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Hello all Ive just ordered my universal on Orange, for delivery tomorrow, they are giving it to me for free on upgrade.
So now because I often use over my monthly minute allowance and having a few friends around the world I would like to use a VOIP service.
The only one I know of is Skype, as I am fairly new to this type of thing. So can anyone recommed a service that is cheap, easy to use, Universal compatible.
As for call costs I would like a service that is fairly cheap to call both landlines and mobiles. The mobiles would only really be in the UK, if that matters.
Any help is really appreciated. Many Thanks
Hi,
I expect you've seen my post elsewhere asking about voip clients for the Universal. I've lived and breathed voip for the last three months at work so I know something about it...there seems to be three basic kinds of voip services:
1) wholly proprietory services - closed source client and protocols. Skype is the perfect example. Will let 'real' phone users dial you (they call that 'Skype in') on a real phone number, and will let you call 'real' phones (they call that 'Skype out') for a fee. For Skype, there's a client for the Universal (I think, I don't own one yet). Other services - you're probably out of luck.
2) semi-proprietory services - perhaps providing their own client software, but built on open protocols (usually SIP, session initiation protocol), so you get an enhanced experience with their client. Often the client is locked to only talk to their servers. Examples would be Gizmo or Wengo. Could be an option for a Universal user if you find one that works with other clients than their own, AND if there's a generic SIP client that works on WM5 - and according to my thread, Xten's PPC client works ok.
3) standards-based services - client-agnostic, built on open-protocols (again usually SIP). They give you a username and server details, you enter them into your client - be it a PC-based softphone, a pocketpc application, or a piece of hardware such as an ATA (analogue telephone adaptor - let's you plug a physical phone, even a cordless one, into your home network and use it to make VOIP calls).
There's a fair few voip services like this nowadays, either companies who 'only' do that, or voip services as addons to a traditional ISP service - that's the case with my company, PlusNet, which offers a voip service to our broadband customers. You get sip to sip calls free, a free 0845 number to receive calls on, and you can choose from three different ways to pay for outbound calls - either PAYG (buy credit in £5 blocks, use it up as you make calls) or subscription ('Anytime' or 'Evenings and Weekends' - pay a monthly subscription and get a block of minutes to use peak or off-peak respectively). Sorry to sound like I'm advertising, it's just corporate pride - have a look at http://www.plus.net/plustalk to see more.
Hope this is a useful primer for you!
cheers
Matt S
(firmly OFF-DUTY PlusNet employee ;-)
that was discussed today - here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=31799&highlight=
see my answer:
i am using X-Pro Softphone for Pocket PC on my MDA pro (t-mobile universal version), it works perfectly with my german voip-account. you can use four different voip-accounts in this tool! currently i am using the version 3 pro. the only mismatch you will have (as with skype too): it only uses the external speaker instead of the phone speaker. but if you use your headset (you should anyway because of the weight of the universal;-)) it works the way it should!
details are here: http://www.xten.com
any questions left? feel free to ask!
cheers, lutz
Where did you manage to get version 3? - On the website you mentioned below I can only find 2.2 to buy for around 30 USD...
lutzh said:
that was discussed today - here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=31799&highlight=
see my answer:
i am using X-Pro Softphone for Pocket PC on my MDA pro (t-mobile universal version), it works perfectly with my german voip-account. you can use four different voip-accounts in this tool! currently i am using the version 3 pro. the only mismatch you will have (as with skype too): it only uses the external speaker instead of the phone speaker. but if you use your headset (you should anyway because of the weight of the universal;-)) it works the way it should!
details are here: http://www.xten.com
any questions left? feel free to ask!
cheers, lutz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if you use a BT headset like the JABRA? will the sound be routed to the the BT headset or to the external speaker?
matzie said:
Hi,
I expect you've seen my post elsewhere asking about voip clients for the Universal. I've lived and breathed voip for the last three months at work so I know something about it...there seems to be three basic kinds of voip services:
1) wholly proprietory services - closed source client and protocols. Skype is the perfect example. Will let 'real' phone users dial you (they call that 'Skype in') on a real phone number, and will let you call 'real' phones (they call that 'Skype out') for a fee. For Skype, there's a client for the Universal (I think, I don't own one yet). Other services - you're probably out of luck.
2) semi-proprietory services - perhaps providing their own client software, but built on open protocols (usually SIP, session initiation protocol), so you get an enhanced experience with their client. Often the client is locked to only talk to their servers. Examples would be Gizmo or Wengo. Could be an option for a Universal user if you find one that works with other clients than their own, AND if there's a generic SIP client that works on WM5 - and according to my thread, Xten's PPC client works ok.
3) standards-based services - client-agnostic, built on open-protocols (again usually SIP). They give you a username and server details, you enter them into your client - be it a PC-based softphone, a pocketpc application, or a piece of hardware such as an ATA (analogue telephone adaptor - let's you plug a physical phone, even a cordless one, into your home network and use it to make VOIP calls).
