tonshun Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 HiI've seen other posts saying they get free phone calls with their ADSL supplier which is of great interest to me but perhaps its too good to be true.So i took a look at the offer i can get with my ISP. I'm with Tiscali (now Alice) and they offer Alice Monde whereby for 9.95 euros a month all calls are free to France, most of Europe and some other places. However, if i understand correctly, they only give you ONE HOUR a month for that 9.95 euros and then start charging 17cts per min.But surely an hour for 9.95 equals 16.6 cts a min, hardly much of a saving! (I'm paying 9 cents a min presently with my current phone only supplier.)Can anyone please confirm: a) if i'm understanding this right or have i missed something in translation? b) is this the same with other ISPs or is it just tiscali that limits calls to one hour a month? Thanks!http://abonnement.aliceadsl.fr/adsl/new_option_02.php?popup=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 You really do get free calls. The basic 30 euros worth with Alice gives you free calls to landlines in France plus 23 other countries. The offer you picked out extends the free calls to 167 more countries and French mobiles. You get a call of up to an hour free , but beyond that you start paying. So you just redial to avoid paying.The catch is that because the phones work in a similar way to Skype etc the phone comes out of the back of the ADSL box. You can use a wireless phone to extend this to another part of the house, thick walls permitting. However if you have anything like burglar alarms, remote control of heating etc etc they will no longer work.Also the phones don't work if there is a power cut.With the some of the companies such as Neuf and Club Internet you no longer need to pay FT for your phone line , even in areas Non Degroupee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 [quote user="BJSLIV"]With the some of the companies such as Neuf and Club Internet you no longer need to pay FT for your phone line , even in areas Non Degroupee.[/quote]How does that work, BJSLIV? Not that I would go back to Club Internet even if you paid me, but what's the deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob T Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Skype gives free calls to any other skype user, and you can use it to call landlines very cheaply. I use phonexpat on the normal phone and a call to the UK costs 3 cents per minute anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Apparently, calls from Skype to France landlines are now free, until the end of the year...http://www.skype.com/intl/fr/illimite/Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdebretagne Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Yes, if you're in France, you can use skype to make free calls to French landlines...been using this for about a month now, though I sometimes have quality issues, which I don't have when making skype to skype calls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonshun Posted October 20, 2006 Author Share Posted October 20, 2006 Hi BJSLIV. Thanks for clearing that up - i have no idea why i thought the calls were limited to an hour a month!! I must have been confusing it with another service! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 [quote user="Cassis"][quote user="BJSLIV"]With the some of the companies such as Neuf and Club Internet you no longer need to pay FT for your phone line , even in areas Non Degroupee.[/quote]How does that work, BJSLIV? Not that I would go back to Club Internet even if you paid me, but what's the deal?[/quote]I am in a zone non-dégroupée and Neuf have taken over the line from FT. I don't pay FT anything, indeed they refunded October's line rental on my last tel bill.I get ADSL (probably not as fast as some but fast enough for my needs) and I get free phone calls to landlines all over Europe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 [quote user="Iain"]Apparently, calls from Skype to France landlines are now free, until the end of the year...http://www.skype.com/intl/fr/illimite/HelloI have had a look at this link but sadly I can't read French. My husband calls me from Skype to my land line, but he is still having to pay.Plese can you explain how it is free?Many thanksIain[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 [quote user="Clair"][quote user="Cassis"][quote user="BJSLIV"]With the some of the companies such as Neuf and Club Internet you no longer need to pay FT for your phone line , even in areas Non Degroupee.[/quote]How does that work, BJSLIV? Not that I would go back to Club Internet even if you paid me, but what's the deal?[/quote]I am in a zone non-dégroupée and Neuf have taken over the line from FT. I don't pay FT anything, indeed they refunded October's line rental on my last tel bill.I get ADSL (probably not as fast as some but fast enough for my needs) and I get free phone calls to landlines all over Europe...[/quote]Sounds interesting. What's your max debit and what are you actually paying Neuf, including any line rental, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I posted some details about it a couple of weeks ago here and hereI have just tested the speeds here and it says upload 133 kb/s, download 2026 kb/s, but don't ask me to go into any technical details please! [blink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 [quote user="Dotty Trois"] [quote user="Iain"]Apparently, calls from Skype to France landlines are now free, until the end of the year...http://www.skype.com/intl/fr/illimite/HelloI have had a look at this link but sadly I can't read French. My husband calls me from Skype to my land line, but he is still having to pay.Plese can you explain how it is free?Many thanksIain[/quote][/quote]Not sure why this say 'Many thanks Iain'I'm Dotty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 because you type your reply within Iain's quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Skype is free for calls from French Skype to French landlines , but calls from UK Skype to France is still chargeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Actually what I don't understand is what the criteria is - eg on Skype website I just changed my "country" to France (was UK - not sure why) and it seemed happy with that... so if I'm in the UK perhaps I could change my (Skype) country to France, and get free calls to France... But perhaps I'd need to overide my IP address also... [8-)]Without turning this into an IT thread (!) maybe someone who has the time could do a bit of testing... Then again, normal Skypeout is so cheap anyway, why bother...!Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 [quote user="Clair"]I posted some details about it a couple of weeks ago here and hereI have just tested the speeds here and it says upload 133 kb/s, download 2026 kb/s, but don't ask me to go into any technical details please! [blink][/quote]Thanks, Clair - I followed through one of the links in one of the threads and it looks like a good deal - 5 e€ more than what I pay at present but up to 8mega (similar to what I get now) and no FT abonnement.Final question - do you get to keep your old FT telephone number for all calls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Yes, same number as before... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racerbear02 Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 If you want totally free VOIP calls to landlines in most of the countries in the world the www.voipstunt.com is the one to use. (usual disclaimers about being connected etc. )They do charge for calls to mobile phones in all countries and also to 0870, 0845 and equivalent numbers.In my opinion, the quality is better than skype, they also offer the option to call any landline as described above, and redirect it to your own landline number for 5 cent a call.There are obviously limits to all of these, but most people will never reach them, you can buy credit online to pay for calls to mobiles, on average around 17 cents a minute, plus you can get a free incoming call number if you do buy credit, I got a UK number which I have diverted to my French Landline on Voipstunts control panel, so that my UK friends can ring me at UK call costs, the divert costs me nothingWell worth a look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 Going back to Tonshun's original question...I too am with Tiscali/Alice and pay 30euros pm for ADSL and free French calls using a Triway box. I have subscribed 9.95 euros pm for Alice Monde the last 2 months giving me free calls in Europe and US. Latest e mails from Alice say that this is now free with an Alicebox. I rang up the free no 1033 and got through straightaway! I was informed that this offer is with Alicebox and I would need to change my Tryway box....at no cost. Monthly payments would then be only 29.95 euros.....1yr contract. Anyone spot any snags? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 pretty standard cost I'd say.Only 'potential' snag is the 12 monhs commitment, but most of them do that anyway.On a recent consumer's association comparison, they came up pretty low with the free helpline, so look at the small print (when, how much), as I found them absolutely totally completely frustratingly useless... Maybe they're better if you can pay them?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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