Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Feb 18th 2006, 10:48 pm
#16
oneday someday
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 102
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Originally Posted by Paul&Nic
I've used Skype on 2 occasions. Only 'my' experience but it wasn't very good, and there was tons of echo both ways. EVERYONE was using Broadband, but aadmittedlyI was using 'mic & speakers' and I've been told this might be the problem ?!?
Crazy bit was we could get the odd call from UK - Israel clear, yet EVERY time it was from UK - UK we got the echo ...
Crazy bit was we could get the odd call from UK - Israel clear, yet EVERY time it was from UK - UK we got the echo ...
Feb 18th 2006, 11:56 pm
#17
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Sydney
Posts: 1,628
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
We've been using it to call the UK since we set up our broadband. Its always worked fine and we haven't spent very much of the £5 I put on it. The only problem has been a delay when calling a mobile but the same has happened using the landline so I assume its not Skype.
We've also set up a SkypeIn number so people in the UK can call us on it and not pay international charges (i.e. grandparents) but they have only just received the letters with the number so no one has called us yet.
We've also set up a SkypeIn number so people in the UK can call us on it and not pay international charges (i.e. grandparents) but they have only just received the letters with the number so no one has called us yet.
Feb 19th 2006, 12:39 am
#18
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Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Sunshine Coast
Posts: 126
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Originally Posted by halcyon 52
Hi all.
I ring Spain and Australia a couple of times a month and it puts around £40.00 a quarter on the bill (its the Spain mobile pushing it up!!).
Just downloaded Skype and am waiting for headset. Skype to Skype is free and Skype out is 1p a minut to Australia and 22p a minute to most mobiles in other countries.
Is any one using Skype and are there any downsides such as making your computer sluggish e.t.c when making a call ? - cheers James.
I ring Spain and Australia a couple of times a month and it puts around £40.00 a quarter on the bill (its the Spain mobile pushing it up!!).
Just downloaded Skype and am waiting for headset. Skype to Skype is free and Skype out is 1p a minut to Australia and 22p a minute to most mobiles in other countries.
Is any one using Skype and are there any downsides such as making your computer sluggish e.t.c when making a call ? - cheers James.
Feb 19th 2006, 7:50 am
#19
Going for a ride
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Monbulk, Victoria.
Posts: 2,838
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
I'm over in Melbourne at the moment, and the appartment I am staying in has broadband, so I have been calling the family a couple of times a day in Holand, and also the rest of the family in the UK. I have used Skype to call pc's, land line phones & mobiles.
The pc line can sometimes deteriorate, but as previously said, just hang up and call again. My experience calling normal phones is excellent and cheap. Calling to a mobile is also very good, but not as cheap.
Call quality very good to either pc, land phone or mobile.
The pc line can sometimes deteriorate, but as previously said, just hang up and call again. My experience calling normal phones is excellent and cheap. Calling to a mobile is also very good, but not as cheap.
Call quality very good to either pc, land phone or mobile.
Feb 19th 2006, 8:37 am
#20
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Thread Starter
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Location: Neither here nor there.
Posts: 278
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Thanks for all your info.
I have ordered a bluetooth headset so I can go anywhere in the house and will not be tied to the computer as that could be a problem - will see how well it works - cheers James.
I have ordered a bluetooth headset so I can go anywhere in the house and will not be tied to the computer as that could be a problem - will see how well it works - cheers James.
Feb 19th 2006, 8:49 am
#21
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Location: Bayside Brisbane
Posts: 20,647
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Originally Posted by halcyon 52
Hi all.
I ring Spain and Australia a couple of times a month and it puts around £40.00 a quarter on the bill (its the Spain mobile pushing it up!!).
Just downloaded Skype and am waiting for headset. Skype to Skype is free and Skype out is 1p a minut to Australia and 22p a minute to most mobiles in other countries.
Is any one using Skype and are there any downsides such as making your computer sluggish e.t.c when making a call ? - cheers James.
I ring Spain and Australia a couple of times a month and it puts around £40.00 a quarter on the bill (its the Spain mobile pushing it up!!).
Just downloaded Skype and am waiting for headset. Skype to Skype is free and Skype out is 1p a minut to Australia and 22p a minute to most mobiles in other countries.
Is any one using Skype and are there any downsides such as making your computer sluggish e.t.c when making a call ? - cheers James.
I also use SkypeOut which is cheaper than any phone service I've found (though our service with AAPT is 18c a minute, capped at $1.98 for 30 minutes)
Feb 19th 2006, 1:39 pm
#22
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Tyneside
Posts: 81
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Ok I have'nt got SKYPE as yet I understand you can download it but do you have to open an account with them and pay a fee ? 
