calling ukraine problems

[Oosik]

I'm having a MFer of a time calling.

If I call to a cell from a US landline, do I dial 011-then the 12 digit number starting with the 3?

Is it the same if I call to a landline there?

I have yet to be successful getting through, although my fiance was able to get through to me this morning, but we were cut off in 5 minutes.

She sent me this in an email this morn:

You can try to call me 81038066 then my number 8066976xxxx
or from mobil phone +3 then my number.

I think the 8103 is an error, 810 is how to call out from the Ukraine. I did call the 8103... number once, got a call cannot be completed messg.

My MCI pepaid card seems to charge an arm and a leg. Anyone got a better option that I can buy over the internet?

Any help appreciated.

[Admin]

I'm having a MFer of a time calling.

If I call to a cell from a US landline, do I dial 011-then the 12 digit number starting with the 3?

Is it the same if I call to a landline there?

I have yet to be successful getting through, although my fiance was able to get through to me this morning, but we were cut off in 5 minutes.

She sent me this in an email this morn:

You can try to call me 81038066 then my number 8066976xxxx
or from mobil phone +3 then my number.

I think the 8103 is an error, 810 is how to call out from the Ukraine. I did call the 8103... number once, got a call cannot be completed messg.

My MCI pepaid card seems to charge an arm and a leg. Anyone got a better option that I can buy over the internet?

Any help appreciated.

If you are calling from the US, the calling sequence should be as follows:

011 - international call
380 - Ukraine country code
66 - Her mobile operator code (or Ukraine city code)
976-xxxx - Her 7-digit telephone number

If you are using a calling card, then you will have another, different, sequence to use to access the international code.

- Dan

[Oosik]

Yup, thats what I called for her cell phone.

hopefully someone will have good info on an internet purchasable calling card that will be cheaper than my MCI card. I can't believe I am having so much trouble calling though, I can get out of alaska via my MCI card easily, so the phone issue must be connecting in UA.

[groovlstk]

Oosik,

If you plan on calling regularly, I suggest you purchase 2 different phone cards from different providers.

The Ukraine telecomm system is horrible, but many times when I can't get a ring using one card, I'm able to get it using the other.

I get mine from:

http://www.pinplan.com

http://buy-calling-cards-online.pushline.com/references/BizonGlobalAccessNumbers

[dorogoyroberto]

Oosik,

My family in New York calls me using the "Boss USA" cards from IDT.  They buy them online here:  http://www.uniontelecard.com/ProductDetail2_SZ.asp?ProductID=1303

Generally, connections are good and we have not had a dropoff or  disconnect in months. Price was not as issue for them but connectivity  was. As Mr. groovlstk pointed out, the phone system here is generally  poor.

Roberto
Kiev, Ukraine

[Bruno]

Oosik,

If you plan on calling regularly, I suggest you purchase 2 different phone cards from different providers.

Oosik, if you phone one of two hours each day, it is interesting to use a alternate system...

If your girlfriend have a computer ( same with a 56k modem ), you can maybe use skype... i have buy a "Webt@lker 100" from "topcom" and install skype ( for free )... last friday, i have phone to Odessa from 23h00 to 04h00... only one time the communication was cut... all the rest of time, it was clear voice...

[START2]

Oosik, If you are in AK., forget about getting a reasonable rate anywhere. Alaskom has a lock on anything going out I believe. I lived there a few years and even some calling cards won't work from there. Sometimes it's bad here but it's worse from Ak. Try a pc company like vonage or netzero. It's best if you have cable or dsl. Dial-up can be rather trying.

[Oosik]

I did the uniontelecom thing, and for $10 bucks, I got 90 minutes of talk time to Chernigov, dialing a nationwide 800 number for access. I'll take that. The connection is fine, other than crappy phones in UA. Today she used her granny's phone, she said it was older than her.

[ronin308]

I've found most of the calling cards really have poor quality, especially when the person on the other end doesn't speak good english.

I use vongage with broadband as well as my tmobile cellphone, in a few days I'm going to build my own vongage gateway so i can call from anyphone to the gateway and use vonage to make the call overseas.  It's cheaper that way and a good connection.

Another way to do it is to figure out if you can get broadband in a home near your fiance.  Then you can setup VOIP devices to allow calling for free.  I hope to do this in the near future so my fiance can speak with her mother.