There's a fair few voip services like this nowadays, either companies who 'only' do that, or voip services as addons to a traditional ISP service - that's the case with my company, PlusNet, which offers a voip service to our broadband customers. You get sip to sip calls free, a free 0845 number to receive calls on, and you can choose from three different ways to pay for outbound calls - either PAYG (buy credit in £5 blocks, use it up as you make calls) or subscription ('Anytime' or 'Evenings and Weekends' - pay a monthly subscription and get a block of minutes to use peak or off-peak respectively). Sorry to sound like I'm advertising, it's just corporate pride - have a look at http://www.plus.net/plustalk to see more.
Hope this is a useful primer for you!
cheers
Matt S
(firmly OFF-DUTY PlusNet employee ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use plusnet and love it and use the voip sevice to call landlines (free) from my laptop but I would love to know how to use my vario to do it. I presume I would do it via wifi through the broadband but dont know how. Please tell me if you can - thanks. I do have unlimited gprs but I would assume that I couldnt use plusnet this way as it is not broadband etc.
I'm using SJPhone!
It's for free
http://www.sjlabs.com/sjp.html
Anyone using x-series from 3 UK on their universal. If so what are the settings for the internet and how does skype work on 3 ? Do you just download Skype for Mobile?
Thanks
Hi Samsul,
As far as i know, Skype on x-series is a different proposition altogether from Skype for Windows Mobile. The two applications are different. Skype on x-series works over the GSM network so you can make and receive Skype calls anywhere in return for a small monthly fee to 3 (i think it's £5?). Skype for WM on the other hand works for free over WiFi (like the PC version) or over a 3G cellular connection if you have one (beware using it on 3G without an unlimited data plan though). You can download Skype for WM free directly from the Skype website.
I don't believe the x-series application would execute on the Universal as i imagine it was designed specifically for Symbian OS but i may be wrong. Let me know if you find otherwise
Hope that helps.
just added x series silver
I have just added x series silver to my 3 contract and using it to surf internet and skype on my XDA Exec without any problem.
You would have been able to do this before as 3 allows full access now, the thing to be careful of, is do the applications on the X Series use a special proxy to differentiate between the plan you have purchased, and full open internet access.
Be careful.
I was able to use Skype before 3 activated x series, but I wasn't able to browse the internet apart from mobile.three.co.uk.
Everytime I typed in a web address (ie news.bbc.co.uk), I used to get the message ' You can only use this service on a 3 handset' or something similar to this. Now all websites work fine.
Also, if I was being charged for data, would this show up on 'Amount Spend' section of My 3? Anyone know?
Thanks
Hi all,
I am considering buying the i-mate JasJam for business use by field workers, to use a web based application for maintenance. One of my biggest concerns is the requirement to lock down components of the unit to prevent unauthorised use - for example:
- restrict PocketIE to only the webapp site
- disable video calling
- remove unneeded apps
- disable email
etc.
No one from our "friendly" carrier (Telstra) can help me out - I need to use their service as the 850MHz band NextG network has the coverage and range that I require. I know that you can restrict IE5/6 to one or more websites using content advisor, but can't find out if PocketIE has the same registry keys.
Before I get flamed for not allowing my field workers free and full access to the web (and the capabilities of the phone), Telstra's data charges in Australia are ridiculously expensive - $30 per month for 70Mb + 25c/Mb after. Since I am covering the data charges, I think it is only fair to pay for what is used for my business.
Has anyone had any experience in handset modifications after delivery?
Thanks,
Mark.
This maybe what your looking for :-
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/kioskengine/?en
regards
Rob
Try Parlingo instant messenger.
- Free
- Easy to use
- easy to register
- lesser data usasge
- it remembers your settings even after clear storage\ flash ROM
- download here
I've tried a lot of IMs (fring, IM+, ...) but Parlingo seems to be the best of all of them. If it could support skype it would be even better and there also would be a free line on my today screen too ;-)
A Response of Wisdom
I've found that T-Mobile US blocks the port the Palringo Program uses to connect to its proprietary service, disallowing any sub-connections from initiating (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, all others)
John
www.EdmundsProductions.tk
I haven't used Palringo... I will give a try...
I am using Fring(can connect to skype) and happy with it...
I'd like to save everyone the trouble of figuring out how to get this done by sharing my setup with you. The VOIP itself works great over 3G/4G and Wifi, but to use the VPN you'll need to be on Wifi, 3g VPN doesn't seem to work.
Requirements:
SipDroid app in the market
A free account at pbxes.org
A paid account at callcentric.com (~$.019 a minute to call anywhere in the US)
A paid account at SuperVPN.net ($4 /mo if you pay for the whole year)
First set up a pbxes.org account, and connect to it with the SipDroid app, I recommend using this guide to walk you through the process.
http://guardianproject.info/2010/05...e-mobile-phone-system-for-android-and-beyond/
Once you have that working there is one crucial adjustment to be made within SipDroid. For some reason it comes default with all sorts of audio codecs, but only ONE of them seemed to work on the EVO, the Speex codec. So go into audio codecs and switch everything but speex to "never".
