I wanted to install Wireshark to monitor some iPhone app packets. Its surprisingly difficult to install Wireshark on Mac OS X. Here’s I got it done -
1. Read the README that comes with the installation .dmg – copy the command line files to /usr/bin and move the startup script to /Library
2. http://kleinsch.com/2009/10/03/wireshark-chmodbpf-errors-on-snow-leopard/ – change the user group for the startup script
3. http://www.csc.gatech.edu/~copeland/3076/info/Install-wireshark-on-MacOS.html & http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2009/07/21/wrshrkinstll – other trouble shooting.

That should sail you through!

I just installed Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 on my aging and old Dell Inspiron E1405 laptop, but my WiFi was broken, and not working with the default install. So I researched a bit on the internet, and fixed my problem within 15 minutes. I found many forums advising noobs (like me) to do some stuff using ndiswrapper. However, I got away simply with installing a few packages.

Before following what is said, you should check your WLAN manufacturer. You can do this by executing “lspci | grep Network”. Mine is Broadcom Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 01).

Just run the following two commands, and your system should work fine -
$ sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-karmic-generic
$ sudo apt-get install bw43-cutter

Package linux-backports-modules-karmic-generic enables Fn + F2 key to enable WiFi hardware (do that! The led should be on). bw43-cutter gets the proprietary Broadcom drivers and cuts out whatever is relevant to Ubuntu, places in the right directories, updates config etc. Sometimes you would need to update aptitude repository info by doing “apt-get update”.

Now do -
$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 up

These tips should also work with older versions of Ubuntu like Jaunty and Hardy, just update the package name “linux-backports-modules-XXXXX-generic” accordingly.

That’s it ! Enjoy !

References:

• http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=947644
• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx

I would recommend non-geek beginners to read a simple guides to getting started on Ubuntu -

This time of the year is the period of most festivals in India. It leads to Indians abroad calling back home more and for longer durations. So, most of the competitive ILD companies reduce their India calling rates to capitalize on this chance.

My favorites Localphone and Rebtel are both offering ~1.8-2.0 cents/minute calls to India during while the festivities last! Try to realize that it is cheaper than Rs 1/minute, rate of STD calls within India for many, this is the level of competition in this business [good for customers, yay!].

Last year, at this time I was a user of Airtel/Reliance calling-cards and it was a very bad experience. I am not sure if they have improved by now, but last time, their lines were busy most of the time and there were a number of dropped calls (for no reason).

I am hoping this time Locaphone and Rebtel will not let the same happen (I’ve had no complains with them so far).

Here’s the email from Locaphone announcing the rate cuts -

Our New Market-Leading Rates to India

Dear Customer,

To celebrate the upcoming Diwali festivities we’re announcing our new rates to India of just 1.8¢ per minute to mobiles, 2¢ to major cities, and 2.2¢ to all other landlines.

http://www.localphone.com/call/india

These fantastic new rates are effective immediately, and there are no expiry dates, no minimum top-ups, and no other terms or conditions required to participate. It’s also not just a temporary promotion - these are our new rates to India going forward!

This latest round of reductions reaffirms Localphone’s position as the best value for money international call provider in the market. Our direct digital connections to India’s largest carriers give us crystal clear call quality that is second to none. Our ongoing commitment to negotiating better rates and passing the savings on to you means the big brands simply can’t compete.

I’d like to thank you for your ongoing support and loyalty that has made great rates like these possible. Let’s continue to work together to drive down the cost of calling India and the world.

Best wishes, Paul Cusack, CEO. Locaphone.com

Today I would like to review the best ways of making cheapest phone calls to India. I have been in California for almost a year now, and I call my friends and family back home very often, and talk for extended periods of time. So I am always in the lookout for the most cost effective ways to route these telephone calls.

There are multiple ways to call these days. One can calling cards, VOIP – [PC-to-Phone VOIP like Skype, Yahoo], [PC-to-PC Voip like any instant messenger Yahoo, MSN, GTalk etc], [Phone-to-PC voip - Skype again], [Mobile/Phone-VOIP network-Phone has LOTS of players], and ofcourse you can directly make international calls and be ripped off (I have done it and those were the most expensive phone calls of my life, ever). In this post I will not comment on the services where you get a VOIP telephone and make calls, as I have never done that myself. Reason being that I am mostly on the move, and also because I love to talk while walking! So, lets talk about the best way to call India!

The calling card/VOIP market is pretty crowded, and I have tried many of them. Amongst these services, were some trusted Indian brands like Airtel, Reliance and Trueroots – Tata, which all Indians who are new to the calling home business try, just because of their brand. Then there were companies like Jaxtr, Pingo, Rebtel, Localphone, Yahoo and Skype.

For me top factors for choosing any service are -

• Cost (ofcourse!)
• Voice quality (No use paying if you just hear mumbles)
• Convenience (Calling home should be easy)

For the first few months here, I stuck to Airtel and Reliance.

