JMP.chat as calling/SMS replacement

juliedeville

For anyone who hasn't heard of it, JMP.chat is a free service that provides call and sms services over the XMPP protocol using existing accounts, no sign-up or kyc, and accepts bitcoin as a payment. My friend signed up using a supported homeserver and Conversations as a client, and was able to place a call; they are going to test signing up for services and verification later.

Can anyone here who has experience with it speak to its reliability as a replacement for a traditional SIM and provider? The disclaimer states that calls and messages can be dropped for "reasons known and unknown to JMP.chat," which sounds pretty cryptic.

W1zardK1ng

juliedeville Been using it for sometime, its the best voip service i ever tried, no call drops or quality issues,all sms and otp works perfectly fine for me. (Used mysudo and hushed previously)
I have two numbers ported to it, linked to same balance 120minutes/month, first number is 5$ every additional number linked to same balance is 2.45$. They support international calling, calling rates are different.
I use their own esim for mobile data, its Plus mobile from Poland roaming in USA and Canada on Rogers, Bell, Telus, AT&T, and T-Mobile, they support only 4g though.
Costs $6.99 / GB + $5.50 / year, data never expires.
Their own cheogram app have integration with native phone app, so you can make and receive calls like you do with a regular number, for checking sms you need to use their app. Last time i checked they said they have plans to give option to make it default sms app, but no eta on it.

mar2112

juliedeville you say it's a free service that accepts Bitcoin as payment. What part of free needs payments?

23Sha-ger

They only provide +1 phone numbers, so it can be a viable replacement only for US users.
Besides, you still need a data plan, so you will need to have a provider of some sort.

nandohyphen1

23Sha-ger They only provide +1 phone numbers, so it can be a viable replacement only for US users

Or Canadian users. :)

23Sha-ger

nandohyphen1
Can Canadian users call and text US numbers at the same rates as local ones and vice versa?
Then potentially yes, depends how "normal" it is considered in Canada to have a phone number that starts with +1 646 (New York) that jmp.chat provides, for example.

nandohyphen1

23Sha-ger Can Canadian users call and text US numbers at the same rates as local ones and vice versa?
Then potentially yes, depends how "normal" it is considered in Canada to have a phone number that starts with +1 646 (New York) that jmp.chat provides, for example

I haven't used the service yet but I'm considering it, so I'm not 100% sure. I'm pretty sure you can text/ call US numbers with it.

telemetry83

23Sha-ger Then potentially yes, depends how "normal" it is considered in Canada to have a phone number that starts with +1 646 (New York) that jmp.chat provides, for example.

The country code 1 is used across many countries and territories in the North American Numbering Plan. JMP provides numbers across both United States and Canada area codes within the +1 country code. Since JMP provides Canadian phone numbers, it would be very normal to use a JMP phone number in Canada.

namecheckobnoxiously

Canadian here. I used their service for about a year. I found it very reliable and do not recall having a text go undelivered or a call dropped.

I don't believe there was any extra charges for Canada-to-US texting/calling, but that may have changed.

juliedeville

mar2112 apologies! I meant to type "account-free"

Sevv

mar2112 They accept XMR as well.

xrayspex

I absolutely recommend this service. I've been using it for two years now without issues. I discovered it after searching a long time for a practical replacement to Google voice. I don't know why they don't have better publicity.

It's a little confusing to understand at first but essentially they bridge a phone # to a personal XMPP server provided by them via Snikket (or you can self host your own). They provide an app to manage all this called Cheogram. Dialing a phone number through Cheogram is a little goofy but you can instead integrate calling through the android phone app.

The issue about calls and messages being dropped has only affected me once, I got a message that a particular SMS couldn't be delivered after repeated tries. They do have a work around if it's a recurrent problem, they can to switch you to a different service on their end. Of note, most commonly you would still keep your native SIM number on your phone, so that's always there as backup.

nandohyphen1

xrayspex I want to use it, the only downside for me is you need a data plan. Currently its cheaper to have a sim with data then just data, and thats what turns me away from it.

W1zardK1ng

nandohyphen1 don't worry about it. Get a prepaid sim-card for data only, just dont make calls with it. Turn of the sim card when you don't need it.

xrayspex

nandohyphen1 They do offer a data only SIM/esim but I don't have any idea how their price compares.

One thing I didn't mention previously is that since the point of access is via the xmpp server, it's possible to have multiple devices (other phones, laptops) from which you can call or text. All you need is an internet connection.

nandohyphen1

W1zardK1ng xrayspex Thanks for the info. I may look into this some more! :)