Wifi Calling With T-Mobile To Go Prepaid

[tyedye]

I have searched the forum and did not get a straight answer about
this so I will make a post.

I see that T-Mobile sells Wifi phones that can be used for
unlimited calling when you are at home, by using your home
wifi network for making the calls. Thus, your phone does not
use any minutes from your plan.

Can this be done on prepaid?

I'm figuring on getting one of the wifi enabled phones an popping
in my prepaid sim card. I'm hoping that I can make the calls using
wifi and thus not using any prepaid minutes.

I have read here in the forum that people are doing this to surf
the web, but nobody has mentioned about making calls.

So, Is it possible?

Any help greatly appreciated.

-TyeDye

[Barciur]

Nope, that feature costs $10 per month and it requires a minimum of 39,99 per month plan; you can however use wifi hotspot as a bts to get signal but it will use normal minutes.

[Mr. D.]

Barciur is correct. The straight answer is that the UMA connection via wifi works anywhere in the world, but it is charged at your normal minute rate for the prepaid plan you have, either pay-as-you-go or pay-by-the-day. I have a 6086 which I used with my prepaid SIM in Europe to call home, and was charged only the per minute rate on my account. Also have done this in low- and no-signal areas in the US.

[slohasley]

Isn't it a lot cheaper to just use Skype? I've used Skype to make calls on my MDA with my home wifi network and there's no charge except for Skype credit.

[tyedye]

Thank you all for your input.

How would I do it with Skype? What does that cost?
Do I need to set anything in the phone?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm not too familiar with
the Skype service. Any help you can give would be great.

Thanks in advance.

-TyeDye

Isn't it a lot cheaper to just use Skype? I've used Skype to make calls on my MDA with my home wifi network and there's no charge except for Skype credit.

[exfed2002]

Thank you all for your input.

How would I do it with Skype? What does that cost?
Do I need to set anything in the phone?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm not too familiar with
the Skype service. Any help you can give would be great.

Thanks in advance.

-TyeDye

You would have to get the Skype program or an equivalent (such as Fring) that works with the OS used in your phone. Then you would have to set up the WiFi connections you want to use per the instructions for your phone.

I use a Nokia E66 and Fring along with Skype credits. With my Skype account I have access on my desktop, tablet, and cell phone.

[slohasley]

Go to skype.com and create an account. Download their app for your phone and make sure it works by placing the test call. I'm using a windows mobile phone, but I saw that they have an app for most all smart phones and a java app called skype lite that will work on a lot of dumb phones. Many of the dumb phones must be using 3G as edge is too slow for VOIP. To call real telephone numbers in the US, you have to add skype credit to your account. The minimum amount is $10 and it will go away if you don't make a call at least every 180 days. Calls to US numbers cost 2.1 cents per minute.

[tyedye]

Thank you so much for the info.

I guess that this is a good route to go since it would be alot
cheaper per minute. Now I 'm off to find a good T-Mobile phone
with wifi.

TyeDye

Go to skype.com and create an account. Download their app for your phone and make sure it works by placing the test call. I'm using a windows mobile phone, but I saw that they have an app for most all smart phones and a java app called skype lite that will work on a lot of dumb phones. Many of the dumb phones must be using 3G as edge is too slow for VOIP. To call real telephone numbers in the US, you have to add skype credit to your account. The minimum amount is $10 and it will go away if you don't make a call at least every 180 days. Calls to US numbers cost 2.1 cents per minute.

[Guest 286]

Get Fring if your phone is supported to use Skype on.

http://www.fring.com/default.asp

[jeeves]

Fring with googlevoice through gizmo5 is free for short outgoing calls. You could aslo use another voip proivder like voipbuster for less than 1c a minute and fring or siphone

[slohasley]

Fring with googlevoice through gizmo5 is free for short outgoing calls. You could aslo use another voip proivder like voipbuster for less than 1c a minute and fring or siphone

Hmm, I just installed fring and signed up for gizmo5 so I could place free calls using my google voice account. The call quality was ablsolutely atrocious. Is anyone else having this problem? My skype calls work fine.

[snowmoon]

Hmm, I just installed fring and signed up for gizmo5 so I could place free calls using my google voice account. The call quality was ablsolutely atrocious. Is anyone else having this problem? My skype calls work fine.

Gizmo5 has been heading downhill in terms of quality and reliability as of late, probably because of the "google effect".

I am currently testing using Sipgate ( free # ) which seems to be quite a nice service and the quality and reliability seem higher than Gizmo. If you are into experimentation you can also use GV+sipgate(or Gizmo5)+sipsorcery to add the final piece to the puzzle. Direct outbound calling from your sip device through some fancy footwork and signaling at sipsorcery ( they don't actually route the call, just do signaling, so there is 0 degradation from the service ). It's not for the faint of hear though as it's had some reliability issues itself, but the possibilities are amazing.

[monkeyboy]

I think Skype is a great thing... particular when traveling to other countries and calling back home for next to nothing...

But for calling *from* home, Magicjack is pretty good too, and cheaper than Skype... even cheaper if you want a real phone number for the home phone...(because it is included unlike Skype)...