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see saw sallie

Mar 4, 2010, 12:09 PM

Post #1 of 9 (5454 views)

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Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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A breakdown of savings on calling costs

I used skype when I lived in Mexico. It was great. For those using magic jack, I was considering that route for next time until I read here that it takes up so much bandwidth that you have to stop working on the net while talking via MJ. Wonder if you all found that to be the case as well?

http://www.walletpop.com/...est-long-distance%2F

(This post was edited by Rolly on Mar 4, 2010, 12:23 PM)

johanson / Moderator

Mar 4, 2010, 12:31 PM

Post #2 of 9 (5439 views)

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Re: [see saw sallie] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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The correct VoIP equipment doesn't use that much bandwidth. Heck we still have a few dozen dialup customers some of whom successfully use Skype over their dialup internet connections here in the greater Ajijic-Chapala area at (www.laguna.com.mx)

So, yes, if you have limited bandwidth and are using a bandwidth hog like Vonage, you might have a problem when multi-tasking. But with appropriate bandwidth, both up and down, you won't have a problem.

PS I don't know the bandwidth requirements for Magic Jack but I can not perceive them to be more than Vonage and there is sufficient bandwidth available here for what you were wanting to do, much if not most of the time. Shown here are the speeds offered for example cybercable; a division of www.telecable.net.mx You should get perhaps 80% of these "up to" speeds much if not most of the time

download Upload monthly fee
512 Kbps 150 Kbps $149.50
1 Mbps 384 Kbps $200.00
2 Mbps 768 Kbps $250.50
3 Mbps 1.024 Mbps $301.00
4 Mbps 1.300 Mbps $351.50
5 Mbps 1.700 Mbps $402.00
6 Mbps 2.048 Mbps $452.50

I hope this helps.

(This post was edited by johanson on Mar 4, 2010, 3:01 PM)

joaquinx

Mar 4, 2010, 7:16 PM

Post #3 of 9 (5409 views)

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Re: [see saw sallie] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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I use Skype with the Unlimited Mexico option at 5.95 a month with free calls to the US and Canada.

Rate is in US dollars.
Telmex with the subscription .04 per minute without .099
Telcel with the subscription .20 per minute without .336

http://www.skype.com/...ubscriptions/mexico/
_______
My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.

Papirex

Mar 4, 2010, 11:21 PM

Post #4 of 9 (5399 views)

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Re: [johanson] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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Pete, I'm not doubting you, but I can't imagine that Vonage is a bandwidth hog, it doesn't use a computer. I have been using Vonage almost since they started. I had 1 GB download and 256 MPS upload speeds at that time. I got a couple of no cost upgrades to 1.5 and then 2. GB download speeds, upload remains at 256 MPS.

When I first started using it, there was some problems hearing the person I was talking to. The Vonage site said that the program was designed to use at least 90 MPS upload speed but if there was any voice quality problems, it could be lowered to 60MPS but there might be some degradation of the voice quality. There was no mention of what the download speed should be. I did lower the upload speed to 60 and the voice quality was fine, it didn't seem to degrade.

After about a week, I returned the upload speed to 90 and have had no problems with voice quality since then. Other than a Vonage router/adapter that failed after a few years, the only other problem we ever had was last week. My cuñado in Tacoma called us on our Telmex phone and told me that our Vonage number was not working any longer. He said he had been trying to call us for a few days and he got nothing, no busy signal, no voicemail message, nothing.

I rebooted my modem, router, and the Vonage adapter, and everything was OK on my end, but he still could not call us on Vonage. I also have an 888 toll free number from Vonage so my kids may call me at no cost. I gave him that number and told him to try it. He did, and he got through OK. We concluded that the problem was either with the Vonage program, or the local phone company in Tacoma.

He called us using our regular Vonage phone number the next morning and he got through OK. There have been no Problems since then. Who was at fault? Damned if I know, or care.

I have Skype out in my laptops to use when we are traveling, it is a great program, and dirt cheap. I bought $10 US Dollars worth of prepaid phone service in 2006. After four years and many phone calls between the US and México, and vice versa, I still have $3.34 USD of credit left. Skype does need a computer to work.

I prefer using Vonage at home here though, it does not need a computer to work. I turn my modem, router and Vonage adapter on when I get up in the morning and turn them off when I go to bed. I bought a set of three Panasonic cordless telephones and they are connected to the Vonage line.

My modem and Vonage adapter are upstairs, and two of the Vonage phones are downstairs. I changed the ring tones on them, so when we hear that different ring tone, we know it is a long distance call and we can answer it downstairs. The computers are out of the loop. I have been using my computers for various things when a Vonage call comes in, never a problem.

