SKYPE right now is FREE, don't forget

gringoloid says on May 13, 2007, 11:32:

Mecca...... thanks an awful lot for this tip......I've been on Skype all morning, calling Colombia...NY....FL. On my skype home page, I did not see this offer; could I ask how you knew about this? gracias,

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mecca says on May 13, 2007, 11:40:

Gringoloid, It came in my email about a week ago (i first posted it that day). Nothing showed up on the skype page, just that email. And as you now know, you just dial like you had unlimited skypeout credit. You can call anyone for as long as you want. I'm doing the same thing calling colombia all day.

A little trick on this, if you call with poor quality, keep hanging up and calling back, once you get a good line in colombia, it's great.

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Mononoke28 says on May 15, 2007, 09:56:

Can anyone... ... explain how Skype works? I've heard of it in different forums but I really don't know what it is.

Thanks!

Diana

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Miguel_Clavo says on May 15, 2007, 10:05:

M...it is VOIP...using the internet to carry the voice instead of landwire lines...normally much cheaper than traditional phone companies..i use Vonage...check out this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_IP

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo =)..aka, DragonSlayer..2-0..Colombia es pasión!

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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tejasmarcos says on May 15, 2007, 10:06:

how long is skype free?

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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Miguel_Clavo says on May 15, 2007, 10:08:

i believe it was a special promotion for Mothers Day..... Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo =)..aka, DragonSlayer..2-0..Colombia es pasión!

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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Miguel_Clavo says on May 15, 2007, 10:13:

Or this one: http://communication.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo =)..aka, DragonSlayer..2-0..Colombia es pasión!

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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Mononoke28 says on May 15, 2007, 10:31:

Does your... ... family in Colombia need to have access to a computer as well? Is it a PC-to-PC kind of thing?

Diana

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webmanco says on May 15, 2007, 10:36:

For free calls with skype, yes a computer is needed on both ends. To make calls from a computer to a land line or mobile phone there is a speciall paid account with skype out, however if there are free calls it means it will work from a computer to a land line without the need of the special skype out paid plan.

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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Miguel_Clavo says on May 15, 2007, 10:38:

Not at all....i have the Vonage adapter hooked up to my phone and not my PC.....you talk into your phone and the vonage adaptor sends the voice signal through the internet instead of the physical landline wires used by the traditional phone companies...you dont use their lines, so it is less expensive.....uses the internet...but if the family in Col have an adaptor as well, the calls are free! but you pay for the service for your adaptor and the one in Colombia...but i use it for all US calls as well, local and long distance....Skype uses the PC and you need to download their software.....I use a vonage adaptor for my business in CTG, and have an 800 assigned to it, so when a US client calls the 800 number it gets directed to CTG

....Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo =)..aka, DragonSlayer..2-0..Colombia es pasión!

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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webmanco says on May 15, 2007, 10:41:

As far as I know Skype does not support adaptors, just USB phones, so a computer is needed.

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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mecca says on May 15, 2007, 19:14:

but webmanco if you've got wireless in your house, or wireless at the airport or using the wireless at chipe in cali. You can use a Netgear phone like this

http://www.netgear.com/Products/CommunicationsVoIP/Skype/SPH101.aspx

This phone replaces the computer, it's pre-loaded with skype software. So wherever you are with wifi, it hooks up and gives you free calls from this handset (wifi phone) to another wifi phone or computer...additionally in your house , you can use a USB Skype adapter found at (www.jr.com) and then plug in your normal cordless phone...walk around the house on your cordless phone talking on skype free to another wifi handset in chipe or another computer wherever in the world.

it's cool,

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aztec says on May 16, 2007, 06:51:

mecca, Please share a little more on the free... ...part of your phone calls with Skype. I am using Skype but am under the impression free calls are only via PC to PC.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is adding an array of Skype phone gear to the electronics section.

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gringoloid says on May 16, 2007, 06:59:

What about this.... www.yollamo.com?? A friend from Colombia is starting this service and I think you can use your cell phone as you would Voip on your computer.

If you have time, please check this out and see if you can break it down for us.

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webmanco says on May 16, 2007, 07:39:

Many people can make voip calls without Internet connections. What providers like Yo Llamo punto com do is they setup gateways with internet conections, then link them to a few numbers that people dial from any phone, callers then will get the voip calls thru the internet from the providers.

I had not used Skype lately but for me it is heavy on the machine, let alone on a single phone, plus the SPH101 it is pretty expensive. (above USD 200) plus if it is a closed arquicteture as Vonage then I am not interested.

Another drawback for the phone is that it will only work on open wireless networks, since the phone does not have a web browser there is not way to input username and password.

Netgear is not well known for voip products, they are good on networking devices such as wifi routers. For voip product I would stick with Linksys now a division of Cisco.

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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mecca says on May 16, 2007, 10:23:

web's right this is not perfect. something to keep in mind, learn about voip now. There are major changes occuring in wireless. The free frequency which all wireless (ricochet)runs on is just that free. Much unlike the billions invested in "paid" cellular frequency. In the next 5 years you will walk around with a wireless phone that is actually a computer working on the free frequency not the cellular paid frequency. cell companies are scrambling to get on board with this, as you know encryption is actually "better" with these computer based systems. Things are changing and viop is it's nameo..

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Miguel_Clavo says on May 16, 2007, 11:27:

Sniper in CTG mentioned that CTG was going WiMax?? anyone know anything about that? in theory it is much better than WiFi.....

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo =)..aka, DragonSlayer..2-0..Colombia es pasión!

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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mecca says on May 16, 2007, 12:12:

Miguel, Medellin will be completely wifi very soon. The whole city also. Not sure about other cities.

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tomtom33 says on May 16, 2007, 16:41:

MC I had the choice of cable or WiMax in Medellin a month ago. I took cable because I'm a dumb fuck and didn't understand WiMax. It seems that the price was the same.

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Miguel_Clavo says on May 16, 2007, 21:09:

Tomtom33....i think you are in CTG also...do you have cable TV from CostaVision, or did you sign up with the Telefonica/Telecom TriplePlay promotion that is running now in CTG? i was hoping for Cable TV and Internet Access in the walled city, since my Telecom internet access is spotty at best.....originally i was told CostaVision could be installed in el centro, but later they said it was not??? seems my only option is the Telecom/Telefonica deal, but that is satellite TV with hardline phone and internet. any advice?

WiMax is awesome in theory, and would be perfect for covering large areas in Colombia....Sniper was it was available, with some sort of card purchased at Exito, but i am not sure about that.

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo =)..aka, DragonSlayer..2-0..Colombia es pasión!

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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tomtom33 says on May 17, 2007, 02:15:

I just moved to Medellin the end of March. I still have my apartment in Laguito, and have Costavision with 400 kps service. My VOIP phone works fine.

Costavision wired my building for Internet about 2 1/2 years ago. Like everything in CTG, the service was promised long before it was delivered.

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