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ron here, a (few) question to you guys. what is a fair and good amount of money to send a lady for one month's internet service from an internet cafe?

and what would be the amount one might expect to pay if you paid for a lady to use one month's of internet service from an agency?

i am paying about 40 cents a minute to call russia, without using a card, calling directly from the house. is there a good 1010 company that offers really good rates?

thanks

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

I usually use Yahoo's Messinger, which is actually net2phone, I think. It's about 12 cents per min to Kiev with no minimum or monthly charge, and 2 cents for calls within the states. The big advantage of Messinger is that when you are out of the country, if you can find a computer with a headset and fast modem, you can call the states for 2 cents per min. I used the internet cafe at the main post office in KIev for about $2 per hour plus 2 cents per min to call the states. They had several computers with headsets and the sound quality was very good. I have DSL and the sound is probably better than a regular phone. I am not sure how it would be with a regular 56k modem.

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

The Internet cafes I used in Kiev charged 10UAH per hour, $2.00 or less depending upon the exchange rate.

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

10 10 220 seem to be reliable ( owned by MCI ) ..1 to 10 minutes -one price $2.9 , + tax ..connection is quite good ..Prepaid phone cards ..well, most suck !! Best connection time, evening , after 8 pm ( mo -thu ). I use leancard.com .. $.10 to Ukraine ..less to Russia.. no connection fee ..*80% good conection.., mo-thu.. I spend $150- 200 per month.., but I chat a lot "russo/german/engloukrainian"    . If she is "serious" about You , she wouldn`t ask you for any money for internet cafe..friends, or other resources are plentifull in Russia. Are you thinkin` with a  right " head " ( ..excuse me ladies ! )   Johny

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

1. Internet costs -- the ones I used in Russia were about $1.25 per hour at the Internet cafes or clubs.  So you can figure what the costs would be depending on the number of email you send and receive from your lady.
2. No idea about the agency charges or translating costs.
3. http://10-10phonerates.com/  compares some of the dial around suppliers.  The per minute rate is important but the monthly minimum and any other add charges should be considered as well.  I used 10-15-335, no monthly minimum, 10 cents a minute to Russia (Moscow I think is cheaper) and 4 cents a minute to US numbers. They do have a 10 minute minimum for all calls.  However, they have recently increased these rates for new customers.  Old customers retain the lower rates.  The quality of the connections sometimes is not good and we do get cut off every once in a while.

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

We are using Discall.com, and to St Pete it's 0.039/min using a local dialup number, to Volgograd and the rest of Russia it's 0.119/min with good quality so far.

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

Net2Phone cards.  10 cents Russia,  5 cents Moscow. Ukraine, like 14 cents p/m.  Kiev 8 cents.  They also have a 2 4 1 going right now.

... in response to Re: amount to spend?, posted by tim360z on Jan 11, 2002

:-)

... in response to net2phone is the cheapest I've found n/t, posted by Stan B on Jan 11, 2002

Net2Phone is usually good, but at times I get several busy signals and have to try several times to through to Net2Phone.

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

101-6868 proved to be very good.
It's $0.19 to call Vladivostok, don't know how much is western Russia, usually it's cheaper.
Their rate to Ukraine is $0.28

... in response to Re: amount to spend?, posted by RW on Jan 11, 2002

thanks rw. may i ask you how much do you think a women would spend if she used the services of an internet cafe for a month. how does $20 a month sound?

... in response to Re: Re: amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

Ron,

I am afraid I don't have an answer to that. It really depends on the city, how good she is with computer, etc. Also, I guess it will depend on how often she writes you. I think $20 will be a good start - than you can see how often she writes you, ask her how much 1 minute costs, see how long her letetrs are, etc.

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

Agency costs that I've seen range from $25-50 a month for unlimited e-mails, pictures and translations. When I was in Volgograd I never keep good track of the per minute cost at the internet cafes. I think it was approximately a dollar or two an hour. Maybe a bit more.

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

You can try 10-10-321.  I got 32 cents/minute to Ukraine, which isn't bad.  Russia ought to be a lot cheaper.  Otherwise, talk to your long distance carrier about international plans.  It's a monthly charge for it, but then you can direct dial without dealing with the dial arounds.

For me, I've found the best solution for us has been Cognidial.  It's more expensive than most of the "cheap" phone cards, but the sound quality is most of the time much better.  Plus, you can plug in your phone number into your account so that you don't need to dial an access code.  Kind of convenient.  I get Ukraine at 23 cents/minute, which isn't bad.  (Direct dial Ukraine with normal MCI long distance and you pay over $4.00 per minute!)

... in response to amount to spend?, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

1010-220 = .16 to russia
There's others that are a little less, but I don't call that often and 220 works reliably.

... in response to Re: amount to spend?, posted by BrianN on Jan 11, 2002

sixteen cents! i don't think i'll find one lower than that, that's hard to believe! i'll try it, thanks.

any idea about the internet cost brian?

... in response to wow!, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

Check www.noblecom.com
I use it always.It has a 79 cents p/week maintence fee but no connection fees.
RickM

... in response to wow!, posted by ron on Jan 11, 2002

The two ladies I correspond with, well, one has a computer at home and is an interpreter at her agency, so, it costs nothing.  The other, I think she pays a couple of dollars per translated email, and maybe a couple of bucks an hour for internet access in the agency, but she doesn't have much time for that anyway... I'll check and figure something out for comparison.

Let me correct that....

2.99 for first 10 minutes, .16 per minute thereafter to Russia
http://1010220.com/index2.asp?Country=Russia+++++++++++++++++++++

2.99 for first 10 minutes, .25 per minute thereafter to Ukraine.
http://1010220.com/index2.asp?Country=Ukraine++++++++++++++++++++

Moldova and Belarus are the same rates as Ukraine.

Afghanistan is $2.01 per minute with no minimum.

lol.