Rebtel

[shaun]

It appears that there is something wrong at Rebtel.  I've run out of minutes and can't log into it to buy more minutes and they are not responding to messages.  Has anyone found another service like Rebtel that is open for business?

Rebtel is good while they are working well but their customer service has always sucked worse than the American Government or AT&T.

[maxx]

Gerry likes Magic Jack. So you mite try that. My wife likes Skype. And QQ ,QQ is a little flaky sometimes. It will drop the call or the sound or the picture. I have had good luck with Skype.

[JohnB]

try DianhuaChina.com
they are, by far, the best int'l calling service I have experienced the last dozen years or so.
I buy the minutes. $10.00 20.00 a go. Call the local number. Input your pin.
Input 011-86-xxxx-xxx-xxxx & you are ready to go. Never the 1-800-xxx whatever number.

kind of funny.. they are in Georgia, your backyard.
DianhuaChina
4780 Ashford Dunwoody Rd, Suite A 236
Atlanta, GA, 30338
United States

[Pineau]

I think they are all problematic. I have magic jack that I carry in my bag. I use skype on my laptop and cell phone. I have both magic jack plus , google talk , and skype in the house.  All of them have problems at certain times of the day with the video freezing, Audio dropping out or sounding distorted and not understandable.  It seems to be better here in the USA  because of the more reliable connections and higher bandwidth but it still has its problems. There is another service I used years ago when I was working in Shenzhen. it is called local phone (http://www.localphone.com/) but I have not used it lately and I am not sure of the quality now. When I was using it it was very good.

[Pineau]

Ha!. I just went to local phone to check their rates (1/2 cent per minute) and my account is still active. I still have a $20.79 balance.  I will give it a try later and let you know how well it works.

Hey Shaun, They are offering a free trial call it you want to test the service. One unique feature is that I can map any foreign number to a local phone number in my area. Then authorize any number in the USA to call that number. No dial around or pin numbers to remember. The drawback is that she could not call me. I solved that problem by opening an SMS account that would send an email to my phone when I got an SMS message from her. I could reply back with an SMS or call her back on local phone.
http://talk2china.com/

If you would like to test it for a couple of days, send me your cell phone number and her phone number. I will map them into my account and send you a phone number to call to reach her.  Will that work for you?

[Willy The Londoner]

I live here courtesy of Skype. 

On rare occasions I did sometimes get a call that ithat was not up to scratch. But since going on to the high speed broadband here that problem seems to have gone away for now.

My computer is running all day even if i am not sitting in front of it and I never miss a Skype call coming through. 

(Always use a headset and mic when communicating via the internet otherwise people will hear themselves talking over your speaker a milli second after speaking.)

With a very low price package from Skype I get a dedicated number in the UK that people call me on and as far as they are concerned they are talking to someone sitting in London. I can then call any landline telephone in UK for no charge and any other telephone or cellphone anywhere in the World at very low rates by taking out a 10 or 20 pound credit that seems to last forever.

What I do not get are any calls from companies trying to sell me something.

However my home China Telecom phone in China is now catching up with the rest of the world and I get at least one call a day from an automated voice expounding the benefits of their products.

Willy

[2hip]

Here is how i do it.  I use a company called Viber.  Like all companies it has it moments when we call it "Viber Fun"...just remember that peak hours on any free source is going to be problematic.  But you get free text with viber and it is never down..and i repeat it is free.  Speak hours almost everyday and Viber seems okay.  Then I use a Russian company out of New York city called Startec...i think my monthly bill is like 15 dollars.  I only use it when Viber is spotty during peak hours of usage.  Then i use Skype and QQ.  So, i spend about 15 bucks a month for my Chinese connections.  Not too shabby...

[shaun]

I appreciate all of the input.  I do use QQ but I am looking for something on my cell for occasions when QQ isn't working or wither of us can't make the arranged time when we talk or emergencies.  I am looking into John's suggestion to learn more about them.  3 days now and no response from Rebtel.

[shaun]

The site John suggested is now called www.keepcalling.com.   It seems to be a lot like Rebtel but with a lot more options.  Of course I've not tried it but it appears that if I give a local number and my pin number I can be reached in China from any phone in the US.  That is a big plus for me since I have children and a mother back home.  Plus I can have an app that when applied will automatically apply $5.00 to my account.  I can't tell you how many times I've been on the road and lost a call because I ran out of minutes.

Thanks John

[shaun]

Mike keep calling is almost the same as Skype except I have options as to how I pay.  I can pay my minutes used, monthly or yearly.  I prefer minutes used.  I like to keep my cash in my pocket not theirs.  Secondly I don't have to give my number.  It is never seen.  I give them a local dial up number and a pin.  It is my discretion as to who I give it to and they can't just call anyone, I think.

[Willy The Londoner]

  I prefer minutes used.  I like to keep my cash in my pocket not theirs.  Secondly I don't have to give my number.  It is never seen.  I give them a local dial up number and a pin.  It is my discretion as to who I give it to and they can't just call anyone, I think.

You say that you 'cannot count the number of times you have been on the road and lost calls because you ran out of minutes'.  That does not happen with Skype.

But it depends on what you want to use it for. If it is just for a few people that you know and who will not forget the pin  then it may pass as OK.

 But business wise I cannot fault Skype. My payments to Skype in one year are less than I used to pay every three months for a basic telephone service in London and then I had to pay for every call made on top of that. For the Skype money I pay no extra for any calls either to or from China as they are all covered by that small payment.

Willy

[maxx]

I'm with Willy on this. I like Skype. It has worked for me most of the time. The part I like the best is that when you need to add money. It will tell you and when you do add money/minutes it is straight to the point no hassle no  gimmecks no second party collection sites, No mystery charges .

[Martin]

I have been using Rebtel for a few years now. I am NOT out of credits right now, but the service works fine. I swear by them. When I am at home I only use Skype. But on the road I use Rebtel.

[shaun]

Up until recently I had no problems with Rebtel.  They say my password isn't correct but I never changed it.  I ran out of money on it and can't get in.  I would email them without a reply and it seemed to go into never never land.  So opened a new fictitious account and emailed them.  In 4 days now there hasn't been one reply.  They have either banned me or they are no longer in business and are letting people run their accounts out.  I don't know.

My latest request was asking them to allow me to get into my records and print them out for immigration purposes.  Still no reply.

I am already finding problems with www.keepcalling.com.  There are too many numbers to key in and so far my wife can't call me if she needs to.