Best Value Way to Call Russia?

[Neonred 3,935]

I have high speed internet at home and changed my phone to use it.

Using verizons voicewing product = .5 cents a minute to russia - better rates than ATT and other VOIP

plus $25 a month gets my unlimited local and long distance - plus I can listen to my voicemail online plus a slew of other features

Any questions ask me.

www.voicewing.com

Doesn't look like much of a deal to me. Their web site indicates 14 cents a minute to most of Russia and 16 cents a minute to cell phones. That's at least double what I am used to paying.

[SVIChet 0]

Has anyone ever used TelphinUSA? Information is at www.telphinusa.com. It's VOIP with unlimited calling to Russian Landlines and other countries.

[Satellite 1]

Has anyone ever used TelphinUSA? Information is at www.telphinusa.com. It's VOIP with unlimited calling to Russian Landlines and other countries.

$44 a month for unlimited to Russia...kind of pricey for us. I like there direct line approach but again it only covers Moscow and St. Petersburg numbers and because where my relatives live in Russia broadband is too expensive to setup a local US number to call them.

Still hard to beat:

http://www.internetcalls.com/en/faq.html

At 120 days of up to 300 minutes a week for only 10 Euros. This lasts my wife typically three months.

[Neonred 3,935]

Has anyone ever used TelphinUSA? Information is at www.telphinusa.com. It's VOIP with unlimited calling to Russian Landlines and other countries.

$44 a month for unlimited to Russia...kind of pricey for us. I like there direct line approach but again it only covers Moscow and St. Petersburg numbers and because where my relatives live in Russia broadband is too expensive to setup a local US number to call them.

Still hard to beat:

http://www.internetcalls.com/en/faq.html

At 120 days of up to 300 minutes a week for only 10 Euros. This lasts my wife typically three months.

We have been using internetcalls.com for a long time now too. Can be used from Russia on a dial up connection also. Go to settings and select connection type either high speed or dial up. We are happy with the service and the price.

[SVIChet 0]

Thank you for the information. I'm going to try internetcall.com. I have a Linksys VOIP router (SIP calls) that I will use use with my broadband connect. This will allow me to make calls even if my computer is tied up or shut down.

I just set it up and it works great. With my VOIP router I can even plug into my wall jack.

For anyone wanting to send free SMS text messages from you computer, most cell phone providers have a form on their website so you can send free SMS text messages to phones connected to their system (this is free for sender not receiver, unless included in receiver's phone plan). For MegaFon (cells phone numbers beginning in +7 (921) and +7 (812) the url is http://www.megafonnw.ru/info/eng/sms

[slim 1,533]

What's the cheapest way you guys have found to call mobile phones in Russia?

Time Warner has the awesome deal of $20/month for unlimited calling to Russia but it's only to landlines. Do the cards/deals mentioned above include calls to mobiles as well?

[Neonred 3,935]

My VOIP provider is Viatalk. They charge 4 1/2 cents per minute for calls to Russian cell phones. That's their regular rate. There are no special plans you need to pay extra for.

[Ohotnik 0]

What services are people here using and which ones have good quality? I am looking for something inexpensive, but at the same time I am trying to find a service that has pretty good voice quality. It can be calling cards or an internet service, but I would prefer something that I can use over the phone. I call her at work due to the time difference and the web filter interferes with Skype and other services. So, any practical advise will be great and I am not looking for the cheapest one, but something that will give me good quality at a reasonable rate. Thanks!

- Steven

We use a calling card from Discall.com. We pay 1.9cents per minute to Moscow and 3.9 cents to Samara. She also calls Estonia and Austria with similar rates. Cell phones are a little more but reasonable to some of the rates I see here. You can put multiple access numbers that you can call from at no additional cost to you.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Hello all. I use a phone card called Seminaya (Family) Card, that I bought at a Russian grocery. I call Ukraine, and you all have me thinking that I might be able to find a better deal than the 6-12 cents per minute. I think I will create a post or two to investigate.

Any way, the card comes from MasterCall/GS-1, and here is the web site www.GS-1.com. I thought it might interest some of you for the following reasons:

1) 1 cent per minute to Moscow, 1.4 cents to St. Petersburg, 4 cents to anywhere in Russia.

2) You can recharge a PIN code online for 90 days (so you buy a $5 card and can put $50 on it if you want).

3) You can buy a card/PIN online

4) If your call fails to connect in Europe - there is no charge when you hang up.

Now if my math is correct, they do charge more for calls to mobile numbers.

[slim 1,533]

I don't know how much you guys are calling, but unless you're on the line for several hours a day, debating whether a call is 4 cents or 8 cents a minute or whatever is kind of silly. The value of something that cheap is going to be in the quality. It's worth the extra few cents to get better quality or convenience.

It's kind of like driving past the gas station on your side of the street to hit one on the opposite side because you save 3 cents/gallon. Wooo, even with your big truck you just saved 90 cents. You're truly a value conscious individual.

And a little advice for all of you out there talking to your S/O for hours and hours several times a day..... stop. She'll be here soon enough and you'll wish you had all that personal time back. Use it while you've got it! Trust me!

