Telecommunication with those back home - options

[Lee]

Hi all!

I wonder if anyone can advise me through their experiences what is the best and most cost effective form of communicating with with all our loved ones back home - I know of Skype, Net2Phone, ICQ, AIM and MSN, but don't know what the differences are between them, the costs involved to phone from Perth to Cape Town and how they work? Can anybody shed some light on this?

Many thanks

Lee

[Pippa]

Dear Lee,

You will note that I've moved your post to a more suitable sub-forum.

Unfortunately, I am not that familiar with all the different “chat tools”, but I use Skype to chat with some of the forum members and it really works well.

Have a great weekend!

Pippa

[Dedrei]

Hi Lee

The cheapest why to phone them is probably over skype, msn messenger and all those other internet chat thingy's. If you have familly in SA that still have dialup internet - you might have a big problem. Cause the connection is so slow it is really frustrating to talk to them like this.

We know use phone cards that you buy at your local news agent here in Aus. There is lots of different once. We use Daybreak for fixed line phone calls and Happy for mobile phone phone calls.

Cheers

Here is another link to VOIP (calls over internet)

http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php?showtopic=51

[chatterbug]

Hi Lee we use phone cards to phone home to SA and any other country.

Someone we know who is quite clued up with these types of things, told us that he did the whole comparison thing and found the Supersaver phonecard (I see you are still in SA - I'm sure you'll get something if you search for it on Google) that you can purchase at any Coles store (like a Pick and Pay) to be the best. Since then we only use these. You get them in different denominations $10, $20 and $50 and with the latter you get $5 extra value ($55 total). You can also then reorder and top up from the internet with supersaver VIP. By all means do your own comparo but we thought it would take to much time and schlepp! Phoning from our normal Optus landline is just not a viable option.

Phone BUG

Edited July 16, 2006 by chatterbug

[Barnone]

We used "Skype" both to and from Australia during our LSD earlier this year with great results.

We logged over 19 hrs during the +/- 2 weeks we were there & had skype accounts set up at the office & home so we could keep in touch with office & kids (even my 6 yr old can use it now !).

As noted above if a dial up connection is involved on either end you will be disappointed, so if this is the case, rather use the "Skype Out" function(you need to purchase 10 euros min. credit which must be used within 6 months of purchase), which we also found worked really well & the rates were pretty good ... dare I say better than the pre paid rates ...well peak time ones anyway, rememeber "Skype Out" bills according to where you are calling TO not FROM so calls TO South Africa landlines cost AUD 0.101 & Mobile AUD 0.347 per min. interestingly calls TO Australia are even cheaper Australia landline AUD 0.031 & Mobile AUD 0.304 (I think Telkoms monopoly pricing policies even stretch into the realm of VOIP !)

The other good thing with "skype out" is that you can get an itemised bill at the end of the month

happy chatting

Edited July 16, 2006 by Barnone

[Danie]

Hi,

Our folks back home are 'technology challenged' and we have to refer back to old trusty phone!

We have a phone service with AAPT and international calls are capped at $1.98/30min. This has worked the best for us.

However if we have to phone to a mobile in RSA we also use Supersaver Phone card.

Regards,

D

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi,

Like Danie, we are also on the AAPT plan, and it works fabulously! You pay $129 and get $1000 worth of call credit on the maximum plan. Lots of time to talk to the family! Unfotunately it does not cover international mobile numbers.

Greetings,

Dreamy

[Annette]

Hi Julle,

The TopCall phone card costs 4c / min to call South Africa. It's a 24 hour rate and no connection fees...

I've given up on trying to get our family onto Skype or MSN... it's a lost cause - pure laziness if you ask me!

[Riekie]

This was discussed on the Today Show this morning and I thought id would be nice to know. (Courtesy of Today Show)

IT factsheet - July 17

Broadband Internet

Navigating the Web or Internet now is fairly easy the hard part is finding the right Internet plan at the right price. There are so many plans and types of connections, which one do you choose? Charlie sorts this out with an easy breakdown of usage type.

Types of connections

Connection to the Internet now has a number of options. You can choose to connect to the Internet through broadband access via ADSL, satellite or cable, or wireless. In the early stages of the Internet, we used a connection called dial-up using the home telephone line plus a modem.

