Do you Skype?

[Aisling]

I first used Skype when my son went to Italy for school and I love it. He's back, but I still use it regularly to talk to and see my relatives who live in Europe. It's hasn't run it's course for me!

 

[4nana]

I'm going to be in this situation for the first time. Can you give me some tips? Do you know in advance when he's going to "call"? How good is the connection over there? I heard its pretty slow. Is he doing it from an internet cafe on base or is he paying for his own connection? I heard some guys in Iraq could pay $60 a month for connection but it was pretty slow. I don't know what is offered in Afghanistan yet. Just based on DH's job, I'm pretty sure he'll be somewhere that will have this if its offered.

I sent an email out to all friends & relatives to ask who else has a webcam because I don't think they do.

No, we have no advanced warning when he's going to call, as you know there's also allowence for their 8-9hr? time difference also. I would imagine you could have it set up so you'd get an email or IM alert. We only know it's DS by our caller ID weird #'s with lots of 0's. At first I almost didn't answers as I thought it was a telemarketer, thankfully I learned quickly!

We know he is very fortunate to have ability to connect, he said the charge runs over $100.mo and I can only say, he is not on main base. Lucky for us, the connect is crystal clear, no delay and sounds like he's in the next room. Our DIL, lives couple states away, sometimes does not get as good of connection.

Last deployment to Iraq he bought us an inexpensive webcam. It was great, as we could actually see him, but the connections were always very busy and calls less frequent. I hope you get more input here, as Stephanie218 mentioned, it really depends on their mission, not all have this blessed ability, so please don't go in expecting it and be disappointed, rather hope and pray for the best.

Thank your, your DH, and the many military families for their sacrifices. Best wishes, we truly appreciate your service for our great nation.

 

[Evil Genius]

I use Skype to keep in touch with friends all over the North America. I don't use the camera feature. All of us that use it like it alot.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

use skype all the time. DH's job takes him away from home a lot so we type most of the time and do a web cam at night so he can say goodnight to the kids.
DH and I tend to skype even when he's across the table from me. Helps when having private conversations about holidays and birthdays when the kids are in the room. OR when DH is on the phone.

I also Skype my brother who lives in Japan. I can just type a "Hey" when I'm up and he'll type back when he's up.

 

[traviesojmt]

I'm going to be in this situation for the first time. Can you give me some tips? Do you know in advance when he's going to "call"? How good is the connection over there? I heard its pretty slow. Is he doing it from an internet cafe on base or is he paying for his own connection? I heard some guys in Iraq could pay $60 a month for connection but it was pretty slow. I don't know what is offered in Afghanistan yet. Just based on DH's job, I'm pretty sure he'll be somewhere that will have this if its offered.

I sent an email out to all friends & relatives to ask who else has a webcam because I don't think they do.

My DH is currently in Iraq. I do not have info regarding Afghanistan, but I can share how if works for us in Iraq. He does pay $65/month for internet. I actually get to talk to him on Skype at least twice a day. There is 8 hours difference between him and myself. He calls me about an hour before he goes to bed which works out to be early afternoon here. We usually get to talk 30 min to an hour. The connection is usually pretty decent. We do get kicked off at times, but we just call each other back. Sunday nights usually have the worst connections due to volume of calls apparently being made on Sundays. He also calls me when he gets up in the AM which is right before I go to bed. He can also use Skype to call me on my cellphone when I am not home. It costs .02 cents per minute when he uses the computer to call my phone. Now, when he was in Qatar for a few days, he had to go to a public area to get internet to call.

I have to say that Skype has been a Godsend for us. I remember (dating myself) when my DH was in Bosnia is 1995. I was lucky to talk to him 15 minutes, once a week. Now, I spend good quality time talking to him everyday. The kids get some time with him on weekends, since they are in school when he calls during the week.

As we are military and are not close to family, my parents also have Skype. It is a great way for me and the kids to keep in touch with grandparents.

 

[ginna74]

My DH is currently in Iraq. I do not have info regarding Afghanistan, but I can share how if works for us in Iraq. He does pay $60/month for internet. I actually get to talk to him on Skype at least twice a day. There is 8 hours difference between him and myself. He calls me about an hour before he goes to bed which works out to be early afternoon here. We usually get to talk 30 min to an hour. The connection is usually pretty decent. We do get kicked off at times, but we just call each other back. Sunday nights usually have the worst connections due to volume of calls apparently being made on Sundays. He also calls me when he gets up in the AM which is right before I go to bed. He can also use Skype to call me on my cellphone when I am not home. It costs .02 cents per minute when he uses the computer to call my phone. Now, when he was in Qatar for a few days, he had to go to a public area to get internet to call.

I have to say that Skype has been a Godsend for us. I remember (dating myself) when my DH was in Bosnia is 1995. I was lucky to talk to him 15 minutes, once a week. Now, I spend good quality time talking to him everyday. The kids get some time with him on weekends, since they are in school when he calls during the week.

