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Best call rates by network?

bo0li5eumx12kp

It seems the majority of folks simply get unlimited talk time with many plans now.

However, these often require a 30 euro per month input.

I'm looking for the cheapest SIM card deal (like Tesco mobile used to do 5 euro deal), with the subsequent cheapest call rates (texting/data - doesn't matter).

See - I occasionally have to call my mother in law - and I don't want to do it from my own number, and therefore, I don't require a lot of talk time, and I don't want to overspend.

Lyca mobile do a 5 euro top up.
What are their rates like in contrast to other providers?

I was on Eir at one point but, it was crazy - few phone calls and 10 euros was gone in a flash.
Don't know how much the rates vary between one provider and the next - ?

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Slippin Jimmy

Switcher give a good breakdown of what deals are available and for what price. I don't think there is any one website that gives you a breakdown of charges per minute for calls etc.

I think for prepay, Lyca have the best deal at the moment. If you don't want your mother in law to have your number, just set it to private when calling her :P.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

Switcher give a good breakdown of what deals are available and for what price. I don't think there is any one website that gives you a breakdown of charges per minute for calls etc.

I think for prepay, Lyca have the best deal at the moment. If you don't want your mother in law to have your number, just set it to private when calling her :P.

She doesn't answer private numbers - the oversensitive wagon.

I was looking into virtual numbers also but, I think you actually have to pay for them anyways.

Anyone use virtual numbers?

Ten Pin

Get a PAYG SIM card for tbe purpose of getting a number.

Then use a SIP app on a smartphone (on 4G or WiFi) to make calls using data with the caller ID from the SIM card which you only need to verify once.

Calls cost about a cent per minute and credit doesn't expire. So 10 euro (+ VAT) could last years.

Android SIP App: CSIPSimple
VOIP provider: sipdiscount.com

There are numerous other providers with different rates depending on calling patterns eg freevoipdeal, discountvoip and others.

editorsean

Post Mobile prepay do a minutes bundle - €3 for 35 minutes, €5 for 75 minutes or €10 for 150 minutes. The bundle lasts 60 days, so even the largest 150 minutes bundle only works out at €5 per month:

https://postmobile.ie/add-ons/

When you top-up post mobile, it will ask whether to top-up your credit or buy a bundle. Purchase the minutes bundle and don't top-up the general call credit. This way you don't have to worry about accidentally turning on data as there will be no credit balance to run down.

I think the SIM costs €10 at the post office. You don't need to buy a monthly plan. If for some reason it comes with a plan, you can let it expire after 28 days and buy a minutes bundle afterwards.

Ten Pin

It's unclear from the Ts and Cs whether add on purchase meets the 6 monthly top up requirement for postmobile SIMs to remain active.

7. Account Validity and Mobile Number Reclaim
(a) Your Postmobile phone number and SIM Card is valid and will remain active for as long as you are using your Mobile Phone regularly.
(b) If you do not make a Credit Top Up to your Account for 6 months, your Account and any outstanding Credit on your Account will be suspended. If this happens you may reactivate your Account by calling Customer Care. We will reactivate your Account, and any previously unused credit you had on your Account will be available to you again.
(c) After your Account has been suspended, you have a further one month during which you can have it reactivated by calling Customer Care. If you do not ask us to reactivate your Account we will assume that you no longer need it (as you will not have used it for 7 months) and it will be fully deactivated. This means your SIM Card will no longer work, you will lose any unused Credit you may have had, and your Mobile Phone number can be claimed back by Postmobile and given to another customer.

https://postmobile.ie/general-terms-conditions/

editorsean

The add-ons alone are sufficient to keep the account active. For example, my Dad has been just buying add-on top-ups for about the past 2 years.

On their top-up page, they call the add-on a top as it gives the option to top-up your minutes, texts, data or general credit.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Ten Pin wrote: »

Get a PAYG SIM card for tbe purpose of getting a number.

Then use a SIP app on a smartphone (on 4G or WiFi) to make calls using data with the caller ID from the SIM card which you only need to verify once.

