I just received a notice from Crystal Voice Live saying that their service will terminate on 01 Aug 07.
Having tried both Crystal Voice and Skype, I felt Crystal Voice was the better of the two, but that's life.losfrailes - 4-10-2007 at 06:14 PM
Well that is a shame. You must use up your minutes by 1 Aug or lose them. Any subscription fees were posted as plus minutes and they will not refund
any amounts.
Vonage is in trouble too. A federal court ruled they violated Verizon patents.JZ - 4-10-2007 at 09:33 PM
Skype is the only way to go.
Alternatives
MrBillM - 4-11-2007 at 07:56 AM
Once Crystal Voice disappears, the alternatives seem to be either Skype or Google Talk.
During the time period I had both Crystal Voice and Skype working on my Hughesnet (Direcway) system, I found that the CV connection quality was
consistently superior and, as a result, I allowed the Skype account with a credit balance to lapse. Of course, it's possible that the overall quality
has improved since then. It appears that I'll find out.
Until now, I hadn't heard anything of Google Talk. Has anyone had any experience with that service ? Good or Bad ?
Changes, Changes.
This comes on the heels of my having to change out both of my U.S. TDMA accounts because ATT is discontinuing TDMA service to expand their GSM net.
In those cases, I was able to pick up a couple of Refurb CDMA phones on E-Bay and establish two Prepaid accounts. In the past, I had avoided the
Verizon network because of the problems in Baja, but having bought a Telcel GSM Prepaid, that's no longer a factor.
"The Times They Are a Changin" (too much).Pescador - 4-11-2007 at 08:08 AM
I have had Skype and Crystal Voice and with Hughes net system and the sending of voice is the pits with skype. Crystal voice sends and receives very
well but they are going south. Have not had a chance to try google talk as of yet but will have to try it. There was a guy in San Lucas who used
some other program that I think was set up through MSN and he reported very good results. Maybe Los Frailes can shed some light on this program.
I have used Netzero
beercan - 4-11-2007 at 08:11 AM
For over 1&1/2 years and am happy with it !
I have tried Yahoo voice and it seems to be comparable .
Interesting !
MrBillM - 4-11-2007 at 08:38 AM
Awhile back, I had heard that Crystal Voice was being bought out by NetZero and when I later went to the Crystal Voice website, I saw that they were
accepting no new customers and referring everyone to NetZero. However, when I went to the NetZero site (at that time), I found that they were not at
present offering the service.
Although Crystal Voice is now recommending either Google of Skype, as a result of Bob's note, I went to the NetZero site and see that they are
offering a variety of plans, one of which is a pay-as-you-go, but without a monthly charge.
Does Skype not work to call cell phones? I've tried a few time and seem to get a "busy circut" signal. Am I just trying at the wrong time?losfrailes - 4-11-2007 at 11:58 AM
Probably won't work on cell phones. It is, after all, VOIP. Voice over Internet Protocol. I hazard a guess that the cell service is not Internet
related.
Quote:
Originally posted by Debra
Glad this was brought up.
Does Skype not work to call cell phones? I've tried a few time and seem to get a "busy circut" signal. Am I just trying at the wrong time?
Diver - 4-11-2007 at 12:04 PM
Checking the new NetZero sight, they offer connection to cell phones by voip.Bob and Susan - 4-11-2007 at 12:05 PM
cell phones work with vonage internet
i would talk to susan on the way to work on the cell phone
land lines are better but when you
re a "goundpounder" you take what you getlosfrailes - 4-11-2007 at 12:58 PM
My bad. You can call cellphones, I just do not think that you can originate the call via cell.
Please correct my thinking!wornout - 4-11-2007 at 01:28 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by losfrailes
My bad. You can call cellphones, I just do not think that you can originate the call via cell.
Please correct my thinking!
