Most cost effective way to call a US landline

[payxibka 10,045]

3 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

You in the Phils?  PLDT Fibr ?

Yes.  Pldt fiber

[Hank_ 9,174]

Just now, Boiler said:

You can not get texts in PI?

Not to my U.S. cell number.   

[Hank_ 9,174]

Just now, payxibka said:

Yes.  Pldt fiber

They are fairly stable, I have heard few complains with them.  (SMART & PLDT  same company)

[RO_AH 1,659]

17 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

My relative was in Davao recently, he was using a pocket wifi.

The sound was pretty good,  Is this the same thing you are talking about?

No. WiFi calling is something available on most cell phones now as long as your carrier supports it. I use T-Mobile and they do. What it does is connect your cell phone to your service provider through WiFi if you are connected to WiFi but out of range of any of their towers. Obviously there are no T-Mobile towers in Philippines. I am also able to call using roaming but that can be fairly expensive. So it's best to just get to a WiFi spot, or if you have a pocket WiFi from Smart, Globe, etc. That will work too.

[RO_AH 1,659]

12 hours ago, Hank_ said:

Not to my U.S. cell number.   

That's why I am very happy with T-Mobile

 

[JE57 239]

Family in Philippines uses PLDT (although not fiber as fiber is not available where they are).  One issue I have is that the router only allows a maximum of 5 devices to connected at one time.  Perhaps for Fiber it is more generous or the OP has the tech ability to configure beyond that but be aware when my wife and I get to the Phlippines we constantly end up getting disconnected because of the limit.  

 

[Hank_ 9,174]

2 hours ago, JE57 said:

Family in Philippines uses PLDT (although not fiber as fiber is not available where they are).  One issue I have is that the router only allows a maximum of 5 devices to connected at one time.  Perhaps for Fiber it is more generous or the OP has the tech ability to configure beyond that but be aware when my wife and I get to the Phlippines we constantly end up getting disconnected because of the limit.  

 

Bring a separate router with WIFI next trip, that will remove the issue.  Our router (with WIFI) has a limit of 32 devices.   But I think the biggest issue would be the limited speed without fibr.

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

18 hours ago, butanding said:

I have google voice but it was free before when calling to pbx no. tried adding credit but I ddnt really compare the cost with ATT for regular calls.

 

Someome told me that T-mobile works good in Phil because of unlimited data use. Planning to switch to T-Mobile actually. 

I have MetroPCS which is owned and uses T-Mobile networks, but the phones wouldn't work in the Philippines.

[jskibo 588]

2 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

I have MetroPCS which is owned and uses T-Mobile networks, but the phones wouldn't work in the Philippines.

T mobile does work good in PI, however the only way the free text and data international works is if you have a T Mobile Post Paid account.  Pre Paids and  MVNOs will not work.

[RO_AH 1,659]

15 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

I have MetroPCS which is owned and uses T-Mobile networks, but the phones wouldn't work in the Philippines.

Metro PCS is the ####### stepchild. Trust me T-Mobile works great!

[RO_AH 1,659]

On 2/8/2018 at 5:38 AM, butanding said:

Someome told me that T-mobile works good in Phil because of unlimited data use. Planning to switch to T-Mobile actually. 

I missed this earlier. Yes T-Mobile works great. I even bought and sent my wife a cell on my plan. She had unlimited data in the Philippines. Eventually T-Mobile notified me that the service is for roaming and since that phone had not been in the US for a year and a half they were cancelling service for that phone. Oh well it was great while it lasted. But my personal T-Mobile always works great whenever I go there. I just don't answer or make calls unless I am on WiFi using WiFi calling. Other than that all texts and data are free.

[RO_AH 1,659]

19 hours ago, JE57 said:

Family in Philippines uses PLDT (although not fiber as fiber is not available where they are).  One issue I have is that the router only allows a maximum of 5 devices to connected at one time.  Perhaps for Fiber it is more generous or the OP has the tech ability to configure beyond that but be aware when my wife and I get to the Phlippines we constantly end up getting disconnected because of the limit.

 

When I had my internet cafe in the Philippines I had programmed the PLDT modem/router to bridge mode which turns off all routing in their device. Then I used my linksys router. Since I was here in USA when they installed it I had the PLDT guys program it to do that but I had to them how because they were clueless. If you want to know how to do it just look for the brand and model on the back or bottom of the PLDT modem/router then just Google "set BRAND MODEL into bridge mode". In simple terms it turns PLDT's modem/router into a modem only so you can use your own router.

[Hank_ 9,174]

11 hours ago, RO_AH said:

When I had my internet cafe in the Philippines I had programmed the PLDT modem/router to bridge mode which turns off all routing in their device. Then I used my linksys router. Since I was here in USA when they installed it I had the PLDT guys program it to do that but I had to them how because they were clueless. If you want to know how to do it just look for the brand and model on the back or bottom of the PLDT modem/router then just Google "set BRAND MODEL into bridge mode". In simple terms it turns PLDT's modem/router into a modem only so you can use your own router.

Yes.  I do that with the comcast krap as I have an separate router with APs .    Ubiquiti is nice.

[butanding 1]

has anyone tried this subscribing with viber? It doesnt show if $4.99 monthly charge?

 

[Hank_ 9,174]

If you want to call the USA from the Philippines, get google voice and an OBI, set it up with a U.S. phone number then ship the OBI to the Philippines (yes internet is required), they can now call anywhere in the USA or Canada for FREE.

 

https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/

 

Google voice does a paid service if you want to call other countries (or general calls to the Philippines)  for a small per minute fee.

 

Been using this service for 8 years now, have one in my home in the USA and our home in the Philippines.  The OBI is $49 on Amazon.   After that it is FREE.     Makes it very easy for family to call us .

 

 

From what I gather with viber out you are buying credits with those tabs, they don't seem to allow you decide the amount randomly.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Hank_