Alternatives to Skype

QatarPhil
By QatarPhil

Hello QL Team,

Our Skype calls have been disappointing lately and I’m looking for an alternative VOIP provider.

Call quality is my main concern, I'm not so concerned about call cost.

Any recommendations?

Cheers,

Phil

By DesertRogue• 19 May 2008 19:49
Rating: 5/5
DesertRogue

Hey there

You were saying that your skype quality is rubbish.

Thre are certain factors that can cause your skype calls to sound terrible.

And these are a few

a) ISP Provider...:- You are with Qtel..thats your first problem lol

b) speed of your connection. Skype will upload aswell as download. ITs better to have minimum 512 K connection, although preferred a 1MB connection .

c) If you are using a Router, then Skype has ports you can set it to use. This helps channel information from your router to your PC easily, and without delaying the data stream. If you need to know how to do this , let me know the model of your router and I'll explain.

d) If you are using wireless, this again slows down your possible connection rate, as , the range can affect speed and signal...the strenth of signal you have, again causes a degrading affect in speed.

And lastly the type of security you have set on your wireless e.g WPA,WEP,WPA2, in these cases its best to connect directly to the router using Ethernet for the best possible results.

e) Make sure you have the latest version of SKype as they are always updating their codec, and if you are calling another skype user, make sure they upgrade ot the latest, so they can make use of these upgrades codex. The better the codex, the less amount of data that has to be sent per voice stream, hence better quality.

Alternative use another voip provider.

Hope this helps

By sandune_DK• 19 May 2008 19:45
Rating: 5/5
sandune_DK

i use skype more than 3 years now....sometime it become worst mostly on weekend....

By aikon• 19 May 2008 19:12
Rating: 5/5
aikon

where do you want to call ? which country ?

skype to skype ?

skype to GSM ?

skype to landline ?

the application itself have their own behaviour.

for me... my family live in indonesia, calling from my GSM was terrible, calling from skype to landline also the same. so i ask my family to call me using Indonesia's legal VOIP from indonesia's GSM operator. it's more cheaper and sounds very clear !

to call USA, a lot of people using Vonage for better price and quality.

Call UK or other europe, i think skype still the best.

and always make sure you have fast and steady connection. check your speed on www.voip.com/speedtest.aspx . For voice, it require 90 kbps downlink and uplink For video call ( skype to skype ) at least both user have 512 kbps downlink ( stable for 1 person ) and 150 kbps for uplink.

By Fatcat• 19 May 2008 18:05
Rating: 5/5
Fatcat

I use google talk and it works nicely, but I don't think you can use to call landlines.

By anonymous• 19 May 2008 17:59
Rating: 5/5
anonymous

i recommend lowratevoip. it has the lowest rate so far and the lines are usually clear.

www.qatar-classifieds.com

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