newbie: US. to Indo calling services

**simarkbotak** · 06-05-09, 15:54

Originally Posted by littleiyut

Marcus, thanks for that. I must say my connection is really good even when it says signal : low Speed : 24.0Mbps.

Hi littleiyut, is this a typo??

**littleiyut** · 06-05-09, 22:41

He...he...he. Yes it is I forgot to put a coma or semicolon in between low and speed. Thanks! I have to get up so early 5.30am to catch up with all the new post before getting ready for work so probably I was half a sleep

.

**marcus** · 07-05-09, 12:49

Originally Posted by littleiyut

Marcus, thanks for that. I must say my connection is really good even when it says signal : low Speed : 24.0Mbps. Never have any problem with slow connection or getting cut off, and when I run my business on internet which I have to download and upload a lot of pictures it's always very fast. Another thing, is it better to have separate microphone and camera or built in one? I have been using my son's laptop because his has built in camera while mine is a bit older laptop I have to connect/set up the camera etc.

My ADSL connection indicates 100Mbps and is slow even for download (sometimes below 5k) . But if you upload photos quickly , then probably it is ok . For calling , it is recommended to use headset speakers to avoid interference with the microphone . For the microphone itself , you can use the built in as far as it is good . Try to use different ones to check . For VOIP like skype , I would not use camera as my connection is already slow (although broadband) . Pictures/video , as you know , have high data load and so they will worsen the voice call even more .

**simarkbotak** · 07-05-09, 15:39

Originally Posted by marcus

My ADSL connection indicates 100Mbps and is slow even for download (sometimes below 5k) .

Again, is this a typo??

You shouldn't have any problems with 100MBps..

**marcus** · 08-05-09, 12:02

Originally Posted by simarkbotak

Again, is this a typo??
You shouldn't have any problems with 100MBps..

This information from the connection company (Telkom Indonesia) is the theoretical maximum . This 100MBps is always there (never changes) and for sure it is not the real one . Sometimes the download speed is slow due to the source server/international traffic , but I never got a download of more than 120 kBps .

**littleiyut** · 09-05-09, 04:20

Originally Posted by marcus

My ADSL connection indicates 100Mbps and is slow even for download (sometimes below 5k) . But if you upload photos quickly , then probably it is ok . For calling , it is recommended to use headset speakers to avoid interference with the microphone . For the microphone itself , you can use the built in as far as it is good . Try to use different ones to check . For VOIP like skype , I would not use camera as my connection is already slow (although broadband) . Pictures/video , as you know , have high data load and so they will worsen the voice call even more .

Thank you Marcus! I will try using different microphone and see which one will work best for me.
Have a nice weekend

**marcus** · 09-05-09, 18:20

Littleiyut , if you don't succeed with Skype , try others as each VOIP service use different software program which also may affect the sound volume and required bandwidth . I already used Skype , YahooVoice , Globe7 and JustVoip as my call destination is Brazil and not Indonesia . The tariff you mentioned of 5p/min is NOT too good to be true ! To call Indonesia , www.smartvoip.com charges 0.018 Euro/min. , www.12voip.com charges 0.042 Euro/min , www.smsdiscount.com (recommended by some in this Forum) charges 0.048 Euro/min ,...all including VAT tax . And you can also try the www.nobelcom.co.uk , recommended by CarlosG903 , which charges 2.4 to 3.8 p/min (and in this case is phone card which , I think , you call directly from your landline phone instead of from your computer ).

**pepgal** · 09-05-09, 21:01

Hi All,

I'm new to this site and I recently reclocated to Jakarta from LA myself 2 months ago.

2 Carlos: I don't think the residential phone line works like in the US. However, the there is this company call HALO phone, I believe. What we did was, we register the landline number, in my case my home number. When I want to call international I just punch in 5 diggit codes. I can call anywhere anytime to any number, both cell and home line. So far the the connection is pretty reliable.

I use skype when I'm online and I downloaded it into my cell also. That way I can use it even if i'm not on my computer.

**littleiyut** · 11-05-09, 02:01

Many thanks Marcus! I have so many choices now. I will investigate all of them.

**ReveurGAM** · 03-06-09, 17:12

Aside from Skype, what's the cheapest way to call home (USA) to someone with no computer? I'd like to find a better option than changing my cell phone number to 3.

I can't go the Skype route as I haven't got Internet access at home and the computer's acting crazy. Darned motherboard - and maybe a hard disk - is on the blink.

Glenn