FREE Skype!

[Miramonti]

link

windows download

Mods: this is an OT crosspost but thought it would be interesting to both audiences for different reasons.


Posting from Devistator

This works with existing and new accounts.

You may need the latest version of the software (version 2 from website or the 2.5 beta) for this to work.

Despite the message at bottom of screen on skype accounts with no credit about "you need to buy skypeout credit to call standard phone numbers" you DO NOT NEED TO! IGNORE THE MESSAGE.

Just type the number at bottom box, DON'T CLICK THE BUTTON AT TOP THAT SAYS CALL PHONES!! This doesn't work for the free calls!

Use +1xxxyyyzzzz format to dial (the beta doesn't need the +1 part)
It works to call alaska, and presumably hawaii.

Headsets:
You can use USB, bluetooth, or normal (two plugs, one that goes into speaker plug and one that goes into microphone plug) headsets, or any other kind of headsets that interface with your computer. Its a matter of personal choice, your situation, and how much you want to spend. I use my normal non USB headset that I use in games like CS or DoD. Aren't the xbox headsets USB? If there's XP drivers for that, they should work too.

This only works from within the USA/canada. It may be possible to use an IP proxy to work around this though. There's lists of proxies on the net, google can find them. It may be possible to use the built in options in skype and put in a proxy there, or it may be nessasary to use a 3rd party program to intercept the stuff and use the proxy. Someone mentioned a program called "Hide IP Platinum" I've never used it and dont know exactly what it does, but you can google it up and find out.


Troubleshooting:
For anyone who cant get this to work and keeps getting messages about needing to buy skypeout credit:
The evidence is piling up and pointing to the problem being IP ranges and figuring out if its in USA or not. At the moment it looks like all IP's in the range of 70.xxx.xxx.xxx to 79.xxx.xxx.xxx (first number starts with 70 through 79) have issues (because skype thinks you are outside the USA).
http://www.whatismyip.com to find out your IP.
If thats the problem, skype should be fixing it up fairly shortly if they are on top of things.
But you'll probably need to let them know the problem and IP's that are the problem. Click on HELP, report a problem, and mention it. Category should probably be under FREE US/CANADA calling.

If you think it might be an issue with ports or firewalls or routers or port forwarding or anything similar, try calling an 800 number. For example, 1-800-555-1212. Its the toll free directory assistance number and is a free call for anyone. If it works, its NOT a problem with ports/firewall/router. Its probably something with the IP range as detailed above.

If you get a message about someone not accepting unidentifed calls, this is something thats normally setup with the phone company to prevent telemarketing. They will need to call the phone company to remove that, or else you are SOL in calling that number with skype. Generally getting your number on the national do not call list should take care of most telemarketers.

If you have skypeout credit and want to make sure that the calls are not being deducted from your balance, goto the skype website, Pick "your account" at top, and then sign in. Then click CALL LIST from the left. If it shows calls being charged as "0.000" then it worked and its free for you. If it is showing anything else, then you need to file a problem report as mentioned above, I suggest picking billing for category.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Where is the catch?

 

[Tu13erhead]

.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
Where is the catch?

Brought to you courtesy of the NSA.

 

[sat4fun]

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
Where is the catch?

Brought to you courtesy of the NSA.

Ha. Get this and leave the handset open next to your TV tuned to the Fox News Channel. With all of the al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden references, the CIA will be calling very soon.

Seriously, I will check this out. Thanks.

 

[GeneValgene]

muy caliente!!!!

 

[Devistater]

This is armageddon HAWT!!

Call anyone anytime anywhere in USA and canada free. Talk 24/7 if you want. FREE!

The catch is:

Ebay bought skype, they want to increase market share. Easy way to do that is offer free calls.

Then after everyone is hooked they will start charging. Probably only 1 or 2 cents a minute at first so everyone will think its cheaper than the alternatives, and keep using it. Then as time goes on they will gradually raise prices. Just look at ebay and paypal. They keep raising prices much faster than inflation.

So no real catch right now.

So, use it while you can. Use it while its free. Hey, if it floats your boat, look at it as screwing profit out of ebay/paypal

 

[SinNisTeR]

Too bad their site is slower than molasses in January.

 

[RideFree]

Hawt!

 

[knightc2]

Woah! This is hot. Thanks OP.

