When researching Google Fi, I came across a blog post written by member Behan Gifford about voice communications. It has a great summary of options and what to takes to make them work.

I also found a comparison of Google Voice (connected to Project FI) and MS Skype. I guess Google Voice is currently only available via the US but presumably will be expanding.

On Aleria, Alex and I have Irish phones with unlimited data through mobile provider 3. Our phones now work all over Europe without roaming charges. Presumably, it won't apply in GB after Brexit. We also have a Skype US phone number that is VOIP but redirects to our mobiles so our family can dial a US number to reach us on our mobiles for pennies. We've given up our global coverage US phone with provider T-Mobile which worked great for the first couple of years in the Caribbean but then got to be ridiculously restrictive and expensive. We've also activated the 'call to phones' feature on Skype which lets us call anyone's phone anywhere in the world for pennies, whether or not we are connected to them via computer. It works like an automatic top up phone.


Increasingly, we rely on What's App and Messenger to communicate internationally, but the person has to be subscribed for it to work.

What's everyone else doing? And do you find Google Fi significantly superior to Skype?
edited by DariaBlackwell on 3/15/2019

Vice Commodore, OCC 

+x

 

Daria Blackwell - 3/18/2019

Zdenka, I believe one needs to be a resident as we had to provide proof of residence - e.g., utlity bill in our names. We go through Carphone Warehouse who represent multiple providers and compare plans on your behalf to see which one fits best with your needs. They will know the answers.

There may be a top up phone that has good data plans that may be available to nonresidents. We keep spare older phones for our friends to use when they visit. Your PO for the west of Ireland will do a little more research and get back to you. ;-)
edited by DariaBlackwell on 3/18/2019

We had a very bad experience with CarPhone Warehouse.  I bought a data plan in Scotland for 5 GB data at a very reasonable price.  However, overage was charged at a sky high rate, about 10 times the base rate per Gb.  I dumped them immediately, and did not keep records, so I cannot give details.
Skype and Google Fi are a bit of an apples and oranges comparison.  One negative with Fi is that there is a monthly charge, even if not used   It is possible for non americans to use Fi, but it is necessary to play games.​​