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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Life With Skype

Two weeks ago I cancelled my long distance plan and switched to Skype. I’m using the SMC Skype WiFi Phone for voice calls and I have a Logitech webcam for video conferencing. Everything works well with the SMC and it has about the same range as my cordless phone. I’ve made calls while streaming video and haven’t experienced any degradation in call quality. Since Skype is an investor in FON the SMC phone has the added advantage of working at all FON spots or any open WiFi hotspot. The Logitech webcam works well but I won’t win any awards for cinematography. It’s great for letting the kids talk to their grandparents. They (the kids and grandparents) get a real kick out of seeing one another on the screen and Skype to Skype calls are always free!

Skype has a deal for US and Canadian residents; unlimited calls to those countries for $29.95 per year. I was paying over $400.00 a year for unlimited long distance prior to this. I kept my traditional landline because Skype does not offer 911 service. This also allows everyone to continue calling me with no change in phone number. If you’re paying too much for phone calls consider Skype. You can save money and get a cool WiFi SMC Skype phone. After two weeks I can’t figure out why I didn’t do this before.

Posted by Steve Ross on Technology
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Steve,
I'm not sure I understand Skype's plan, maybe you can help.
My understanding is that Skype charges $30 yearly for unlimited calls BUT you still have to pay 4.5c of connection fee for each call. Am I right?
If so that kind of takes away the attraction of such a plan.

If you do as little as 5 calls a day, you end up paying 365*0.05*5=$91.25 of connections fees yearly. Hardly the $30 Skype is so proud of.

I use Voipcheap.com provider and I get 300 free minutes per week to more countries than Skype's unlimited plan includes.
With a simple Linksys WIP300 with Devicescape's firmware it will log in automatically to nearly 20 networks, including FON.
Am I not seeing the benefit of Skype in its entirety?
For Line IN on that Phone I bought a number from Gizmo for $30 yearly, same price as with Skype.

This is an honest question, I just can't see what's so good about Skype's plan.

# 1 | Sent by: Olivier – Saturday, April 14, 2007 (11:22)

Hi Oliver, the 29.95 is the only charge, there is no connection fee. This applies to calls in the USA and Canada. There may be other fees for Europe, I haven't looked into those plans.

# 2 | Sent by: Steve Ross – Sunday, April 15, 2007 (16:58)

Steve I am very confused. Does the SMC Skype/Fon phone work IN Europe TODAY wirelessly (on the move) or not? How many free wireless networks can't it log into because it doesn't have browser capababilities? We are travelling to Europe for 3 1/2 months and need to decide between buying this or a Dopod to access skype. We don't want to spend a fortune on paying for access therefore Cloud is out. Can you help me please?

# 3 | Sent by: Michelle – Thursday, June 21, 2007 (14:15)

Yes, it will work anywhere in the world but you must be at a FONspot or an open wifi access point. You are correct that there is no browser so you can not access points with browser based authentication.

# 4 | Sent by: Steve Ross – Thursday, June 21, 2007 (20:20)

Hi

I am in Europe and I have a SMC skype phone. I have been trying to connect to the open half of my FON spot for three days now... whats the trick ? I can access the private half of my FON spot using the codes and ID, but when I try and connect to the public half the Phone crashes and reboots... This means I can not go out into the wide world and can only use my SMC in my house... Have I missed something ?

Help.

# 5 | Sent by: Jim – Friday, September 7, 2007 (17:55)

Jim- are you using La Fonera or Fonera +?

# 6 | Sent by: ross – Tuesday, September 11, 2007 (02:01)


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