[rkn777]

I have a lousy time with calling Ukraine land lines, I always prefer to call a cell#

 

Richard

[Casanova]

remember you can use any laptop ($157 on Ebay right now for a very good used laptop full of memory for internet access) and Yahoo messenger with a microphone jack into your laptop (or HER's if she has one) and local ISP access via any phone line... for FREE (cost of internet connection, which was about $20-$60 monthly in Kiev, or by ISP cards, a few grivna per hour - depending on the card).

[Casanova]

It's the same whether you're calling from the land line or cell phone. Just dial: 011-380-66-***-**-** (the last 7 digits of her cell phone #). Or if you're calling to the land line dial: 011-380-city code (for Kiev it's: 44)- ***-**-** (the last 7 digits of her home phone). Tell her, that there are a lot of IP calling centres in Kiev (Kreshchatik 48), also, at the post office off Bolshaya Gitomireskaya not too far from Maidan, though that ones more expensive.  Kharkov - 14 Sumskaya St. has IP or internet phone calling centers to, as so the larger cities of Ukraine,  etc.

[LarsXYZ]

Hi for calling Ukraine & other FSU countries, you can use:

VoipStunt which have free call to 37 countries & low rates for FSU

Check for further here:

http://www.voipstunt.com/en/rates.html

Rates is in EUR

regards Lars

[corp]

I call one lady from Crimea and even though she is an english teacher, I can not get a clear enough line to even have a real conversation.
 I went over and tried Skype, with thier paid sevice (like buying phone cards) I get a much better connection... sometimes I have to call back for a better connection but this has been the only way to communicate.

Problem is, it cost like .15 a minute. When I call Russia it is about 1 third that price... moscow even less!, I sure would like to know of  a card to Ukraine which is better than .15 a minute.
Feel free to PM me with anything better than I am paying now.

Just as a side note..... to show how good we really have it, does anyone recall what it use to cost just to call out of state say 15 years ago?
 Now we can call around the world for even less than what we paid to call out of state 15 years ago.
Technology/capitalism..... cant beat it!

[corp]

I call one lady from Crimea and even though she is an english teacher, I can not get a clear enough line to even have a real conversation.
 I went over and tried Skype, with thier paid sevice (like buying phone cards) I get a much better connection... sometimes I have to call back for a better connection but this has been the only way to communicate.

Problem is, it cost like .15 a minute. When I call Russia it is about 1 third that price... moscow even less!, I sure would like to know of  a card to Ukraine which is better than .15 a minute.
Feel free to PM me with anything better than I am paying now.

Just as a side note..... to show how good we really have it, does anyone recall what it use to cost just to call out of state say 15 years ago?
 Now we can call around the world for even less than what we paid to call out of state 15 years ago.
Technology/capitalism..... cant beat it!

[LarsXYZ]

I went over and tried Skype, with thier paid sevice (like buying phone cards) I get a much better connection...

Then you should try Voipstunt. For 3-4 months ago I also used the paid service from Skype to Ukraine also some EU countries (because of business). For Ukraine "Eastcard" was choosen instead.

Then I discovered VoipStunt / VoipBuster, which had a quite better quality, when calling phones, not peer to peer call, where Skype is very good. Today I prefer VoipStunt for calls, sometimes even within denmark, where landline call also is free inside the country, when using the traditional phone system.

You can try calling to one of the 37 countries with VoipStunt freecall. For some limited time (maybe 30 minutes) you can do that even without sending 10 EUR to your VoipStunt account

regards Lars

[corp]

I went over and tried Skype, with thier paid sevice (like buying phone cards) I get a much better connection...

Then you should try Voipstunt. For 3-4 months ago I also used the paid service from Skype to Ukraine also some EU countries (because of business). For Ukraine "Eastcard" was choosen instead.

Then I discovered VoipStunt / VoipBuster, which had a quite better quality, when calling phones, not peer to peer call, where Skype is very good. Today I prefer VoipStunt for calls, sometimes even within denmark, where landline call also is free inside the country, when using the traditional phone system.

You can trycalling to one of the 37 countries with VoipStunt freecall. For some limited time (maybe 30 minutes) you can do that even without sending 10 EUR to your VoipStunt account

regards Lars
[/quote]

Lars, I checked their rates for Ukraine and they are at .17 mobile 9. land line.
Unfortunately She has now land line in her flat only mobile so unless she is at her parents house (they have land line) The .17 can add up fast.

