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Japan <-> Ireland VoIP solution?

  • 24-08-2005 10:24pm
    #1
    Dont be at yourself
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,587 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi,

    I'll be living in Japan for a year from next month and am looking into ways of staying in touch with people back in Ireland. I've looked at Skype, and it sounds too good to be true - especially the SkypeOut option.

    So basically I was wondering if Skype is worth going for? The folks here have broadband, and at the moment I don't know if I will, or if it will be firewalled (hence my interest in skypeout, calls to a japanese mobile are 2c/minute or something). Are there any problems or things I should be aware of when using skype? Are there better alternatives for what I want to do?

    Thanks in advance!


Comments

  • #2
    causal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,184 ✭✭✭causal


    imho Gizmo might* be the better option than Skype - have a peek at this thread Project Gizmo Challenges Skype.
    As was stated: gizmo2gizmo and skype2skype calls are free, but also gizmo2sip and I assume sip2gizmo (gizmo SIP address) calls are free.

    This guy reviews some aspects of gizmo and skype here.
    For a more thorough comparison read this article - although the author of that article does have vested interest ;)

    *Skype is that bit cheaper for calls to Japan and Ireland.
    Gizmo :
    Japan
    Land | Mobile
    0.029 | 0.199

    Skype:
    Japan
    Land | Mobile
    € 0.0221 | € 0.144

    Depending on your call requirements (PC-PC) another possibility is using one or other of ICQ/AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and soon Google - Instant Messengers with VoIP.

    You said you're going to be in Japan, you want to keep in touch with Ireland, and you mentioned calls to Japanese mobiles.
    But which tool(s) to choose ultimately depends on where and using what devices your calls originate and terminate...

    hth,
    causal


  • #3
    harney
    Registered Users Posts: 1,215 ✭✭✭harney


    It might also be worth looking at the 076 numbers you can get with blueface as it will mean those in Ireland can call you to an Irish number and not worry about the internation call price.


  • #4
    Dont be at yourself
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,587 ✭✭✭✭Dont be at yourself


    Thanks for the help guys!

    I suppose until I find out what sort of connection I'll have at my end I can't really make a decision.

    Is it true that the geographical distance between Ireland and Japan will result in a degree of latency when using Skype? I've done a little bit of reading-up, and it appears this is a somewhat common disadvantage of skype. Is it true? Is it common? Do the other voip solutions suffer the same?


  • #5
    Praetorian
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,714 ✭✭✭Praetorian


    We use Skype here to the UK and the states and it's perfectly fine. There maybe upto a second lag on skype to Japan imo, but I think you could live with it, once you get used to it. You should save a fortune!

    You will probably end up with a kickass broadband line (10m/bit?). Best of luck!


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