<p>Hey everyone,
BEing an indian i am spoilt for choice when it comes to telecommunication.The tariff is way way cheaper than any other country(or atleast the countries where i intend to study).So i would like to know what is the best(cheap and reliable) way to keep in touch with family back home when you are studying abroad??Please help.</p>
<p>P.S.: Ive seen international students in my city using skype.Is that a good option?</p>
<p>Skype Video Chat, Google Plus Hangouts, Facebook Video Chat, ActionVOIP, if you’re a cheap audiophile ;)</p>
<p>Just one thing though, most people strongly advise against AT&T. Try to ask students in the campus you’ll be attending, what works for them and what doesn’t.</p>
<p>Yes id certainly do that…by skype i mean like if have an internet enabled phone and then use skype from it to call someone, will it be better than using the regular service providers in that country?</p>
<p>Oh, just audio calls? Mobile service providers usually throttle traffic through Skype, which basically means that you’ll be getting slower speeds if you use more than the allocated bandwidth. I currently use ActionVOIP and it costs me ₹0.69/minute.</p>
<p>Oh yeah thats pretty cheap.Yep, mostly audio calls.Do you have page link or something??</p>
<p>Thanks Tizil7.It was my 1st post on CC and uve been most helpful :-)</p>
<p>Haha sure :)</p>
<p>I used Vonage when I was studying there in high school to talk with cousins and all. Pretty good service.</p>
<p>^ so u didnt need international calling??</p>
<p>Lol, its 30$ a month for calling anywhere around the world, provided u have internet. Atleast that was the price a year back.</p>
<p>I use <a href=“https://www.relianceglobalcall.com/[/url]”>https://www.relianceglobalcall.com/</a>
you dial a local number and then punch in your 4 digit pincode and call anytime/day - same price. A lot of people use Vonage, but it needs internet connection…I believe.</p>
<p>Thanks guys…really appreciate the help.</p>
<p>But won’t you have internet in your dorm?</p>
<p>I think with vonage , you still need to pay $30/month whether you use it or not. With reliance india or any other calling card programs, you only pay for what you use. I dont know if there is actual internet in dorms or whether they tag on to the campus wi-fi.</p>
<p>My D is using TMobile and at 76 dollars/month, it offers unlimited - local calls, international landline and bbm services and limited internet services which is sufficient as she has never needed more than that for last one year. The dorms are wifi enabled at NYU. So Skyping is also an option and we here in India are paying about 5 dollars a month and is more than enough for video call and allows us to call on her mobile as well. The video calls usually are over an hour (sometimes 2 hours too) each time but only about twice a month.</p>
<p>^you must be impatiently waiting for her arrival after all those skype calls 
$76/month is still kinda expensive. To the indian students, if you have family here, maybe convince them to “add a line to a family plan” for something like $10/month 
And use a calling card for india calls.</p>
<p>True that fall parent.
What happens is it is a challenge to catch her at a mutually convenient time, so whenever we do connect the conversations usually goes on and on. But like I said it only happens once or twice a month, and so at that moment one does not want to be bound money wise or time wise. </p>
<p>Yes she is finally home, and we both are thrilled to have her with us. The second semester has definitely gone better than the first. But I am quite amused the way she has realised how the competition is so intense and the amount of handwork required is insane to beat the curve. </p>
<p>And how the really smart guys fall into 2 groups, one that is always in the library and the other that skips most of the classes and one never sees them studying ever and still manage to get As. She obviously belongs to the category that needs to work really hard and so is in the process of figuring how to balance study and fun and most important priortise. I am sort of happy because I am hoping she finally would be able to develop self discipline and work ethics in next 3 years, which will help her for the rest of her adult life.</p>