Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with internet and phone

Prepaid iPhone data plan in Mumbai?

jesseendahl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:15 -0800

Hi, I will be living in Mumbai for 11 weeks next summer. I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. What is my best bet in terms of carrier and plan for the cheapest and most reliable data access? I plan to do local calls over the cell phone voice network and international calls via Skype on the iPhone. Thanks in advance!

What are my online phone options in Canada?

smilingtiger — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:11:14 -0800

What are my options for online phones in Canada? I'm in Canada, and I have a cell phone and wireless internet (no router) in my apartment. My cell phone seems to have very little connectivity in my apartment building. (Is this normal, by the way? Should I be looking into getting better connectivity in my building as a solution to this?) I'd like to find a cheap alternative without resorting to a landline. (My only use for it would be to allow my family to contact me from landlines. Otherwise I don't talk on the phone much when I'm at home.)

Previously I used Vonage, but they told me that I can't use it with my wireless internet in my new building so I cancelled my account. I've looked into Skype, but unless I get an "online phone number" from them, people can't call me from landlines, and the online phone number that is available is not Canadian, which I guess means that my family would have to call long distance to another country to reach me.

Is there an option for a Canadian online phone service that won't require my family to download a program or pay long distance charges? (I am technologically illiterate, so if the phrase "online phone service" makes no sense, please substitute the appropriate one.)

Undercharged for DSL and land line. Now what?

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 10:42:29 -0800

Telecom has undercharged me for DSL and land line service the past couple months. Is this going to bite me in the butt? If so, when and how severely? Back in December last year, I signed up for DSL internet service from my local telecom on a "first six months free with two-year commitment" promotion for longtime residential phone service customers. In the spring of this year, before the six months were up, they mistakenly started charging me for DSL, and I had to call them several times to get them to adjust my bill.

They rectified it and then some: since then, they've been crediting me on every billing cycle for more than the amount of the DSL charges, so that my total bill, including land line phone service, has been ridiculously low. The six month free period ended in late June, and I should now be paying around $70.00 per month for the two services. My July bill came last week: the erroneous credit is on it again, and my total amount due is about a dollar.

How likely is it that they'll discover their mistake? If they do, are they likely to bill me for all of the charges I should have been paying during the time they've been crediting me incorrectly? If they do that, do I have any recourse, since it was their error? Should I a) notify them of their error, b) simply start paying what I think I actually owe without comment, or c) continue paying the exact amount they're billing me? Thanks.

Cheap smartphone that will make Skype calls over Wi-Fi?

redteam — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:28:02 -0800

Can anyone recommend a cheap smartphone that can make Skype calls over Wi-Fi? I don't want to use the smartphone on the cell phone network (though I might if I can get a cheap one that will work with AT&T). I just want one that will be able to make and receive Skype calls over my home and office wifi networks. I would prefer that the phone actually run Skype's official software, and not some alternative. Basically, I want a cheaper alternative to one of those Belkin or Netgear wifi phones.

The Skype calls must be able to use the phone's built in microphone and speaker - like a normal phone call. I mention this because some of these phones will run Skype but only with a headset or only over the speakerphone or some nonsense.

I will try and find any recommended phones on Craigslist in Los Angeles, if that matters.

Croatia Online!

benzenedream — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:25:36 -0800

What is the best way to get unlimited net access in Croatia without per minute data charges? We're going to Croatia for a few weeks and will need reliable net access for VPNing back home. I'm fine with paying a bit extra for a temporary DSL/Cable install - we will be staying in a home so mobile access is not necessary. Something faster than 56k modem speed would be preferred.

How do I choose a phone and plan?

kristymcj — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:10:39 -0800

Iphone or Sprint phone? How do I choose and why is this so confusing? My Sprint contract is up in May and I want to upgrade to a phone with internet connectivity so I have a choice:
#1 get a Sprint phone (I think I can get a pretty steep discount since I'm thinking of leaving Sprint after almost 10 years)
#2 get an Iphone (and move to ATT, right?)

Are the Sprint phones anything like as good as an Iphone? I know they don't have the apps, but can you surf comfortably?

It looks like you have to pay $130 a month for the Iphone plan (for sufficient minutes) while with Sprint I can pay $99 for unlimited everything. Is that right or am I missing something?

Is there another plan or phone I should consider? How do other people make this decision?

What's the downside to VOIP?

middleclasstool — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:07:11 -0800

What is the current state of VOIP? VOIP was never an option for us in the past, as it requires an internet connection, and we're on DSL, which until recently required a phone line.

