Internet Phone

When we were getting ready to move to China last year, someone suggested that we get an internet phone. Being that I don't really keep up on the latest in technology unless it directly effects me, I really had no clue that such a thing existed.

Over a year later...and let's just say that if I could only take one item with me to a deserted island, it would be my internet phone (assuming of course that the island was equipped with DSL internet). For less than $40 per month, we are able to call for unlimited minutes any U.S. telephone number. We also were able to get telephone numbers that are local numbers for our parents to call, which means they don't even have to call long distance to get us. All of this works via the internet. The calls are so clear that many people don't even believe that we are not in the U.S. The internet phone has to be the best thing since sliced bread!

There have been a few problems with the phone...the main one being is that we have to have internet working for it to work. This time last year when we returned to Beijing following our trip to the U.S. for Christmas, the internet was down for a few weeks following an earthquake in the ocean that caused problems with some fiber optic lines. Also when we moved to Chennai this summer, we didn't have the phone working for over two months until our high speed internet was hooked up in our house. Since this time, it has been a big pain in our house as we only have one internet hook up. This means we weren't able to leave the phone hooked up at the same time as the computer. To disconnect the computer to connect the phone was a 10 to 15 minute wait for the phone to boot up. That's OK it worked the first time, but often times the phone would have to be reset after being unplugged...another 10 to 15 minutes. Very frustrating if I just wanted to make a quick phone call.

Well all of our problems have finally been solved...my brother got us a wireless router for Christmas. Now the phone is hooked up all the time, my computer is on line all of the time, plus S can use his work computer...all at the same time. As soon as baseball season starts again in a couple of months, we'll get our other computer hooked up solely to be able to listen to the games on the internet. Plus now, we can be surfing the net while watching TV. Life is grand!

So anyway, for those of you who know our internet phone number, feel free to call at any time. We look forward to talking to everyone. Don't forget that we are currently 11 1/2 hours ahead of Illinois time...but don't worry, if you call and we are asleep there is no way we can hear the phone ring in the bedroom...sound doesn't carry well through concrete walls! If you don't have our phone number, just send me an e-mail, and I'll be more than happy to pass it on to you.

If you don't have time to call me...that's OK too...e-mail and blog comments are always welcome as well!

Hello, Hello, HELLO? Can you hear me now???