After that you should have a working VOIP system but you'll still need some kind of trunk if you want to make outgoing calls to land lines or cell phones. There are many solutions for this but I recommend callcentric.com, they seem to be the most recommended for this type of setup, and they worked great for me. You can pay $20 a month for unlimited US calling, this means you can be anywhere in the world and call the US for just $20 a month. Or you can prepay (this is what I did), then you pay a flat rate of about $.019 a minute to call the US from anywhere, and if you reach you pre paid limit, it just cuts off until you recharge it.
Once you have your callcentric account purchased, just go into your pbxes.org admin area and under trunks add one for call centric, use your callcentric # as the username, and callcentric.com as the sip server. Then go under Outbound routing, add a new one, name it whatever and choose your callcentric trunk from the pulldown menu, submit the changes and you're done.
Now you should be able to successfully make outbound calls to anywhere using SipDroid.
Lastly, this was the most challenging for me, the VPN. Apparently android, including 2.2, has some major issues with maintaining vpn connections, especially when you try and use them for VOIP. There is a huge issue queue in the android google groups forum where the problem is openly discussed without a real solution. BUT, while it appears the majority of VPN connections will fail, they CAN work if you get it set up just right. Setting up VPN's, specifically VPN's tailored for mobile devices, is not something I know how to do. In the android group thread someone mentioned SuperVPN.net as a working solution, I checked it out and sure enough they work great, I had zero problems with them the whole time I was out of the country.
So create a supervpn.net account, and then on your phone go into Menu -> Wireless & Networks -> VPN -> Add VPN -> Add PPTP VPN, create the connection and you are good to go.
*I didn't set up an inbound call # with callcentric as I didn't need one, I assume after you upgrade your callcentric account, adding the inbound trunk is similar to the outbound. Be sure and look into getting a free inbound number from sipgate.com before you go and pay for one, you'll be locked to a California area code, but free is free.
An alternative I use is having an Asterisk server at home and use IAXAgent from the market. IAX does not have the problems that SIP does when going over NAT. I can make calls over 3G or wifi. A lot of SIP providers also provide IAX accounts. IAX is just a better way to go for making calls over the Internet. SIP is excellent for the LAN.
ChrisDos said:
An alternative I use is having an Asterisk server at home and use IAXAgent from the market. IAX does not have the problems that SIP does when going over NAT. I can make calls over 3G or wifi. A lot of SIP providers also provide IAX accounts. IAX is just a better way to go for making calls over the Internet. SIP is excellent for the LAN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops.. the method I posted actually works on 3g and 4g also, it's only the VPN that requires Wifi, I had worded it incorrectly, now it's fixed. (thank you)
I looked into setting up an asterisk server, but I didn't want to have to depend on my own server or home connection being available whenever I needed it, especially when I was traveling for more than a week.
Is IAX the same as a trunk, does it cost anything to connect to land lines or cellphones?
True, you method does make SIP work because you are using a VPN. IAX is an alternative to SIP. It is NAT friendly, and as long as the port is not blocked, it just works. Though, there are a fewer choices for clients compared to SIP. IAX was created by the Asterisk team. I do not know of any VOIP systems that support IAX, bug that does not mean they dont exist. I am a heavy Astersk guy, so IAX was my cup of tea.
What advantages does this have over google voice?
I'm curious cause i'll be going to england soon and would be nice to make calls over wifi.
ShoxV said:
What advantages does this have over google voice?
I'm curious cause i'll be going to england soon and would be nice to make calls over wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None, in fact, it his disadvantages (See below). Also, most businesses, schools, etc. will block just about every VPN method. OpenVPN is the most flexible one I have found, which might be able to sneak around by using alternate sub-1000 ports (which most places won't block, since they require root access on whatever server they're running from).
OP: Might wanna take a look at this...
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/supervpn.net
drmacinyasha said:
None, in fact, it his disadvantages (See below). Also, most businesses, schools, etc. will block just about every VPN method. OpenVPN is the most flexible one I have found, which might be able to sneak around by using alternate sub-1000 ports (which most places won't block, since they require root access on whatever server they're running from).
OP: Might wanna take a look at this...
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/supervpn.net
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you're talking about, it saved me hundreds of dollars in roaming minutes while I was in Belize. Some places do block vpns I'm sure but I never had any issues, but you don't need the vpn itself unless you're in a country that blocks voip altogether, at which point occasional vpn is greater than no vpn.
Also supervpn was the only method I found that actually works on android, I think the risks referenced in that link you posted really only apply to desktop vpn use, not phones. Openvpn is great for somewhat advanced users and if you have a computer you can depend on as a server while you're out of the country for days or weeks, this guide isn't meant for someone capable of managing that.
As for Google voice, it just initiates an inbound call to your actual cell number, which does zero good when you're trying to avoid roaming. Now the new gmail implementation of voice shows promise as an actual voip solution, but currently that version is desktop only from what I can tell.