Free iPhone WiFi Calls

How to setup free Wifi Calling on your iPhone with Vonage & Google Voice

Free iPhone Calls through Wifi with Vonage® Mobile and Google Voice™ apps.

Ever wondered how to make and receive free calls on your iPhone? I did. I wondered about how I could possibly get away with making free WiFi calls and receiving them. I found a nice solution to my question and my curiosity, the following will explain how this works and what you must do to be able to make free WiFi calls.

There have been many methods brewed up by random people online here and there in the past, such as using a Gizmo5™ account or more advanced SIP numbers. Those methods are now outdated, Google™ bought Gizmo5™, you can no longer register for a Gizmo5™ account. The SIP numbers come with a price tag now and it just doesn't feel right.

This new method uses the Vonage™ and Google Voice™ apps to make and receive free WiFi calls. This only works in the United States, since Google Voice™ is only available to US Residents, Vonage™ only allows free WiFi calls to numbers in the US as well.

Requirements
iPhone (Hardware)
Computer Headset (Hardware)
Vonage Mobile (App)
Google Voice (App)
Google Chrome (Software)
Google Voice & Video Chat plug-in (Software)
Gmail account (Service)
Google Voice account (Service)

Instructions
1. Make sure you have the requirements installed, setup and ready to use, also plug your headset into the computer.
2. From this point on, you should only be using the Chrome browser to do any Google related activities.
3. Login to your Google Voice account, go to settings and enable "Google Chat" as a forwarding phone for calls. (If you do not see Google Chat followed by your Gmail e-mail, login to Gmail and place a brief call to your number, then refresh the Google Voice page, it should now be listed) 1
4. Now make sure you have an open Gmail page with your account logged in. Make sure your settings resemble the ones on for this step's image. 2
5. Open Vonage Mobile on your iPhone and setup an account using your Google Voice number as the phone you will use to verify the account.
6. Vonage Mobile will place an automated call to your Google Voice number now and will require you to input a few digits to verify the number is yours, make sure your speakers are on and your Gmail account is open and ready for a call.
7. Now that your Vonage Mobile account is verified and registered, you will be given a pop-up to purchase a Vonage Rate Plan, click Ok and exit the link it opens. (You do not need to purchase anything to make calls within the United States)
8. Make sure you're on a WiFi network and place a call using Vonage Mobile, the party you are calling should see your Google Voice number as the caller I.D.
9. You can now use the Google Voice app on your iPhone to send and recieve texts, get voicemails, view your Google contacts and check call logs, all through WiFi. (You must use Vonage Mobile to place calls through WiFi as the Google Voice app is not a VOIP client)
10. Feel free to setup your Google Voice account to ring your iPhone's actual number in case you want to receive live calls. (Otherwise you'll just have to check your voicemails or missed calls through the Google Voice app)
11. You have successfully configured your iPhone to place free WiFi calls and somewhat incoming calls, plus completely free texting and free voicemail with additional features all for free.

Cable Company & Self Setup Hassles

You're a cable customer and you pay for cable and high speed internet.

You have a Desktop PC and a laptop at home, your cable company provides you with a free modem to connect to the Internet, that leaves you with no wireless laptop internet connection (WiFi). So lets say you are somewhat competent and you understand the way things work in this world, you don't want to connect your modem to a router then have the router connect to the computers which should get Internet access, this causes unnecessary clutter and more wires to have around.

Instructions
1. First you purchase something called a wireless cable modem gateway.
2. Next you connect this wireless cable modem gateway to the cable outlet on the wall, or perhaps you have cable and have a splitter, just connect it there then.
3. Read your installation guide/cd for your wireless cable modem gateway and follow the instructions sequentially.
4. Afterward, make sure your wireless modem is connected to your PC by ethernet cord and powered on, you will want to restart the pc and the modem when this is correct.
5. Next, try to access a web page, you may see a message that says you must give "an agent mac address" or media access control address, this is an Internet installation page, basically it says to call your cable company and let them know the MAC address of the wireless cable modem gateway so they can register it on their network so you can have access to the Internet from your own purchased Wireless modem/router.
6. Finally, call your cable company's customer support number and tell them you bought your own modem and would like to use your own instead of theirs, make sure you tell them you would like to use the one you purchased rather than the one they want to lease you, make up some excuse or just say you don't like their modem for various reasons...
7. They will try to talk you out of it, they'll try to get you to change your mind and just use theirs. Do not let them change your mind, they may sound convincing and they will surely say things that will make you feel a bit pressured, regardless of what they tell you.. Let them know you bought your own modem and you want to use it, tell them you'll return the one they provided you and all will be fine.
8. The technician or professional on the other side of the phone will ask you for a MAC address, give him/her the Wireless modem's HFC MAC ID located underneath the modem, they will ask you to do restarts and what not.. do them.
9. Finally, once they set up your modem on their network, you should have Internet access. Congratulations, you just saved money on your cable bill!

When you have standard internet from your internet provider it is okay, but when you want wireless, they will usually slap a fee on to your account monthly, this fee is usually $10-$12 extra. That's just for wanting to have wireless from your provider.
You don't need to pay them $10 for this, that is hysterical. You can invest your own money in a $100+ wireless cable modem gateway which acts as both a standard cable modem and router (for Wireless Internet).

I recommend if you're interested in this and saving money that you follow the steps above and purchase a Motorola SBG900 this thing might be pricey ($141.00) but it sure is worth it, this way no matter what internet provider you choose you can use your own modem and have wireless free of charge since your provided it yourself and this takes out the $10/mo for wireless, and the $50 installation fee (since you did it yourself).

When you think about it, setting up a modem or wireless modem or router really isn't difficult and even a well educated 7th grader with a manual can set it up in a snap.

Another tip is, don't be rude to the technician on the phone be as nice as can be, but be sure to let them know you want to use your own modem, the one I mentioned above works just fine and comes with a CD with automatic setup, if you buy it be sure to install it first.

Remember there's always ways to save money and sometimes it just takes someone with a little bit a knowledge and courage to find it.