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Skype Out....anyone lowered their mobile minutes

I

iphonesrq

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 31, 2007
391
0
Tampa
Has anyone tried skype out? I made the first free call & it sounded great!

#1 i see conflicting stories, does this work (skype out) only on wifi?

#2 has anyone lowered their AT&T (or other carrier) minutes & just used skype out?

#3 how many minutes does $10 in skype out credits get me? i've looked on their site, but could not find.....i will only be calling local & within the US

#about 3 times per month i call Japan... is it cheaper to call Japan with skype out or just buy a calling card?
 
I'm considering this route as well once my contract is up (maybe early buy-out).

The US rate is 2 cents per minute, so $10 gets you 500 minutes. I have heard that it's only supposed to be over WiFi, but 3G is active with the 3.0 firmware beta, but will probably be dropped on full release.

I'm pretty much considering getting a PAYG for inbound calls and then just using Skype as much as I can for outbound. I'm a very low utilizer (maybe 100-150 minutes a month max) and when I had a Virgin PAYG phone, I hardly ever went over $20 a month.
 
You can change your rate plan at any time, it does not affect your contract with AT&T. If you don't need the minutes, change to a lower plan.

Dave
 
chriskzoo said:
I'm considering this route as well once my contract is up (maybe early buy-out).

The US rate is 2 cents per minute, so $10 gets you 500 minutes. I have heard that it's only supposed to be over WiFi, but 3G is active with the 3.0 firmware beta, but will probably be dropped on full release.

I'm pretty much considering getting a PAYG for inbound calls and then just using Skype as much as I can for outbound. I'm a very low utilizer (maybe 100-150 minutes a month max) and when I had a Virgin PAYG phone, I hardly ever went over $20 a month.
Click to expand...

150 minutes on PAYG is .25 x 150= $37.50 Not really a good deal.
 
I tried to make a Skype call and it said I need to buy points or some **** to make a call. Why would I pay when I have a plan that allows it?
 
Gix1k said:
I tried to make a Skype call and it said I need to buy points or some **** to make a call. Why would I pay when I have a plan that allows it?
Click to expand...

Skype uses "points" to make calls to devices other then skype to skype. I think the going rate is like $2.99 a month for unlimited domestic calls and $9.99 a month unlimited world calls. Beats the heck out of a home phone.
 
hmm... idk - i figure when i'm somewhere with wifi (the shop, home, airport, hotel, etc) i can just use my MacBook with iChat to voice/video chat.

i dont think skype (unless i can use it on Edge) will be worth paying for.

i normally talk on the phone >2 hours a day and that's always past 9:30pm.

i make a few calls at work for parts and such but never over 10 mins all together.
 
dave006 said:
You can change your rate plan at any time, it does not affect your contract with AT&T. If you don't need the minutes, change to a lower plan.

Dave
Click to expand...

Woah! Careful there....

1) If you have a lot of rollover minutes you could lose a large portion of them, i.e. if you have 3000 accumulated rollover minutes and are on a 900 minute plan and move to a 450 minute plan, your rollover minute total will be reduced to 450 minutes.

2) There will be a temporary billing advantage by downgrading, but if you should decide to upgrade at a later time there will be a temporary billing disadvantage.
 
To actually go to this extent I think it's pretty stupid. Skype is great, yes we all know, but unless your calling internationally, I don't see the point of lowering your minutes and buying Skype credit... your not always going to be around Wifi and when you need those minutes to talk to someone, they won't be there.
 
skype for iphone is definitely the best app ever created in my opinion.
i was able to make it work over 3G and it works just fine. clear calls and everything, plus i have signed up for the $2.99 Unlimited calls for US and Canada which makes it ever better.
if interested just go ahead and follow the steps on this thread and you should be able to do it. I have friends that did the same process on their 1st gen iPhones and it worked just fine especially when they have full bars of service on EDGE.

i hope this helps some of you.

ps: the combination of Voipover3G + Backgrounder its all you need to even receive calls when the app is not open. however, you will realize that your battery will drain faster than the usual.
 
I have the 900 minute plan, and I'm not changing yet, but my wife is getting an iPhone when the new one comes out and we'll be making a family plan out of the 2 of us.

Skype has made it easy for me to decide on the 700 minute plan instead of the 1400. A LOT of our cell phone calls are at home, outgoing.

(It also helps that my calls to her won't be taking up minutes anymore too. So really it's a combination of her coming to AT&T and both of us having Skype that would allow us to get the lower plan.)
 
a lot of you guys really need to consider that since apple doesn't allow programs to run in the background, the skype deal really only works for a very small percentage of people at the moment

i think for about 90% of us, its not worth the hassle/savings aren't worth it

I use aim/emails/texts waaay more than actual talk minutes

that and I just hang out with people in real life :D
 
Dr. Cabrera said:
a lot of you guys really need to consider that since apple doesn't allow programs to run in the background, the skype deal really only works for a very small percentage of people at the moment

i think for about 90% of us, its not worth the hassle/savings aren't worth it

I use aim/emails/texts waaay more than actual talk minutes

that and I just hang out with people in real life :D
Click to expand...

I don't think people are trying to recieve calls, most people just use it to make calls from home.
 
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