Vonage users in Colombia

Mr. Hollywood says on Dec 16, 2006, 22:21:

Suggestion You might get more valuable feedback if you posted: Where your girlfriend lives and what broadband provider she uses.

Lots of people use Vonage in Colombia and it works fine. Those who have problems live in regions with not enough bandwidth up and down. There are people on this forum who have encountered those problems, particularly in Medellin.

Good luck.

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sniper says on Dec 17, 2006, 10:55:

I perfectly understand why you are asking the question as you are. A lot of people on this forum lack the brain power to answer a question correctly.

I use Vonage in both Cartagena and Medellin and have BOTH DSL and Internet on cable.

Vonage will work on either DSL or cable but not consistently. There will be times of the day that the bandwidth drops and you will not be able to talk. There will be other times of the day that it will work perfectly for hours and hours. There is no consistency as to what time of the day will have the slow periods.

From my experience the cable Internet works better than the DSL for Vonage. Although my DSL connection is faster than my cable connection, the DSL tends to have longer periods of latency than the cable. Vonage should work on a DSL 128K connection as long as there is no latency and the 128K is consistent. So there is no need to pay for higher bandwidth since even a super high speed connection will not work well if there is latency.

So, to answer your question, yes Vonage will work on DSL but it is not 100% reliable. If your chica can get cable then that would be better.

I should add one more thing as well. I have heard that in some areas of Medellin the DSL is less reliable than in other areas. If she lives in an area with bad service it would effect your calls. One thing you can try BEFORE buying the Vonage is to have her call you with Skype. If you can have a clear conversation with Skype then more than likely you will also be able to have a clear conversation with Vonage. Your investment in Skype will only be like $10 to determine if the quality of her DSL is sufficient.

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sniper says on Dec 17, 2006, 11:05:

One more thing, the reason there is latency on the DSL is the old telephone system in Colombia. I would only use Vonage on DSL for calls that I did not consider important. You could be in the middle of a conversation and just get cut off without warning with the DSL. Again, test it with Skype or any other VOIP program. If one works then so should the others as they all use the same type of technology. Yes, I know they all claim to have some secret or "better" way to provide VOIP but the fact of the matter is 99% of the quality is determined by the level of service you are getting from the ISP providing the DSL.

I am trying to get the WiMax service now. Since WiMax does not rely on the old telephone system or old cable system it may very well prove to be better for VOIP. Has anyone tried this yet?

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Miguel_Clavo says on Dec 17, 2006, 11:10:

is WiMax available in CTG? i am setting my CTG office up for VOIP, and currently have DSL through Telecom, but like you say, their service is sporadic...i was told the Cablenet cable service has a more reliable "up time", which would be better for Vonage......your thoughts, sniper?

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo.....Colombia es pasión!

"F.A.R.C..S.U.C.K.S"

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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sniper says on Dec 17, 2006, 13:44:

Yes, you can buy WiMAX at Olimpica in Bocogrande. The service is available throughout Cartagena.

I use the cable company for my apartment in Laguito with Vonage and it works "ok". During high bandwidth periods it will not work great though. However, it does work better than DSL in the same apartment. 95% of the time I use the DSL for the computer and the cable for the VOIP.

I am betting that WiMAX will be better. I have not got it yet but if they set it up correctly it should provide a much better service than what we get with cable and DSL. Of course, we are talking about Colombia so who knows if they will set it up correctly.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Dec 17, 2006, 15:43:

I would expect WiMax to have even worse latency problems. I use cable and have no trouble with Vonage, except when I'm hogging my own bandwidth with some other application.

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ColombianoGringo says on Dec 17, 2006, 16:47:

Thanks All Thanks for the useful answers. I posted the question as I did because PBH has gotten somewhat combative lately and I didn't feel like starting a pissing match between responders like my question about my GF taking a US bar exam.

She lives in Neiva. While she does not currently have DSL in her home, they use it at her office a few KM away. They use Skype at the office and it works great. She also occasionally uses an internet cafe on the same block as her house. That cafe uses the same DSL and we are able to video chat using MSN messenger.

The calls are just for us to "hear each other breathe" so dropping calls is no big deal. I am currently spending $300-400 a month on calls. I don't mind spending the money, but I would rather spend it on plane tickets than phone calls.

I was more concerned about protocol filtering on the part of Telecom DSL. I am pretty sure it will work, but just wanted some input from folks with experience.

Thanks again for the info. It's nice to get a simple answer without a bunch of name calling and debate.

Peace,
CG

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Michael_B says on Dec 17, 2006, 18:18:

I am not trying to sell you a service but There waS A POST LAST MONTH TO:

http://www.crossfone.com/EN_Index.asp

We signed up for the service two weeks ago. We got the Rapimax city plan to make unlimited calls to Cali for 29.95 a month. The first three months are 19.95. The wife says that the calls clearer than our current VOIP provider Sunrocket Anyway instead of paying 200-300 dollars a month, give these guys a try for 19.95. I think you will be happy....Sonia is...problem no I cannot get her off the phone.....but on Sunday afternoon is that a bad thing :-)

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