SKype questions
 

Hi,
Sorry for the newbie question, but just got this offer today from Skype about 2.95 per month unlimited calling to landlines and cell phones in US and Canada. I travel out of the country a few times a month with the military and was wondering if this plan would work for me. I only call back to the US. Before I sign up I want to make sure that this wont just work only when I'm located in the contiental US, but abroad around the world. Thanks for any info!

Re: SKype questions
 

I had the 30$/year unlimited calling to the US plan. I tried calling from India and it did not work. May be the isp is blocking or something else. You better confirm before taking the jump.

Re: SKype questions
 

It's not restricted to calling from the US or anything like that.

Re: SKype questions
 

Well if that is true .... many of us will gladly buy a skype US calling plan and use it for unlimited international calling from countries like India which is a big deal. Something is not right.....

Re: SKype questions
 

the 3/mo plan does not cover any sort of international calls. but using regular skypeout money is pretty cheap, and they also just anounced a plan for 10/mo that has unlimited international calls to some countries' landlines.

Re: SKype questions
 

ok so let me get this straight. If this new 2.95 month unlimited US calls wont work from overseas? But if I buy Skype Credit for 10 dollars..that will work from anywhere? I'm just trying to find the right way to call from europe to the usa. Thanks!

Re: SKype questions
 

That's right. The $3 plan gives you free calls inside the U.S. And when you are outside the U.S. they charge you the skype out rate. Which is pretty cheap. Look at the skype.com site for rates. I called from Turkey back to the U.S. for 2 cents a minute. They know you are outside the U.S. based on your IP address.

Re: SKype questions
 

Could someone provide a link to somewhere on Skype's site where they state that?
Assuming we're talking this plan, I see nothing to indicate that they try to find where you're calling from and bill differently. All ******edness of pricing things that way aside (many things are priced in ******ed ways after all, especially regarding mobile phones), that's not the way Skype does things, according to their knowledgebase.

Edit: My understanding is that calls from your computer/N800/whatever, on any network where Skype works at all, to any US/Canada phone number are free. Calls to any non-US/Canada phone number cost the normal SkypeOut rate.

Re: SKype questions
 

The Skype plan only works while you are inside North America. I quote from Skype.

"The Skype Unlimited Calling plan is a paid subscription service that allows you to make unlimited SkypeOut calls to any phone within the US and Canada, when you are calling from inside the US or Canada. "

I have skype, it's the only reason I bought a N800. It sucks that the video part doesn't work...and that you have to be inside North America to utilize this plan.

Re: SKype questions
 

Didn't that same Skype offer list rates for International calling? The one I saw did, and I promptly forgot the amount.

Skype to Skype is of course free to everywhere. I've talked to friends in Moscow from California using Skype that way.

Re: SKype questions
 

That information is outdated, as there is no Skype Unlimited Calling plan; it has been absorbed into SkypePro, which in turn has been discontinued in favor of the new subscriptions; I have seen no information on their site indicating that the Unlimited US & Canada subscription is restricted that way.

Re: SKype questions
 

hmm..I wonder how we can find out?

Re: SKype questions
 

Oh Boy, Skype Pro sure didn't last long. I just signed up for it 3 months ago.

In any case, I couldn't find where on skype's web site it details calling back to the US from other countries. I base my comments on experience doing the calling. I have skype pro, $3/month, basically the same plan as their currently monthly "subscription" plan. Maybe it's not the same, but I can't imagine they'd vary how they charge you. For me, calls are free to US/Canada when I'm in the US. Calls cost 2 cents per minute when I'm out of the country, calling back into the US. I can watch my skype-out credit $ amount decrement as I talk.

Re: SKype questions
 

Could something like Change IP be used to trick the Skype app into thinking it’s still calling from with in the states?

Re: SKype questions
 

That's an http/ftp proxy; not really. (Unless you can encapsulate skype traffic in http or ftp).

Assuming you live in the states and are overseas temporarily, leave your computer up and SSH port-forward, maybe?

Re: SKype questions
 

That's funny as according to my account I'm still on the SkypePro plan.
You can sign up for:

Unlimited Country
€3.95/month
€4.54 incl. VAT

Unlimited calls to landlines* in
One world country Australia Austria Belgium China Chile Czech Republic Denmark Estonia France Germany Greece Guam Hong Kong Hungary Ireland Italy Japan Korea, Republic of Luxembourg Malaysia Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Singapore Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan United Kingdom USA & Canada.

Unlimited World
€8.95/month
€10.29 incl. VAT

Unlimited calls to landlines* in 34 countries worldwide.


You can make calls any time of day, any day of the week without the need for a long term contract. All subscriptions contain online numbers that let your friends, family or business contacts reach you directly on Skype. And with your Skype To Go number you can reach your friends and family abroad at great rates using any landline or mobile phone.