the age old question of how to keep in touch...

[mr and mrs 187]

my UKC husband and i recently moved to a lovely new apartment. one of the things we let go of in the move was our landline. i had kept it for DSL cable, and previous to that for a reasonably good unlimited calling plan to the UK. $40/month for landline to landline calls. through verizon. (i got my money's worth every month!)

but the landline is gone. and we have some sort of fiber optic internet, which is relatively fast (up to 3Mbs, and its symmetrical).

my husband started looking today at options for speaking on the 'phone' with UK friends and family.

i would LOVE any advice offered about a service or program that might work for us. we are looking for the ability to call both landlines and mobile phones in the UK. we want others to be able to call us without it costing them a fortune or requiring them to become a telecommunications expert.

we'd be happy to use skype. my husband read about some sort of phone that you can essential hook up to your computer that will act like a 'real phone' and allow others to call you from their 1. landline 2. mobile phone 3. computer. has anyone had any experience of this?

i feel like people on VJ must have some experience of this topic so i thought this might be a good place to get information!

thanks so much in advance!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

my UKC husband and i recently moved to a lovely new apartment. one of the things we let go of in the move was our landline. i had kept it for DSL cable, and previous to that for a reasonably good unlimited calling plan to the UK. $40/month for landline to landline calls. through verizon. (i got my money's worth every month!)

but the landline is gone. and we have some sort of fiber optic internet, which is relatively fast (up to 3Mbs, and its symmetrical).

my husband started looking today at options for speaking on the 'phone' with UK friends and family.

i would LOVE any advice offered about a service or program that might work for us. we are looking for the ability to call both landlines and mobile phones in the UK. we want others to be able to call us without it costing them a fortune or requiring them to become a telecommunications expert.

we'd be happy to use skype. my husband read about some sort of phone that you can essential hook up to your computer that will act like a 'real phone' and allow others to call you from their 1. landline 2. mobile phone 3. computer. has anyone had any experience of this?

i feel like people on VJ must have some experience of this topic so i thought this might be a good place to get information!

thanks so much in advance!

We use Vonage. Uses any regular phone you want to buy. Computer doesn't have to be on. Husband has a UK vonage he brought with him. People from UK just call the UK number but it rings in TX. Unlimited calls from US to UK landlines. It has a feature where if somebody calls him, it also rings his mobile in case we're out. And a dial around to call UK free from his mobile if we aren't at home to use the Vonage line. It's something like 7.99 pounds/month.

Or you can get a US Vonage line but UK people couldn't call you because it would be a US number. It's about $35/month by the time you add taxes to $25.99 cost. But there's an option to get a "virtual number" added to your line for $4.99 more/month. If you choose a UK virtual number, then UK people dial that number like any other UK number and it rings at your apartment or simultaneously to you mobile.

That's about all I know about calling the UK. PM me if you want to know more so I can send a referral to you and get a free month.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Nich-Nick

[cmoore25 4]

Have you looked into Vonage as well? I don't really know about the skype phone - but if the services is as dodgy as the free online service - I'd say, "no thanks!" I've heard wonderful things about Vonage though - so I'd suggest that!

[Hank_ 9,174]

MagicJack Plus, doesn't even need a computer, plugs into your router with a CAT5 cable. The old MagicJack that I have needs a computer, but for sure I will be switching over. Just plug your regular phone into it, or plug a line from from the MJ to the wall recepticle for the phones and power up all the phone lines in the house.

I tried Vonage before the Magic Jack, never worked well for me.

Buy a second Magic Jack Plus for your family abroad, set it up with a local phone number then mail it to them, all calls will be free then.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Hank_Amy

[JoannaV 174]

Magic Jack might work, I don't know much about it though.

Back when I was living in the UK my husband had Vonage. He paid a little extra for an extra UK number, which allowed UK-based people to call him as if they were just phoning someone in the UK. Definitely cheaper than your old $40 plan. Also you can have it set up so it rings more than one phone, including your cell phone. So UK people can call your husband even when he's out and about :-)

Magic Jack is cheaper again, but like I said, I don't know exactly how it works or what options it has.

