*** MarchHair_ is now known as MarchHair

*** MarchHair_ is now known as MarchHair

<waynew> It really is tuesday this time, right?

<az7> sure?

<waynew> heh... I was in here last night wondering where folks were >.<

<az7> hey, it felt like tuesday.. why not?

<TommyT> greetings

<az7> hey hey hey

<TommyT> anybody here tonight using voip / sip phone service?

<TommyT> I have some questions about QoS / routing / etc

<az7> meaning in the enterprise right?

<TommyT> well, not exactly. This is at my house / home office

<TommyT> I'd like to talk to Conway Corp to ask how they do it -- but for $27/mo I'm guessing they are doing some things I

<TommyT> would rather not do

<TommyT> The plan I'm using at voip.ms costs $6.99/mo

<az7> they using skypeout or something?

<TommyT> I doubt it -- I bet they have something more SIP-like but I suspect they dedicate a whole cable modem to each line

<TommyT> so they don't have to do QoS / traffic shaping

<TommyT> but I am guessing

<az7> hmm, seems like it'd be easier to do QoS?

<az7> I've been meaning to getting around to SIPdroid & google voice.

<TommyT> Maybe they do -- one of my VoIP adapters has a built-in router but I bypassed it

<TommyT> I have had Google Voice for years... I don't know SIPdroid

<TommyT> I see -- it's for Android

<az7> yeah (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=548405)..

<TommyT> I have had really good results with linphone on this netbook, but I had to tweak it to get it to work. But for the home phone service I have two Cisco Voip adapters

<az7> theres bound to be a client for *insert mobile platform here*

<TommyT> Yes, my phone is a Treo so it may be left behind. :-( but for others, definitely

<az7> eh, you never know

<TommyT> I have a Nokia tablet I got on closeout for $100 a couple of years ago and it MIGHT be able to run linphone

<TommyT> But for right or for wrong, the home phone service needs to be grandma-friendly

<TommyT> I have phone --> voip adapter -- > router --> cable modem and have had issues with each piece. It's about 99% now...

<az7> 99% is pretty acceptable

<TommyT> you would think so, but compare that to wire phone service and it's pretty lame

<TommyT> but having trouble with the cell phone service softened them somewhat

<TommyT> I want to make sure that no matter what else is happening on the network the VOIP traffic gets through, and I want to improve the uptime on the network

<TommyT> the uptime was plenty acceptable until we started depending on it for VOIP

<TommyT> now having the cable modem fail after every thunderstorm is a bummer. Unplugging and replugging takes care of it, but nobody else thinks of it

<TommyT> so the phone is down until someone mentions it to me

<TommyT> or i notice the LAN is down

<module000> TommyT:this may be late...but have you thought of skypin?

<module000> it's easy to QoS, and is cheaper than your current service

<module000> (and widely available on every mobile handset)

<TommyT> does skypin run on a VoIP phone adapter? I really doubt it's available on any of MY mobile handsets...

<TommyT> so far I have been trying to stay non-proprietary, and skype is proprietary

<module000> if you mean your Treo it is - and they sell several VOIP adapters

<module000> they also have a python API to build your own adapter if you don't like theirs

<module000> the only proprietary component of skype is its' encryption algorithm

<module000> and of course it is a for-profit company....but anyhow - it does what you are asking and for less $$$

<module000> they also sell several non-computer-savvy-friendly handsets that will work on any wifi network

<module000> (good for mom)

<TommyT> OK I will look into it. the $6.99/mo plan is unlimited minutes. I have other "real phone lines" including 800 number I'm paying 99c/mo for

<module000> i highly recomend it...i've been a user for awhile, i can't find anything with the same price+availability(for local numbers)

<TommyT> but there's a $0.0049/min charge on the 99c regular phone line that isn

<TommyT> isnt unlimited

<TommyT> I have Conway numbers, and for awhile I had England and Poland

<TommyT> which I set up for free, and 99c/mo

<module000> skype with a local phone number is $2.99 a mo for US phone calls

<module000> but if you need the rest of north america, it's $7 or $8 for unlimited calls + a local phone num

<TommyT> I can see why it is popular

<module000> yea i am a big fan... i got on board because they published a linux client when they released so it was the only one i could use ;]

<TommyT> do they use similar ports as the SIP adapters I have now?

<module000> now i'm a big fan, i used it recently on vacation in costa rica(hotel had wifi), so my local number forwarded right to my mobile on the hotels wifi

<module000> they use one static port, so you can QoS it if you need

<TommyT> I had no trouble connecting to voip.ms from Austria with linphone

<module000> i haven't tried linphone...how is it?

<TommyT> it has packaging problems under Ubuntu

<TommyT> I don

<TommyT> I don't think it does skype at all

<TommyT> but it's fine for SIP

<TommyT> yeah I'm sure it doesn't do skype. Ekiga might

<module000> i haven't used ekiga in awhile...it might though, it seemed very promising

<TommyT> there are some other SIP clients I tried, but once I found a workaround for linphone's packaging issues it worked better than the other for straight voice calls

<TommyT> OH another thing I have enjoyed about voip.ms is I set up IVR (call menus) and custom call rejection. Skype probably has that too

<TommyT> I love to route the telemarketers to my call menus

<module000> if you know the numbers you can blacklist them ;]

<module000> (in skype)

<TommyT> I can route the calls to busy, nonworking number, or IVR... they are talking about having a shared blacklist

<module000> that would be convinient

<TommyT> it's funny because I think EVERYONE has heard of Skype, but when talking to others, the one most people know right now is MagicJack

<TommyT> and they don't have the greatest business reputation it seems like

<module000> i've heard of them - the tv commercials - but they their commercials do make it seem "magical" enough to be misleading to customers that dont' understand how it works

<TommyT> the more misleading part is how they apparently make it hard to stop their recurring billing AND they make it difficult or impossible to opt out of them selling your info to marketers

<TommyT> or so I have read

<module000> that is certainly less-than kosher

<TommyT> I need to log out now. I'll look into Skype... I already have a bunch of phone lines including Google Voice ... can't hurt to have a few more

<TommyT> seeya

<module000> cya

<TommyT> module000: just signed up for skype. I might use it some but it can't be used as a primary phone -- no 911 allowed for example

<TommyT> also the per-minute rates to connect to PSTN are quite high

<TommyT> never mind I see they push you for the subscription @ $35.88/yr

<module000> i'm not sure which plan you are looking at, it should look more like $3 a month without a yearly fee unless new subs have changed

<module000> but there is no 911 service, that's true

<TommyT> the $3 a month is for 12 month subscription, it says

<TommyT> I was looking to see if I could patch the Skype for SIP into my existing setup but it's 4.95 Euros/mo

<module000> I didn't know about the changes to patch it...doh

<module000> never tried using it in that fashion

<TommyT> they call the SIP thing "open beta" and it is geared to business

<TommyT> I don't use an Asterisk server or another PBX (I'm essentially renting the ones at voip.ms) so it doesn't make sense for me

<TommyT> however I was looking to see if I could make & receive skype calls from my current setup

<TommyT> Probably the main reason Skype avoids E911 etc is they will not be regulated -- it's a computer service

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