Blackcab Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 With the Rebtel, I'm calling my fiance in Oz. She has no landline, just a mobile, as I live in barracks in England, I only have a mobile too. With Rebtel, I get a UK landline number to call her. She gets a South Australia number to call me, so other than the 10p (15c) connection fee, it comes out of our inclusive minutes on our phone plans! The call quality is brilliant too! As I've said before, since Feb, I've spent about £28 on Rebtel. And I'm not exaggerating when I say we are on the phone about 3-4 hours a day. I can't complain about the pricing then! The only reason that it is as high as £28 is because every now and then, we'd forget about hanging up and dialing back, so it would cost 10p a minute, instead of 10p connection fee and the rest of the call being free. Not sure if I've explained that without it sounding too complicated! However, it really isn't as complicated as it sounds! So, a 10 minute call tends to cost us 10p, and a 1 hour call, still only costs us 10p! Thanks for the heads up, i am starting to understand this now, can i ask.......... She is in the UK, she has a smart phone, the Rabtel application is working on her UK Orange phone. She has unlimited UK landline phone calls, so can call any UK landline number for free, for as long as she wants to stay on the line. Me i am in Australia, i have a PennySim from Pennytel on my mobile phone, i can call a landline number either in the UK or Australia for 46 cents and stay on the line for as long as i want, unlimited for 46 cents a call. OK.....She calls me from the UK....... i am in Australia, i answer her call, then hangup, the call lasts less than ten seconds so no charge, she does not hang up, but stays on the line, i then call her back on the Australian local landline number Rabtel have associated to her in my Rabtel account, while she stays on the line, i hung up initially, but she did not. This is a free international Rabtel call, the only charges are the 46 cents i pay Pennytel because i pay for the local call rate at 46 cents untimed when making calls to a landline number in Australia, she pays nothing because she gets free calls untimed unlimited to any UK landline numbers, and Rabtel charge nothing because this is a free SMART call as we are both registered users of Rabtel and have local numbers attributed to each other in our Rabtel accounts.......She has a UK local landline number for me linked to my Australian mobile number in her Rabtel account; and i have a Australian local landline number for her linked to her UK mobile phone number, in my Rabtel account....... Does this sound right, we can call each other, stay on the phone for as long as we want, from the UK to Oz, mobile to mobile, for 46 cents in total....... Free call Make free international calls from your mobile phone. You won't need to pay anything to Rebtel. 1) Call your friend using the local number we gave you. 2) Ask your friend to call you back. Tell them to use the number shown on their phone screen (*** **** ****). 3) Stay on the line. Don't hang up! In a few seconds your friend will join you back on the call. Please note: You and your friend will pay your phone companies for the local part of the call. The international connection is free! http://www.rebtel.com/en/Services/free-international-calls/ To make Rebtel Free Call, simply call your friend using the local number you got from Rebtel. When they pick up, ask them to hang up and call you back while you stay on the line. You see, when you call a friend in one of the 50 countries where Rebtel is available, a number that is local to your friend is displayed on their phone. When they call you back up, the call is instantly connected and you can talk for as long as you like without paying anything to Rebtel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JT1977 Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I haven't bothered downloading the Rebtel app, I just use the number that I have been given to call my missus, so I couldn't tell you about the app. The number that I was assigned by Rebtel has done us great. Unlike most international calls, because it's not VOIP, you do not need a 3G signal. The Pennytel thing does confuse me, like I said, we just use Rebtel. I'm on Orange UK and she's on Vodafone Aus. Both of our call plans have unlimited landline minutes each month, so by using Rebtel, the actual call is 10p. If it still sounds confusing, I apologise, I'm shattered and seriously wired on coffee! If we both had good 3G or wifi signals, then we would have carried on using Skype or Tango or any of the other many hundreds of VOIP programmes and apps out there. But because our 3G signals were very poor at times, that is why we changed to Rebtel. Also, if both of you have smart phones that are iPhones, Blackberry or Android (not sure about the Windows phones), then you can download an App called LiveProfile which then acts as an instant messenger/text messenger app between all three types of phone. You can send picture messages for free on it too. It's free to download as well. We've been using that app for about 2 weeks now and only once has it let us down, when the system seemed to have crashed yesterday for a few hours. It does need a 3G signal, but doesn't need a strong signal. It is easier to use than Skype messenger too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackcab Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Both of our call plans have unlimited landline minutes each month, so by using Rebtel, the actual call is 10p. The 10 pence, is that a Rabtel charge........... I ask because i gave it a go tonight, both currently in the UK, both currently on Orange UK, both have unlimited Orange minutes to UK landlines. She called me, i answered, then ended the call after 7 seconds, she stayed on the line, i called her back on the local Rabtel number displayed when she initially called me, we got connected, and talked for five minutes. I went into my Rabtel account, no charge, i went into her