Feb 19th 2006, 1:48 pm
#23
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Lancashire UK
Posts: 32
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Hi
i don't use skype but use Voipcheap with a usb phone which gives free calls to oz and few other places.
i don't use skype but use Voipcheap with a usb phone which gives free calls to oz and few other places.
Feb 19th 2006, 2:35 pm
#24
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
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Posts: 28,176
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Originally Posted by OBI WAN
Ok I have'nt got SKYPE as yet I understand you can download it but do you have to open an account with them and pay a fee ?
No it's free
Feb 19th 2006, 2:54 pm
#25
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Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Originally Posted by OBI WAN
Ok I have'nt got SKYPE as yet I understand you can download it but do you have to open an account with them and pay a fee ?
If you want to dial out you use a pay as you go type system putting £10.00 or so into your account and using it until the credits gone.
You can subsribe and get a skype number although this is probably not worth it for most people.
Go to skype.com for info - cheers James.
Feb 21st 2006, 12:57 am
#26
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Joined: Mar 2005
Location: here
Posts: 1,728
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Originally Posted by halcyon 52
Hi all.
I ring Spain and Australia a couple of times a month and it puts around £40.00 a quarter on the bill (its the Spain mobile pushing it up!!).
Just downloaded Skype and am waiting for headset. Skype to Skype is free and Skype out is 1p a minut to Australia and 22p a minute to most mobiles in other countries.
Is any one using Skype and are there any downsides such as making your computer sluggish e.t.c when making a call ? - cheers James.
I ring Spain and Australia a couple of times a month and it puts around £40.00 a quarter on the bill (its the Spain mobile pushing it up!!).
Just downloaded Skype and am waiting for headset. Skype to Skype is free and Skype out is 1p a minut to Australia and 22p a minute to most mobiles in other countries.
Is any one using Skype and are there any downsides such as making your computer sluggish e.t.c when making a call ? - cheers James.
Hi I used Skype for a while, but found that my connection was never reliable.. it would go quiet or crackly fairly regularly.. Another problem is that no-one can call if your computer is off...
If you are calling abroad from the UK then look into www.chapercallrate.com as this is what we set up.
Basically you go to their website, enter a foreign number with all relevant dialling codes, and they instantly substitute that number for a uk based lo-call number. You can then give that out to your uk based family and friends and they only get charged (in the case of Australia) 2p per minute. The cost of the call just ends up on your BT bill as usual.
Sounds too good to be true? Maybe, but it does work as my family have been using it to ring me for the last 6 months!
The same process can be used to call anywhere in the world...
Steve
Feb 21st 2006, 2:17 am
#27
Now A UK Ozzie
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Mount Coolum
Posts: 19
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
Originally Posted by jas_uk
Just to clarify, the peer to peer backend is only for location of users; once you make a call you are directly connected (well, via the internet routers obviously) to the person you are calling, so your call isnt piggy backed at all. Its based on Gnutella; written by the same people in fact.
Also, yes it will work on a 56k but the latency is higher, this is as the equipment providing you the 56k connection is quite a bit further away in network hop terms from the large carriers than most broadband connections. So calling someone on broadband when you are on 56k and vice versa can have (more of) a delay between you speaking and them hearing.
Also, yes it will work on a 56k but the latency is higher, this is as the equipment providing you the 56k connection is quite a bit further away in network hop terms from the large carriers than most broadband connections. So calling someone on broadband when you are on 56k and vice versa can have (more of) a delay between you speaking and them hearing.
Feb 21st 2006, 3:21 am
#28
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Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Sydney but also lived in Melbourne
Posts: 221
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
We use Skype and it is fantastic and really clear. We bought about 5 phones for rellies before we left and set them all up so now we call for free. We got some cheap telephone-like handsets for about 20 pounds and they works really well.
Feb 21st 2006, 3:22 am
#29
life begins again...
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: doncaster..then scunny... now canberra.
Posts: 1,790
Re: Anyone using Skype to phone Australia
i tried them all when i first arrived. we didn't have much luck with skype as it kept dropping the connection ever few mins. this got very painful! the quality wasn't that great either. i know poeple who use it all the time but it's not something that's impressed me that much.
my folks use these guys to call me over the landline... http://www.telestunt.co.uk/ they're dirt cheap - the quality isn't crystal but it's 90% there.
as i haven't found anything similar to call them with, it means they call me all the time. (added bonus)... i must remember to have a look one day. 
my folks use these guys to call me over the landline... http://www.telestunt.co.uk/ they're dirt cheap - the quality isn't crystal but it's 90% there.
as i haven't found anything similar to call them with, it means they call me all the time.
(added bonus)... i must remember to have a look one day.
