calling phill as cheap as calling the uk.
It's already free...how much cheaper do you want?

[KeithD]

I agree they do put a lot of cover alls in the small print, but still worth a go imo.

I work for a large IT company and I am amazed what we as a company will write off and how when decisions on compenstation or deaing with situations how much leeway is given to fairly low ranking employees.

But your not an ISP, they have control of your testicles, your IT company will not even get near your customers boxies :D

[fred]

It's already free...how much cheaper do you want?

Please excuse me for being a complete technical dunce and technophobe but what equipment and internet connection will they need in the R.P for me to call them for free?

[robeth]

Please excuse me for being a complete technical dunce and technophobe but what equipment and internet connection will they need in the R.P for me to call them for free?

both ends must have skype downloaded in their pc, a dsl connection and a VOIP phone but a mic will do. Those things works for me before.not sure about the extras now...maybe keith can share more info.

[KeithD]

Just a pc, dsl & a mic :)

Work out how much you spend on calls, how long you'll be calling the Phil, and price up a computer & broadband out there, bet ya can save money :)

[andypaul]

It's already free...how much cheaper do you want?

I mean from mobiles at the moment the data costs outweigh the savings on the telephone call.

[andypaul]

But your not an ISP, they have control of your testicles, your IT company will not even get near your customers boxies :D

Im no expert on isps nor wish to be and have to say i have stuck with bt since getting adsl. But when the service level has dropped they soon sorted out the problem and i made sure i got refunded for poor service. I understand where your coming from i can remeber the mobile phone companies messing people around if they wanted to quit, get a puk code or transfer a number but slowly it changed.

Hopefully the same will happen with the isps as customers wise up to who to avoid.

In the majority of our customers we do have control of their testicles due to our service contracts.
If they mess us round we have withdrawn/reduce our services software, hardware and/or techincal support and trust me that could bring a company to its knees very quickly.
But after a while we would have few customers as customers would move to other companies once their contracts were finished.

[KeithD]

Any problems in my company, the customer is always right, I never question them, even if I know it's a problem on there computer :)


I mean from mobiles at the moment the data costs outweigh the savings on the telephone call.

Depends on your contract. In my case I get plenty of spare data transfer on my PDA2K, and if you are abroad, it can save you a fortune. If you call from Singapore it costs 0.012p/min, instead of the mobiles £1.50/min

[IainBusby]

We would love broadband but we are over 4 miles from the local exchange. BT say on their website that the best we can hope for is 288 kbps. Any advice other than moving house?

I'm sure lots of people in our area would love to get broadband. How do we get BT to accomodate us?

I've heard about people who live in villages out in the sticks who get up petitions and gather signatures to show BT how many people would be prepared to sign up for broadband if they upgraded the exchange in their area.

Even if the majority of those people don't eventually sign up to get their dsl service from BT, BT will still get a sizeable cut from it because they own the cable backbone, so it's usually worth it for them to upgrade.

[Welsh_Italian]

Talking of good quality, I was chatting to my fiancee yesterday using Yahoo messenger and the voice quality was amazing. We both used headsets (headphones with a microphone attached) which helped, but it sounded like she was in the room speaking right in my ear! :)

[KeithD]

99% of UK exchanges now have broadband. We live in the country, and I get speeds up to 4.3MB/s, exchange is over yonder hill :D

[fred]

Keith..
What is the difference between using skype software and yahoo messenger?
The Mrs was talking to them for about 3 hours this morning using the yahoo thing and it seemed to work OK..
Any difference?

[KeithD]

Yahoo has number of security issues, most folk I know end up with infected computers with spyware, malware, virus, etc. I don't know anyone who has used it who hasn't had a security problem. You may not know what you have, but if you run Spyware Doctor you'll find out :)

We also use the BT&Skype phone, which makes it easier.

Skype have also given us 6 months free UK calls, which is nice.

SMS is very cheap on Skype, and obviously it means you can call folk without a computer.

It costs us 0.012p to call a mobile in the US......and about 0.16p to call our neighbours mobile :Erm:

Depending on time of day/network, etc it costs 11p-14p to call the Phil. Some may say they can get cheaper, but they forget that on most other direct lines/card you also have to add the cost of a local call, which makes Skype about the same price.

I also have a Skype phone that I can use anyhwere in the world on my laptop, and have just installed it on my new PDA if required.

[ervenescence]

Yes skype is good for this is the one I usually used but try google talk as well, its pretty good :)

[fred]

OK,I ran spybot and had some nasty looking creatures and downloaders on my HD.
Thing is I can`t be sure if this was down to Yahoo or my browsing of disgusting porn!! (joke only)
Its not easy for me to get them to use skype as they are using one of our tennents lap tops..
I did notice that the web cam was very slow..They are using PLDT connection(not sure what speed) which cost them PHP 999.00 a month.
Still...This is gonna save me a fortune on phone bills..

