Report on Vonage service

[SMR 368]

I wonder what type of phone cards everyone is using. I bought cards online for $10 a piece and they were good to Russian land lines for about 28 hours of talk time each. I suppose it all depends on how much you talk, but it's hard spending more than $20-30 on phone cards in a month at those type of rates. Of course, the card went a lot faster if I was calling a cell-phone.

Of course, the best deal is computer to computer Skype, which is free video conferencing, but I assume we were talking about calling phones.

[Martyshk 137]

I wonder what type of phone cards everyone is using. I bought cards online for $10 a piece and they were good to Russian land lines for about 28 hours of talk time each. I suppose it all depends on how much you talk, but it's hard spending more than $20-30 on phone cards in a month at those type of rates. Of course, the card went a lot faster if I was calling a cell-phone.

Of course, the best deal is computer to computer Skype, which is free video conferencing, but I assume we were talking about calling phones.

Cheapest I could get to Ukrainian cell phone is $0.13 a minute... arm and a leg.......arm and a leg...

[visaveteran 1]

The reason I chose Vonage is it takes care of all my non mobile phone needs. Before Vonage I had a land line phone with Verizon and it alone was costing me over $40 just for local service. I used WDT for long distance and my bills varied between $125 and $180 per month as my wife calls Russia often...both landlines and mobiles.

Now for $24.95 a month I cover all local service and free long distance to Russian landlines. Again, to call a mobile on Vonage is only 6¢ per minute which I can live with. My overall phone bill is now incredibly less than before.

And I was able to keep my old phone number which was very important to me. One cool thing with Vonage is when you get voice mail you can get an email with the message in text form...or retrieve the message as a .wav file from your computer and hear it.

[SMR 368]

QUOTE (Март

@ Dec 29 2009, 07:11 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cheapest I could get to Ukrainian cell phone is $0.13 a minute... arm and a leg.......arm and a leg...

I usually buy phone cards through zscomm.com. It shows a card that advertises $.05/minute to Ukrainian cell-phones. I don't know how well it works. Cell phones are a lot more expensive, of course. Land lines you are getting ripped off if you are paying a penny a minute.

http://www.zscomm.com/ukraine-cell.htm

[Martyshk 137]

I usually buy phone cards through zscomm.com. It shows a card that advertises $.05/minute to Ukrainian cell-phones. I don't know how well it works. Cell phones are a lot more expensive, of course. Land lines you are getting ripped off if you are paying a penny a minute.

http://www.zscomm.com/ukraine-cell.htm

I buy phone cards at the same place. After trying bunch of different cards that advertise lower rates, it all came down to only one that I use: Maayan IDT. Because others either charge a connection fee, a per use fee, or something else, so it ends up being cheaper.

Basically its $5 for 40 minutes to a cell phone.

[SMR 368]

QUOTE (Март

@ Dec 29 2009, 12:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I buy phone cards at the same place. After trying bunch of different cards that advertise lower rates, it all came down to only one that I use: Maayan IDT. Because others either charge a connection fee, a per use fee, or something else, so it ends up being cheaper.

Basically its $5 for 40 minutes to a cell phone.

That sucks. Cell phones are a lot more painful.

[sanuginz 0]

I just use skype. Skype to Skype is free with benefit of webcamera. They have standard rates on cell phone calls with no connection fees or excessive dropped calls.

[Martyshk 137]

I just use skype. Skype to Skype is free with benefit of webcamera. They have standard rates on cell phone calls with no connection fees or excessive dropped calls.

Same thing, pretty much. I use Google web chat (video or voice, depending whether I'm on my cell phone or on my PC)

[Neonred 3,562]

We have used a variety of methods to call internationally. We have VOIP phone service similar to Vonage, but a better deal although they don't offer free international calling. We started out with Internet Calls when the calling was free, and still use it some when at home calling cell phones. We use Skype sometimes when our friends are online and it is fun to have the web cam but both parties need to be online and have a decent internet connection which some of my wifes relatives do not have. We have a calling card plan that we use when not at home and need to call my wife's daughter's cell phone.