But now AT&T is selling DSL without requiring phone service. Looking at it, I can get our current level of DSL service plus unlimited Vonage phone service (including call waiting/forwarding/id and voicemail) for what we're paying now for just basic phone service (no long distance, we've been using cards since getting burned by a crooked long distance company) + DSL.

But I'm thinking there's a catch. Like bittorrent will kill my phone service (or vice versa), for instance. What are the ugly trade-off realities of going to VOIP for your home phone line?

RCN versus Comcast in DC?

raf — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:43:29 -0800

RCN versus Comcast in DC? I have Comcast cable/phone/internet in DC. I'm tired of paying more and can get RCN for significantly less. Any bad experiences with RCN?

Everybody provides every service now.

Acari — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:22:13 -0800

Canadian phone/cable/internetfilter: what combo of services are cheapest? The scenario:
Two people moving into a new place in Edmonton, mostly calling each other [or not, neither have cell phones right now] and local calls almost exclusively. Cable TV is not a requirement, although even the phone company provides that service now.

Is it best to go with a dsl/landline package from Telus?
A cable internet/digital phone package from Shaw?
Internet from [somebody] and VOIP [with Vonage? somebody better?]

Having two cellphones on a family plan and [magical internet from whoever] sounds like it provide the most convenience for us, but there are also a zillion cell phone providers to sift through to figure out what the best deal would be there.

Our total phone usage is currently quite low [maybe 20 minutes/month each?] but that might creep up with cell phone ownership. The kind of calls we make are mostly of the this-is-my-current-location-i-will-see-you-at-X-o'clock type, and would be served equally well by text messages, but voice calls are necessary for contacting older relatives.

What I'm looking for is someone who has been down this road and can point to the glaringly obvious solution that I haven't even considered yet.

Experience with telecom companies

fracturing — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:25:32 -0800

What has been your experience with One Communications and other telecom companies? We are trying to select a new telecom carrier for my small office and have it narrowed down to the following carriers:

One Communications
Paetec
Nuvox

Do any of you have any experiences, good or bad, with this companies? I'm trying to find out as much as I can about the customer experience after being burned pretty badly in the past by Cavalier.

Want iPhone WiFi Capability Despite Verizon Customer

imjustsaying — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:18:18 -0800

Can I get a cell phone from Verizon (or which will work with Verizon) that is Wi-Fi Internet and email access capable without signing up for Verizon's own internet/email access plan? If so, can I do it for less than a bazillion dollars? I was really impressed recently when a friend with an iPhone visited and was able to access the web and his email accounts here by logging on to my Wi-Fi network instead of having to use AT&T's service, to which he does subscribe.

I have no iPhone lust, but would really like to be able to log into Wi-Fi networks and access the web and email without signing up for Verizon's plan.

...preferably with a device which gives me a halfway decent web experience, like the iPhone.

Faster Tethered Internet

Gideon — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:58:24 -0800

My cable company is taking their sweet time setting up my internet so I'm in a new house in a new place without anything but a tethered 2g net connection. I'm on AT&T's Edge network and it's just ridiculously slow. How can I make this faster? I'm using mobile versions of sites whenever possible, and using Adblock plus and flashblock Firefox add-ons to help cut some of the drek, but I'm sure there are probably other ways to make this process speedier. Any suggestions from the MiFi community?

Easy and cheap voice mail solution please!

my homunculus is drowning — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:40:28 -0800

My small business needs a permanent phone number with several easily customizable voice mail boxes. Skype seems like it may be a solution for me, but there are many other products out there as well that seem to be more dedicated to doing exactly what I need.

I have very little technical know how in this area.

I don't have to make out going calls with this phone number (though it would be nice).

I don't have a lot of money.

Is my skype based call center to become a monstrosity, or shall it carry us to the promised land?

abkadefgee — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:27:30 -0800

Can I set up a temporary call-center with ten different lines using Skype? Or is there another VOIP solution that would cost less than installing new lines? My office needs to make a lot of phone calls over the course of three weeks and then the number of calls will drop back down dramatically. Installing new physical lines is very expensive, especially since we won't be using them for long. So, I looked at the unlimited call plan that Skype has, and was giving it some very strong thought.

The basic plan so far is to set up 2 DSL lines running at 7 Meg, wire up a router and switch to each, run cable to ten computers, and hook up USB handsets to each one. The computers would be dedicated only to Skype usage for that time and the USB handsets would be used to dial out. Each computer would have a separate Skype account.

I hope that this would be enough bandwidth and that multiple Skype connections would play nicely with each other. But, I've only used Skype at home running one connection, and so I really don't know how it would work.

