I do, and its pretty damn good! Just wanted to get people's thoughts and opinions on it!

I use it everyday to take to my mates who are on another uni campus of halls or residence from me - we stay on it for hours even if we aint talking lol...

...I also use to keep in touch with my mum back home - both online, and I brought SkypeIn so I have a real phone number! and thats pretty good too

thats cool! i didnt buy skypeIn/Out so just have the regular thing. I use it to keep in contact with me mates in Dublin! And its free which is brill!

I've just installed it as a friend has gone to live abroad. I'm pretty impressed and wondering why I've waited so long.

I use BlueFace which works the same way. Apart from a slight echo on the phone I think its great and would never go back to a landline phone or dial up internet connection again.

What is skype ?

its a VoIP telephone service, which is free. Basically it lets you talk to someone (like a telephone call) thru your pc

I do. Have for ages. I just have the regular Skype, but it's really handy.

I use it all the time and it is now better with video

I have been using it about a week now and the quality is great, The other day i spoke to a guy in Australia and it was as good if not better than the normal phone, Plus its free as long as you dont use the Skype out option but on checking the price of this it seems to be about 17p per min, Which is not bad either

Yes but after just dowloading it I found it's not free to call a land line or a mobile, which is a bit crap if you ask me.

Sorry to sound thick, but, how does work? Does it work through the PC and your isp or just the broadband line..

I've tested Skype and have it on my system, but I use proper VoIP providers for my main use.

Skype is a pain in that you need a PC on to make and receive calls, really just a kids toy version of the real thing.

Use a proper SIP VoIP provider like www.sipgate.co.uk and you can make and receive calls over your broadband connection without the need of the PC being switched on.

With Sipgate and other proper services, you can if you wish use software and your PC to make and receive calls, you can also use the glorified soundcards (USB phones - AKA USB toys), you can use a proper VoIP phone that connects to your broadband router, or like myself a ATA (Analogue Telephone Adaptor) that connects to your broadband router and you connect a standard corded and/or cordless phone to it, these latter 2 solutions require no PC to be switched on.

Skype charge you for an incoming number, Sipgate give you the number for free, you can choose any areacode, not just your local one, and you can call other Sipgate users for free and those of several other VoIP providers for free.

No Skype is only free to other Skype users.

I use Sipgate and VoIP Stunt, and no longer have a standard landline, just VoIP (and mobile).


www.voipcheap.co.uk
www.voipstunt.com
www.voipbuster.com
www.sipdiscount.com
www.internetcalls.com
www.netappel.fr

These offer unlimited calls to landlines for around a €10 fee, credit lasts 120days after last call (I think this is how it reads). It was €1 and then €5 when I joined up, so have had around 11 months of free calls for just €6.

Skype - I spit on your non-standard fleabay corpse!

SIP-based VoIP solutions are the way to go another sipgate user

But to use it you need internet - which means you already have a phone? Why pay for two different ones (ignoring the free user>user connections, which you can do with google talk)?

I don't need a phone line for my broadband, and don't have a phone line, just broadband and VoIP.

I pay no line rental, and no call costs.

just wish you could get a cordless Skype phone with caller display??

I use a proper VoIP service, and use my DECT cordless phone with caller display.

I have just started only got 3 contacts who use skype aswell saving me a fortune on my mobile

Do I use skype?

No. I think it's awful when you compare it to SIP or IAX2 based providers. I can have a decent phone, who I can use with a multitude of providers. I can change as I like. I only have to plug it into a network (not USB), not boot up a PC. I am not tied to a PC. Skype hardware feels extremely cheap and nasty and not that well built.

I use Asterisk (open source PBX). I can use a selection of providers for outgoing calls, have a couple of sipgate accounts for incoming calls (the numbers being free). I have voicemail, three-way calling, conferencing with as many participants as my bandwidth permits. I can have multiple simultaneous calls (both outgoing and incoming). The hardware cost is very little.

Can you do all that with skype? Probably not. Excluding call charges, and hardware costs, what I do is free. Skype wants you to pay for everything. I suppose skype is only good to get people interested in voip at which point they can move on to a better, more reliable, cheaper SIP/IAX provider.

Are you using a Linksys CIT200?

I use a LinkSys PAP2, connected to my router.

Toy town telecom service coughs up to UK phone snag

Thanks dude - interesting read.