 

[c627627]

I'm guessing not, but can you use this to send a fax from your computer?

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: c627627
I'm guessing not, but can you use this to send a fax from your computer?

Not natively with skype's software, altho it would be an interesting google to see what people have come up with.

 

[mikeford]

I got through and downloaded and installed really quickly, but I would like to see a rundown of whats free and what costs and how much.

SKYPE pc to pc always was free.
PC to normal phone or mobile in north america appears to be the free til end of 2006 promo.
PC to normal phone or mobile outside north america I read as "as low as 2.1 cents per minute", but the signup says $10 gets 120 min good for 120 days.
Normal phone or mobile to PC appears to have either a monthly or yearly charge per phone number, up to 10 numbers total from any of many countries, USA numbers may be in shorter supply than others.

Good day to use the buy it now on a headset maybe. Blast, Geeks.com just had the AU-100 free AMIR ($40 rebate though).

 

[mikeford]

FAX might work, if you think about it, Skype is just the connector, your PC could pass and receive the full "phone" bandwidth of signalling if somebody writes the software to run on your pc.

Short answer is somebody must be doing it now or working on it, its just too tasty not to do.

 

[dds14u]

Wow...that's 7 months. Good deal.

 

[Devistater]

Some quick FAQs I see the n00bs on SD asking (Thanks for updating the OP jjsole!)

All you need is a PC and a headset (or mic with speakers).

This works with existing and new accounts.

You may need the latest version of the software (version 2 from website or the 2.5 beta) for this to work.

Despite the message at bottom of screen on skype accounts with no credit about "you need to buy skypeout credit to call standard phone numbers" you DO NOT NEED TO! IGNORE THE MESSAGE.

Just type the number at bottom box, DON'T CLICK THE BUTTON AT TOP THAT SAYS CALL PHONES!! This doesn't work for the free calls!

Use +1xxxyyyzzzz format to dial (the beta doesn't need the +1 part)
It works to call alaska, and presumably hawaii.

Headsets:
You can use USB, bluetooth, or normal (two plugs, one that goes into speaker plug and one that goes into microphone plug) headsets, or any other kind of headsets that interface with your computer. Its a matter of personal choice, your situation, and how much you want to spend. I use my normal non USB headset that I use in games like CS or DoD. Aren't the xbox headsets USB? If there's XP drivers for that, they should work too.

This only works from within the USA/canada. It may be possible to use an IP proxy to work around this though. There's lists of proxies on the net, google can find them. It may be possible to use the built in options in skype and put in a proxy there, or it may be nessasary to use a 3rd party program to intercept the stuff and use the proxy. Someone mentioned a program called "Hide IP Platinum" I've never used it and dont know exactly what it does, but you can google it up and find out.


Troubleshooting:
For anyone who cant get this to work and keeps getting messages about needing to buy skypeout credit:
The evidence is piling up and pointing to the problem being IP ranges and figuring out if its in USA or not. At the moment it looks like all IP's in the range of 70.xxx.xxx.xxx to 79.xxx.xxx.xxx (first number starts with 70 through 79) have issues (because skype thinks you are outside the USA).
Skype fixed the 7x IP problem recently, but there are scattered reports of some IP's still not working in differant ranges.
http://www.whatismyip.com to find out your IP.
If thats the problem, skype needs to know the problem and IP's that are the problem. Click on HELP, report a problem, and mention it. Category should probably be under FREE US/CANADA calling.

If you think it might be an issue with ports or firewalls or routers or port forwarding or anything similar, try calling an 800 number. For example, 1-800-555-1212. Its the toll free directory assistance number and is a free call for anyone. If it works, its NOT a problem with ports/firewall/router. Its probably something with the IP range as detailed above.

If you get a message about someone not accepting unidentifed calls, this is something thats normally setup with the phone company to prevent telemarketing. They will need to call the phone company to remove that, or else you are SOL in calling that number with skype. Generally getting your number on the national do not call list should take care of most telemarketers.

If you have skypeout credit and want to make sure that the calls are not being deducted from your balance, goto the skype website, Pick "your account" at top, and then sign in. Then click CALL LIST from the left. If it shows calls being charged as "0.000" then it worked and its free for you. If it is showing anything else, then you need to file a problem report as mentioned above, I suggest picking billing for category.