As we are military and are not close to family, my parents also have Skype. It is a great way for me and the kids to keep in touch with grandparents.

My hubby is in Iraq also and we skype. He also has the magic jack. When one isn't working great we use the other. Neither one are great connections though. When he was here in the states skype worked perfect though.

 

[Silent1CB]

DH and I tend to skype even when he's across the table from me. Helps when having private conversations about holidays and birthdays when the kids are in the room.

This made me laugh about technology today. My parents used to have the secret holiday conversations. But they used to just talk in French instead of English.
Love it.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

This made me laugh about technology today. My parents used to have the secret holiday conversations. But they used to just talk in French instead of English.
Love it.

Can't do French because DS9 knows it to well, can't do Spanish because DS13 knows that to well.
Darn educations, they ruin it for everyone!

But yeah we typed out our entire christmas list last year via skype. And you can add links which is really helpful.

eta: as I skype DH about our friend stuck in Tel Aviv due to the volcano.

 

[Silent1CB]

Can't do French because DS9 knows it to well, can't do Spanish because DS13 knows that to well.
Darn educations, they ruin it for everyone!

But yeah we typed out our entire christmas list last year via skype. And you can add links which is really helpful.

I hadn't explored the skype chat option yet. DH keeps emailing back & forth which fills up my mailbox. lol I suggested AIM but I don't think he has that installed on his military laptop. I know Skype is on it & allowed. Maybe we can trype skype chat tonight. He's currently away for a few weeks. Thanks.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

No problem
let me know how you like it.

The feature I like is DH can change his status so I know if he's away from his desk. And when he's typing a little pencil symbol shows up next to his name so I know I'm not left hanging.
I use it a lot when I just tell DH I'm stepping out of the house for a bit so he doesn't call expecting to talk to the kids or something.

 

[cybrkitn]

DH and I both have it and only use it when he is on a business trip. It's great, b/c not only can we text back and forth, we can also do a video call.

DS7 doing a video call with his father during those business trips. It makes it feel like DH is right here with him rather than just talking to him on the phone. I love it, too, since we talk to each other a lot anyway!

 

[autumnpalm]

I use it all the time and I love it. My boyfriend and I are going to be on separate continents this summer for almost five months and thankfully will both be able to have access to Skype. A lot of my friends and family who live far away have accounts and it is amazing to be able to really see them face to face. I am so grateful to whoever started the site- it's awesome.

 

[Silent1CB]

I'm getting emails back from survey I sent out to family members. As I thought, just about all of them do NOT have webcams. Only 1 so far does.

Sounds like it might work for DH & I provided he has internet access whereever he ends up. But he's going to have use a phone to talk to other people. No sense asking others to buy a webcam if we don't even know how often or if he'll get to "call" them on it.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

you don't need a camera to talk you can still have a conversation via a phone like system if they have a microphone or a headset with a microphone. My laptop has a microphone built in so we don't need the headset. The only difference is you would be talking to a blank screen instead of seeing the persons face.

 

[travelbug]

Yes, I do occasionally. I Skype when using a PC and I i-chat when using my Mac. It's a great way to keep in touch with relatives who live at a distance, especially my niece who has the cutest baby in the world. It's so much fun when he peers at the screen, smiles, and waves his arms.

 

[Silent1CB]

So DH & I tried the Skype chat tonight. No video. We'll try video tomorrow. It worked well for both of us. We were both able to get work done, and it would just pop up or blink when there was a new message waiting. Much better than emailing back & forth. And he didn't have to install any unapproved instant message software on military laptop. Skype is approved.

 

[4nana]

So DH & I tried the Skype chat tonight. No video. We'll try video tomorrow. It worked well for both of us. We were both able to get work done, and it would just pop up or blink when there was a new message waiting. Much better than emailing back & forth. And he didn't have to install any unapproved instant message software on military laptop. Skype is approved.

Wonderful news ! Glad it's going to work out for you both. The miracle of technology....definitely the next best thing to being there!

 

[Silent1CB]

Tonight DH & I got to try out the video call on Skype. Some quality issues due to connection on his end, but we got them worked out. He even was able to give me a tour of the place he's staying at.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

cool! Sometimes it can get blocky but it's not a huge issue if you don't move around much. DH tends to sway in his chair which drives me batty.

remember you can still talk without the video so if the blocky stuff bugs you, click the video button again to turn it off.

 

[Silent1CB]

cool! Sometimes it can get blocky but it's not a huge issue if you don't move around much. DH tends to sway in his chair which drives me batty.

remember you can still talk without the video so if the blocky stuff bugs you, click the video button again to turn it off.

Didn't know that. Thanks. We had a few dropped calls because of the connection on his end.