fiberangel
join:2004-09-30
Chicago, IL
|  [General] Bandwidth question
I have looked online for a good solution to my question, but so far nothing. Here is my question:
My uncle lives in Ukraine and has 2Mb cable connection, but he pays for traffic per 1MB so even though connection is fast you must control what you are doing online. If you talk for hours on the phone the traffic charges add up. Anyway, the least traffic intensive I found to be Skype. Voice quality is perfect via Skype but the only problem is that it requires Skype to be on at all times so that I can call him whenever I want. The problem with leaving Skype on at all times, as far as I understand it, is the possibility of turning your PC into the super node (or whatever the name is) and then my uncle will face unreal charges for used traffic.
Ideal solution would be to use an ATA configured behind the router so that it stays up at all times and his PC does not have to be on.
What service and codec should I use to have the same bandwidth as Skype? I looked at abvious choices like FWD, but it uses a lot more bandwidth. I also looked at Stanaphone, but they also use more bandwith. Any recommendations?
Thanks in advance. | |
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 ejrobinson
Premium
join:2003-05-16
Miami Beach, FL
 ·magicjack.com
| Re: [General] Bandwidth question Yes, skype users' computers serve as relays, so your uncle will have some high charges if he uses it. I suggest he use a voip service that offers the g.729 codec. This codec doesn't have the quality of the g.711 but it is adequate and uses only about 40k in each direction. Note that any voip service 'calls home' all the time to let the gateway know that calls may be receive. These very short communications don't use much bandwidth, but over the month they will add up.
Therefore, it is wiser for your uncle to unplug the voip box at night at least, and perhaps at other times when it is being used.
-er | |
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papunlock
@dslextreme.com
| I have a similar situation in another East-European country.
Bandwidth is not a problem. I was using 256/256 kbps but 128/128 should work to if not used for anything else at the same time. So if your uncle gets an unlimited lower bandwidth he may be in a better situation.
The real problem is highly variable delay time and lost packets. If you have a bad and oversubscribed isp you may have this problem even on "fast" connections. That is the situation when people say "nothing but Skipe works"
FWD and Sipphone have no problem with any codec the 2 parties can support.(their "service numbers" still use G711 codec, and that's why you see "higher bandwidth" using that test numbers)
Codecs: G711 - best quality (80kbps)
G729 - best compromise quality/band (40kbps)
G723 - lowest bandwidth (23kbps)
ilbc - if you have a bad isp, this may be the only one to work acceptable (similar bw as G729)
ATA: if you can't do it without ilbc, try GRANDSTREAM otherwise go for Linksys/Sipura (most features) or Leadtek (easy to use)
See on-line store and forums at voxilla.com | |
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papunlock
@dslextreme.com | The "call home" and "keep alive" and STUN generate VERY small traffic. It's not a concern even if you pay by the MB | |
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papunlock
@dslextreme.com | I mean for SIP not for Skipe | |
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joako
Premium
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| G711 = 64kbps = 8Kb/sec = 28.125Mb of transfer for 1 hour of a phone call. If you talk on the phone for 1 hour every day for one month, that is less than 1gb of transfer.
G729 = 8kbps = 1Kb/sec = 3.52Mb of transfer for 1 hour of phone call. If you talk on the phone for 1 hour every dya for one month, that is less than 150mb of transfer.
I think Vonage and Packet8 use G729.
What exactly do you want to do, just talk with your dad? I think your best bet would be FWD, you can even use a software phone to test it and see how well it works.
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Am Heimcomputer sitz' ich hier, und programmier' die Zukunft mir | |
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 | ejrobinson
Premium
join:2003-05-16
Miami Beach, FL | Re: [General] Bandwidth question The 64k for g.711 you cite doesn't include the overhead. The total used is about 90k. For g.729 the net use is about 40k.
-er | |
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