[Brad and Vika 129]

I don't know how much you guys are calling, but unless you're on the line for several hours a day, debating whether a call is 4 cents or 8 cents a minute or whatever is kind of silly. The value of something that cheap is going to be in the quality. It's worth the extra few cents to get better quality or convenience.

It's kind of like driving past the gas station on your side of the street to hit one on the opposite side because you save 3 cents/gallon. Wooo, even with your big truck you just saved 90 cents. You're truly a value conscious individual.

And a little advice for all of you out there talking to your S/O for hours and hours several times a day..... stop. She'll be here soon enough and you'll wish you had all that personal time back. Use it while you've got it! Trust me!

Since I guess that last post was sort of directed at me, I'll respond. I always appreciate advice from those further along in the process, and we all have different preferences and personalities. I don't call Vika every day, but we do talk for hours sometimes on the weekends. We are also in contact daily by email and text. I like the contact, and I think it helps us to stay connected. If some one else wants to fill out K-1 paperwork and have less or no contact at all until their fiance' comes to America (on her own), that is their business. GS-1 does a pretty good job with clear connections, and I think that no connection or maintenance fees is an important attribute. I also think that six to twelve cents a minute is a much better rate than some of the others I see posted, and the process of calling is easy. Again, if you think calling, or talking a long time is stupid or pointless then you don't need a card - your business. All I wanted was to know if there is a better phone deal out there.

[slim 1,533]

My comments are directed to everyone and basically boiled down to two points.

1. Trying to find a good deal on calling overseas is a good idea but debating whether to switch from this card to that or this plan to that one in order to save 4 cents a minute is silly and if it's not silly, then you're talking way too much.

2. I'll agree that the amount of time you spend talking to your S/O and the frequency you call each other is your business. But, once again, if you're talking to the point of needing to save a few cents per minute, you're talking way too much as your separate lives are going to end up causing problems for one another.

I'm not telling anyone out there to stop calling their S/O or to change what they're doing. That's your business. But, I'll tell you, in the years that I've been here on VJ I've seen a few "busted up" K-1s over "she didn't call me back" or "he was supposed to e-mail me" or something like that. It starts off innocently enough, "we always call each other before bed" and turns into "he didn't call me because he was hanging out with his cousin who has a hot roommate and they ended up fooling around" and before long we see the dreaded, "cancelled interview" post.

You should stay in touch with your S/O, but not to the point that it's a budgeting decision because of the frequency.

[Neonred 3,935]

Slim is spending $240 a year for unlimited calling to Russian landlines.

Several of us are paying $48 a year for unlimited calling to Russian landlines.

It's just a silly and insignificant difference and not a reason to consider changing plans....

[Brad and Vika 129]

My comments are directed to everyone and basically boiled down to two points.

1. Trying to find a good deal on calling overseas is a good idea but debating whether to switch from this card to that or this plan to that one in order to save 4 cents a minute is silly and if it's not silly, then you're talking way too much.

2. I'll agree that the amount of time you spend talking to your S/O and the frequency you call each other is your business. But, once again, if you're talking to the point of needing to save a few cents per minute, you're talking way too much as your separate lives are going to end up causing problems for one another.

I'm not telling anyone out there to stop calling their S/O or to change what they're doing. That's your business. But, I'll tell you, in the years that I've been here on VJ I've seen a few "busted up" K-1s over "she didn't call me back" or "he was supposed to e-mail me" or something like that. It starts off innocently enough, "we always call each other before bed" and turns into "he didn't call me because he was hanging out with his cousin who has a hot roommate and they ended up fooling around" and before long we see the dreaded, "cancelled interview" post.

You should stay in touch with your S/O, but not to the point that it's a budgeting decision because of the frequency.

Dude - you crack me up It sounds like you are saying that "You don't have to restrict your calling, but the relationship might fail if you don't" I think more relationships fail because people don't communicate enough. All off the subject. I agree that a few cents probably doesn't matter much, other than the principle, but with any card the maintenance and connection fees can make the card itself a waste. The point of my post was just to see what is out there. I found out on VJ how to SMS on the Kyivstar website recently, and I was totally unaware that I could (and it saves twenty cents per SMS!!! ). I never know what I can learn if I don't put the question out there. And some other folks might actually care about the card that I found, and benefit from that. Again, you never know.

[slim 1,533]

Slim is spending $240 a year for unlimited calling to Russian landlines.

Several of us are paying $48 a year for unlimited calling to Russian landlines.

It's just a silly and insignificant difference and not a reason to consider changing plans....

Actually, I think I'm paying more than that but it includes calls to mobile phones as well. My wife buys a $9 card every couple of weeks. Some months it's only one (or none) some months it's like four. Either way, that $240 figure is probably pretty close. Now that I think about it, she doesn't really call that much anymore so it's probably significantly less. But, when she first got here... man! We were getting phone cards about twice a week, all different kinds. She found the one she's using now (Crazy USA) and was pretty happy with this one so she's been using it since. She maybe uses one or two a month now.

But.... until you can find me a $48 solution to calling mobile phones, it does me no good.

I never know what I can learn if I don't put the question out there. And some other folks might actually care about the card that I found, and benefit from that. Again, you never know.

Absolutely!