Internet Telephony: Completely Free Calls Worldwide Article Discussion Area

red

hi all, i have read this thread and the article with great interest, but i think i need a bit of advice.

at the moment, i have virgin broadband - so i have a modem, but it is not wifi. do i need to get the hardware to make it wifi? i also have a nokia n95, and i was looking at skype - originally downloaded it to a nokia n70 and could not make it work, so gave up on it (and fring which was also downloaded).

what is the best way to get free calls on both mobile and landline, ideally using the same phone we have? and would i be able to get free calls to non-geographic numbers?

sorry that this is just such obvious questions, i just have no knowledge of this subect at all!

benjus

red wrote: »

hi all, i have read this thread and the article with great interest, but i think i need a bit of advice.

at the moment, i have virgin broadband - so i have a modem, but it is not wifi. do i need to get the hardware to make it wifi? i also have a nokia n95, and i was looking at skype - originally downloaded it to a nokia n70 and could not make it work, so gave up on it (and fring which was also downloaded).

what is the best way to get free calls on both mobile and landline, ideally using the same phone we have? and would i be able to get free calls to non-geographic numbers?

sorry that this is just such obvious questions, i just have no knowledge of this subect at all!

To get wifi you'll need a wireless router. You can get something like one of these: http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Wireless/subcat/Routers---Cable-DSL which connect to your existing modem. Alternatively, if you have broadband via your phone line (ADSL) you could replace your modem by something like one of these: http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Wireless/subcat/Routers---ADSL (these will NOT work if you have cable broadband).

I tend to buy the Linksys brand, but different people have different preferences. I also find that the Ebuyer Extra Value range does a good job if you have simple requirements. You will also need to buy wifi dongles for your computer(s) if they do not already have built-in wifi support.

Getting free calls is a complex topic, as it depends on lots of things - where you call, whether you want to use your landline, mobile, work phone, computer... to make the call, what sort of mobile package you have etc.

As mentioned above I find that Nonoh (www.nonoh.net) is a good all-rounder as you can use it in several different ways, meaning that I can make calls from any of the locations I listed above. When you buy credit for a Nonoh account you get free calls to many destinations for a certain period. Even when you don't get free calls it's generally cheaper than the likes of Skype for making calls out to landlines or mobiles (Skype is of course free between Skype users, as is Windows Live Messenger).

I don't know of any way to get free calls to non-geographic numbers. I doubt that such a thing exists because companies make money from people calling them on non-geographic numbers and somebody has to pay them.

red

benjus wrote: »

To get wifi you'll need a wireless router. You can get something like one of these: http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Wireless/subcat/Routers---Cable-DSL which connect to your existing modem. Alternatively, if you have broadband via your phone line (ADSL) you could replace your modem by something like one of these: http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Wireless/subcat/Routers---ADSL (these will NOT work if you have cable broadband).

I tend to buy the Linksys brand, but different people have different preferences. I also find that the Ebuyer Extra Value range does a good job if you have simple requirements. You will also need to buy wifi dongles for your computer(s) if they do not already have built-in wifi support.

Getting free calls is a complex topic, as it depends on lots of things - where you call, whether you want to use your landline, mobile, work phone, computer... to make the call, what sort of mobile package you have etc.

As mentioned above I find that Nonoh (www.nonoh.net) is a good all-rounder as you can use it in several different ways, meaning that I can make calls from any of the locations I listed above. When you buy credit for a Nonoh account you get free calls to many destinations for a certain period. Even when you don't get free calls it's generally cheaper than the likes of Skype for making calls out to landlines or mobiles (Skype is of course free between Skype users, as is Windows Live Messenger).

I don't know of any way to get free calls to non-geographic numbers. I doubt that such a thing exists because companies make money from people calling them on non-geographic numbers and somebody has to pay them.

Thank-you for a really great post...really appreciate it. The only thing that is putting me off is the security- i don't want people to get onto my computer by going on a wifi network...any views?

benjus

There are several options for wifi security. The options that provide a good balance of security and simplicity are WPA and WPA2. You will think up a key or passphrase for your network. You willl only get a reasonable level of security if you have a "strong" key - this essentially means a long, meaningless series of random letters, numbers and punctuation symbols.

What I usually do is open Notepad, type my key, then save it to my USB key. Then I can copy/paste it into the configuration screens of the wifi router and the computers that will access it.

There are various other things you can do, but the most important thing is to have a good encryption method (WPA/WPA2) combined with a strong key.

red

thank-you, again!

Wombat

I haven't gone deeply into this yet, so do your own research before jumping in, but there does appear to be a solution for free PC to landline and PC to mobile phone calls here:

http://www.gtalk2voip.com/talkster.shtml

It looks a bit of a faff, but if you want totally free calls of this kind that's to be expected.

I hope this helps somebody.

Wombat

Having looked at the gtalk2voip in more detail, I don't think it gives free phone calls in the UK. The system was developed in the US and relies on the fact that both parties are connected to local phone numbers, which ARE free in the US.

It can still be used to save money when calling internationally (and probably calling mobiles also), as the numbers called are all local numbers. So you get an international or mobile call for the cost of a local phone call.

Now, if you had a phone contract which allowed free, local phone calls, you're quids in. Do these exist?

Fardlephoom

Something no one has mentioned is call quality....my wife and sister in law both tried Skype and found the quality extremely poor, to the extent that it was unusable. However no one has seemed to mention what makes quality good or not so good so I assume that for most it is not a problem.

Any advice?

Many thanks,

Danny

jeglet

Can only tell you my experience. Started with Skype and found it of poor quality. Stumbled across Sipgate and haven't looked back since. It is extremely rare that it is anything other than excellent quality; so much so that I now use it for business, calling not just the UK but to many other countries. Free sipgate to sipgate, so my son at Uni is also signed up, as is his girlfriend.

Fardlephoom

Dear Jeglet,

Thank you for your help! I will look into Sipgate

with best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,

Danny