I'm open to other solutions, but the system needs to be ready to roll in about 7-10 days, and I have no experience setting up an Asterisk system or anything else. I once had a Vonage account and using that would be fine except that they require a contract.

I appreciate any advice you brilliant folks might give. Thanks!

I hate Verizon, would I love Time Warner?

ThePinkSuperhero — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:44:02 -0800

Thinking of moving my landline and DSL service from Verizon to Time Warner in New York City. I'd be interested to hear about other experiences, as well as any other suggestions people might have. I am sick of Verizon. Really, really, very very sick of calling them and having no one be able to help me with simple stuff like paying my bill. I cannot deal with them anymore. And I'm not locked in with them, so I want to cancel my landline and DSL and move my service elsewhere. I called Time Warner, and here's the deal I can get:

Cable: $29.95 for 6 months, 44.95 after
Digital Phone: $39.95 forever, and I can move my phone number (although I don't really care about that)

Right now I pay around $95- $30 for internet and $65 for phone. The phone is a home office line and is paid for by my company, so I need it. I do not want cable TV. Any reason I shouldn't switch to Time Warner? How is the customer service over there? Is it worse than Verizon? If it's any better AT ALL, it would be worth it. Are there any other options for phone and internet service? I have tried Vonage for my phone line and was not happy with it.

"Don't hang up, let me cut our internet..."

blueberry — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:14:12 -0800

Our wireless internet and our cordless phone(s) hate each other with the unbridled passion of a thousand suns. Hi. My house-mate and I here in Portland get our telephone and internet service through Qwest.

We have DSL
(MenuMeters tells me that our maximum download rate seems to be about 170KB/s).

The internet info comes to us over the same line as the phone. Qwest provides us with an "Actiontec DSL modem with wireless gateway" (model #GT701-WG). We plug the phone line from the wall into the modem, and then plug our cordless phone into the modem. The idea being that the wireless modem will take the internet stuff and broadcast it out to our Mac and Windows laptops, while routing the telephone stuff to our phone.

Here's the problem: if we are doing anything with the internet
(loading a web page, downloading podcasts, uploading photos to Flickr)
the phone starts dropping out. And the more internet activity, the worse the problem—if you're talking to someone, you can hear them but they only hear every other word you're saying.

So it seems that the wireless modem signal is interrupting the 2.4 GHz's cordless phone's signal. (yet, interestingly, it only seems to affect our side of the conversation; we can hear the other person fine and if someone leaves us a message on the cordless phone's digital answering machine we get the whole message even if we're downloading a bunch of podcasts)

• We have tried switching the channels that our wireless modem broadcasts to, but that hasn't helped.

• We've plugged in a "splitter" and it has had no effect.

• Yesterday we tried a new 5.8 GHz cordless phone—one touted as having no problems with wireless internet—and it has the same exact problem. A PDF I found online [link to PDF] states the Actiontec GT701-WG "operates on a 2.4GHz frequency, similar to many cordless phones" Which puzzles me as to why we'd have the same problem when we tried a 5.8 GHz phone...

• we have also tried cursing profusely, to little effect

My question is this:

Is it possible that the Qwest-provided Actiontec GT701-WG is the weak link and that more recent routers might be more cordless-phone-friendly? My thinking is that if two different phones* and switching router channels hasn't worked, the only constant in the problem is the router itself.

I was thinking maybe we could just pick up an Airport or something, go back to our old reliable phone (a Panasonic LX-TG2431) and have better luck.

As a side question, any Qwest users out there who have done this? I just want to make sure that Qwest doesn't have some quirk that requires using the Actiontec unit.

* The two phones that we have used that have both had the problem:
- a Panasonic LX-TG2431 "2.4 GHz Gigarange"
- a 5.8 GHz phone from Radio Shack (model number 43-138)

Is magicjack VoIP worth getting?

exlotuseater — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:42:56 -0800

Anyone familiar with MagicJack? I've just recently seen ads for Magicjack, another new VoIP service. It's ~$40 USD to purchase the jack which includes a year of free local and long-distance, and then $20 USD/ year for continuing service. The "jack" plugs into pc usb on one end and has an analog phone jack on the other end. The reviews have been generally positive, but I'm skeptical.

Anyone have any experience with this particular service? Will it work over DSL, or does VoIP only work with cable?

Thanks for your help.

Give me internet and phone too

cashman — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:17:20 -0800

Help me use my phone's internet on my laptop, without disabling the phone. The phone is on Tmobile & has internet access. I want to use the phone's(Dash) internet on a laptop. Apparently you can buy a module that you plug the sim card into and put that into the laptop and voila, free internet access via the internet that the phone has.

