need a low bandwidth app like Facetime

[retired1]

Looking for an equivalent to Facetime that can operate reasonably well
on a low speed Internet connection.

My son is currently traveling, and while we can make good connection
when he is home, many times on the road he is in places that don't have
the upload speeds Facetime needs to be of any use.

Is there any other app that can operate reasonably well in a low speed
connection ? even if voice only, and preferably no cost ?

Thanks for any leads

[Alan Browne]

How does Facetime do for audio only on low bandwidth?

Likewise Signal? Skype?

One nifty way would be a MagicJack (at least in Canada/US). But he'd
have to carry POTS telephone handset with him. (This is a VoIP
solution. One advantage: just dial the numbers as if he was home and it
will ring no matter where he is in the world). This will cost about
$120 for 5 years - unlimited US/Canada long-distance from anywhere in
the world.

--
“Markets can remain irrational longer than your can remain solvent.”
- John Maynard Keynes.

[retired1]

Alan, thanks for the 2 leads, but it appears neither will work for me

First, re SKYPE, some years ago we used Skype and I had a Username and
password. But since it was taken over by Microsoft, it appears they wamt
more confirmation (or something) before I can reuse them. Well I failed
their first test, and now they want more for a second try, including
this little cutey:
"You will be asked to list recently used email addresses and the subject
lines from recent emails. Ask for help from family members, friends, or
business contacts to confirm their email addresses and tell you the
subject lines of the last three emails they sent you."

Well that ain't happening :-( And I suspect it would not be any better
than Facetime.

Second, re Signals, researching it appears to me to be even more
complicated than SKYPE, for this old geezer to deal with.

Thanks again anyway :-)

FWIW, we have been using Apple's Message app to text back and forth
until he either finds a coffee shop or other hotels with better access
speeds. He is visiting 4 foreign country's on this trip (he has been to
39 so far !!)

[Alan Browne]

On 2023-12-16 15:05, retired1 wrote:
> On 12/16/23 7:40 AM, Alan Browne wrote:
>> On 2023-12-15 21:35, retired1 wrote:
>>> Looking for an equivalent to Facetime that can operate reasonably
>>> well on a low speed Internet connection.
>>>
>>> My son is currently traveling, and while we can make good connection
>>> when he is home, many times on the road he is in places that don't
>>> have the upload speeds Facetime needs to be of any use.
>>>
>>> Is there any other app that can operate reasonably well in a low
>>> speed connection ?   even if voice only, and preferably no cost ?
>>
>> How does Facetime do for audio only on low bandwidth?
>>
>> Likewise Signal?  Skype?
>>
>> One nifty way would be a MagicJack (at least in Canada/US).  But he'd
>> have to carry POTS telephone handset with him.  (This is a VoIP
>> solution.  One advantage: just dial the numbers as if he was home and
>> it will ring no matter where he is in the world).  This will cost
>> about $120 for 5 years - unlimited US/Canada long-distance from
>> anywhere in the world.
>>
>
> Alan, thanks for the 2 leads, but it appears neither will work for me

Did you test Facetime for voice only where there is low bandwidth?

> First, re SKYPE, some years ago we used Skype and I had a Username and
> password. But since it was taken over by Microsoft, it appears they wamt
> more confirmation (or something) before I can reuse them. Well I failed
> their first test, and now they want more for a second try, including
> this little cutey:
> "You will be asked to list recently used email addresses and the subject
> lines from recent emails. Ask for help from family members, friends, or
> business contacts to confirm their email addresses and tell you the
> subject lines of the last three emails they sent you."

Bizarre. Never had any issues with Skype - though I certainly don't use
it much anymore.

>
> Well that ain't happening :-(  And I suspect it would not be any better
> than Facetime.
>
> Second, re Signals, researching it appears to me to be even more
> complicated than SKYPE, for this old geezer to deal with.

Install app. Register. Go. Given your original question, this falls
into that requirement.

>
> Thanks again anyway :-)
>
> FWIW, we have been using Apple's Message app to text back and forth
> until he either finds a coffee shop or other hotels with better access
> speeds. He is visiting 4 foreign country's on this trip (he has been to
> 39 so far !!)

I've hit about that.

[Chris Schram]

Years ago I used Google Voice to make "phone" calls from my WiFi-only
iPad mine. I can't attest to the quality of the public WiFi networks I
tried it on, but it did work well as long as didn't wander too far from
the router.

Also retired.

--
ATTN Google Groups users: I filter out your posts and will not see them.
chri...@me.com is an infrequently monitored address. Email may get lost.

[Jolly Roger]

On 2023-12-16, Chris Schram <chri...@me.com> wrote:
> On 2023-12-16, retired1 <ret...@home.usa> wrote:
>> Looking for an equivalent to Facetime that can operate reasonably
>> well on a low speed Internet connection.
>>
>> My son is currently traveling, and while we can make good connection
>> when he is home, many times on the road he is in places that don't
>> have the upload speeds Facetime needs to be of any use.
>>
>> Is there any other app that can operate reasonably well in a low
>> speed connection ? even if voice only, and preferably no cost ?
>>
>> Thanks for any leads
>
> Years ago I used Google Voice to make "phone" calls from my WiFi-only
> iPad mine. I can't attest to the quality of the public WiFi networks I
> tried it on, but it did work well as long as didn't wander too far
> from the router.

Likewise, FaceTime Audio calls do not require much bandwidth. And no
third-party app is needed, which is a bonus.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

[retired1]

On 12/16/23 4:57 PM, Jolly Roger wrote:
> On 2023-12-16, Chris Schram <chri...@me.com> wrote:
>> On 2023-12-16, retired1 <ret...@home.usa> wrote:
>>> Looking for an equivalent to Facetime that can operate reasonably
>>> well on a low speed Internet connection.
>>>
>>> My son is currently traveling, and while we can make good connection
>>> when he is home, many times on the road he is in places that don't
>>> have the upload speeds Facetime needs to be of any use.
>>>
>>> Is there any other app that can operate reasonably well in a low
>>> speed connection ? even if voice only, and preferably no cost ?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any leads
>>
>> Years ago I used Google Voice to make "phone" calls from my WiFi-only
>> iPad mine. I can't attest to the quality of the public WiFi networks I
>> tried it on, but it did work well as long as didn't wander too far
>> from the router.
>
> Likewise, FaceTime Audio calls do not require much bandwidth. And no
> third-party app is needed, which is a bonus.
>

Well, son is at third city & hotel, and I finally learned how to launch
"Facetime Audio" via the "Contacts" app.

However it reacted the same as FT-V. 2 seconds of audio and then
nothing. So for now we will just use Apple's text "Messages" to keep in
touch.

Thanks again to all for ideas.

[Bernd Froehlich]

On 16. Dec 2023 at 03:35:35 CET, "retired1" <ret...@home.usa> wrote:

> Is there any other app that can operate reasonably well in a low speed
> connection ? even if voice only, and preferably no cost ?

You can try voice/videocalls with Telegram or Signal.

I have no idea about how those behave with low speed connections, but maybe
worth a try.