Does anyone on here use Skype? and how good is it?

I have been looking into it and considering using the service.

I currently do not have a land line at home and just a mobile but am trying to find out if I would be able to use Skype as an equivalent to a land line.

i'v read that it is free to use Skype to Skype, there are small charged Skype to non Skype and it is possible to subscribe to a service which will give you a number to allow non skype lines to contact me?

Does anyone use this and what are the costs of this service?

recent thread

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/tech-shed/42126-skype-does-work-ok-cheaper.html?highlight=skype

I use http://www.voipbuster.com/ you get free calls to landline number, and also get a free in call number!

Can these Internet phone services really be used as an alternative to a traditional land line?

I dont use the phone alot which is the reason I dont want to pay a monthly line rental. But sometimes it would be useful to be able to have a reasonably priced way of making phone calls and also for people to be able to contact me as Mobile coverage in my home is not that great.

I use http://www.voipbuster.com/[/url'] you get free calls to landline number, and also get a free in call number!

I don't think it is free any more for uk landline calls but is still very cheap. Their sister company VOIP stunt is free at the moment.

I don't think it is free any more for uk landline calls but is still very cheap. Their sister company VOIP stunt is free at the moment.

from the website,

Free calls with VoipBuster

Not only you can call your online friends for free, VoipBuster also offers free calls to ANY regular land-line in various popular destinations (see panel)

Can these Internet phone services really be used as an alternative to a traditional land line?

yes they can, you can buy USB cordless phones, you can also get a phone number that people can call.... mine is +445601569327

Plus you can get a number for different counties, so if you had relatives in the USA, u could get a USA number so they didn't have to pay for international calls.

Both Skype and VoipBuster do this.

Can recommend Skype:thumbup: ....really good..i spend most of the evening talking to my missus who is @ uni..and all for free:D

I like it

I fitted a skype box to our phone system at work, it connects to an analogue line port so it rings our desk phones as a normal land line call would.

Very good quality so far.

Couldn't comment on the skype to and from land line services.

Does anyone on here use Skype? and how good is it?

I have been looking into it and considering using the service.

I currently do not have a land line at home and just a mobile but am trying to find out if I would be able to use Skype as an equivalent to a land line.

i'v read that it is free to use Skype to Skype' date=' there are small charged Skype to non Skype and it is possible to subscribe to a service which will give you a number to allow non skype lines to contact me?

Does anyone use this and what are the costs of this service?[/quote']

I hate to rain on your parade but if you don't have any kind of phone line......how do you plan to connect to the internet to use Skype (or any other VOIP service)?

There are rumblings about operators asking BT to provide something called Naked DSL - so you don't need to buy the phone part too - but right now it ain;t available in the UK . Skype is pretty good, but you need a phone line to connect to the net to be able to use it!

I hate to rain on your parade but if you don't have any kind of phone line......how do you plan to connect to the internet to use Skype (or any other VOIP service)?

There are rumblings about operators asking BT to provide something called Naked DSL - so you don't need to buy the phone part too - but right now it ain;t available in the UK . Skype is pretty good' date=' but you need a phone line to connect to the net to be able to use it! [/quote']

What about LAN cabled boardband?? like those provided from Telewest, I assume it doesn't require BT land line (may be I am wrong...).

Check covered area via this:

http://www.telewest.co.uk/websales/availability/check_availability.do

Yes, I use it internationally, p2p its excellent. Sometimes excellent to landlines, sometimes not, depending on what country, operator, etc.

Actually one of the only few ways to call encrypted too. Also encrypted chat.

What about LAN cabled boardband?? l/quote]

cable broadband doesn't require a telephone!

What about LAN cabled boardband?? like those provided from Telewest' date=' I assume it doesn't require BT land line (may be I am wrong...).

Check covered area via this:

[url']http://www.telewest.co.uk/websales/availability/check_availability.do[/url]

yeah that would work but it is still a landline rather than a LAN :-) Sorry I thought you wanted to use Skype without having any type of phone line into your property rather than not wanting a BT landline :-)

you don;t need a phone line for cable broadband, it uses tv cable...

you don;t need a phone line for cable broadband, it uses tv cable...

erm no actually, the TV comes down the same cable as the communications (ie the notion of a "phone cable" and a "TV cable" are kind of redundant in thsi new, converged world. That's the whole point of IP based networks. The network doesn't care what all the ones and zeroes are, it's only humans that worry about whether they are a phone call, an email or the latest episode of Eastenders :-)

I hate to rain on your parade but if you don't have any kind of phone line......how do you plan to connect to the internet to use Skype (or any other VOIP service)?

There are rumblings about operators asking BT to provide something called Naked DSL - so you don't need to buy the phone part too - but right now it ain;t available in the UK . Skype is pretty good' date=' but you need a phone line to connect to the net to be able to use it! [/quote']

i already have an NTL broadband connection to my home, but dont bother with a BT/NTL telephone line as for what I use I cant really justify the additional monthly line rental.

This is the reason I was looking into Skpye as a means of making and reciving free or cheap telephone calls as at the moment all my calls are made from my mobile.