Rabtel account she got charged for one minute for the initial first call she made to me which i ended, the 7 second call......Is this correct? I was under the impression if you end the initial first call in under 10 seconds there is no charge at all from Rabtel? If both are registered Rabtel users with accompanying local Rabtel associated numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JT1977 Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 The 10p charge is a Rebtel charge and not a phone bill. It will come off whoever initiated the call, as such, I have the account so just one of us are getting charged. But after that, if you had spoken for 5 mins or 5 hours, the charge would have been the same 10p connection fee. If both of you were in the UK, it may have been cheaper than 10p, I'm not sure. But, just to give an idea, a couple of months ago, through using Rebtel, I got my monthly Rebtel summary by email. Me and my missus had spoken for a total of 126 hours, or just over 5 days in one calendar month! I'm not kidding or exaggerating there! The full cost for the entire month was something like £3 out of my Rebtel account! Not bad at all, methinks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackcab Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 The 10p charge is a Rebtel charge and not a phone bill. It will come off whoever initiated the call, as such, I have the account so just one of us are getting charged. But after that, if you had spoken for 5 mins or 5 hours, the charge would have been the same 10p connection fee. If both of you were in the UK, it may have been cheaper than 10p, I'm not sure. But, just to give an idea, a couple of months ago, through using Rebtel, I got my monthly Rebtel summary by email. Me and my missus had spoken for a total of 126 hours, or just over 5 days in one calendar month! I'm not kidding or exaggerating there! The full cost for the entire month was something like £3 out of my Rebtel account! Not bad at all, methinks! Have to admit, great info thanks......... Regarding me in Oz, i have to go Pennytel Penny Sim, its just my missus family, well technology is not their trait. When she arrives, she will be calling all of them on their mobiles, no landlines. They will not register with Rabtel, so she will have to go the conventional route of associating a local call number to their mobile and get charged i think about 11 pence per minute. They would still be riding round in a horse and cart if it were not for the price of stable costs..... But i guess as long as she goes with a provider which offers unlimited calls to landlines within Australia, it does not matter... BTW which Vodafone plan has your better looking half got in Australia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JT1977 Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Hmmm, now you're asking! I know that it was a higher end deal, so she could get a smart phone, Samsung Galaxy, at the beginning of the year, but other than that, I couldn't tell you! The only reason both of us got smart phones was so we could use Skype, but it was after that we found out about the 3G signal problems for both of us! I have no doubt that if we both had good 3G signals, we would have stayed with Skype, but it just wasn't good for our locations! You can have up to 5 phones per Rebtel account too, I have 3 Australian phones, hers, her back up phone for when she's travelled to another part where Vodafone have bad coverage, but Telstra have good coverage and one to my soon to be step-daughter. Yes, we really do like to make sure that we keep in touch! Lol! Also, if you are trying to phone an Aussie Landline from the UK, Sky TV do a deal with their phonelines, I think it's £17 a month and you can call any Aussie landline for up to an hour at a time for free. Most people tend to call for 50 mins, hang up, then call again! Oh yeah, I forgot, if you wish to, I never bother myself, if you get someone to join Rebtel, you get something like £7 credit added to your account. However, because I pay such low costs for such large amounts of usage, I don't bother with that, I think that would be extracting the urine a touch too much! How they make any profit with me and me better half, I really do not have a clue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 ive just connected a sip/voip box in my place in the uk, my home phone is now totally internet based. admittedly a bit fiddly to set up, but seems great. ive phoned around the uk for 1p a min, and ive got a local dial code for 2.50 a month that means my whole family can phone me for free from their normal phone when im in Australia. and my normal home phone will ring. no planning skype chats weeks in advance any more! the call credit doesnt expire so if you can do without the number its just the £50 for the box (you can get em cheaper) once set up, you plug it into any broadband internet anywhere in the world, plug a phone in and your away. any 01 or 02 dial code following you all around the world seems to be the perfect solution, hope it works well over longer distances. As i understand it, it uses the same tech as skype, and as that works, id guess this will too. has anyone experience with this kind of setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nikkidel Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 ive just connected a sip/voip box in my place in the uk, my home phone is now totally internet based. admittedly a bit fiddly to set up, but seems great. ive phoned around the uk for 1p a min, and ive got a local dial code for 2.50 a month that means my whole family can phone me for free from their normal phone when im in Australia. and my normal home phone will ring. no planning skype chats weeks in advance any more! the call credit doesnt expire so if you can do without the number its just the £50 for the box (you can get em cheaper) once set up, you plug it into any broadband internet anywhere in the world, plug a phone in and your away. any 01 or 02 dial code following you all around the world seems