Calls cost about a cent per minute and credit doesn't expire. So 10 euro (+ VAT) could last years.

Android SIP App: CSIPSimple
VOIP provider: sipdiscount.com

There are numerous other providers with different rates depending on calling patterns eg freevoipdeal, discountvoip and others.

With apps like that, to top up their credit - does that require a credit card?

Or does it deduct it from the network credit you have on your phone, or how does that work?

Also - when calling, does it show up on the caller receiver ID that you're calling from an app?
I assume it's not a skype deal where they have to be on Wifi or 4G also?

And finally - basically, the calling number isn't a virtual number, but the actual number of the SIM purchased?

Ten Pin

Top up via PayPal or Visa or MasterCard. No need for any credit on the SIM.

The SIM allows use of an actual number as caller ID. It's not actually necessary for the app to work but then caller ID would show as private number.

The recipient sees it as a normal call, no app needed, no data needed on their end.

The number is the phone number of the SIM. The caller ID they see will allow them to call you back but only on a phone with that SIM inside. The app will not "ring" as the app and SIM are totally separate.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Ten Pin wrote: »

Top up via PayPal or Visa or MasterCard. No need for any credit on the SIM.

The SIM allows use of an actual number as caller ID. It's not actually necessary for the app to work but then caller ID would show as private number.

The recipient sees it as a normal call, no app needed, no data needed on their end.

The number is the phone number of the SIM. The caller ID they see will allow them to call you back but only on a phone with that SIM inside. The app will not "ring" as the app and SIM are totally separate.

Damn I'm just thinking - I could do this on my normal SIM also - and basically save having to top up call credit, ever? (I use the three data bundle for 20 euro per, which regularly runs out of call credit)

Any reason why everyone doesn't use this app?

editorsean

editorsean wrote: »

Post Mobile prepay do a minutes bundle - €3 for 35 minutes, €5 for 75 minutes or €10 for 150 minutes. The bundle lasts 60 days, ...

In case anyone's reading this, it looks like An Post has reduced the add-on bundles to 30 days.

It caught my Dad out as he noticed his calls, texts and data allowances disappeared several weeks before the expiry on his calendar. When he called Post Mobile, they said his bundles expired as they now last 28 days, yet he never received notification of this. He topped up the individual add-ons and sure enough his balance check says these will expire in 30 days, not the 28 days the representative mentioned or the 60 days still mentioned on Post Mobile's website.

So at this point he's planning on changing to Vodafone once the 30 days are up as he's rather disgusted over this. Although Vodafone's add-ons are no better value, they randomly give away free data and voice add-ons (at least to someone I know on Vodafone) and have 4G access, which Post Mobile doesn't offer.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Does anyone actually use that VOIP app for super cheap calls?

They're about a third the cost of Skype calls.

But I'm having registration difficulties.

Plus the apps recommended above seem to be decommissioned?
SimpleVOIP etc

Ten Pin

CSIPSimple is not on play store any more so you would have to download the apk and install it that way. Link here...

https://m.apkpure.com/csipsimple/com.csipsimple

There are various other apps on play store but I haven't used them.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Ten Pin wrote: »

CSIPSimple is not on play store any more so you would have to download the apk and install it that way. Link here...

https://m.apkpure.com/csipsimple/com.csipsimple

There are various other apps on play store but I haven't used them.

What about Viber?

Good/bad?

Ten Pin

Haven't used Viber, nor Skype.

Viber and Skype are all in one apps, ie an app and calls combined whereas CSIPSimple (CSIP for short) is an app only. Call credit is then bought through a VOIP/SIP provider (such as sipdiscount.com or freevoipdeal.com or others). The provider login is used within CSIP to make calls using the credit.

Viber rates are about 10c for mobile and 2c for landline whereas the other SIP providers are about 1c for mobile and 0.5c for landline.

There's another app called Yolla that seems to be cheaper than Viber. It seems you can buy Yolla credit from phone credit, you'd need to check if Three credit works with Yolla.