[scitrek1 0]

While my wife was waiting in Venezuela and I took her a MAGIC JACK, which you can find online at www.magicjack.com. It was $39.00 and the first year usage was included (19.99 year.)I chose a local Florida number for her magicjack and when she plugs into her laptop or computer she can call me and we can talk with no charge because its a local number. That is the concept behind the magic jack. You can also travel with it and call from anywhere in the world as long as you have a phone or a computer connected to internet. I bought the magic jack plus and connected to my router so I don't need to connect to a computer and I use that as my house phone.(I have 2 wireless phones) I have had this for 3 years and will continue to use it as my home phone. It is susceptible to problems if your modem needs to be retsarted but it comes back automatically after restarting and there is a tech support line for it as well.

It only performs as good as your connection so if you have a high speed connection it should work well. I have taken my magic jack to Panama, Columbia and Venezuela and used it to call my family from those locations using my local number (USA). I am not sure if I have confused you or given you an idea but this is cheap telephone service for 19.99 a year.

my UKC husband and i recently moved to a lovely new apartment. one of the things we let go of in the move was our landline. i had kept it for DSL cable, and previous to that for a reasonably good unlimited calling plan to the UK. $40/month for landline to landline calls. through verizon. (i got my money's worth every month!)

but the landline is gone. and we have some sort of fiber optic internet, which is relatively fast (up to 3Mbs, and its symmetrical).

my husband started looking today at options for speaking on the 'phone' with UK friends and family.

i would LOVE any advice offered about a service or program that might work for us. we are looking for the ability to call both landlines and mobile phones in the UK. we want others to be able to call us without it costing them a fortune or requiring them to become a telecommunications expert.

we'd be happy to use skype. my husband read about some sort of phone that you can essential hook up to your computer that will act like a 'real phone' and allow others to call you from their 1. landline 2. mobile phone 3. computer. has anyone had any experience of this?

i feel like people on VJ must have some experience of this topic so i thought this might be a good place to get information!

thanks so much in advance!

[wee carrington 33]

We use Vonage and LOVE IT! We have a both a UK and American telephone number on the account.

[ScottnIzabela 25]

you can do your phone line over the internet. call the internet provider and see if you can get a bundle--services grouped together--for a better price.

FYI--

on all internet traffic, voice takes precedent over data. here is the reasoning--

data is broken down into smaller packets and they scatter and travel and arrive and its good.

human voice communications dont work so good if interrupted, so voice always take priority.

it is written into all they various protocols

i learned this in my computer networking classes.

TCP/IP and OSI models are boring but they are how this all works

best of luck

scott

my UKC husband and i recently moved to a lovely new apartment. one of the things we let go of in the move was our landline. i had kept it for DSL cable, and previous to that for a reasonably good unlimited calling plan to the UK. $40/month for landline to landline calls. through verizon. (i got my money's worth every month!)

but the landline is gone. and we have some sort of fiber optic internet, which is relatively fast (up to 3Mbs, and its symmetrical).

my husband started looking today at options for speaking on the 'phone' with UK friends and family.

i would LOVE any advice offered about a service or program that might work for us. we are looking for the ability to call both landlines and mobile phones in the UK. we want others to be able to call us without it costing them a fortune or requiring them to become a telecommunications expert.

we'd be happy to use skype. my husband read about some sort of phone that you can essential hook up to your computer that will act like a 'real phone' and allow others to call you from their 1. landline 2. mobile phone 3. computer. has anyone had any experience of this?

i feel like people on VJ must have some experience of this topic so i thought this might be a good place to get information!

thanks so much in advance!

[david'sgirl 134]

We used Rebtel with our mobile phones. We each had to sign up and it makes the call local for the reciever and the caller. It was free for the first 10 mins.

http://www.rebtel.com/?gclid=CPiBt-L9sa0CFcfe4AodOF68OQ

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

We got rid of our landline years ago. We exclusively use our cell phones. We all have iPhones and service with At&T and I believe I pay $00.08 per minute to about anywhere in Europe, so a 12-minute phone call cost me less than a buck. I make an overseas call about twice a month, so that's not too bad.