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Voice over IP

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  • 10-01-2005 5:16pm
    #1
    Stabshauptmann
    Registered Users Posts: 4,885 ✭✭✭


    Im a little fuzzy on the subject and would welcome some clarity:

    How well does it work in Ireland
    How much does it cost
    What are its limitations


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    #2
    Blaster99
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,630 ✭✭✭Blaster99


    The easiest thing to do is to download Skype and try it out. It's usually free to other VoIP users and calls to landlines in any normal country is usually about 2-3c a minute, mobiles about the same as you would normally pay from a landline. You're not really going to get any savings over Telestunt if you already have a phone line.

    As for it working, the problem is that you're not getting guaranteed QoS so the quality can vary quite significantly. For free calls it's no big deal where both parties are aware of the limitations, but when you're calling a landline number and you get a 3 second lag or the quality drops, it can get a bit weird.

    So in summary I don't think it's worth using unless you have no phone line or unless you call other VoIP for free.


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    #3
    bminish
    Registered Users Posts: 480 ✭✭bminish


    Necromancer wrote:
    Im a little fuzzy on the subject and would welcome some clarity:
    How well does it work in Ireland
    I am trying out Blueface.ie and it seems to work very well indeed. I am using a hardware SIP VoIP phone
    How much does it cost
    Depends on the provider
    What are its limitations
    You need a good low latency Internet connection with resonably stable ping times. It's a bonus if your router (if you have one) can do QoS queueing

    .Brendan


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    #4
    oscarBravo
    Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 28,807 Mod ✭✭✭✭oscarBravo


    Blaster99 wrote:
    ... download Skype and try it out. It's usually free to other VoIP users ...
    ...as in, free to other Skype users? Skype is not a synonym for VoIP, just as DSL is not a synonym for broadband. It's a neat program, but it's not standards-based.


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    #5
    cgarvey
    Registered Users Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭cgarvey


    Moved: IoffL > Net/Comms


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    #6
    Blaster99
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,630 ✭✭✭Blaster99


    Skype is most definitely not synonymous with VoIP considering SIP is the protocol most everything except Skype uses, but Skype is a pretty easy way to get an idea of what it's like.


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    #7
    sirlinux
    Registered Users Posts: 651 ✭✭✭sirlinux


    Is this VOIP for personal or business use, well done you cant tell the difference, actually usuing g711u actually sounds better than a standard analog line, it's comparable to isdn quality. As for price if you only want outgoing you can do well buying in the US, you can get 1.6c a minute to most european and US destinations excluding mobiles, and some unlimited calling deals as well fora fixed montly fee. let us know what you are trying to achieve.


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    #8
    aaronc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 182 ✭✭aaronc


    oscarBravo wrote:
    ...as in, free to other Skype users? Skype is not a synonym for VoIP, just as DSL is not a synonym for broadband. It's a neat program, but it's not standards-based.
    Skype has probably gone down the wrong path by not supporting SIP, time will tell.

    A piece of software that can do everything Skype can do and more AND that supports SIP is phonegaim.

    Aaron


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    #9
    cgarvey
    Registered Users Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭cgarvey


    They could have .. although Skype is slightly different, in that it uses a P2P network .. that will probably make a big difference once the userbase increases, especially at peak capacity times.


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    #10
    aaronc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 182 ✭✭aaronc


    cgarvey wrote:
    They could have .. although Skype is slightly different, in that it uses a P2P network .. that will probably make a big difference once the userbase increases, especially at peak capacity times.
    SIP and RTP are also capable of working in peer-to-peer mode. The process is designed to go:
    1. SIP clients register with a SIP server,
    2. Calls are made by using SIP to set up a call between two clients,
    3. Call gets handed off from the SIP server and a RTP stream carries the voice between the two clients (ala peer-to-peer).

    Admittedly NAT will often break this process and the RTP stream will need to go through the server.

    Don't get me wrong I think Skype is a nice piece of software that does some really clever things (getting past firewalls and NATS is seriously clunky in most other apps). However, I get the feeling that if Skype had supported SIP we would not be considering other VoIP softphones. As things stand I use X-ten (www.xten.com) because it lets me talk to SIP networks.

    Aaron


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    #11
    bob90909
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭bob90909


    Im kinda new to the voip thing, and was thinking of using skype or phonegaim. Probably skype as phonegaim is giving problems , but I came across a Skype VoIP Gateway With Dual Mode SIP Support on http://www.pcphoneline.com/skype
    And would like to know if anyone out there has used one of these or something similar and what are they like?
    From what I gather it allows the user to use their normal phone handsets to make voip calls, freeing you of having to sit at the computer to make calls.
    I really want it to work so I can dump Eircom altogether and go to a t1 wireless connection, using Voip for all my calls. So has anyone out there come across this or something similar?? and how have you found it?


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    #12
    aaronc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 182 ✭✭aaronc


    bob90909 wrote:
    Im kinda new to the voip thing, and was thinking of using skype or phonegaim. Probably skype as phonegaim is giving problems , but I came across a Skype VoIP Gateway With Dual Mode SIP Support on http://www.pcphoneline.com/skype
    And would like to know if anyone out there has used one of these or something similar and what are they like?
    From what I gather it allows the user to use their normal phone handsets to make voip calls, freeing you of having to sit at the computer to make calls.
    I really want it to work so I can dump Eircom altogether and go to a t1 wireless connection, using Voip for all my calls. So has anyone out there come across this or something similar?? and how have you found it?
    The only thing I'd say about the gateway (VTA1000) is that you will need your computer switched on to use it. For some people that's not a problem but for others, that may not leave their computers on the whole time, booting up whenever they want to make a phone call can become a bit painful.

    If you want to use your normal handset to make calls you can use an analogue telephone adapter (ATA) (http://www.grandstream.com/y-ht486.htm, http://www.sipura.com/products/spa2000.htm). These types of units are a bit more expensive, around 120 to 130 Euro, but you can leave them switched on the whole time allowing you to make and receive VoIP calls exactly the same as normal calls, i.e. you can theoretically use these types of units to completely replace your Eircom line (assuming your broadband isn't DSL).

    I have this set up in place at my house and it works perfectly. A DECT handset plugged into an ATA using NTL broadband.

    Hope that helps,

    Aaron


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