Thread here...
https://m.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057869861&page=56
...about various options for spending phone credit.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Ten Pin wrote: »

Haven't used Viber, nor Skype.

Viber and Skype are all in one apps, ie an app and calls combined whereas CSIPSimple (CSIP for short) is an app only. Call credit is then bought through a VOIP/SIP provider (such as sipdiscount.com or freevoipdeal.com or others). The provider login is used within CSIP to make calls using the credit.

Viber rates are about 10c for mobile and 2c for landline whereas the other SIP providers are about 1c for mobile and 0.5c for landline.

There's another app called Yolla that seems to be cheaper than Viber. It seems you can buy Yolla credit from phone credit, you'd need to check if Three credit works with Yolla.

Thread here...
https://m.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057869861&page=56
...about various options for spending phone credit.

Do you actually use VOIP simple?

Cause there's like, 1 review on that link.

It definitely seems like the best value option, but I checked out other VOIP apps on the play store and, not many users, seem kind of tricky to setup.

Do you have an opinion on why most users opt for the far more expensive, Skype and/Viber etc?

Just checked out Yolla there - basically on the higher side of 2 cent per minute to mobiles, the lower side to landlines.

Bundles come in minimum 4 euro, but that would be okay if they can swap it for phone credit - but I don't see how to do that on the app; says paypal, playstore or laser card payments....?

I just bought 1 euro viber which should give me about an hour talk time.

I'd like to get a VOIP dialer just to see but, I'm wary of that "1 review"....

Ten Pin

Yeah, I use CSIPSimple with a sipdiscount account, never had any problems with the provider or app.

Skype, Viber etc are just brand names really, the underlying technology is pretty similar across all apps. It all depends on the size of marketing budget behind each brand. And to pay for that budget they probably have annoying ads. CSIPSimple doesn't have ads.

Also most phone bundles have unlimited calls now so it's kind of a niche market to a certain extent.

Yolla allows 'carrier billing'* within the app which takes payment from phone credit.

Here are some posts on boards about CSIPSimple to give a broader opinion...

https://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?sort=best&date_to=&date_from=&query=Csipsimple&page=1

The main issue is to have good 4G signal but that'll be the case no matter whether it's Viber Skype Yolla etc

*check the privacy clause to ensure that Three aren't giving your number to some of those premium SMS companies that gouge credit...or get Three to enable a bar on premium SMS

bo0li5eumx12kp

Ten Pin wrote: »

Haven't used Viber, nor Skype.

Viber and Skype are all in one apps, ie an app and calls combined whereas CSIPSimple (CSIP for short) is an app only. Call credit is then bought through a VOIP/SIP provider (such as sipdiscount.com or freevoipdeal.com or others). The provider login is used within CSIP to make calls using the credit.

Viber rates are about 10c for mobile and 2c for landline whereas the other SIP providers are about 1c for mobile and 0.5c for landline.

There's another app called Yolla that seems to be cheaper than Viber. It seems you can buy Yolla credit from phone credit, you'd need to check if Three credit works with Yolla.

Thread here...
https://m.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057869861&page=56
...about various options for spending phone credit.

Got set up with some random appstore VOIP

Went through voipdeal.com or such.

10 euro minimum purchase.

Lower purchase available with other providers?

Can I swap phone credit for voip credit with any?

_Godot_

I know I can buy viber credit with my three credit.

bo0li5eumx12kp

_Godot_ wrote: »

I know I can buy viber credit with my three credit.

Do you use a VOIP app also?

Cost for mobile to landline is 2 cent per with viber.

0.5 c with VOIP according to above?

bo0li5eumx12kp

i made a couple calls on Viber out using Three mobile data.

Solid - maybe the line wasn't quite clear but, job done.

What I woud LOVE to know - is it possible to manipulate the app, any app - Holla, viber, voip etc - (on signup or otherwise) to give you a virtual number?
As in, not the actual number associated with your phone card?