International calls - Phone cards or cell phone?

[malego77 2]

I want to call my parents very often. They are living in Mexico. I already have tried call with cards, the 5 dlls card provide 5 hours wich isn't true. If you din't spend the 5 hours in the first call, the next time you call there is less money (time) in the card. There Is a stole of time!! Why?

If I call from my cell phone, it is more expensive even having the discount of long distance (7 cents per minute, 4.2 dlls per hour). And if I want to send a SMS message to Mexico there is extracharge for it... If I receive international phone calls in my cell phone there is extracharge per minute!! Why??

So I've been thinking for decide which option is better (cheaper) phone cards or cell phone?

I think any option conduce me to I have to pay or pay if I want to continue calling my parents very often

[Maintian 0]

I want to call my parents very often. They are living in Mexico. I already have tried call with cards, the 5 dlls card provide 5 hours wich isn't true. If you din't spend the 5 hours in the first call, the next time you call there is less money (time) in the card. There Is a stole of time!! Why?

If I call from my cell phone, it is more expensive even having the discount of long distance (7 cents per minute, 4.2 dlls per hour). And if I want to send a SMS message to Mexico there is extracharge for it... If I receive international phone calls in my cell phone there is extracharge per minute!! Why??

So I've been thinking for decide which option is better (cheaper) phone cards or cell phone?

I think any option conduce me to I have to pay or pay if I want to continue calling my parents very often

I get my call card from comfi.com with $5 you get about 40mins of talk time. Some people have also said bingo or pingo i don't which it is , you might wanna google it .

Good luck

[Marilyn. 340]

if you have a high speed internet connection..... I would suggest getting a VOIP, like Vonage...

we have Vonage and we pay about 28 bucks a month including tax and you can call anywhere in the US, Canada and Mexico at no extra charge....

[eric&gen 0]

Stay away from cell phone when calling international they will rape you on your next bill.

[Maintian 0]

Stay away from cell phone when calling international they will rape you on your next bill.

[DeadPoolX 9]

As far as I can tell, you have four options:

1. Cell Phone -- This is easy to use, since just about everyone has a cell phone, but depending on your type of cell, provider and plan, it could end up costing you an "arm and a leg." There are two main types of cell phones: CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication).

GSM cell phones use a sim-card, which stores all of your cell's information on it, allowing you to theoretically install it on other phones. I say "theoretically" because some cell phones are locked and others are unlocked. A locked cell phone can only use the sim-card issued by the provider, whereas an unlocked one can use any sim-card. The advantage to sim-cards is that, whether or locked or unlocked, you can get one for the country you're traveling in with minutes prepaid on it and use it there. One other nice feature is that most of the world uses GSM phones, and although North American tends to prefer CDMA, it still issues GSM as well.

CDMA cell phones don't use a sim-card, so if you want to move information over to a new phone, you'll have to get your provider to do it for you (or possibly purchase a third-party device off the Internet). You'll also need to ask your provider to make sure your cell phone can operate in foreign countries (which most can), but you'll be charged roaming fees, most of which can be very expensive. The advantage to CDMA is that it's supposedly faster than GSM and has much greater security.

All in all, if you're looking at a cell phone purely for international purposes, I'd say GSM is probably the way to go; however, if you already have one that's CDMA, I wouldn't purchase a GSM phone. Most providers have plans that allow you to talk internationally without extra charges and fees.

2. VOIP -- Voice Over Internet Protocol is pretty big now and there are a lot of entries into the market, including Vonage, Sun Rocket, Skype and even Verizon and AT&T have joined in as well. The idea behind this technology is that you hook up your phone to your network interface card or router through a phone adapter (or in Skype's case, merely install the software on your computer and have a good headset/microphone handy) and use your Internet connection to talk to others.

This is good in theory, but in practice it sometimes falls short. Unless you have a very fast (and stable) connection, your audio quality will suffer and can even disconnect. More often than not, doing anything on your computer than uses your connection will reduce your audio quality as well, so the chances are slim that you could download a hefty file or play an online game will chatting when using VOIP. Something else to think about is that if your connection (or power) goes out, so does your phone line.

The good points are that VOIP is much less expensive that traditional phone or cell phone plans and generally offer very generous packages. If you don't mind the possibility of losing complete access to your phone (most people have a cell phone too) in the event of a power/internet outage, can live with limiting your online activity while talking and have a fast connection, then VOIP makes the most sense.

3. Landline Telephone -- Perhaps it's not sleek, sexy or fashionable, but sometimes "plain old telephone service" (or "POTS") is a good choice, since it's the most reliable out of every option. Everyone's had a regular landline phone at some point, so the only thing I can say is that most providers have a number of international long-distance plans. I have one right now that's fairly inexpensive and makes all of my international calls five cents a minute. Sure, VOIP is free and five cents per minute can add up eventually, but my landline isn't dependent on my Internet connection either and that (or my power) were to cease working, I'd still have an operational phone line.

This choice is usually a little more expensive, but offers much greater stability and reliability than any of the others.

4. Phone Cards -- Old fashioned in a sense, but still viable, is the trusty phone card. Most people know how to use these, so there's not a whole lot I can say about it, except that you might want to read the fine print before purchasing one. Many phone cards begin depreciating in value after a certain amount of time (usually six months to a year) and no phone card I know of will keep track of how many minutes you have left on it for you. The last thing you'd want is to be disconnected in the middle of an important conversation with your significant other. One other thing you might want to look at is whether or not the card can be recharged. Rechargeable cards are usually a little more expensive at first, but cheaper in the long run, since you don't need to get a new card every time the old card runs out.

