Getting wifi phone service on Android outside USA.

June 11, 2010 10:26 AM

I need a way to make phone calls via wifi with my Droid Incredible while out of the country.

I'll soon be traveling to Costa Rica with my Verizon Wireless HTC Android Incredible smart phone. I'd like be able to make and receive calls via the wifi function of my phone. I'm pretty sure my 3G network will not work there, and even if it did, the roam would be something terrible.

I know that Skype does not allow you to use their app via wifi. I've heard of a couple of other apps like Fring and SipDroid, but I have no idea how that works, or if it would work while outside the USA.

The solution doesn't have to be free. It would be nice, but I certainly do intend to pay for my minutes used.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

posted by Jackie_Treehorn to technology (8 answers total)

I don't have an Android phone, so I can't test this out for you... But Fring does seem to be what you're looking for. They have a very good website. As far as I can tell, it does work over wifi (so it shouldn't matter what country you're in), and it *does* have a Skype plugin, so you should be able to use your existing Skype account over Wifi too. Download and install the app, mess around with it, it can't hurt right? :)
posted by antifuse at 10:58 AM on June 11, 2010

And specifically - read around on their website, there's a lot of info there... The Add-on page explains pretty well how to register any add-ons (like the Skype one, for example).
posted by antifuse at 11:01 AM on June 11, 2010

is the skype not allowing to use their app wifi a droid thing? i was in costa rica in january and able to make calls back to the US on skype using hotel wifi on my iphone.
posted by raw sugar at 11:13 AM on June 11, 2010

I think you've got that backwards. Stock Skype is wifi only on most phones.
posted by mhoye at 11:37 AM on June 11, 2010

Raw Sugar,

I would appear so. I read the reviews on the Android Marketplace and they specifically say they Skype does not use the wifi. Seems Verizon wants every penny from you. I didn't even bother downloading the app.
posted by Jackie_Treehorn at 11:38 AM on June 11, 2010

I've used Sipdroid a few times on both a Dev Phone 1 and a Nexus One, and it's always worked well. You'll have to pair it with an account with a third party voip provider (I use Gizmo5), but anything based on SIP should work fine.

That said, I've never used it as a primary means of making or receiving calls, so there may be some caveats that I'm not aware of.
posted by SemiSophos at 11:43 AM on June 11, 2010

antifuse and semisophos...I've tried both Fring paired with a Skype account and SipDroid paired with a Gizmo5 account on my Nexus One, and in both cases the call quality is mediocre at best. Is that par for the course or am I doing something wrong?
posted by randomstriker at 1:06 PM on June 11, 2010

Yes, the official skype app only works over 3G, as retarded as that sounds. I've been trying to figure out the answer to this question as well b/c a friend is loaning me their DROID (w/o voice service) and I want to give it a whirl.

It does not appear to be an easily solved problem, but I will check out the above recommendation as well.

It appears that Fring will only make calls if it is set up with a SIP account or a Skype Out settings (although I'm not sure how that would technically be possible on Android w/ the 3G restriction for Skype; what would be the point?)
posted by reddot at 2:42 PM on June 11, 2010