What about making calls to local or internation mobile phones, are they included in the $20 plan?

Could it be your end that's having the trouble with java?
What browser and java are you using?
Microsoft java used by IE isn't that great, better to get the one from Sun...

On the $20 Lingo plan, calls to US and Canadian mobiles are free.

Calls to European mobiles are freakin' expensive, though no more expensive than anybody else. The problem is with the European mobile phone operators charging for access to their network, not Lingo.

TF: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp that's a link for java

It's a lot more stable and handy to have...

am I right in thinking this plan is $20 a month and you can call unlimited minutes to England.......I am paying about $200 a month in phone bills

Holy Moses! $200 means you need to do something quick!

We'll probably need some info to help...
Who are you using for phone service at at the moment?
Do you have a separate LD provider?
Have you got internet broadband? If so, is it DSL or cable?

Thanks to all who PM'd me, I have a winner and have replied to them via PM

I have cable internet and think we use verizon for phone line....the cable is comcast

If you are prepared to sacrifice a small loss in quality and reliability for a $20/month phone bill to include the whole of the USA, Canada and Western Europe (but not European cell phones!), go for it. www.lingo.com. Request a referral from this site to save yourself $25 in 90 days time. I like the competition we just had, but if you can't be bothered with that, just PM me or anybody else who uses Lingo here!

Yes, it costs me more to call my brother on his mobile in the UK than on his mobile in Egypt.

I figure these UK mobile companies spent so much money on those ridiculously expensive licenses in that auction back in 2000 that they'll have to gouge customers for the next 25 years to make their money back.

A few things to remember about VOIP:

-if your power is out, no phone service. Not true with traditional phones.
-911 service is very problematic. They are supposed to file your address and tel# with 911 but its not always done correctly. So if you dial 911 they may not know your location

I just got Vonage installed and made my first call to the UK. Quality was surprisingly good. I would say about 90% the quality of a regular line. I also set up "virtual numbers" in Calgary and London, which is a pretty cool feature. And for the time being I'm entertained by the novelty of having voicemail emailed to me (I'm sure that novelty will wear off).

I did want Lingo but their online ordering kept throwing up error pages...gave up and got a Vonage box from Staples. Vonage isn't as cheap as Lingo; still, better than what I was paying.

One thing I didn't think of beforehand was the limitation of only having one socket...which meant another couple hundred dollars on a cordless phone and a few additional handsets to put around the house. Which brings me on to another thing: why are US phones so ugly?

If you've thrown the POTS line, instructions for easily rewiring the house are here.

Thanks, it was interesting -- it even sent me foraging around outside (in the freezing rain) for the telephone box! I couldn't find it, and because I'm in a new townhouse complex I suspect all the houses share a single box. I will do more foraging in the light of day tomorrow.

goodluck