• They offered some decent first user discounts, but I was not aware that they were ripping me off. Both of them have really crappy customer care which takes weeks to send back zero information replies.
• I never tried Tata, their rates were (and still are not) competitive. Right now they offer calls at 5.8cents/minute!
• Airtel comes out with lots of different offers that seem nice at first, like 1cent per minute, but these are mostly marketing tactics to lure users. For the 1cent per minute offer the cheapest plan was for 10$ which would give you a talk time of 6$ at 1cent/minute, and would last for only a day or two. WHAT? So you pay 10$ to get 600 minutes that is 10 hours of calls to be used in just 2 days. That’s definitely more than 1cent / minute, and worthless unless you plan to do all the talking for a month in a weekend ! They have had many other sugar-coated plans like this.
• My other crib about Airtel/Reliance is the convenience of making calls. They have pretty crappy user-interfaces (IVRS), that ensure you can not call your friend without really listening to their messages. Other players like Rebtel, Localphone do much better.
• They also SPAM my email inbox with their offer mails, I have tried unsubscribing, but they just wouldn’t stop!
• Also, on many weekends/festivals/holidays, I faced the problems of dropped calls and busy lines. So they charge you more, do not offer convenience of calling, drop calls and have a bad customer care Lets move on with the review!

Soon after this, I moved on to PC-to-Phone players – Yahoo, Skype and Localphone.

• Yahoo had pretty good offers, but their call quality is pretty bad. So I would not recommend them. Strangely, right now they have increased their call rates to India to an obscenely high 7.9cents/minute!!!
• Skype offers pretty good UI, and excellet call quality. They are a well known brand, however, their costs for calling countries other than Europe/America are pretty high compared to other PC-to-Phone players, so I did not continue using them.
• Localphone - Excellent! Very competitive rates and very good VOIP softphone (that’s what the software for making PC-to-Phone calls via VOIP networks is called). I used their service for a long time, with no problems and never having to contact the customer service.  ** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED **

Later, I got bored of making PC-to-Phone calls, as that limited my mobility. So soon after getting my cell phone, and tried the services like Jaxtr, Pingo, Localphone and Rebtel.

• Jaxtr - I got some free minutes from them, but did not like their voice quality much. So did not try them further.
• Pingo - I committed a grave mistake by paying them 25$ in one go, without trying a single call with them. They had some tempting offers like half the rate on Tuesdays or something. Turned out that the voice quality was so bad (worst of all the providers I tried), that I did not want to use their offers!
• Rebtel - I tried their first free call, and was most impressed by their voice quality. They allow new users to have half the normal calling rate for their first recharge. So the rate for me came to be around 2.9cents/minute (that’s around 1.4 INR/minute, competitive with the rate for long distance calls within India!). They also have really nice user interface online, and the best feature is that they give US numbers for your contacts in India. When I call that number, it is directly connected to my contact in India! This way, I do not have to go through the hassel of entering a PIN code, and remembering any phone numbers at all. This can be set up online, and changes are reflected instantly. Other cool feature is that it is possible to call people in some countries like UK, England for absolutely free using Rebtel! I never used this feature, so am not so sure how it works. They also offer 10$ bonus talktime when any of your referred friend joins. However, if you want to continue getting the 2.9cent rate, you have to do recharges of above 25$ (I do not remember the exact amount). Also, they do not have a softphone interface. ** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED **
• Localphone - This is my favourite service. They have everything that Rebtel has, plus they have soft-phone interface, plus they offer the low rate of 2.5cents/minute (that is 1.2 INR/minute!) on ANY recharge value (lowest being 5$). I have been using Localphone since almost 4 months now, with no complaints. They offer the best quality, lowest calling card rates for India! ** THE BEST **

Some free advice [muft ka gyaan ] for noobs -

• Whenever trying out a provider, buy their smallest plan, which is mostly worth 5-10$. This way, you are not stuck with a service you do not like.
• Most of the providers have auto-recharge facility. Make sure you uncheck this facility when just trying out a provider, you can always turn it on later.
• If offered, do try the first free call (many providers have such offers), to see the voice quality of actual calls. I saved myself from some lousy providers this way.

References:

• VOIP Guides
• FreeVcalls
• Airtel – Callhome
• Reliance – Globalcall
• Tata – Trueroots
• Pingo
• Jaxtr
• Yahoo
• Skype
• Rebtel
• Localphone

I am still looking for cheapest ways to SMS to India conveniently (that said, I know of services like way2sms). Right now my AT&T plan charges me 25cents/message OUTGOING and 20cents/message INCOMING !! (Yes, they charge for incoming too. Suckers!).

PS: Post after a long, long time! Sorry for the “cheap” title Just doing some optimizations for search engines!

This is what happens when Software Engineers of Indian IT (information technology) firms get bored and have loads of free time on their hands… (just like Dilbert here)

57 minutes

16 minutes

29 minutes

5 minutes

20 minutes

22 minutes