Phone cards are easy to use, extremely portable, relatively inexpensive, work with just about any phone and in general, handy to have around in a pinch. I'd recommend having one in the event of an emergency, but rather use either option one or two as my main method of communicating with someone in a foreign country.

[Jaseball 0]

callingcardplus.com

Some cards charge a weekly or monthly maintenance fee, some a connection fee, disconnection fee, 3 minutes is a cycle vs., every minute, etc., so read the details and decide what works best for you.

I have a card with no fees and it charges in 1 minute increments, so if I call and can't get through or get cut off it is 1 minute vs 3 minutes. It expires every 3 months, buy you can add money to reactivate.

Costs me 3 cents per minute to China. Looks like Mexico ranges from 4-9 cents a minute.

There are local connection numbers you call and then enter in the International number, so you can make free calls from any phone, even cell phones when you have a nights and weekends option.

Been doing this for about a year now and it works fine. No cell phone bill and call my girl as much as possible and the prices are really good.

Have international calling too on the cell, but that is about 10 cents per minute I believe, so the card is much better.

[wishbone 0]

My cousin has the same problem before, the cellphone bill is really killing her. Well, when I visited her parents, they have internet connection, I just them how to use Yahoo Messenger, then they have much time to chat and call with my cousin.

[malego77 2]

As far as I can tell, you have four options:

1. Cell Phone -- This is easy to use, since just about everyone has a cell phone, but depending on your type of cell, provider and plan, it could end up costing you an "arm and a leg." There are two main types of cell phones: CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication).

GSM cell phones use a sim-card, which stores all of your cell's information on it, allowing you to theoretically install it on other phones. I say "theoretically" because some cell phones are locked and others are unlocked. A locked cell phone can only use the sim-card issued by the provider, whereas an unlocked one can use any sim-card. The advantage to sim-cards is that, whether or locked or unlocked, you can get one for the country you're traveling in with minutes prepaid on it and use it there. One other nice feature is that most of the world uses GSM phones, and although North American tends to prefer CDMA, it still issues GSM as well.

CDMA cell phones don't use a sim-card, so if you want to move information over to a new phone, you'll have to get your provider to do it for you (or possibly purchase a third-party device off the Internet). You'll also need to ask your provider to make sure your cell phone can operate in foreign countries (which most can), but you'll be charged roaming fees, most of which can be very expensive. The advantage to CDMA is that it's supposedly faster than GSM and has much greater security.

All in all, if you're looking at a cell phone purely for international purposes, I'd say GSM is probably the way to go; however, if you already have one that's CDMA, I wouldn't purchase a GSM phone. Most providers have plans that allow you to talk internationally without extra charges and fees.

2. VOIP -- Voice Over Internet Protocol is pretty big now and there are a lot of entries into the market, including Vonage, Sun Rocket, Skype and even Verizon and AT&T have joined in as well. The idea behind this technology is that you hook up your phone to your network interface card or router through a phone adapter (or in Skype's case, merely install the software on your computer and have a good headset/microphone handy) and use your Internet connection to talk to others.

This is good in theory, but in practice it sometimes falls short. Unless you have a very fast (and stable) connection, your audio quality will suffer and can even disconnect. More often than not, doing anything on your computer than uses your connection will reduce your audio quality as well, so the chances are slim that you could download a hefty file or play an online game will chatting when using VOIP. Something else to think about is that if your connection (or power) goes out, so does your phone line.

The good points are that VOIP is much less expensive that traditional phone or cell phone plans and generally offer very generous packages. If you don't mind the possibility of losing complete access to your phone (most people have a cell phone too) in the event of a power/internet outage, can live with limiting your online activity while talking and have a fast connection, then VOIP makes the most sense.

3. Landline Telephone -- Perhaps it's not sleek, sexy or fashionable, but sometimes "plain old telephone service" (or "POTS") is a good choice, since it's the most reliable out of every option. Everyone's had a regular landline phone at some point, so the only thing I can say is that most providers have a number of international long-distance plans. I have one right now that's fairly inexpensive and makes all of my international calls five cents a minute. Sure, VOIP is free and five cents per minute can add up eventually, but my landline isn't dependent on my Internet connection either and that (or my power) were to cease working, I'd still have an operational phone line.

This choice is usually a little more expensive, but offers much greater stability and reliability than any of the others.

4. Phone Cards -- Old fashioned in a sense, but still viable, is the trusty phone card. Most people know how to use these, so there's not a whole lot I can say about it, except that you might want to read the fine print before purchasing one. Many phone cards begin depreciating in value after a certain amount of time (usually six months to a year) and no phone card I know of will keep track of how many minutes you have left on it for you. The last thing you'd want is to be disconnected in the middle of an important conversation with your significant other. One other thing you might want to look at is whether or not the card can be recharged. Rechargeable cards are usually a little more expensive at first, but cheaper in the long run, since you don't need to get a new card every time the old card runs out.

Phone cards are easy to use, extremely portable, relatively inexpensive, work with just about any phone and in general, handy to have around in a pinch. I'd recommend having one in the event of an emergency, but rather use either option one or two as my main method of communicating with someone in a foreign country.

Hi DeadPoolX, thanks a lot for your work to bring me all of that information!! Very clear. Thanks a lot. I will choose something like a cell phone long distance discount wherever. The most the options are really good but my internet connection isn't good so I must discard a lot of useful choices with it...