 

[Deleted member 4644]

HOT. How do I sign up?

 

[probzy]

hot.

 

[mikeford]

Whats a good headset, I am thinking either el cheap mini plug mic/headset, or something USB.

Geeks still has the AU-100 USB voip phone (been around a couple years now) Free AMIR ($40), so shipping and tax on $40 plus the fuss.

 

[fatpat268]

Originally posted by: Devistater
Some quick FAQs I see the n00bs on SD asking (maybe jjsole will update his OP)

This works with existing and new accounts.
You need the latest version of the software (version 2 from website or the 2.5 beta) for this to work.
Despite the message at bottom of screen on skype accounts with no credit about "you need to buy skypeout credit to call standard phone numbers" you DO NOT NEED TO! IGNORE THE MESSAGE.
Just type the number at bottom box, DON'T CLICK THE BUTTON AT TOP THAT SAYS CALL PHONES!! This doesn't work for the free calls!
Use +1xxxyyyzzzz format to dial (the beta doesn't need the +1 part)
It works to call alaska, and presumably hawaii.
If you need to dial numbers (like if you are calling voicemail or an 800 number or whatever) then goto the DIAL tab and just click away.

If you get a message about someone not accepting unidentifed calls, this is something thats normally setup with the phone company to prevent telemarketing. They will need to call the phone company to remove that, or else you are SOL in calling that number with skype. Generally getting your number on the national do not call list should take care of most telemarketers.

It's not working for me at all... I ignore the message saying that I need skypeout credit, but it refuses to go through with the call.

 

[TowerShield]

Originally posted by: fatpat268

Originally posted by: Devistater
Some quick FAQs I see the n00bs on SD asking (maybe jjsole will update his OP)

This works with existing and new accounts.
You need the latest version of the software (version 2 from website or the 2.5 beta) for this to work.
Despite the message at bottom of screen on skype accounts with no credit about "you need to buy skypeout credit to call standard phone numbers" you DO NOT NEED TO! IGNORE THE MESSAGE.
Just type the number at bottom box, DON'T CLICK THE BUTTON AT TOP THAT SAYS CALL PHONES!! This doesn't work for the free calls!
Use +1xxxyyyzzzz format to dial (the beta doesn't need the +1 part)
It works to call alaska, and presumably hawaii.
If you need to dial numbers (like if you are calling voicemail or an 800 number or whatever) then goto the DIAL tab and just click away.

If you get a message about someone not accepting unidentifed calls, this is something thats normally setup with the phone company to prevent telemarketing. They will need to call the phone company to remove that, or else you are SOL in calling that number with skype. Generally getting your number on the national do not call list should take care of most telemarketers.

It's not working for me at all... I ignore the message saying that I need skypeout credit, but it refuses to go through with the call.

Some people are getting it due to some router issue (works without the router). So you can try it without a router. Haven't figured out exactly what setting that is doing it yet. Others may possibly be having problems with Skype not being able to determine you are in the U.S. from your IP. A lot of people with IPs beginning 7 seem to have problems for some reason.

 

[mikeford]

A cursory look at FAX looks like its full of problems due to tone detection on the FAX end of the line. So it goes into my should work, doesn't, may work someday category.

I gave myself a call, and it worked fine, but I didn't seem to have much to say. About a one second delay was kinda weird too.

 

[jcorcione]

THIS IS THE BOMB!! USING it RIGHT NOW!! SKYPE name jcorcione

 

[Devistater]

To test if its the router or not, try dialing an 800 number. Like 1-800-555-1212 (toll free directory assistance, free call). If it goes through, its not a router or firewall.

If an 800 number works and others dont, maybe post the first couple numbers of your IP number, maybe there's something in common (like the guy above said, something screwing up in the USA detection, I think thats the most likely explaination).

Originally posted by: Deleted member 4644
HOT. How do I sign up?

goto www.skype.com

 

[Devil2U]

OMFG HAWT!

I have $12.12 in my Skype account allready..... I also have SkypeIn which gives you a REAL landline number that people can call you on. As low as $3.12 per month why you buy a year subscription.
Voicemail is also a nice touch, free with SkypeIn.

I use Skype on my PocketPC all the time, its a great CHEAP alternative to a cell phone.