Skype and alternatives

Hi all, I'm about to move to the UK for three years, and I'm looking into ways to stay connected to my partner and friends. I've used Skype occasionally, but I find that the connection almost always drops on me. (This is for calls within the US, using the free Skype service.) Anyone have recommendations for the best video calling service? I don't have an iPhone, so FaceTime is not an option. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm about to move to the UK for three years, and I'm looking into ways to stay connected to my partner and friends. I've used Skype occasionally, but I find that the connection almost always drops on me. (This is for calls within the US, using the free Skype service.) Anyone have recommendations for the best video calling service? I don't have an iPhone, so FaceTime is not an option. Thanks!

Facebook messenger has a video and voice call component, as does Google hangouts and WhatsApp. But those are all dependant on how good your signal or Wi-Fi is, just like Skype.

Facebook messenger has a video and voice call component, as does Google hangouts and WhatsApp. But those are all dependant on how good your signal or Wi-Fi is, just like Skype.

I've also used Facebook Messenger video calling with someone who didn't have Skype installed and it worked great.

As you say it all depends on good wifi or a good data signal.

My husband and I usually use google hangouts because of the cross platform support. Requires as good of an internet connection as the others, but can easily swap between linux computer, android & apple phones and mac computer.

You can call on Whatsapp. I use that as one of the ways to call my parents

Discord is a bit fussy to set up and use (it was created for gamers), but the sound quality is jaw dropping amazing.

Facetime is great if you have any apple products.

My husband and I use googlechat and, until recently, Viber to talk and videochat. We switched to Whatsapp as its more popular with our friends and family and there doesn't seem to be much point in having 2 similar apps clogging up your phone and laptop. However I def prefer viber if I'm honest

I use FaceTime,  it is on Apple Comp, IPad and phones,  works great, you can pckup 2nd hand IPads for a song,  has to be 2nd version or above, 1st IPads don't support.

Sort of unrelated but not really. But my mom and I use rabb.it to watch TV and movies together. It's a streaming service so you can basically Skype and watch something in real time. It's been nice to watch American TV with her not going to lie.

Sort of unrelated but not really. But my mom and I use rabb.it to watch TV and movies together. It's a streaming service so you can basically Skype and watch something in real time. It's been nice to watch American TV with her not going to lie.

That's really cool! Do you need to pay for the service or whoever is providing the show you're watching?  This might be a good suggestion as well in the topic somebody raised about feeling the distance while waiting to be together! Can't remember who posted it but this would be fab for them to be able to watch stuff together while they're apart!

That's really cool! Do you need to pay for the service or whoever is providing the show you're watching?  This might be a good suggestion as well in the topic somebody raised about feeling the distance while waiting to be together! Can't remember who posted it but this would be fab for them to be able to watch stuff together while they're apart!

Nope completely free. I mean you have to pay for Netflix or whatever and link your account to rabb.it, but it's completely free to use. And you can invite multiple people so we're planning a viewing of the next season of "The Crown" between me, my mom and my sister.

I just tried to sign in to see if it had any premium services that I hadn't seen before, but the site was down. It is in BETA so that happens occasionally. 

Nope completely free. I mean you have to pay for Netflix or whatever and link your account to rabb.it, but it's completely free to use. And you can invite multiple people so we're planning a viewing of the next season of "The Crown" between me, my mom and my sister.

I just tried to sign in to see if it had any premium services that I hadn't seen before, but the site was down. It is in BETA so that happens occasionally.

Thanks for sharing! I'll have to check that out! Does it only work for online streaming sites or can you watch like US cable TV shows?

Thanks for sharing! I'll have to check that out! Does it only work for online streaming sites or can you watch like US cable TV shows?

I want to know this, and also, can I just watch US shows via that site, without sharing the stream with my family?  I want to get around the regional restriction of what I can watch sometimes.

I want to know this, and also, can I just watch US shows via that site, without sharing the stream with my family?  I want to get around the regional restriction of what I can watch sometimes.

Do you have a VPN? Nord is a really good one and relatively cheap!

Do you have a VPN? Nord is a really good one and relatively cheap!

I don't... I used to just use Hola Unblocker plugin in my browser, but they went a bit dodgy, and I think Netflix were on to them and blocked all their known IPs.  Maybe I should stop being cheap and invest in a paid one.  I almost did it when Handmaid's Tale came out and I learned that Hulu weren't showing it over here.  But then I randomly found it on Channel 4, so I didn't need it anymore.  If another show like that comes along, maybe I'll spend the money.