VoiP on a Win 98 PC ?

[John Fitzsimons]

Op Sat, 18 Feb 2006 09:00:24 +1100, John Fitzsimons
<[email protected]> schreef:

John, it is a free voip server, http://www.voipuser.org/voip.html
tells it all.

Thanks, but that IMO isn't a lot of help. My understanding of VOIP
is that one doesn't need to have a server at all. Isn't IP to IP
telephony possible without going to a central server ? My
understanding was that that was the case.

My opinion is that pages such as the above need to be "dumbed
down" if they are meant to be for the general public. Not just geeks.
I am always suspicious of "free lunches".

What's "Our servers and PSTN gateway are funded by the use of our
non-geographic DID (DIrect Dial) inbound numbers." mean for example ?
Does one need to pay for an inbound number to get this "free service ?
Here in Australia VOIP over cable doesn't require any inbound number
to connect to the internet, or to VOIP.

Regards, John.

 

[Even Afwezig]

Op Sun, 19 Feb 2006 09:14:42 +1100, John Fitzsimons

Thanks, but that IMO isn't a lot of help. My understanding of VOIP
is that one doesn't need to have a server at all. Isn't IP to IP
telephony possible without going to a central server ? My
understanding was that that was the case.

IP to IP is nice but not everybody has voip, to reach landlines you
need some kind of interface.

My opinion is that pages such as the above need to be "dumbed
down" if they are meant to be for the general public. Not just geeks.
I am always suspicious of "free lunches".

They are not for the general public, you must be willing to learn and
explore. Please stay that suspicious, it means that there will be free
calls for us who did learn how to use it.

What's "Our servers and PSTN gateway are funded by the use of our
non-geographic DID (DIrect Dial) inbound numbers." mean for example ?

Please John, you could try google....
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-DID

Does one need to pay for an inbound number to get this "free service ?

No. Its all free.

Here in Australia VOIP over cable doesn't require any inbound number
to connect to the internet, or to VOIP.

John, you can get a regular telephone number that will redirect to
your voip number. It's an extra. For free.

 

[Even Afwezig]

I just found another freeware one, announced by the French gratilog
freeware site:
VoIPerized



http://www.student.tue.nl/m/j.s.d.kleijn/VoIPerized/English/index.html

I'll give it a try, thanks.

 

[John Fitzsimons]

Op Sun, 19 Feb 2006 09:14:42 +1100, John Fitzsimons
<[email protected]> schreef:

John, you can get a regular telephone number that will redirect to
your voip number. It's an extra. For free.

Thank you for clarifying things Even.

Regards, John.

 

[Franc Zabkar]

A friend of mine uses a Win98 PC and I'd like to know whether there is
any free VoIP app that also runs under Win 98 ?

I'm using these softphones:

X-Lite:
http://www.xten.net/

iaxComm:
http://iaxclient.sourceforge.net/iaxcomm/

- Franc Zabkar

 

[FTR]

I'm using these softphones:

X-Lite:
http://www.xten.net/

iaxComm:
http://iaxclient.sourceforge.net/iaxcomm/

- Franc Zabkar

And you run them on a Win98 PC? How's the sound quality? Can you do
conference calls?

- Frank

 

[thoss]

I'm running Skype successfully here on 98SE.

The only problem might be that the current Skype software is 2000/XP
only.

 

[FTR]

I'm running Skype successfully here on 98SE.

This is good news. Which bandwidth do you have, and what about voice
quality (your subjective impression, of course).

The only problem might be that the current Skype software is 2000/XP
only.

That is, Skype under Win 98 works with Skype XP (and Skype Mac) ? May
sound stupid but I want to convince my colleagues who are not very
inclined to try several apps once I advised them to install a VoIP app
that did not work.

 

[thoss]

This is good news. Which bandwidth do you have, and what about voice
quality (your subjective impression, of course).

I'm on 2 MB broadband. But I, in the UK, regularly talk to friends in
Australia who are on dial-up. Quality seems to depend on how many
people are currently online on Skype, which is reported on screen: more
than 4 million and quality goes down. And there can be problems over
delays (sometimes you have to say your piece, then say "over") or having
your voice echoed back to you after a gap of about a second, which can
be disconcerting. So, sometimes not up to telephone call quality, but
then it's free Skype to Skype.

That is, Skype under Win 98 works with Skype XP (and Skype Mac) ? May
sound stupid but I want to convince my colleagues who are not very
inclined to try several apps once I advised them to install a VoIP app
that did not work.

I have no problem speaking to others on XP.

 

[Franc Zabkar]

And you run them on a Win98 PC? How's the sound quality? Can you do
conference calls?

- Frank

No conference calls, but sound quality is good. I'm on a 512Kbps ADSL
plan. I use providers within the Finarea group (voipcheap, voipbuster,
voipstunt, sipdiscount, internetcalls.com). They provide lots of free
destinations. One difficulty is that you need to set up your
account(s) using their Win XP software. However, once you do that you
can transfer your details to X-Lite.

X-Lite's stablemate, Eyebeam, handles conference calls, but it isn't
free, AFAIK.

- Franc Zabkar

 

[FTR]

I'm on 2 MB broadband. But I, in the UK, regularly talk to friends in
Australia who are on dial-up. Quality seems to depend on how many
people are currently online on Skype, which is reported on screen: more
than 4 million and quality goes down. And there can be problems over
delays (sometimes you have to say your piece, then say "over") or having
your voice echoed back to you after a gap of about a second, which can
be disconcerting. So, sometimes not up to telephone call quality, but
then it's free Skype to Skype.

I have no problem speaking to others on XP.

This is very interesting, thank you. I guess skyping to down under
belongs to the extreme experimental conditions for measuring voice
transmission quality. I guess some part of the voice packets use cables
(those parts of the communications with a good voice quality) and some
others go via satellite. And here, it becomes evident that geography is
still important for the Internet, at least when it comes to voice
quality. The transmission ways are so long and thus, take so long, that
you experience delay.
Having to manage who is to speak during a telephone call by "Over"
commands - this is something that reminds me of Bad Old Days and that is
really no publicity for skype.

- Frank

 

[Au]

I'm running Skype successfully here on 98SE.

The only problem might be that the current Skype software is 2000/XP
only.

www.skype.com

I am successfully running Skype 2.x on my Win98SE machine, 1.x also ran
fine. Although in my opinion, 1.x is miles better, 2.x has THE most
irritating tones for calls etc., and you have to change every single
main tone back to classic manually. 2.x also does not "memorise" the
call numbers / names you typed in the entry box.

The video chat in 2.x WILL NOT WORK in Win98SE, they disabled the function
for people using that OS after people complained it didn't work in Win98SE
even though their webcams worked in other IM packages. Go figure.

What Skype told me was that Skype is not officially supported for Win98, so
tough.

 

[thoss]

www.skype.com

I am successfully running Skype 2.x on my Win98SE machine, 1.x also ran
fine. Although in my opinion, 1.x is miles better, 2.x has THE most
irritating tones for calls etc., and you have to change every single
main tone back to classic manually. 2.x also does not "memorise" the
call numbers / names you typed in the entry box.

The video chat in 2.x WILL NOT WORK in Win98SE, they disabled the function
for people using that OS after people complained it didn't work in Win98SE
even though their webcams worked in other IM packages. Go figure.

What Skype told me was that Skype is not officially supported for Win98, so
tough.

Interesting. I am running version 1.10,0,79. Maybe I will try
installing 2.