Free VOIP calls with my Android G1 and wifi, google voice and gizmo5

by HydTech on Oct.22, 2009, under Android

I am so happy, I canceled my T-mobile contract and now I use my G1 to make free VOIP calls using gizmo5 and google voice. I have a wireless connection while I’m at home and at work so thats like 90% of my day. At times when I don’t have a connection, the phone calls get forwarded to my prepaid t-mobile card which is good for 1 year. I paid $100 for it for 1000 minutes.

Things needed before you get started:
1. Sign up for a google voice account and set it up. You can purchase an invite from ioffer.com for like $2.
2. Gizmo5 account. you need to download the desktop client and register. Once you have your sip number (something like 747*******), write it down.
3. SIPdroid app for android
4. Unofficial GV app for android
5. Optional: prepaid sim card

Log in to your google voice account and under settings you can add a phone where you would like your GV number to forward to. Make sure you select type “gizmo” and add the 747 sip number. GV will ask to verify the number so you have to make sure you are signed into your gizmo.

On your android, open sipdroid and enter your account settings.
the server is proxy01.sipphone.com
port is 5060
protocol: UDP is better
You will get a green dot when connected.

Open the GV app (make sure its the unofficial one) and enter your account settings. select calling method as ‘call back’. call back number is your sip number. enter it and enter your pin.
* If you choose the ‘dial out’ method, you will need credits to place a call with gizmo5. the ‘call back’ method tells google voice to dial your number and then once connected with you, call the other number. (This is better because incoming calls are free)

Now you can make and receive calls free while your on Wifi or 3g. In case you want your offline calls forwarded to your prepaid phone, you can select call hunting feature in your gizmo5 account settings.

Enjoy!

:3g, Android, g1, g2, mytouch

22 Comments for this entry

Polprav
October 22nd, 2009 on 10:45 pm
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
HydTech
October 24th, 2009 on 5:12 am
yes, sure thing
Chris
October 26th, 2009 on 6:04 am
Thank you for this post. I got to it from http://modmygphone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=105939#post105939 where i said that using google voice to call free was not possible. I have not tried it out yet but when i do i might try to get rid of mins all together and just use data. I know tmobile will not let you do that usually but you can trick them into taking it off for you.
Sara Fox
October 27th, 2009 on 4:30 am
The writing here are great. Thanks for having them. I love reading blogs about VoIP! It’s such an exciting technology. I don’t comment on many blogs but had to on yours. Thanks again – great site!
Rashid
November 4th, 2009 on 8:28 pm
Great but this offer only works for 3 mins, not more. However, there are offers which can get you unlimited Long Distance even Free phone calls to Countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Canada too. There are many blogs where you could find this info.
Ashish Fatwalleter
November 4th, 2009 on 11:07 pm
This was cool man. I just downloaded it and I am using it, thanks. god bless you.
HydTech
November 5th, 2009 on 6:27 pm
nope. it works for more than 3 minutes because they are treated as incoming calls.
JackHappy
November 10th, 2009 on 2:30 am
Do you ever experience any kind of call-quality issues? Every now and again I get a 1 second delay when using my ATA setup and wondered if it’s the same for a Mobile setup.
JackHappy
November 10th, 2009 on 2:37 am
Also, how does this effect the caller id? I assume that all incoming calls correctly display the information of the person calling, but do the outgoing calls display your Gizmo5 number or your Google Voice number?
HydTech
November 11th, 2009 on 12:43 pm
yes depends on your wireless connection and the providers connection.
HydTech
November 11th, 2009 on 12:43 pm
your GV number
JackHappy
November 12th, 2009 on 10:41 am
Thanks…. I’m contemplating just getting a $40 dataplan with TMobile and seeing how reliable it is.
Andrew
November 13th, 2009 on 3:46 pm
Personally I just prefer to use Guava to to this…may not see any updates for a bit since Gizmo has been eatten by google but I believe it will be brought back, plus you can get the source at that sight too

http://gizmo5.com/guava.html
HydTech
November 13th, 2009 on 6:01 pm
i tried Guava but just did not like it.
JackHappy
November 14th, 2009 on 2:02 pm
So what does the process look like when you make a call? What about receiving a call?

I’m looking to see just how seamless the integration is, or if there are certain steps you have to take to answer/place calls.

Thanks for all your help HydTech!
sara
November 15th, 2009 on 10:51 pm
will this work on the iphone? (btw its unlocked/jailbroken)
jon
November 16th, 2009 on 8:53 am
I’ve had a Grandcentral(google voice), Gizmo voice and Sipura ATA setup for quite a while.

The latency is pretty bad so I’d advise anyone to test out their setup before ditching their previous service.

I test simply by calling my GV from a land line and picking up the VOIP lines.
HydTech
November 17th, 2009 on 4:02 pm
yes, but not with sipdroid though.
JackHappy
November 17th, 2009 on 8:13 pm
HydTech, take a look at my previous post when you get a chance, I had one last question…

Thanks!
M0E-lnx
November 18th, 2009 on 3:00 pm
Hi, I’m trying this on the G1 running cyanogenmod 4.2.5

I’ve setup sipdroid and I’m able to make calls from the sipdroid app.

I have installed the GV (Unofficial) app, and set that up too, but I cannot make calls using that app.
Here are my settings
Calling Method: Call Back
You Callback Number: my gizmo5 747 number
voicemain PIN: my gv voicemail pin (I dont see an option to setup a pin @ gizmo5)

When I try to make the phone call using the gv app, it force closes and of course, no joy.

Can someone help?
Thanks
HydTech
November 18th, 2009 on 3:24 pm
unfortunately, this hasn’t been working with cyanogenmod 4.2.5 for me either. evan charlton said he woud fix this problem but he hasnt released any update patches yet. later on i will be reverting to 4.2.4 and see if it works then.
JackHappy
November 20th, 2009 on 9:19 am
So is the integration seamless? Meaning when you receive a phone call, it just rings, and when you place a phone call, you just dial? No hoops to jump through?

On my ATA home setup, incoming is perfectly normal, but outgoing calls take about 20 seconds before I’m connected and begin ringing the other party. Just wondering if it’s similar to that in this mobile setup.