Skype phones

[Ed Ellis]

I thought it might be helpful to introduce everyone to Skype. This is a Luxemborg-located internet-based telephony system that allows high-audio quality conversations between EITHER multiple on-line parties OR by connecting to the Web and dialing a conventional phone number. Cruising friends in Turkey recommended it to us because they were using it to talk with family members back in the States. They were doing this because, while wintering over, they had wifi service in the harbor. However, there's no reason you couldn't take your laptop to a cyber hut and do the same thing. All web-based calls are free; one of its unique features is that it supports calls to conventional phones, which costs about 1.7 Euro cents or 2 cents U.S. no matter where you are calling. You can dial the 800/888/866 toll-free numbers in the States, something that's often hard to do when in the Boonies, and you can arrange conference calling (mixing on-line and phone members in the call).

The software is free, simple and elegantly intuitive. Download it at http://www.skype.com Buying credit so you can make a call to a landline is done on-line using a VISA credit card, or by another method they make available. On-line real-time troubleshooting is available if you have a problem, and the system reportedly can be used with dial-up modem speeds above 25K (altho' that will invite delays between one person's comments and another person's responses). They recommend using a headset/boom mike, altho' I'm having crystal clear connections with a boat in London (from Florida) and they are using a 2-yr old Tosh laptop with the built-in mike and speakers.

My advice: download while you are still on the grid, and then carry it dormant on your laptop when you shove off. You never know...and you may find it a far better option than using your AT&T Calling Card!


NO spam,popups, incredible clear reception and a lot of useful functions like file sending. Instant messaging simultaneous with your talking etc. The IM supposedly is encrypted which is a very valuable feature(ie bank accts,credit cards, passwords etc). On the weekends we do a family conference call with everybody talks at once ....like an an italian wedding!! I talk to my cousins in NZ who only have a slow dialup. It works well for say 5 min but drops the call..buffering issues I suppose but you just redial and keep going. Same problem to my sis in Juneau who only has a dialup. My brother with broadband is flawless. You create a contact list and you can enable it to show when your contacts turn on their computer so you can then call or email them. The laptop spkrs and mike CAN work Ok but a cheap headset mic is way superior in quality of reception. Spend $20 and get one. I've been preaching the gospel to everone I know and people are astounded. I leave a laptop on to use just for skype and it rigs just like a phone. You call like a phone. The key is that both parties need the software to work. Only downside so far is if you post your address and name on the worldwide phonebook, people can try to contact you. Some guy called me from albania and a boy from norway as well. YOu can disenable the function, block calls etc so it's OK Skype is an internet-based method of talking with someone else, so you need connectivity. It is used by people who are on-line, and by someone who is on-line (dial-up or broadband) who wishes to call a vendor's or friend's phone number. It also provides a better 'Chat' format (real-time text exchanges between users) than IM does.

Cruising sailors often find themselves stopping for a period to wait out a season (often in marinas where internet access is available in some form) and we also find one another using cyber huts ashore on a regular basis. In both cases, Skype could be used successfully for any purpose that a phone would serve. It also saves the cost (and sometimes the effort) of tracking down a phone card and a convenient, working public phone. IMO it won't replace the value of carrying a cell phone when that otherwise serves a purpose. But e.g. just yesterday we chatted with friends in Turkey about stern anchoring and their further boat mods to improve that ability - and it was easy, clear as a bell, and free.


I've seen cruising folks use Skype in all of the following ways:

Carry laptop to a Cyberhut, plug in to their server and call.
Bring headset/mike to Cyberhut, where Skype is installed on their computers, plug in and call
Use a wifi card with onboard computer to connect via a local signal and call
When wintering over, use either the marina's wifi or local phone service in order to call

Dial-up speeds do not provide the same voice quality, produce time lag, and the connection can fail somewhat regularly...but it does work and was surely a lot less expensive (as in 'free') when compared to phone rates while we wintered in England.

Skype seems to be one of the main reasons why some boats are installing 200mW high gain PCMCIA cards and external omnidirectional antennas in order to pick up wifi signals...or at least, that seems to be somewhat of a trend in Europe.

It is also worth pointing out that when you make a phone call on your computer to another Skype account holder's computer, the call is FREE.

For those who are beginners..... most laptops have a speaker and microphone already in them. If you need to add a microphone, they are cheap at Radio Shack. You just dial a phone number using your keyboard and send. You can call regular phone numbers anywhere in the world for 2 cents or call other Skype computers for free. I call my daughters on their cell phones (2 cents) and tell them that I'm about to call their computer = free.
We then can talk all night for a total of $.02.

While cruising all you need is a WiFi connection to make the calls. If you are unfamiliar with WiFi, contact Verizon and they can explain how it works or go by a computer store. (Essentially, you sign up for an account and purchase a WiFi chip that you plug into your computer)

I highly recommend a headset/mike.
You can use the built in mike and speaker on your computer or the one in a cyber cafe, but most of these are simplex and operate just like an office speaker phone or your VHF radio. That is, the speaker cuts out everytime you speak (like keying the mike). Most headsets with a mike allow full duplex operation like your home phones and make the conversation a lot easier.

Info compiled from SSCA

[sailors3]

This sounds like a great idea, thanks for sharing. I may have missed it, but is there any hardware that has to be added to a laptop to make this work?
Kenny & Kathy

[Ed Ellis]

No hardware is needed unless your laptop doesn't have a mic input or speakers. Ed

[SeaPaws]

Some Skping experience's I have had

From home I called my wife while she was in Kuwait calling her local cellphone when she was out in the desert petting camels. We have used it as a intercom throughout the house with our PC's both laptop's and desktops. Most recently I went to Grand Bahama and used my friends wireless connection and used skype "pay" service and called my wife to her cell phone while she was in TN and avoided the high phone charges with Bahma's telco. I bought 10 euros of time when she first went to Kuwait, used it for lots of calls plus the free PC to PC time. Now used it some in the Bahamas and still have 3 euros or so left.

SKYPE's COOL and a good tool!