A big communication barrier

[May2 3]

Your best bet really is get a post paid internet for 999php a month for your wife's family here. They can talk all day & night if they want through skype or YM. But next thing you know your wife's family will complain that electricty bill shook up and you need to send extra money And a call from US is really expensive so ask your family in Pinas to call you instead, get SUN INTERNATIONAL sim card it's cheaper to use when calling and texting abroad.

[sweet angel 5]

There is a big money saving loop-hole to skype though. You can set up the person in the Philippines' account on skype to be a US account and then put your card information in for $3.00/month unlimited US/Canada plan and the person in the Philippines can call any landline/cell phone in the US for nothing but the 3 dollars a month that you pay. The downside is that you still don't have the benefit of calling them, unless they are on skype that is.

I checked Globe's website and they have a 1 megabyte per second plan for 995 pesos a month. Is this sufficient in speed?

My family in Manila been using globe broadband ( Php995/ month ) for 2 yrs now. So far so good!

[Atencio 43]

http://www.pinoytawagunlimited.com has unlimited calling to PH for $40 a month. I've been thinking about changing to this for a while. Right now I just use my normal phone service which is 16 cents a min and too much.

I called on this. They want about $100.00 to set up. The $40.00/month is if you sign contract for 6 months. If you do month to month it is $45.00.

Calling isn't unlimited. They have a fair use clause which I think was 5,000 minutes which is a whole lot. What they do is give the person in the Philippines a sim card that has a number that would be local for you. For them to call you is a different process which I really didn't pay much attention to.

My only question which the representative could not answer is if they keep a log of phone calls so that you can use for evidence. It sounds like a good deal if logs can be obtained.

[070809 0]

Hi!! I think your original deal is cheaper, my fiance's is 16c/min but he uses Owtel so it's like it also eats up his Tmobile free 1000 minutes. But he only uses it when I'm out of the house which is not that often so in a month he only pays $14!

But see there's this new thing that is offered by Globe. They call it Super IDD which is Php99 pesos a day on prepaid so it's like you only register when you need it. This service is unlimited international direct dialing from Globe sim card to a US number. The catch is THEY (family in Philippines) needs to call you in the states and only *From 11:00 PM to 5:59 AM (Philippine Time) -- on the website it says only until 10June but Globe extended it as it still runs TV ads on TV back here.

[070809 0]

Hi!! I think your original deal is cheaper, my fiance's is 16c/min but he uses Owtel so it's like it also eats up his Tmobile free 1000 minutes. But he only uses it when I'm out of the house which is not that often so in a month he only pays $14! And Vonage asks too much at 20c/min.

But see there's this new thing that is offered by Globe. They call it Super IDD which is Php99 pesos a day on prepaid so it's like you only register when you need it. This service is unlimited international direct dialing from Globe sim card to a US number. The catch is THEY (family in Philippines) need to call you in the states and only *From 11:00 PM to 5:59 AM (Philippine Time). Whatver goes beyond those times are charged on their regular IDD rates. Also, on the website it says only until 10June but Globe extended it as it still runs ads on TV back here. So I dunno what time it will be in your state when it's 11PM here.. dunno if this will work but yeah it's cheap!

[mNr 0]

why not use a $5 asian calling card? im sure you wont call Philippines everyday just to chat for nothing right? its good for 30 mins..it works for me and my husband liked my idea of cutting our international call, i don't want to be tempted using the phone then have big bills to pay later. IMO call only if its really important ..just a thought

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

IMO, the bigger problem here is that they provided the funds to pay for internet in the PH so they could communicate and her family is so disrespectful as to have used the money otherwise and let the internet get shut-off.

Regarding ways to communicate with her family, there is no cheap option if they won't cooperate with you.

[TOM&Riz 4]

There is a big money saving loop-hole to skype though. You can set up the person in the Philippines' account on skype to be a US account and then put your card information in for $3.00/month unlimited US/Canada plan and the person in the Philippines can call any landline/cell phone in the US for nothing but the 3 dollars a month that you pay. The downside is that you still don't have the benefit of calling them, unless they are on skype that is.

I checked Globe's website and they have a 1 megabyte per second plan for 995 pesos a month. Is this sufficient in speed?

it's as good as your going to get there, even it say's 1 mbps the speed will be whatever there is, there is no regulation there and bandwidth is at a premium. Globe is as good as any other there, read the fine pring UP TO 1 mbps usually hovers around .20 to .60 but you can set it up to pay online and that should relieve your issues, keep in mind speed isn't the name of the game for call clairity with computer calling, it's bandwidth clairity, for example you can have a slow 512 DSL connection that will have a clearer voice line then a 1.5 MBPS DSL line.

Good luck to you -