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[renluop]

Our child, husband, and three grandchildren are shortly to move to  Africa for about two years. It seems that the practical way of voice communication wail be VoIP. They already use Draytel,

Firstly does it matter what provider I use, as I have heard that using the same or at least a ?peered?, or ?paired? provider is to be preferred?

Secondly VoIP must consume bandwidth. Can anyone give an estimate how many minutes conversation will consume a GB? What particular factors influence usage?

[pintosal]

Not sure about the other questions but VOIP indeed does consume bandwidth.

Telephone quality speech runs at 64kbits/second but VOIP quality does not always get that good.

So, assuming 8kbytes/s then a wet-finger-in-the-air estimate is:
1 minute = 480kbytes, so let's say 0.5 megabytes

Therefore, 1 Gb will give you 2000 minutes or 300+ hours

Factors influencing usage:
1. How much you talk :-)
2. Quality of connection, and errors retransmission
3. How good a codec your VOIP uses

[renluop]

So, unless on a very restricted, or already high usage package with ISP, bandwidth should not be a great problem.

[risk_reversal]

renluop said:
Our child, husband, and three grandchildren are shortly to move to  Africa for about two years. It seems that the practical way of voice communication wail be VoIP. They already use Draytel,
Firstly does it matter what provider I use

As you are probably aware, you can use VOIP in one of 2 main ways. Either via Skype or by using a dedicated ATA (Analogue Telphone Adapter).

I have never tried Skype although I have quite a few friends that do use it. The disadvantage to Skype is that I understand that it is a pc based software installation and so therefore your pc needs to be on to make a call. Also with Skype, you are allowing the program to use your bandwidth to relay other calls (in the t&cs when you install).

This ability is a peer-to-peer function and given that the guys who developed Skype were the guys who developed Kazzaa then this is not such a surprise.

The alternative using an ATA or VOIP enabled router is that this is more of a HW based solution which does not require the pc to be on. Furthermore, if an account is set up say in the U.K, then the ATA can be taken anywhere and calls can be made as if the unit were still in it's local region.

I personally started using VOIP in about 2004 when BT launched it's Broadband Talk service. They provided a free Cisco ATA 186 but have since moved on from them and have purchased my own unit (Linksys PAP2T, this unit is not for the faint hearted) and use Voipfone and VoipTalk as my service providers.

The other choice is to go to say Vonage (did this for my mum) who send you an ATA (cheap one) free but already configured, so it is very much plug-n-play. They have monthly fees though.

The quality of the call will be determined by the codecs used whether hi or lo quality. At the end of the day bandwidth use will not be huge I think the codecs I use are 108kbit.

Good Luck

[renluop]

I am using the PN Thomson 585 v7, and having done some googling get the impression that ATAs can be quite expensive. I cannot see myself other than as a light user.

Any thoughts on a least cost but adequate adapter, or voip router? The Draytecs and Vigors are well out of my league.

[risk_reversal]

I am using the PN Thomson 585 v7, and having done some googling get the impression that ATAs can be quite expensive. I cannot see myself other than as a light user.

Any thoughts on a least cost but adequate adapter, or voip router? The Draytecs and Vigors are well out of my league.

I have never used a voip router and as regards ATA's have only ever used the 2 that I mentioned previously. The Linksys PAP2T which I have used for the last 5 years or so is not that expensive. I started using it because 1. it is an excellent unit and 2. lots of people using them, so lots of info on the net as how to configure them correctly.

Otherwise Skype? You can also use the portable version from the link below which will not install itself.

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/skype_portable

Good Luck

[razpag]

I am using the PN Thomson 585 v7, and having done some googling get the impression that ATAs can be quite expensive. I cannot see myself other than as a light user.

Any thoughts on a least cost but adequate adapter, or voip router? The Draytecs and Vigors are well out of my league.

Stop right there !!! 

Stick with whatever router you've got and download SKYPE. Millions of folk use it (myself included) without any problems whatsoever. I look at these situations like I would with my speaker system at home. I could get gold speaker wire and set up a 'mixing deck' and 'equaliser' by spending lots of cash. Or, I could use the bog-standard set-up that came with the stereo system.

Guess what, I use the bog-standard set up and I have no complaints with them at all. i have quite a few BBQ's and parties throughout the year and nobody has ever said "Hmm, your sub-woofer is slightly tinny", or words to that effect. What I've got does the job adequately well.

So, if this jaunt is for approx 2 years, get SKYPE and try it out first. It is free. Then, if you're not happy, start looking into splashing out hard-earned cash.