OH flys out to Melbourne tonight, he has a job that gives him a laptop but with limited personal use to the internet.

So we were just wondering how easy is it to find and be able to use skype in an internet cafe, until he can sort out personal internet.

thanks for reading and helping us out.

Pretty easy...

If it is to call home I would suggest trying to get something like a lebara sim card as these give v.cheap international calls from a mobile (he will need an unlocked mobile phone and these are not to expensive if he doesn't have one already). Maybe better than talking from an internet cafe... I think phones 4u sell them, or if in the CBD check out some of the shops on Lonsdale/Swanston Street intersections..

Can't you ask his employer for a bit of grace time to use skype only until he's sorted with internet himself? No harm n asking?

ok, thanks for quick reply....he's got his Iphone unlocked.

next question then, is the v.cheap phone calls home to a land line?

Thanks.

Hi,

Yes he will ask, but just seeking out other options. Just incase they say no.

As up until last Friday, in last job, no one was allowed on FB.

skype tp skype is free so why worry

Yep and its not quite so cheap to uk mobiles but still not too bad...

He could also consider getting a 3 sim in Australia and using skype on his Iphone with a data pack (not quite so good a solution as lebara etc. but means he can use the internets as well.) He can also use part of the cap to call back to the uk..

If he hes a proper address and bank account pennysim from pennytel is very good as it does 8c untimed calls back to the UK.

Hope it helps...

Skype to Skype uses data however (which has a cost) and is often viewed as a security risk by many IT departments and often blocked...

Quite right never thought of that

Hi ya

If he's got Skype on his iphone then he just needs to get a whizzy new gadget out on the market. It's a pay-as-you-go mobile wifi. I think it's just Virgin who do it over here at the moment but I saw it in Dick Smiths just before we went back to the UK so I wondered if they did them in the UK.

Anyway, only 3 do them in the UK at the moment so we got one and it was wonderful! We did have a dongle but then kept fighting over the laptop to use the internet but with this you can operate upto 5 wifi items on it, you can use it in the car - wherever! Absolutely brilliant device! We then got in touch with 3 and they unlocked it for 15 quid so when we got to Singapore we bought a local datapack for it and saved us $20 a day in hotel internet charges.

So even if he gets a local sim card with a datapack you need wireless to operate Skype. The other alternative is to hang out in McD's a lot!

KK

I second that, we've been using the lebara mobile simcard to phone home for months now and it's soooo cheap! The beauty of it as opposed to skype or other methods is that it can be carried around and used whenever...you're not limited to using it in a wifi zone or anything....

Is there a "use it or loose it" with credit on this lebra card like some others?

We move over in Oct and are looking at this and internet options (needed for international work) for in our rental which we have for 6 months. We use skype just now and it is good but can cut out a lot.

Just checked their FAQ - 90 days, so it's very good...

http://www.lebara-mobile.com.au/en/faq.php

Thanks everyone for you help and information.

OH lands early Tuesdsay morning OZ time, I'll tell him to check this thread out.
he has to go to CBD on wed to sort out bank etc, so he should sort out mobile and internet while there.

I have the Virgin mifi one and second that, its great! Used it as our personal broadband until we got our home phone sorted out. $150 which includes 5Gb of data (a lot) but only for the first month (still I managed to use it up but it took some effort). I used it for skype and got good call quality. Got it from Dick Smith, Link

Another option is a Pennytel SIMM straight into his mobile, seems to be 43c per min to call the UK (landlines and mobiles), so quite a bit more than skype but maybe an easy option http://www.pennytel.com.au/Mobile-Ph...all-Rates.aspx