Vonnage is free in Russia!!

[BinhJerome 14]

Hello all! I have Vonnage phone, and I wanted to let all of the people with Russian fiancé's that Vonnage now offers free phone calls to Russia on their call all over the worked plan for free. This is a great deal, and I am sure that many of you would like to know this information. Instead of hundred dollar plus phone bills you can talk for over a hundred hours a month for only $25 I just wish they had that feature for Vietnam Good luck to all of you and your visa's!!!!!

[Steve S 2]

This sounds good if you are calling to a landline. However, if you want to call to a mobile phone in Russia, that will cost a whopping 8 cents per minute, on top of the monthly fee with one-year contract. I have looked into Skype, MagicJack and various other options, but my fiancee often talk when she is out of the home and on her mobile phone, so the best option I have found is to use a calling card -- Diamond Europe or Red Tiger. For $10 we can talk for a little more than two hours. It is cheaper than this to talk with someone in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

[BinhJerome 14]

This sounds good if you are calling to a landline. However, if you want to call to a mobile phone in Russia, that will cost a whopping 8 cents per minute, on top of the monthly fee with one-year contract. I have looked into Skype, MagicJack and various other options, but my fiancee often talk when she is out of the home and on her mobile phone, so the best option I have found is to use a calling card -- Diamond Europe or Red Tiger. For $10 we can talk for a little more than two hours. It is cheaper than this to talk with someone in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

If you look at the deal Vonnage has there is no charge to mobile phones in Russia, at least that is what it says. And even if it does if it is only 8 cents that is better than a calling card

[Neonred 3,460]

This sounds good if you are calling to a landline. However, if you want to call to a mobile phone in Russia, that will cost a whopping 8 cents per minute, on top of the monthly fee with one-year contract. I have looked into Skype, MagicJack and various other options, but my fiancee often talk when she is out of the home and on her mobile phone, so the best option I have found is to use a calling card -- Diamond Europe or Red Tiger. For $10 we can talk for a little more than two hours. It is cheaper than this to talk with someone in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Let's see.....2 hours for $10 is....a little bit more than a whopping 8.3 cents a minute!

My wife uses internetcalls from the computer for 4 cents a minute to cell phones or tel3 @ 4.2 cents per minute when she is not using her MetroPCS phone for unlimited international call for $5 per month. Unfortunately as of this month MetroPCS dropped free calls to cell phones in Russia.

[Steve S 2]

I talked to the customer rep at Vonage, and they quoted me 8 cents per minute to a mobile phone in Russia. At 1000 cents for 130 minutes (though the card promises about 180 minutes), I currently pay 7.7 cents/min - with no contract and no monthly fee. I will gladly buy a second mobile or an internet phone, if I can find a great deal out there. I did not know about the Metro PCS plan that you say they have stopped offering.

[Neonred 3,460]

MetroPCS is a cell phone carrier just like Verizon or T-mobile, that features monthly unlimited calling and no contract, but unfortunately they do not provide service in all areas. You can look them up @ www.metropcs.com. When we started with them for an extra $5 a month they offered unlimited international calling including Russian cell and landlines. This changed a few weeks ago to landlines only. Still works out well for my wife to call her daughter. When she needs to call her cell she uses www.tel3.com for 4.2 cents per minute. I used this a lot when my wife was living in Russia and we were building evidence. Easy access to your account information and call history.

[kylejb 0]

MetroPCS is a cell phone carrier just like Verizon or T-mobile, that features monthly unlimited calling and no contract, but unfortunately they do not provide service in all areas. You can look them up @ www.metropcs.com. When we started with them for an extra $5 a month they offered unlimited international calling including Russian cell and landlines. This changed a few weeks ago to landlines only. Still works out well for my wife to call her daughter. When she needs to call her cell she uses www.tel3.com for 4.2 cents per minute. I used this a lot when my wife was living in Russia and we were building evidence. Easy access to your account information and call history.

MagicJack - Buy your love one one of these for $20 a year. As long as they have internet access, you can TALK FOR FREE as much as you want.

Google Magicjack.

[mox 298]

Be sure to read the Wikipedia entry on MagicJack before doing business with them, especially the "criticisms" section:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicjack

[Rob_Lesya 4]

Be sure to read the Wikipedia entry on MagicJack before doing business with them, especially the "criticisms" section:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicjack

I would agree --- anything that's going to require a manual registry edit in order to fully remove is probably not a good idea to install.

For Lesya and I, Skype and Mail Agent both work exceptionally well for both web video and audio communication. The voice quality in both systems is just as good as with my landline telephone and AT&T connection. Of course, YMMV.