You are correct, but, you can buy a 'SKYPE' phone that will work whenever you are in a 'Wi-Fi' area. No Computer Needed.chuckmccullough - 4-11-2007 at 04:09 PM
You should try Yahoo Voice. PC to PC is free, PC to is very low cost and works well. Phone to PC is less than $2.50 per month. This is all part of
Yahoo Messanger. I've used it for about 1 year and I'm very happy.bajalou - 4-11-2007 at 06:12 PM
I am rather pleased with Gizmo. A FREE US call in number is good. Quality to land lines in the old country is about the same as Skype. But I am able
to connect to some numbers with it that I cannot with Skype.Pescador - 4-11-2007 at 07:23 PM
A lot depends on whether you are using a land line like Prodigy or using satellite like Hughes net or Starband. Skype has always worked well for
downloads on the computer or receiving, but with satellite, it leaves a lot to be desired for uploads or sending. I can hear my phone calls very well
but those on the receiving end of my phone calls could not always hear me and of course it is worse when the bandwith on the satellite is crowded.
Crystal voice took care of that problem and I was very happy with satellite usage, but that one is in the tank.
Now both Netzero and Yahoo are being recommended but is anyone using it specifically with Hughes net or Direcway satellite and if so how is it
working.
I know Bob and Susan are very happy with Vonage but they are subscribing and are happy since they can recieve phonecalls which go to voicemail if
the computer is not on.
I would like to get away from the subscription idea and just pay by the minute for the phone calls I make, which so far looks like Skype and
Netzero.Bob and Susan - 4-11-2007 at 07:33 PM
oh it's not perfect by a long run but...
we get a so california phone number that rings...
calls out are cruddy
calls in are great for us but sometimes cruddy for the caller
wayne...we need a FASTER upload!!!bajadock - 4-12-2007 at 10:01 AM
This thread is one of the many reasons I enjoy BN! So many experiences are willingly shared for those of us who are newer. I'm a 6 month old. There
have been a few other posts on this topic, as communications can be tricky/expensive in Baja.
MSN, Yahoo, Google and Skype are great alternatives to land-line phones.
I use Yahoo Messenger for calls to US/Canada at $.01/minute anytime via internet. Quality in/out is great with an inexpensive headset/mic. There
was no setup fee.
Just got a San Diego area code phone# via Yahoo. You can choose an area code from just about any city in US. Free voice mail also comes with this
service. Getting the US# costs $30/year, but, my friends and family can catch me without cost to them.
Vonage ??
MrBillM - 4-12-2007 at 11:29 AM
Today's news included the resignation of Vonage's Chief Exec and noted that the "Troubled" network would be announcing a Major (numbers unspecified)
Layoff soon.
Speaking of NetZero, I do have a friend who is using it via HughesNet and is satisfied with the service.Bob and Susan - 4-12-2007 at 11:34 AM
oh oh
time to go shoppingRiom - 4-12-2007 at 08:22 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by MrBillM
Once Crystal Voice disappears, the alternatives seem to be either Skype or Google Talk.
There are also lots and lots of other VOIP companies. As Lou says, one of the best (no monthly fees) is Gizmo Project. Although they charge for
incoming numbers, you can get a FREE washington state incoming number from ipkall.com and point it to the Gizmo Project account instead. In other
words, standard incoming US phone number rings on your computer anywhere, free.
Freedigits.net give you a free incoming Iowa number and have reasonable outbound rates, again no monthly fee.
The one I use as my main line is voipfone.co.uk, which gives me a British phone number (I get many calls from there), plus an ipkall.com Washington
number pointing to the same account, no monthly fees and around 2c/min to call US/Can/Europe. Best of all it's free calling to/from my family on the
same network (and Gizmo) so I usually end up with monthly phone bills of a dollar or less.
For Canadians, vbuzzer.com gives you a Toronto incoming number for a couple of dollars a month.
These voip companies I've used with non-satellite systems, so you'd need to see how they work for you on a particular setup. Best to try several that
have no monthly fees. (I also use a hardware adapter that plugs into the router so that I can use a normal phone without the computer being on, makes
this much more practical and lower power).
About the only one I'd now avoid is Skype - it's a proprietary system that doesn't work with anything else, and they have been making radical changes
to their billing at short notice.bajalou - 4-12-2007 at 08:35 PM
Gizmo Project set me up with a free Nevada number for inbound calls, ringing on my computer. If I don't answer, you can leave a voice mail and I get
a immediate Email with your message as a .wav file that I can listen to by just opening.