What was the Eastcard, I tried to find something on that but could not, do you know what their rates are and a link?
 Thanks for your input.

By the way what does the Voipstunt and similar have over skype, they all seem to be the same deal to me?

[LarsXYZ]

What was the Eastcard, I tried to find something on that but could not, do you know what their rates are and a link?
Thanks for your input.

By the way what does the Voipstunt and similar have over skype, they all seem to be the same deal to me?

Eastcard link:

http://www.idteurope.com/phonecards/phoneCards.asp?country=Denmark&language=English

Choose your country for correct currency

I noticed that call with to cellphone in Ukraine Eastcard & Voipstunt have similar price, if it is to landline Voipstunt are cheapest.

Voipstunt vs Skype?

Voipstunt wins in lower price or & even free call + better quality to phone according to my experience.

Skype is best at peer to peer call (between 2 computers)

regards Lars

[BC]

www.dualtalk.com has been good for many of our calls.  We now use a local LD provider that has cheaper rates but it is only good for calls originating in some European countries.

[KyivTrip]

From the US, you must dial 011 380 (2 digit city code or cell code) xxx-xxxx.

In Ukraine you dial 80(2 digit city or cell code) xxx-xxxx

I got fed up with calling cards and dialing all the access numbers just to get no connection or a bad connection. I also tried a VoIP service with better success but have been using 3U Telecom and it has been much better and not too expensive.

http://www.3utelecom.com

The telephone service in Ukraine leaves something to be desired.

David

 

 

 

[scottpull]

I always have lousy connections when calling from Albuquerque to  Russia.  I can barely make out what the girl/interpreter is  saying.  Not sure what to do about this.

Do the apartments in FSU generally have internet connection available  that would make bringing a laptop feasible?  I was wondering if  most here just used the internet cafe or tried to do it from their  hotel/apartment.  I guess you'd have to buy the local ISP service  first which sounds like a pain.

[jb]

Scott,

You didn't mention what city you are going to visit so I'll just say; much depends on the "where" in Russia.  High speed internet is still pretty pricy in Russia and dial-up's aren't worth a flyin' flip.  Four, five, or six years ago, an unlimited HS Internet setup was out of reach for the average Russian, running in excess of $100.00+/mo.  The price is now down to about $25/mo, and that's for Moscow.  If your lady friend lives outside Moscow or St. Pete, her apartment building is probably not wired for internet, it may not even be wired for telephone.  Those old buildings built during Soviet days did not have the necessary cable runs built in and phones for the general populace was not common.  Maybe 1 family in 200 had a personal telephone in their home and that was because somebody there worked for the government.   As phone service became more and more available, modifications had to be made to the building itself.  Initally, phones were priced to include those building remodeling jobs.  I can remember when installing a phone used to cost between $300-500 USD, depending on if the building was a standard Soviet style 5 story, or one of the newer 15 story high rise.

Most folks who have PCs at home go ahead and pay to have the cable installed and then buy Internet cards, much like a phone card, and use them very sparingly.  The value of the card runs out according to how much bandwidth/download is used.  Sending photos by internet is the most expensive form of use, if using the card system. 

As far as bringing your laptop is concerned, unless the apartment you are planning to rent during your stay offers Inernet Service,  or a hookup is already there, I'd plan on using an Internet Cafe and leave the laptop at home. as it's just another piece of luggage to keep track of on a fairly hectic trip.

I hope this helps you to understand some of what you'll find as you venture into the FSU.

Edit:  I haven't had to use an Internet Cafe in quite awhile, but IIRC, the rates were very reasonable, about 80 Ru./hour, (about $2.25), I'm sure there are some guys here who have more recent experience and can give you more up-to-date pricing.

[supdood]

Last summer, I had such trouble getting through to my friend's cell phone in Ukraine, that I later celebrated it by putting this phrase on a coffee mug, part of a set of mugs with various phrases that I had made for Xmas.  It translates "at the moment, the subscriber cannot receive your call."

 

[Oosik]

use the boss card that was referenced earlier in the thread. It is excellent, and so far, a perfect record. My MCI card usually does not work, but the boss always does.

[LarsXYZ]

I also tried a VoIP service with better success but have been using 3U Telecom and it has been much better and not too expensive. http://www.3utelecom.com

I'm surprised, that calls inside the US isn't for free (at least with 3utelecom).

Where I live, calls inside the country is for free (first hour)

regards Lars