This process was slow, but we didn't know any better, plus it was all new back then. The negative with using dial-up access is that there is a limited data transfer rate, it is of poor quality and has a much slower connection to the Internet.

Since 2000, broadband has become available and the reasons for using it over dial-up are faster connection, being able to download large files (this means being able to transfer music, software, or videos files easily) and a constant connection to the Net. These days it's also comparable in price to using dial-up. Unlike dial-up, which requires you to make a telephone call each time you hook up to the Internet, broadband means you are always hooked up to the Net.

Measurement used for the amount of data that can be transferred is in kbps, which stands for thousands of bits per second. It is an expression of measurement of bandwidth.

So which plan is right for you?

Broadband Internet is a nightmare. There are numerous questions to answer such as which plan to choose? What is the best way to get connected? What is wireless? What will it cost? How don't I get ripped off and why do I need all this anyway? Charlie navigates you through your worst nightmare in a simple solution since choosing a mobile phone plan.

One of the first decisions to be made is what kind of connection you want. This will be determined due to a number of factors including usage, budget, and where you live (either metropolitan or regional).

Types of broadband to be discussed ADSL and wireless

Things to note about Charlie's discussion:

When discussing broadband Internet access on the Today show Charlie only talks about plans and services that allow users to make calls over the internet (VOIP) and are fixed cost services.

VOIP: all the broadband Internet access methods discussed on the Today show allows users to make phone calls over the Internet (VOIP).

Fixed cost broadband service: all the companies discussed on the Today provide a fixed cost service. This means that if you download more data in a month than your plan allows, your download speed slows instead of your monthly cost increasing.

Who are you and why are you using broadband?

1. Students and recent 'nest' leavers
   
   • 18-30 year-old living out of home and on a tight budget.
     
   • Want broadband to read the papers, e-mail, messaging, and talking to friends via Skype.
     
   • Low monthly usage.
     

Charlie recommends flicking your home phone line, and moving to a wireless Internet service for between $30 and $50 a month. No home phone means no monthly line rental fees, which equals savings. Wireless broadband services are still rolling out across Australia and if the service is available in your area it's worth a look.

Services are available in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Gold Coast, Brisbane and some regional locations, with Adelaide and Perth coming online soon.

[*]Families at home

• Four to five people in the household.
  
• Heavy users of broadband as the family has multiple members at school or university and has multiple PCs in use.
  
• Family is planning to use the Internet to make phone calls, as well as play games, regular Web surfing, e-mail etc
  
• High monthly usage.
  

Charlie recommends you go with an ADSL 2+ connection. Visit www.whirlpool.net.au. Here you can type in your phone number and research the different plans and prices that are available to you. With an ADSL 2+ service your whole family can be using the one Internet connection at the same time and still receive fast access speeds.

ADSL 2+ is the newest and fastest way to access the internet and the prices are no more expensive than standard broadband ADSL services. Expect to pay between $60 and $90 a month depending on the volume of data you want to use.

[*]Travellers/business users

• Only one user.
  
• Light use, but from multiple points of access (airport, home, office etc).
  
• Uses the Internet for phone calls, e-mail, Web surfing and accessing the office company's network.
  

Charlie recommends a wireless service such as iBurst. You simply clip in the wireless modem and log on to the broadband service. After clicking two buttons you are online. Expect to pay about $50 a month and $250 for the modem.

[*]Older Internet users

• First-time accessing the Internet.
  
• Potentially accessing the Internet on an older computer.
  
• Light use.
  

When recommending an ISP for older Australians a strong customer service record is the most critical factor. Most ISPs have locally based call centres, but some companies are more resourced to offer patient, guided service to non-savvy computer users.

The future of broadband

A few initiatives at the moment for the future of connection to the Net are:

1. Broadband delivered via the power lines there is currently a trial underway in Tasmania. Results will be known soon.
   
2. Wimax; wireless Internet access much like what is available today, however much faster. This service is not looking to role out until next year.
   
3. Fibre to the node network; currently Telstra and the telecommunications industry is in discussions about the construction of a new 'super fast' Internet network that involves the roll out of optical fibre cabling into the streets of Australia's suburbs. After much discussion and grandstanding no clear direction has taken shape about a fibre to the node plan for Australia.