Damn Ukraine phone system.

[jb]

FWIW, I saw today an advertisement that AT&T is now offering a VOIP service to broadband users.  The price was about $5.00 more per month than Vonage, but the ad said they offer low rates for calling abroad.  I didn't read the ad-on's, but if you have an AT&T account now, it might be worth checking into.

[wxman]

I have tried just many calling cards, and they do not sound as clear as VOIP or connect as clearly. Anyone who has used VOIP technology will tell you the quality is much better. I got so fed up with calling cards and their sporadic quality, that I used MCI for International calls. Although the quality was better (not as good as VOIP) it was too expensive. I'm sure there probably are one or two good calling cards, but I got fed up with hunting them down, so I went to VOIP. Most of the phone cards do not use VOIP technology. The few that do, have many calls going into a few routers, which degrade quality of calls as in many cases they must convert from analog to digital and back to analog when it enter Ukraine.  With the router attached to your computer instead, it is digital from the start, converting back to analog in Ukraine which provides a clearer connection, as signal degrades very little until it switches to analog.  However, in larger cities in US, the calls are all digital, and thus certain calling cards will be just as good as VOIP.

Basically the equipment for Vonage is free. I paid $79 for the LINKSYS router as Best Buy, am getting a $50 rebate from Vonage and a $25 rebate from Best Buy. So in essence, it only will cost me $4 for the router.

[OhioGuyRob]

Do both parties need a computer to use VOIP?

[wxman]

No, only one person needs to have a high speed connection to internet. She doesn't need a computer for you to use VOIP technology. Once you hook up router to computer and sign up for Vonage or other VOIP providers, you hook phone into router, which is hooked into you high speed Internet connection such as cable or DSL. You are assigned a phone number by the voip carrier. You have a dial tone on the phone and you use it like any other phone. People can call you from their regular landline phones, cell phones, etc.  For all intents and purposes, it works like regular phone.

[525i]

[user=266]525i[/user] wrote:

Sometimes the phone line is quite bad. Background noise (hiss) is sometimes quite high. When this happens I call her again and I usually get better line. Sometimes the phone connection have been cut suddenly. Tanya says that it's normal.

Normally the phone line is good. I call to her mobile.

The phone line to Tatyana's mobile phone in Ukraine has been good for a long time. I have no complaints.

[ronin308]

Any Vonage users have any problems recently?  Vongage, works fine on local and US LD calls but not to Ukraine.  I just started using it to make calls to Ukraine and it was horrible.  So was my Nextel.  MY SBC longdistance though works like a champ.

[ConnerVT]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread again (comes up more times than a drowning man!).  But I wanted to relate my recent experiences in telephony to Russia.

In the past, I've had exceptionally good luck calling Tver, Russia.  For close to two years, I have been using the EuroMama service offered by LDPost.com ($0.073/min via 1-800 access).  Calls usually get through and sound quality was better than their GlobalPapa card ($0.067/min via 1-800 access).  I've been buying these cards in bulk, first to call my wife, and then for my wife to call her family.

Then, I returned to the USA, while she continued her visit to Tver.  That's when everything started breaking down.

Using either the EuroMama or GlobalPapa cards became impossible.  Regardless of which access number I called (1-800, Vermont local, or NYC local), the conversation only traveled one way.  I could hear Russia as well as usual, and they would her nothing (or just unintelligible noise).  Interestingly enough, when my wife would telephone me using the GlobalPapa's Moscow access number, the voice quality both ways was better than some local telephone calls I've had.

I have read that some people were having good luck with Nobelcom.com's service ($0.055/min 1-800 access + maint fee).  Although my wife could her me very well, almost every third syllable of her voice was dropped.  I could only handle listening for about 5 minutes before my headache would begin.

It turned out the Internet access card I bought from the local telco in Tver is also a LD calling card, and it had some of the most beautiful voice quality for only $0.05/min.  Go figure.  :?

Well, now I've had it with my old POTS line and calling cards.  I just hooked up a VOIP from Packet8.com.  It is cheaper than my local access telephone bill, I can drop the AT&T US LD service, and calls to Russia are only $0.07 direct dialed.

My wife calls home tomorrow, and I'll pass along our results afterwards.

[/rant]

[PeeWee]

I use PennyTalk to call Moscow and Vladivostok. I seldom get a decent connection. Yet my lady in Moscow uses Arbat to call me and everytime she gets a crystal clear connection. Often when I call her I ask her to call me back so that we can talk without asking to repeat something said. Of course, the best to communicate is face to face. That I will do next week.

 

PeeWee