Need help choosing LD carrier

[SeaAngel]

I got word today that my long distance carrier will no longer be serving my area after Jan 31st. I hate to see them go as I was only paying $22.95 per month for unlimited LD calls which was really great since I spend so much time on the phone with my elderly mom, plus I have a three sisters and we all love to gab.

I have been scouring the internet all day looking for a good deal, but there are so many companies that I have never even heard of before and I am a bit leary of signing up without knowing someone who uses them. The more well known companies are of course higher priced and I noticed some even have minute restrictions in the fine print despite their claim of unlimited. Then there are always all those taxes, fees and various other charges that get added onto the actual bill that you have to watch out for.

Anyone know of any great unlimited long distance plans out there? Any info about your experience with any of the carriers, good or bad, so I can make an informed choice, would sure be appreciated.

:)

[stormi3]

I would like to find a better one myself. Right now I use At&t for $20 a month, I can call anyone Long distance that also uses At&t for long distance carrier. I use OneSuite.com for the rest of my long distance which is 2.9 cents a min. I wanted to try internet phone, but since I have Satillite internet, they say I won't be please. To many dropped calls or something like that. Here's hoping someone has a secret they will share with us, LOL

[skpaw]

I had AT & T long distance, no special plans. We did not make any calls on it, it was emergency only, cost of $4.50 month. One day they called me and said I could save money by signing up for a special plan with them. They would give me a $30 credit too. Sounded good so I said ok. Next month I got a bill saying I had used $15 of my credit and had made no calls. This was supposed to cost me less and they were charging me NOT to call people. (Quite different than the story on the phone.) My next call was to cancel my long distance totally.

We did not make calls on AT & T because the phone cards at SAM"S CLUB have AT & T long distance cards for less than 3 cents a min. I have the card number in programmed in my phone's memory so it is easy to use. Husband and I both have cell phones with lots of miniutes so we split our calls between the phone card and cell phone, what ever we grab first.

If you have a cell phone with a lot of miniutes consider if you even need a long distance service. We found out that we don't need it. (I had considered it good to have for emergencies, but I think the cell phones and card cover us pretty well.) The only drawback to the phone card is that my sister has a screening service as part of her plan that does not let the phone card calls in, says they may be telemarketing calls. So we use cell phone for her.

[lilreddevil38]

During the week i use my MCI calling card from Costco, $17-18 for 670 mins. Comes out to right around 3 cents a minute with no per call charge or monthly fee. you can recharge the card at any time, so when we have an extra $20 we add to it. The last $20 has lasted almost 2 months. On the weekends i use my unlimited calling time on my cell to talk LD so that i don't take it out of my cell minutes. Basically i just kinda juggle between the two depending on the call situation.

kris

[dawn474]

We just started using Vonage. It is a service that uses your internet connection and not your local phone company. It cost 24.95 a month with unlimited local and regional calls and 500 min of long distance and for 34.95 a month you can get unlimited long distance. We have had it for about 3 weeks now and it is great

[stormi3]

Dawn, if you don't mind my asking. How do you connect to the internet (dial-up, dsl, etc)? I looked into it and it sounds great. I have Sat internet. Trying to find someone who uses the same to see if they like it.

[dawn474]

We have a cable modem through Time Warner . When my hubby first suggested Vonage I was kind of weary about it. I had never heard of it and wasn't sure how it worked. A friend of his from work has it and they are happy with it so we though we would give it a try. I was paying 54.00 a month with no long distance with DPI because BellSouth wanted to much of a deposit so this is a lot cheaper. I really don't know anything about SAT Internet

[SeaAngel]

:smile9: EEEEKKKKK!!!!! Calling cards, cell phones and calls through my internet connection??!!! I am so hopelessly behind the times. :laugh: Looks like I have some homework to do, huh? Checked out Vonage as it seemed to be more up my alley with unlimited long distance, but I am on dialup so that's out. Am thinking here that my best route would be to do some more research, but if I haven't made a decision by the 31st I can always pick up one of those phone cards to use, right?

stormi3:

If you are on dialup too you might want to check out my long distance service that's leaving Texas as I believe it is still available in many states. It's called ICallSmart, out of Montanta I think. They are starting new customers out at $24.95 a month for unlimited long distance in and out of state. No contracts or having to switch your carrier. I was with them for over a year and the only drawbacks were having to dial an access# to make calls and I did get a dropped call now and then, but not often. When I joined they asked for a credit card as you pay for each month ahead of time. Not wanting to get stuck with a company that I might not be able to pry back off of my credit card, I told them I wasn't comfortable doing that. They were very understanding and allowed me to start my service that same day and sent me a bill instead.

Thanks everyone for sharing your info! :)

[LLamas]

I think a friend of mine using something called WorkingAssets, but I don't know if that is just her cell phone, or if it is also long distance for her house phone. It is a good price, and it is somehow tied to charity as well.

~Beth

[SeaAngel]

Beth:

I checked out WorkingAssets and they do offer residential long distance and I like the idea of having part of my bill going to charity. However, they don't offer an unlimited plan so I guess at this point I can't be using them. Thank you very much though for sharing the info. :)

Everyone:

I found a company today called Minute Busters that is offering unlimited long distance at $9.95 for the first month and $28.95 per month after that, with a one time sign up fee of $20. The deadline for this special is 1/1/04 so I just went ahead and signed up a few minutes ago. I will be loosing a month of service with ICallSmart, but it's worth the savings in the long run. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that it is all on the up and up. :sweat:

Again I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to share your information and ideas with me. Know that it is very much appreciated. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and many great wins!

:gvibes: Connie

[Nelene]

late in reply...........I used IDT for more then 2 years....5% cents per minute.....24-7