The only issue is that her internet provider in Chelyabinsk is a bit unreliable. It will often be down for a few days at a time. We're working on switching her to another provider.

[Chi-town 1]

Cheap is good, but free is better -

Svetlana and I chat every morning and night on Skype - the video calls are fantastic. Since Svetla's work provides her with internet access at her home in Chelyabinsk, we've been able to see and talk to each other for free during this entire process. I can also call her cell and send sms messages to her cell for only 7 cents a minute. I like free, and this way of communication is the only way to go. Being able to see my girl twice a day, even when we are in opposite sides of the world, means everything.

Oh yes, Rob - good luck to you and your fiancee!

Edited November 17, 2009 by Chi-town

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

This sounds good if you are calling to a landline. However, if you want to call to a mobile phone in Russia, that will cost a whopping 8 cents per minute, on top of the monthly fee with one-year contract. I have looked into Skype, MagicJack and various other options, but my fiancee often talk when she is out of the home and on her mobile phone, so the best option I have found is to use a calling card -- Diamond Europe or Red Tiger. For $10 we can talk for a little more than two hours. It is cheaper than this to talk with someone in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Cheaper yet...PennyBoss "Continental" calling card AND it gives a cal detail which you can print. We used it and still use it to call our son at college, friends and family.

I thank the gentleman from VietNam for thinking of us. In fact not so many people have landlines in Russia and Ukraine but they all have cell phones.

[Rob_Lesya 4]

Cheap is good, but free is better -

Svetlana and I chat every morning and night on Skype - the video calls are fantastic. Since Svetla's work provides her with internet access at her home in Chelyabinsk, we've been able to see and talk to each other for free during this entire process. I can also call her cell and send sms messages to her cell for only 7 cents a minute. I like free, and this way of communication is the only way to go. Being able to see my girl twice a day, even when we are in opposite sides of the world, means everything.

Oh yes, Rob - good luck to you and your fiancee!

Oh wow! ANOTHER one from Chelyabinsk! --- There are quite a few from Chel going through the process at the moment. We might need to start our own sub-forum.

Thanks for the good wishes. Lesya didn't have any problem with the medical exam yesterday even though she actually wasn't feeling very well and had lost her voice. I'm glad we decided to schedule this extra day between the medical exam and interview. I originally did it just in case there was any problem getting the results from the clinic, etc. But she's been able to use this day simply to rest and take medicine. She's feeling and sounding much better now. She'll be at the interview in a few hours from now and I don't anticipate any problems (of course, no one ever does ).

[eekee 182]

This sounds good if you are calling to a landline. However, if you want to call to a mobile phone in Russia, that will cost a whopping 8 cents per minute, on top of the monthly fee with one-year contract. I have looked into Skype, MagicJack and various other options, but my fiancee often talk when she is out of the home and on her mobile phone, so the best option I have found is to use a calling card -- Diamond Europe or Red Tiger. For $10 we can talk for a little more than two hours. It is cheaper than this to talk with someone in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Cheaper yet...PennyBoss "Continental" calling card AND it gives a cal detail which you can print. We used it and still use it to call our son at college, friends and family.

I thank the gentleman from VietNam for thinking of us. In fact not so many people have landlines in Russia and Ukraine but they all have cell phones.

Not true. However, landlines are often limited in what they can call--my landline, for instance, can't call cell phones or make out of area code calls, just calls to other landlines within the city. I've never been in an apartment without a landline. However, my friends my age in America don't even think about paying for landline service; they all use cell phones or skype.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Cheap is good, but free is better -

Svetlana and I chat every morning and night on Skype - the video calls are fantastic. Since Svetla's work provides her with internet access at her home in Chelyabinsk, we've been able to see and talk to each other for free during this entire process. I can also call her cell and send sms messages to her cell for only 7 cents a minute. I like free, and this way of communication is the only way to go. Being able to see my girl twice a day, even when we are in opposite sides of the world, means everything.

Oh yes, Rob - good luck to you and your fiancee!

Oh wow! ANOTHER one from Chelyabinsk! --- There are quite a few from Chel going through the process at the moment. We might need to start our own sub-forum.

Thanks for the good wishes. Lesya didn't have any problem with the medical exam yesterday even though she actually wasn't feeling very well and had lost her voice. I'm glad we decided to schedule this extra day between the medical exam and interview. I originally did it just in case there was any problem getting the results from the clinic, etc. But she's been able to use this day simply to rest and take medicine. She's feeling and sounding much better now. She'll be at the interview in a few hours from now and I don't anticipate any problems (of course, no one ever does ).

Next to the Crim, Chelyabinsk is known as being "scam central".

[AKguy 1]

Next to the Crim, Chelyabinsk is known as being "scam central".

Says who?