to be the perfect solution, hope it works well over longer distances. As i understand it, it uses the same tech as skype, and as that works, id guess this will too. has anyone experience with this kind of setup? We use a Vonage phone which we just plug into the internet. It has a UK number and so people can call it for the cost of a UK call, and we can call the UK from down here for the cost of a UK call. It works pretty well, sometimes you get a bad connection but just hang up and try again and then it's always been fine. My husband also uses it for work as his business is UK based, and it's nice for him to be able to keep his UK number when phoning his clients. That phone goes with us on all our travels and has been fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amibovered Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 ive just connected a sip/voip box in my place in the uk, my home phone is now totally internet based. admittedly a bit fiddly to set up, but seems great. ive phoned around the uk for 1p a min, and ive got a local dial code for 2.50 a month that means my whole family can phone me for free from their normal phone when im in Australia. and my normal home phone will ring. no planning skype chats weeks in advance any more! the call credit doesnt expire so if you can do without the number its just the £50 for the box (you can get em cheaper) once set up, you plug it into any broadband internet anywhere in the world, plug a phone in and your away. any 01 or 02 dial code following you all around the world seems to be the perfect solution, hope it works well over longer distances. As i understand it, it uses the same tech as skype, and as that works, id guess this will too. has anyone experience with this kind of setup? I have a similar setup except I use a dedicated voip phone, it's brilliant the call quality is fantastic, better than the landline and dirt cheap, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 wonderful news, thanks everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 tried and tested now in point cook, and yes its fab! even over crummy adsl, voip/sip phones are great :wink: we now have 2 lines on one phone, our melbourne number, which is net based so will follow us anywhere we move in australia, and a portsmouth uk number so the family can phone us for free, and uk businesses get a warm cosy feeling because we still appear to be in the uk tidy! highly recommended Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 tried and tested now in point cook, and yes its fab! even over crummy adsl, voip/sip phones are great :wink: we now have 2 lines on one phone, our melbourne number, which is net based so will follow us anywhere we move in australia, and a portsmouth uk number so the family can phone us for free, and uk businesses get a warm cosy feeling because we still appear to be in the uk tidy! highly recommended Which VOIP phone provider/s did you go for? Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Flinns Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Which VOIP phone provider/s did you go for? Best regards. Hi Alan, I have a very similar set-up, I even have a fax machine connected to a separate line which I have used now for over 8 years. I use voiptalk.org Regards, Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Thanks Howard. I have iinet's Naked DSL offering at home with a VOIP phone and a Geelong number for incoming calls, and our rellies in the UK have phone plans which include calls to Aussie landlines. I also have Skype and Viber on my two iPhones (one with an Aussie SIM, the other with a UK SIM). As an aside, the Aussie SIM (with the 3 network - not Vodafone) allows me to pick up incoming calls when I'm roaming in the UK without a global roaming charge. This is very useful when I'm in the UK and I need to be contated by clients in Australia (or my wife!). Am looking at starting up a new business offering with a need for local numbers (UK, Aus, US, etc) so experiences with VOIP phone providers is always helpful. Best wishes for 2013. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I use https://www.mynetfone.com.au/ for the Australia half of the deal, as they offer more competitive broadband than telstra. i just pay telstra for the line and mynetphone do the internet/phone bit on top, saves me about $20 a month. for the uk bit i use https://www.voipfone.co.uk/ they are great, great customer service and easy toys, i top up a £5er and that gets me loads of 1p a min calls or 10p to mobiles. i also pay them £2.40 a month for a geographical number. it means family & friends don't have to think twice before calling. when i originally set it up in the uk i had a whole load of problems getting the phone to ring right, and echo/delay issues. i can confidently say i now have all the answers i need and know exactly how to set up a voip/sip based phone. most of this education has come from the customer service team at voipfone, i cant recommend them enough! also.... i have setup a softphone on my mobile. this means if im expecting a call on the home phone i can fire up an app on my mobile, and it will ring as the home phone does. means i can get on with my life instead of waiting on the phone! also means my wife can ring the mobile for free by just dialing ext 200 on the home phone. its a little battery hungry so i only use it when im expecting a call, but its a nice touch! available for free on all good smartphones :biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Collett Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Hi fbk. Thanks for the details. ... i just pay telstra for the line ... => That's why I like the Naked DSL solution: no line rental payable to Telstra! Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 sadly telstra have point cook by the balls, i would have done that but point cook has been abandoned until the NBN comes through. its like it or move out, in this part of town! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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