Skype Alternative Needed
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 659
Likes: 16
From: Lost, but often Indonesia
Skype alternative
Hi all,
Skype has become unuseable and is challenging my sanity. Slow, buggy and crashing..
Anybody have suggestions for a VOIP app please?
Infrequently I need to call a landline and Skype used to work fine, no longer..
Skype has become unuseable and is challenging my sanity. Slow, buggy and crashing..
Anybody have suggestions for a VOIP app please?
Infrequently I need to call a landline and Skype used to work fine, no longer..
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 154
Likes: 198
From: England
Desktop or mobile, and do you already have an account you need it to work with?
Voipfone work alright for me, I mostly use a hardware phone but their soft phone mobile app worked in India. They will steal your money if you leave the account idle (but then so do most PAYG telcos).
Voipfone work alright for me, I mostly use a hardware phone but their soft phone mobile app worked in India. They will steal your money if you leave the account idle (but then so do most PAYG telcos).
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2001
Aviation Qualifications: PPL
Posts: 8,121
Likes: 686
From: Twickenham, home of rugby
Where are you normally based? Wherever that is, I would look at VoIP providers local to you that provide a soft phone client.
A UK-based VoIP provider will expect a UK address for billing and emergency call location (this may not be insurmountable, but was something I came across last year). Of course, once up and running, you can access the service when outside the country, but for setup you probably need to go with a local provider.
SD
A UK-based VoIP provider will expect a UK address for billing and emergency call location (this may not be insurmountable, but was something I came across last year). Of course, once up and running, you can access the service when outside the country, but for setup you probably need to go with a local provider.
SD
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 215
Likes: 65
From: Canada
Skype Alternative Needed
Can anyone help. I recently discovered that Skype has gone from a pay as you go service, whereby one could periodically top up their account, to a monthly subscription service. For our 1 or 2 week trips to Europe, a monthly subscription isn't necessary as I only used Skype infrequently when overseas to, for instance, make a restaurant reservation or to perhaps let a hotel know that we were arriving late, etc. Back here at home, I found Skype to be very useful if calling to Europe to arrange a trip or organise a hotel reservation - I don't mind being placed on hold for a period of time when the call only costs pennies per minute. Whatsapp popped up immediately as an excellent alternative, but I do try to keep some of the more loathsome techbros like Zuckerberg out of my life and off of my devices. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good alternative to Skype?
Joined: Sep 2009
Aviation Qualifications: Spotter
Posts: 11,983
Likes: 110
From: UK
Used to use Skype during overseas trips the same as you however after lockdown eased I use WhatsApp if available or I use a esim that covers Europe and charges at local rates. To be honest I find I can get away with not making voice calls everywhere I go....
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/what-is-an-esim/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/what-is-an-esim/
Joined: Jan 2008
Aviation Qualifications: SLF
Posts: 1,025
Likes: 1,070
From: Australia
Can anyone help. I recently discovered that Skype has gone from a pay as you go service, whereby one could periodically top up their account, to a monthly subscription service. For our 1 or 2 week trips to Europe, a monthly subscription isn't necessary as I only used Skype infrequently when overseas to, for instance, make a restaurant reservation or to perhaps let a hotel know that we were arriving late, etc. Back here at home, I found Skype to be very useful if calling to Europe to arrange a trip or organise a hotel reservation - I don't mind being placed on hold for a period of time when the call only costs pennies per minute. Whatsapp popped up immediately as an excellent alternative, but I do try to keep some of the more loathsome techbros like Zuckerberg out of my life and off of my devices. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good alternative to Skype?
Drain Bamaged
Joined: Mar 2000
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 569
Likes: 107
From: Earth
Joined: Jan 2008
Aviation Qualifications: SLF
Posts: 1,025
Likes: 1,070
From: Australia
Psychophysiological entity
Joined: Jun 2001
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 3,383
Likes: 169
From: Walton on the Naze Essex.
I'm indebted to Skype because of the hours I spent talking from Texas to Ireland to a fellow budding author. Many, many hours over a few years. However, I'm getting a lot of crashes while using Skype that need a full restart and reload of Skype. Not quite exclusive to Skype, but almost. It's a @$^@$#%^$ nuisance.
For telephoning, 6 quid a month used to give me the US, where a phone is a phone, on your desk or in yer pocket, but in the UK, Skype would not call a mobile. I now pay a couple of quid to dial land-lines in the UK, though mostly because I need headphones on my PC. Basic cyber-video calling, is, and always was, free.
I don't like What'sApp. I don't know why, but I can't make simple calls with it. If it's on my phone lists, it'll work on my PC, but try as I may, I can't seem to simply dial a new person from my PC. I fear it might be ageing neurons rather than motherboards.
For telephoning, 6 quid a month used to give me the US, where a phone is a phone, on your desk or in yer pocket, but in the UK, Skype would not call a mobile. I now pay a couple of quid to dial land-lines in the UK, though mostly because I need headphones on my PC. Basic cyber-video calling, is, and always was, free.
I don't like What'sApp. I don't know why, but I can't make simple calls with it. If it's on my phone lists, it'll work on my PC, but try as I may, I can't seem to simply dial a new person from my PC. I fear it might be ageing neurons rather than motherboards.
Joined: Jan 2008
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 38
Likes: 62
From: The Smaller Antipode
WTF did Microsoft get their hands on Skype ? No problems before they did. I'm not going to "join" their monthly sub. scam. Thanks for the Viber tip, will investigate.
Paid...Persona Grata
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 241
Likes: 22
From: Between BHX and EMA
I've been using Messenger for a good while now (3-4 years) for 2-3 times weekly 2-hour chats with a friend. It has to be set up at both ends - I use a Windows 10 laptop and she uses an iPad or iPhone, whichever is working. Seems all right and it's free, and I even managed to show some of my films to her over it. She sets it up at the appropriate time and I call her on video, but if I call her at random time, and she is in transit, as long as she has the phone turned on she gets a notification and can answer.
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 2,412
Likes: 17
From: Delta of Venus
Because the people that owned it before sold it/out for a lot of money? That's usually the way enterprise works unfortunately. On a much larger scale Thatcher put the UK up for sale, and it is now reaping the "benefits"...............