VOip Speech Delay

[paddlerjohn]

I use VOip in the form of skype. I always seem to have a delay between when i speak and when the sound comes out the other end. To put it simply, a telephone works much better.
Is there a way in which VOip can be used without such a delay?
Paddlerjohn.

[mattpark]

Hi John,

What you should do it check your firewall configurations. Consult the Skype website as to what ports are needed. If your not sure how to fiddle with ports i sugget you read up at this site: http://www.portforward.com/

Having said that Skype does suffer from significant audio delay and latency problems under particular circumstances.

Skype can become next to unusuable when having conversations with users in not so well connected countries, when users are not on a high bandwidth connection, and also when users had excessive processing power engaged by other simultaneously running applications.

There are other SOHO VoIP tools which are outstandingly better than Skype in terms of quality, reliability, latency and ability to work on any type of connection line, from 14.4 Kbps and up. Anyone who asserts to the contrary has not been telling you the truth.

If your problems persit on Skype, and your sure that your setup correctly why not try one of the many other provders out there?

Hope this helps.

Matt :D

[scorpion_z]

I have the same problem with skype. It seems that if you stay on a call for a long time (about an hour) the delay gradually gets worse. Redialling usually fixes it! Also, an 8 meg web connection helps :D

[mattpark]

Just to add to my comments yesterday,

I think skype is a great bridge for people to cross over from the standard PSTN network, and once you have mastered that/got used to the whole thing, you should maybe look at a real VoIP service.

Poor skype quality shouldn't put you off moving over to VoIP.

Skype is a very successful company, however im always very weary of companies that grow to huge sizes in no time at all. For example, i used bulldog broadband when it first started cropping up. Excellent service, couldn't fault it. They sign up another million customers. It grinds to a halt.
:evil: I'm quite forgiving with service faults etc... if there is someone to deal with your issue. It took me 3 weeks just to speak to someone so i could cancel. From what i gather their customer service still remains to a similar standard.

Went on a bit of a rant there. Oh well. :roll:

[thecaretaker]

I agree, I used Skype and then took the plunge into the world of voip. Best move I ever made. With a good quality IP Phone, a good service provider it has worked out so cheap for me and call quality is (in my opinion) far better than standard telephones.

My first phone was a Grandstream budget phone, not bad for the money, but did lack some of the functionality like storing numbers.

I asked around about what the best phone was and splashed out on a Cisco 7940 which cost around £175 (in the UK)

I now have a full online directory using the services button and can store 1000s of numbers. The wife and kids understand how to use it (not very different from a standard phone) and the relatives all flock round to make hour long calls around the world as it's so cheap.

I was very apprehensive at first, all the jargon and fancy terms, the initial cost and yes, it does take some getting your head round, but once you understand the basics, there's no looking back. I'll go as far as to say it's the best investment I've ever made! :