[KeithD]

Sometimes if your not seeing the girl for months, cheaper buying them a computer :) ......then when they come here you can rent it to her family for 500PHP a month :icon_lol:

[Welsh_Italian]

£200 :yikes:

My isp, Virgin don't do lower contention rates than 50:1, but looking around, Demon have a 20:1 Home office package for £26.99. Only problem is I gotta give 50 notes to Virgin to "please release me, let me go" :Brick:

You might not have to pay transfer costs Rob. One ISP I've heard good things about (read about it yourself to make sure) is freedom2surf. They offer quite a nice package: 50GB transfer allowance, free transfer from existing provider (remember to get your MAC code from your current ISP so you can switch over with no downtime), you can run your own server, static IP address, and up to 8MB bandwidth. The contention ratio is still 50:1, but I've read from customers who are very happy with the quality compared to other ISP's.

Read around and see what you think.

[KeithD]

It's still always best to try and get on a 20:1 business package (self employed accepted), as you get much more for a lower price than the ripped off residential folk......same goes for mobiles as I just discovered.

I had an XDA paying £55 a month for personnal use, as my business pays I was looking to reduce the contract.....and when I looked at the business packages I got this http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=3175 for £26 a month, with more freebies included. I wasn't even looking to change PDA, but hey, this one is like having the latest laptop in your pocket.

[walesrob]

You might not have to pay transfer costs Rob. One ISP I've heard good things about (read about it yourself to make sure) is freedom2surf. They offer quite a nice package: 50GB transfer allowance, free transfer from existing provider (remember to get your MAC code from your current ISP so you can switch over with no downtime), you can run your own server, static IP address, and up to 8MB bandwidth. The contention ratio is still 50:1, but I've read from customers who are very happy with the quality compared to other ISP's.

Read around and see what you think.

Reading the boards over at ADSLGuide, it seems that Virgin have messed up big time by grossly underestimating the whole ADSL Max situation. They are getting more capacity, but not for a while, in a meantime, we have to suffer. To give you an idea how bad things are, I can sync at 8192 / 448 as I'm very close to the exchange, daytime speeds are fine - sometimes 7.5mb with pings of 40ms, but weekends and evenings are no go, with download speeds of 0.2mb and pings of 300ms+, I would do better with dial up.

Anyway I've called for the MAC, should be emailed to me anytime now, and I've been researching. Fast.co.uk look like a good bet, also Aquiss. I was considering Demon, but they are on the verge of being sold to Talk Talk, hmm no thanks.

[KeithD]

Nothing wrong with TalkTalk. I know plenty on it, no probs, good some have got 4.3mb/s, and the longest switch on was 5 days. You also get a 35GB download allowance.

[JustSomeGuy]

I use freedom 2 surf, (it's now really pipex) customer support went down hill from the moment of the change (they used to send you emails with any work or dropouts expected weeks or days in advance, that all stopped) in the last few months however ithey have been starting to get it back up :-) and have started the emails again.

_locally_ f2s doesn't really suffer from the problems of some, a few of my friends are on talktalk and i've been round to fix problems and found the connection is down from the 2mb they expect to about 30kb (slower than dialup)

Of course it's often a local issue, to many people crammed onto a small exchange. Or as i've also found too many wireless connections in other houses all set to the same channel (causes dropouts).

I would always advise not to go with a company that has a tie in, or a "free modem" you can get one for 30-40 quid from ebuyer or Dabs.

Being a sad techy who works away sometimes, i also have a 3g backup connection via my phone (one of them HTC 'TyTN' Windows Mobile PDA Phones too) , skype works just about ok on that too. (t-mobile do a flat rate data package,paying a bit more than Kieth but oh well)

www.adslguide.org.uk (http://www.adslguide.org.uk) is a good place to check out reviews of ISP's

Dave,

[KeithD]

HTC 'TyTN' - Just got the Vodafone version to replace my XDA :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[walesrob]

www.adslguide.org.uk (http://www.adslguide.org.uk) is a good place to check out reviews of ISP's

Dave,

Looks like Aquiss will get my business. Still waiting for Virgin to issue that MAC..tomorrow is Day 5 (3 to 5 days to issue a MAC code they say), so I'll be on the phone again if they try any funny business :NoNo: .

[andypaul]

Looks like Aquiss will get my business. Still waiting for Virgin to issue that MAC..tomorrow is Day 5 (3 to 5 days to issue a MAC code they say), so I'll be on the phone again if they try any funny business :NoNo: .


Hope it goes well for you Rob. Just shows Broadband needs loads more regulation, as its almost becoming as necessary as water and leccy to most uk households.
What with data,telephone and our tv likely to come via it in the near future.

Admin your right about business packages, better deals and rates no stupid freebies (ie things your never need or used thrown in) and most important far superior aftercare and normally named people you can contact 24/7 when things are not working as they should.

Talking of pcs/pdas for skype in phill.

Has anyone tried using a pda/upc with dsl in phill? Used on one trip ages back (using cf ethernet card and cable to router) but just for emails as skype for pocket pc did not exist at the time.
Hoping to set the Wifes young bro up. So skype, web access and emaill can be performed and hopefully soon once the 3G service is more realiable, use the device out and about or as back up to the dsl service.

I also saw that calling using 3g video call from phill to i think to a couple of the uk mobile providers was quite cheap ( i have no idea of the quality) which maybe of use to others. I saw something on one of globes websites yesterday but i can't find it yet in the history yet grrr.