Our best deal so far has been my wife's cell phone plan. I set her up with Metro PCS. It's not available in all areas, and has limited coverage in many states but they have Florida well covered and many other major metro areas as well. They feature unlimited calls for a flat rate of about $40 and for $5 extra we added unlimited international landline calling (although when we started the plan it included Russian cell phones). This has worked out great as my wife is not limited to making calls from home. She calls her daughter almost daily from work at lunch time and calls on the weekend even when we are away. She also talks often to a friend in Australia. She also keeps in touch with her aunts and uncles and sisters that she was not calling so often. Now she has an unlimited cell phone and all the international calls she can make for less than we were paying for the limited calls to Russia she used to make.

[Steve S 2]

I also buy from zscomm. I have been using the card called Red Tiger. You have to try out the cards and see what is your actual cost per minute because it is never exactly what they promise. For example, it will not let me drain the card all the way to zero. I think last time we had a discussion about this, I figured about 7 to 8 cents a minute to Russian cell line. I am trying the Baby Boy card now - jury is still out. I buy $70 worth at a time, to get a little discount. That will last me one to two months, plus occasionally I call direct and pay 25 cents a minute with ATT for the luxury of a clearer connection and no fumbling with PINs.

I usually buy phone cards through zscomm.com. It shows a card that advertises $.05/minute to Ukrainian cell-phones. I don't know how well it works. Cell phones are a lot more expensive, of course. Land lines you are getting ripped off if you are paying a penny a minute.

http://www.zscomm.com/ukraine-cell.htm

[leith@Ievgeniia 8]

when ievgeniia's cell is getting good coverage and she is not in her concret bonker called a flat hahahahah vontage is excellent!!! and i pay about same .13 a minute with out having dialing 1000 numbers before the phone number....hahhaah yes bit lazy at times

and home and international charges are about 35 to 40 a month for me. that is sweet since my net is only 20 so all landline phones costing me is 60 a month. that is sweet

jsut no call breakdown on proof of call though. but i guess i can show international charges. who else would i be calling 3 or 4 time a month

[Marilyn. 340]

we have had Vonage for over 3 years now and I love it... I love being able to pick up the phone and call basically anywhere and not have any extra charges on our bill .. here in the Los Angeles area you can calls someone just a mile or two away and it could be long distance

I read really bad reviews on the Magic Jack too but it seems like it works good for some people...

I don't like that the computer has to be on for it to work..

[baron555 934]

we have had Vonage for over 3 years now and I love it... I love being able to pick up the phone and call basically anywhere and not have any extra charges on our bill .. here in the Los Angeles area you can calls someone just a mile or two away and it could be long distance

I read really bad reviews on the Magic Jack too but it seems like it works good for some people...

I don't like that the computer has to be on for it to work..

How is your Vonage experience and service for calls into Russia?

I wonder what type of phone cards everyone is using. I bought cards online for $10 a piece and they were good to Russian land lines for about 28 hours of talk time each. I suppose it all depends on how much you talk, but it's hard spending more than $20-30 on phone cards in a month at those type of rates. Of course, the card went a lot faster if I was calling a cell-phone.

Of course, the best deal is computer to computer Skype, which is free video conferencing, but I assume we were talking about calling phones.

We use a ClonCom Super Saver card. Great service, excellent quality and 99.999% reliable.

[visaveteran 1]

I want to clear something up about Vonage and international charges. I think people who joined Vonage awhile ago will see some charges for international calls as Vonage only recently offered free international calling to 60 countries including Russia. The heard the Ukraine is not yet available which seems odd.

I am being charged nothing to call Russian landlines and the voice quality is actually better than when I used WDT service. The charge to call mobile phones is quoted as 6¢ per minute. I have yet to call a Russian mobile phone but we'll see.

Getting rid of my land line phone service and calling long distance for free is saving me close to $200 per month! Love that Vonage!

[Marilyn. 340]

How is your Vonage experience and service for calls into Russia?

We use a ClonCom Super Saver card. Great service, excellent quality and 99.999% reliable.

I don't have any experience on calling Russia with Vonage..

was just giving my opinion on Vonage ..lol