Calls from Tacoma are a local toll free call for my cuñado and we have the unlimited plan, so we can call any state toll free from here too. I think I may be able to call Canada toll free too, but I haven't tried it yet, we do have relatives up there, so I will probably try it someday. We use Vonage to call our family in México City too, the tolls are less than Telmex charges for those calls Our Telmex bills have been lowered by more that the Vonage payments since we started using it. It is kind of nice to be able to call our daughter in Fairbanks, Alaska at no extra charge.

My cuñado in Tacoma has a Magic Jack, and he bought one for his fiance in México too. He told me he was having problems with it, especially the one in México City. I don't know what the problems are, I didn't ask him.

Vonage at home, and Skype on the road is the only way to go for me.

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

joaquinx

Mar 5, 2010, 7:38 AM

Post #5 of 9 (5379 views)

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Re: [Papirex] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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Quote

Skype does need a computer to work.

Just to clear up a few things. I have Skype on my iPod Touch and iSkoot on my Blackberry. Both work "without a computer", but the iPod needs a wifi connection and the Blackberry needs a data contract. I one time I used a Netgear Skype telephone that connected to my wifi router, but the poor connection of the Netgear phone led me to put it back in the box. It's for sale if anyone wants it. It doubles as a hardline telephone also.
_______
My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.

johanson / Moderator

Mar 5, 2010, 9:05 AM

Post #6 of 9 (5369 views)

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Re: [Papirex] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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Rex:

You are right on as always. According to the owner of the local ISP, Lagunanet, where I give tech support, the bandwidth required is about 90 kb/sec. And that you could manually reset the bandwidth to about 60 if needed and that the voice quality seems OK to him too when set at that speed.

By US standards, Vonage with it's 90 kb/sec is not a bandwidth hog. However where one has often has upload speeds of up to 128 or 256 kb/sec, and usually you get about 75% thereof, as many people get down here, it is a bandwidth hog. Look at the bandwith requirements of Packet 8 and Skype. According to Rod Collins the owner of the ISP, both Packet8 and Skype have much better compression techniques and use perhaps 1/3 the bandwith of Vonage.

PS. You will notice that the upload speeds I showed above are fine and that the newer Infinitum upload speeds on their faster packages give you plenty of upload speed.

(This post was edited by johanson on Mar 5, 2010, 9:29 AM)

Papirex

Mar 5, 2010, 10:27 AM

Post #7 of 9 (5354 views)

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Re: [johanson] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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Thanks for the clarifications Pete. When we first moved to Cuernavaca there was no high speed Internet here. The local cable TV company was the first to offer it, but only in a few areas of town. The only speeds offered then were 128 up and down. If Vonage had existed then it probably would have been problematic to get it to work consistently.

As soon as the higher speeds of 1 GB download and 256 MB upload was offered for only about $32 Pesos additional cost, (about US $3.20 at that time) I signed up for it. Vonage came along a year or two later and I signed up with them.

Cable Internet here is about 99% reliable here. It rarely cuts out for an hour or two, and sometimes it gets very slow for a few hours. I quit calling their customer service phone, it is in México City and it often takes a half a day to get an English speaker, my Spanish isn't good enough to discuss technical stuff yet. They always can tell I am using a router, and the first thing they tell me is that is the problem, it never is. If I get a busy signal when I call them, that indicates that a few hundred or thousand people are calling and they are already working on the problem.

I always check my Internet speeds when I start a computer using Speakeasy, to verify that it is fast enough for the Vonage program to work. Sometimes if it is a little slow in the morning, I reboot my Modem, router, an Vonage adapter, that usually fixes the problem, I have all three of them plugged into a power strip, so I only need to flip one switch to do it.

A few weeks ago, the Internet speeds were very slow for a couple of days, no matter how many times I rebooted everything, it remained slow. With only about 25 or 26 MBS upload speeds my cuñado in Tacoma was able to call and speak to his mother several times with no problems. I even checked the Internet speeds while he was talking to his Mom, or my wife, and they were super slow but the phone worked OK. Computers like to play with our brains sometimes.

I recommend whatever works for anyone.

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

(This post was edited by Papirex on Mar 5, 2010, 10:28 AM)

manecoon

Mar 7, 2010, 9:52 AM

Post #8 of 9 (5314 views)

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Re: [johanson] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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Pardon me for asking, but are the rates you are posting in pesos?
I think so but wanted to check.
Those up and down speeds seem pretty good and the rates pretty cheap.

Appreciate the information

johanson / Moderator

Mar 7, 2010, 11:29 AM

Post #9 of 9 (5304 views)

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Re: [manecoon] Breakdown of calling costs from and in USA

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Sorry for not so stating in my original post but the costs I posted above about Telecable internet here. along the shores of Lake Chapala are in pesos. And sadly often the stated speeds are rather optimistic.

(This post was edited by johanson on Mar 7, 2010, 2:04 PM)