To ask you to tell me how you make voice calls using wifi

[Bearbehind]

Posting here as I can't work out where else to try.

My knowledge of technology is pretty basic but, as I spend a lot of time overseas and mobile to mobile calls are costing a fortune, I'd like to use wifi to make voice calls but when I've googled it I'm totally confused!

Ideally I'd like to use my iPad (air not 3G) to make calls but don't know if that's possible. If not I have an iPhone 4 and the people I'd call have an iPhone 5 or 6.

Which is the best/ easiest app to use?

My only requirements are it makes voice calls for free and the receiving person knows when I'm calling.

Please help!

Skype hun.

Skype ?

I'm totally clueless- is Skype free?

Can you do it from a phone?

How does the other person know I'm calling?

FaceTime is apples own version of Skype isn't it?

Yes Skype is free or FaceTime if all Apple products?! The phone will ring when you call.

You can also make voice calls through Whatsapp

You can use whatsapp or even messenger

OMFG- is it really that simple?!

I've just used FaceTime on my iPad to ring my own iPhone and it worked.

Is that all you have to do?!

My phone (or other people's when I call them) definitely doesn't get charged for taking the calls does it?

Yes it's that simple :) And totally free. You just need an internet connection.

Thanks everyone.

Last stupid question- I've just googled FaceTime charges and it seems it's free if you are on wifi but chargeable if on 3G- how do the people receiving my calls ensure they are on wifi and not 3G when I call?

I'd be abroad- they'd be in the UK.

If it is part of their data charge, is it expensive?

I like Viber too, you can download their App.

It's not chargeable directly on 3G in the sense that it sends you a bill, what that means is that it uses up data (megabytes) which they will have as part of a data allowance. I don't know how much data Facetime uses, but in any case it's easy to tell. If you're at home or at work you're on wifi, if you're out and about you're on 3G. If it was me and I was on restricted data, I wouldn't answer when out and about - I'd respond with a text message (using a free service like Whatsapp) saying that I'd call them back later.

By the way, there's a "Geeky Stuff" topic if you ever need techy responses.

Skype would be chargeable for a phone if it wasn't in reach of WiFi, in other words it had to use 3g mobile data, like surfing the net. I'm not sure how heavy the data use is, though.

Bertie said it much better...

Facetime is not that greedy in terms of data. I had a facetime conversation that became 3g and was surprised how little it used up.

If you're at home or at work you're on wifi,

Only if your employer has WiFi available for employee use and has authorised it for personal use and your device is connected to it.

cointreau thanks for the heads up on the 'geeky stuff' topic- that's the kind of place I was looking to post this but it's all such a mystery to me I couldn't even find that

bertie I know I said last stupid question last time but, you mentioned it's easy to tell how much data FaceTime uses- can you tell me how you check?

Dm phone is a work one so the data is unrestricted but chargeable if the limit is exceeded and I don't want her getting hit with a bill.

I'll try for calling when she's at home but sometimes, with time differences, that can be difficult.

I mainly use Viber and Whatsapp for voice calls for those not with an iPhone.

Skype on 3G/4G doesn't use that much data.

You can also you TuGo if you are on O2.

Skype is fine and generally works well sound and vision my ex W used it to conduct the affair she had over that;!.

However DD2 is abroad in France at the moment and only has her mobile but shes on the 3 network and the all-you-can eat data allowance. about 14 a month plus VAT. However she can receive incoming calls from mobiles or landlines from the UK free of charge and make calls back to the UK from
her mobile that just comes out of her minutes allowance. As shes a typical 20 year old she normally connects to the world using data or text and isn't the most chatty person around so I've paid for the 200 mins voice allowance. IIRC you have to specify what country shes in or program on their website but so far the bills have only been 20 quid or less a month and that included around 9 Gigabytes of data abroad!:)

Compared to her bl^^dy Vodafone contract she had this is almost free of charge!.

Hope this might help.

Viber is good.

You can use it to make calls abroad/from abroad for free if you are using wi-fi.

Viber

Lurking yes but OP was after simple explanations!

Sorry OP I meant it's easy to tell if you're on Wifi or 3G. I'm not sure how to tell how much data an app is using.

Perhaps a simpler explanation for wifi is that if there's a little symbol which looks like a rainbow or fan in the top right of your device, you're connected to wifi. The number of curves on the logo is the signal strength. When you're connected to 3G (mobile data), you'll have a little logo with an up and down arrow, and one or two letters or numbers, usually 3G, LTE, H, or E. In this case, the letter denotes the speed. Phones will usually connect to one or the other, you won't see both symbols at once.

Most people have automatic wifi connectivity at home and at work, but it's not automatic and might need to be set up. Once wifi is set up you should connect automatically as long as you're in range.

Your mum might want to get an app such as 3G Watchdog (sorry, I don't know if that's on apple or not but should throw up useful search results) which tracks your data usage and will send her a warning or she can also set it to automatically disable 3G connection once the limit is reached. I suppose you could use an app like this to check how much data a single call of X minutes uses.

Excellent- thanks for all the help. I think I've got it sussed now- just have to see if I can make it work when I'm abroad next week.