But that disables the phone. Of course the option offered by them was to get a second line with internet on it - but no, you can't just get that, you'd have to get a phone plan as well, which ends up being forty or fifty bucks.

How can I have a working phone (at least receive calls) and use the free internet through the phone (Dash)? Is there a way to tap into the internet the phone has without taking the sim card out of the phone?

The phone can't be useless for large blocks of time.
Is there some other option?

Easy Invitations

daviss — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:10:13 -0800

I saw a website the other day that allowed you to send out a group voice mail message but cannot find it now. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Is Charter's phone/cable/internet package a good deal?

languagehat — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:21:11 -0800

Has anybody had experience with Charter Communications (in western Massachusetts, if that makes a difference)? My wife and I are moving to Hadley in a couple of weeks and are thinking of taking advantage of Charter's bundle (available through the end of the month) of basic cable + high-speed internet + phone service (unlimited calling in US) for $69.97/mo. This seems like a good deal. Anybody have experience with them? And if you live in the Pioneer Valley, how worried should we be about the likelihood of an electricity failure disrupting our phone service?

How to use my office phone at home?

Brian James — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:13:35 -0800

Suppose I wanted to rig up the phone in my office at work such that I could access all of the phone's functions from someplace else, not on the office PBX...like, say, at home. Is this possible, and how? The extensions are all Cisco 9160, so I assume it's a VOIP network. Is there some gateway device I could get that I could plug my office phone into, which would then connect to some Internet IP, which could then have a phone model identical to the office phone, and can function as normal?

I'm not out to just receive messages, I want the full functionality that attaches to actually using that phone model to place calls, but from a remote place.

Should network administrators have their mobile phone and home internet expenses reimbursed?

Xazeru — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:53:59 -0800

Is it reasonable for a network administrator to require reimbursement for his personal mobile phone and home internet connection? The network admin at my workplace says that it's a standard practice for a cell phone and home internet connection to be provided to someone in his job. He says that he needs them in case an emergency arises.

There may be an inequity here, since other people at the same office perform work from home using their cell phones and internet connections without reimbursement. Is this an appropriate thing to require of an employer?

What the heck is Cerkle.com?

loquax — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:43:50 -0800

Can anybody explain to me what the purpose/function of Cerkle.com is? It's been in the news lately as being a "client" of the .mobi TLD, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what I'm supposed to do with it. Is it because I'm not 13? It says it's some kind of mobile social networking, but I don't see how, or what it does beyond charging for some sort of text messaging. Any experience would be greatly appreciated.

Verizon or T-Mobile?

Afroblanco — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:28:00 -0800

What cellphone provider offers the fastest, most reliable internet connection for their PDA phones? I'm thinking about going for a Sidekick or a Treo, and am trying to decide if I should go with T-Mobile or Verizon. I've heard that Verizon's network is faster, but T-Mobile's is cheaper.

Also, a bonus question - will either the Sidekick or the Treo let me view and listen to flash-enabled web pages, such as Pandora.com? Because that would be, like, really cool.

Lady / Don't cha know we love ya? Sweet lady / Dear mama / Place no one above ya, sweet lady / You are appreciated / Don't cha know we love ya?

mdonley — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:23:17 -0800

What's the best way for a tech-impaired, budget-conscious mom in the US to talk to her son while he's living in Indonesia? My mom's in Orange County, California; I'm in Bandung, Indonesia.

Mom's got an ancient *eMac* running a version of OSX which is incompatible with Skype, a Verizon cell phone, a Cox landline/cable internet bundle, and a Yahoo account. The eMac has a microphone integrated into its monitor and, presumably, some USB ports for a headset.

However, the computer is in my (16-year-old) brother's room, and the time difference (14 hours, yo!) makes using the computer at night difficult if she wants to have a private and/or hilarious conversation with me. Getting her own computer is a big priority but not in the financial cards right now.

I've got an Indonesian PAYG mobile phone (Simpati), no landline or internet at home, and a Gmail account. I use internet cafes, so I'm paying for my time and I can't install any new software - though I do have a 512mb USB flash drive I could (maybe?) install something on. Most of the time I can stick something into a USB drive (headset?), but I've never used one of them, so I don't know how that'd go on a computer not my own.

Calling cards are possible, but I'd love to be able to get us into the free/extremely cheap territory of Google Talk or Skype - money's tight for both of us and we are really, really chatty. Is there some obvious option I'm not seeing here? Thanks!