Calling to the US

[Merlin4458]

My gf is out there at the mo, and i use skype to call her as its like a penny a minute. the prob im having is, its like 25p a min to receive my call or the equivalent in dollars. Unfortunatly her upload speed is too dire to receive my call on skype, she can hear me but iget jack all back.

Are there any other ways that she can receive a call without paying silly amounts?

If there was no credit in the phone would it jsut not ring?

Any ideas out there

thanks guys

[dave87]

I think that is just one of the problems with roaming. Can you see if she can get a PAYG phone out there? Give you the number for that, then ring that?

[benstation]

What is she doing in the US? Depending on her study/job there might be landlines that you can call through. Failing that maybe an high speed internet cafe to continue skyping?

[Merlin4458]

She has a virgin pay and go sim from the US but receiving is even worse than using a UK sim. Shes studying but theres not really any landlines available to her

[SilentDeath]

Use vent or teamspeak? <-- free
They take a tiny amount of time to set up originally though, and obv. pc has to be on for them to work, cant dial numbers or anything.

You said about upload speed, but I used to use voice chat a lot whilst playing games, it didnt use much upload on a 56k modem, and it worked very well. You can set the codec and quality to lower upload if needed.

[TeePee]

Sadly Pay as you go phones in the US charge for recieving callas as well as making them..


The best bet is for her to get a phone card for the local area (blackstone is good in florida) and call you with that.

[Merlin4458]

do they charge for recieving still teepee?

[TeePee]

It's common practice over here.. It's a PITA..

[Agent]

Pay for an incoming call ? Madness
Have we *ever* had that in the UK ?

[Merlin4458]

dont think so. Its so annoying.

[TeePee]

It's not just pay as you go, it's all mobiles. On a contract with 500 minutes, for example, those minutes are counted if they are incoming or outgoing. It's stupid, and crazy.

[dave87]

But does a contract with 500 mins cost less than one with 500mins in the UK as a result?

[TeePee]

Yes and no. It's cheaper than the US, $40 for 450 minutes (Verizon wireless) compared with &#163;35 for 500 minutes (vodaphone). But EVERYTHING is cheaper here. From a macroeconomical point of view, the value is about the same, but only BEFORE you consider that you are paying for incoming calls as well.
In this respect, cell phone charges in the US are not good value compared to the UK.

[Dreaming]

Could you get a skype in number based in the US and she could call you on that, it might work out cheaper?

[Merlin4458]

its not her calling me, its her recieving calls from her mum or me. Shes wont be making any calls at all.
If i got a skype in number for my skype but base it in the US, would it still cost her to receive?

[Dreaming]

Yea possibly, as with skype international calls they automatically go through a local phone thingy. A skypein number would just let her call you for local rates.

As for the upload speeds, double check, because I've had similar issues with skype, so close down other programs that use memory, don't use webcams, both restart skype and it should work. Skype, although good, still has a lot of 'BETA' written over it's support forum.