Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ben on December 04, 2018, 02:21:57 PM

Title: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Ben on December 04, 2018, 02:21:57 PM: Do any of you call international via a landline? If so, what service do you use? My dad had a super cheap one (where you dial a code before the number) that just went belly up. AT&T wants $3/min to call Germany or $6/mo to drop it to $0.10/min.

A quick Google shows a lot of other options. A LOT, so I'm having a time looking for something reputable. Thought one of you jokers might have a recommendation.

It has to be landline (copper - no internet options out this way) so he can use his hard of hearing phone. It could be AT&T ends up being the best option given the limitation.
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: MillCreek on December 04, 2018, 02:32:30 PM: Is Google Voice workable?
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Brad Johnson on December 04, 2018, 02:36:17 PM: $36 a year to get $0.10/minute is pretty cheap talking. Might make for a nice gift from his son. ;)

Brad
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Hawkmoon on December 04, 2018, 04:43:44 PM: When my wife was alive I used to buy pre-paid international calling cards. $10 got us about an hour of talk time to landlines in her country. Curiously, if we called a cell phone there the same $10 only got us about 10 minutes.
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: cordex on December 04, 2018, 05:06:24 PM: Quote from: Hawkmoon on December 04, 2018, 04:43:44 PM
Curiously, if we called a cell phone there the same $10 only got us about 10 minutes.
I believe in many countries the caller pays for cellular minutes whereas in the US the cell phone subscriber pays for them.
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Calumus on December 04, 2018, 05:40:54 PM: Quote from: MillCreek on December 04, 2018, 02:32:30 PM
Is Google Voice workable?

That's my suggestion. What kind of internet speed do you have Ben?
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Ben on December 04, 2018, 06:14:53 PM: Quote from: Calumus on December 04, 2018, 05:40:54 PM
That's my suggestion. What kind of internet speed do you have Ben?

5meg down if I'm lucky, 1meg up if I'm lucky. Won't work reliably (because of the unreliable up). Already looked into VOIP for myself. =(
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Jamisjockey on December 05, 2018, 08:06:48 AM: People still have landlines?
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Ben on December 05, 2018, 08:36:01 AM: Quote from: jamisjockey on December 05, 2018, 08:06:48 AM
People still have landlines?

92 year old guys in rural areas do. :)
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Calumus on December 06, 2018, 10:46:45 AM: Is cell service reliable there? Either a hot-spot, or the Google Voice app on a cell would be an alternative. It's 1 cent a minute to Germany.
Title: Re: International Calling Landline Options?
Post by: Ben on December 06, 2018, 10:50:47 AM: Quote from: Calumus on December 06, 2018, 10:46:45 AM
Is cell service reliable there? Either a hot-spot, or the Google Voice app on a cell would be an alternative. It's 1 cent a minute to Germany.

I was thinking of that too, but he needs a special phone to hear, plus while 4G is often 10mbps around here, it's also often 4-5mbps.

I'm kinda at the point where before buying any special or extra hardware, I'll just tell AT&T to add international calling to the landline and call it good.