Tell Me How Great Broadband Phone Service Is, Again?

[rpm]

WASHINGTON (AP) - A coalition of Internet phone providers is concerned a looming federal deadline could lead to loss of service for tens of thousands of customers next week.

It's asking the Federal Communications Commission for a 90-day extension of the deadline for customers to acknowledge their understanding of possible problems making 9-1-1 calls using the Internet.

Providers of Voice over Internet Protocol service, also known as V-O-I-P, are expected to disconnect service to people who have not responded.

The providers, which include A-T-and-T, M-C-I, and T-Mobile U-S-A, say the F-C-C order could leave customers stranded in an emergency.

The F-C-C issued its initial order in May after a series of highly publicized incidents in which V-O-I-P users were unable to connect with a 9-1-1 operator. The commission ordered the companies to provide full 9-1-1 capabilities by late November.

Puts those "people do stupid things" commercials Vonage is running in a whole new light.

[CMC Airboss]

Two words -     Cell Phone

If you're in too rural of an area to get cell phone coverage, it is unlikely that you'll have VOIP through a broadband connection.

[Skuzzy]

I can only hope those VOIP companies fail.  They sure make a mess of the Internet.  It was a bad idea when it started, and it is still a bad idea.

[Nilsen]

I use skype to communicate with my dad. Works great but we both have to be on the puter with the software running.

Would never consider it as my only phone tho.

[Seagoon]

I used to use Net 2 Phone to make long distance calls way back when it was free and the call quality was roughly the same as shouting through a length of PVC piping (ok, maybe not that good), but stopped when it became a pay service.

Recently, because almost all of our extended family lives in different states and overseas, and we have the local emergency #s of the Police and Fire on Speed Dial, we considered going to a broadband phone service, but rejected the idea precisely because ultimately we think its a pernicious misuse of the bandwidth set aside for the internet.

To me, as Spam is to email, Vonage is to bandwidth. Call me crazy, but I believe that this was not part of Al Gore's initial vision.

- SEAGOON

[Sparks]

Well I have to admit I use Skype to phone home to landlines in the UK while I'm abroad using Skype Out and it's saved me a fortune.  Quality is fantastic. In the last 6 weeks it's only cost me about 35 Euros for hours and hours. Skype to a mobile (cell) is a bit more pricey but still nothing like the £1 a minute I have to pay to use my mobile.

FWIW Vonage in the UK has 999 (emergency) so it's no problem. When all is said and done ALL comms will soon be staright digital so I don't see what the problem is.

For me VOIP is

[LePaul]

I've been pretty pleased with Vonage thus far.

I've also made sure to have a battery backup on the router/cable modem and have a cell phone as a secondary.

$27 to call anywhere in the USA or Canada....versus my old Verizon line which was $51 + whatever toll calls, etc.

[Skuzzy]

Digital is not at issue here.  Using the Internet for VOIP is.  It takes an enormous amount of bandwidth away from the data portion.

Using the TCP/IP transport over the Internet means everyone is paying for these damn VOIP companies.

[Lye-El]

Originally posted by CMC Airboss
Two words -     Cell Phone

If you're in too rural of an area to get cell phone coverage, it is unlikely that you'll have VOIP through a broadband connection.

Wireless broadband here...and can't get a cell signal worth a crap.

My brother has use Vontage on my connection here and said it worked fine.

[Heater]

Just did a study (work related) on VOIP,.... to have true voice quality the you need a at least 64Kb per Chan. and to connect you have 2 Chan's open so that means you need 128Kb of bandwidth per call,  and people wonder why the internet is slowing down....

[Sparks]

OK I admit my ignorance here but  why has simple voice transmission become such an issue ??.  It's not even video calling ??  We have been told for years that the internet will provide streaming video into every home, client based computing where ISP' hold the apps on remote servers - any number of bandwidth hungry services and we have always been assured that bandwith can always be found.

If I am on a 1Mb adsl connection and only using 128k for the phone why is that worse than downloading a dvd at the full 1Mb ?? I don't understand ..........

For me as a numpty consumer who travels a lot Skype has been a breath of fresh air.  I have a UK number which can find me anywhere in the world as long as my laptop is hooked on a highspeed line and I can call home for a fraction of the cost of my cell phone.

Not getting at you here Skuzzy but maybe if the industry can't support it, it shouldn't have launched it ??

[Skuzzy]

Someone sees it as a cheap way to make a buck.

Sparks, I could explain it in detail, but experience has taught me, people do not care to hear about how downloading a DVD, or using VOIP is screwing up the Internet.  Multiply that by a few million people and,...nevermind.

No one wants to hear the bandwidth between countries is already peaked and new cable infrastructures under the Atlantic/Pacific are not forthcoming.  This is a big one.

VOIP is all about making everyone pay for it.  It's a neat scheme.  They only pay for thier local bandwidth while the rest of the world suffers the tanking of available bandwidth and is forced to upgrade.  Pretty cool.  Sort of like a long distance robbery scheme.

Anyway, I am wasting my time talking about this.  I am sure there are many who will claim, "I can download all of Hollywood in 22 seconds with no problem."  And I am sure they will proceed to do so.

[Sparks]

I'm not trying to justify it Skuz but at a consumer level I've never needed to understand it.

I can see what you are saying but in the end how does the major infrastructure get paid for - thats a real question - I have no idea  Who puts in the big cables across the Atlantic ??

So how do companies like Skype get access to the network ? I assumed that the major back bones were held by the big boys and they sold off access and capacity as they felt fit - if they had spare they would sell it to companies like Skype.  Clearly I don't understand the workings of it ......  How does a company get free access to bandwidth on hardware held by coporate entities

[Skuzzy]

I did not mean for that to sound like it was directed at you, personally, Sparks.  It was a general rant, not aimed at anyone.  Sort of like the village idiot standing in the middle of the square.

To answer your questions.

The Atlantic and Pacific cables were originally laid by AT&T.  Since then AT&T has sold off all that type of work to other companies.  Today it takes an international consortium willing to foot the bill for the laying of more cable.
The last time they tried, they could not come together on who should pay for what.  And they have been stuck there for some time now.

Now, the VOIP thing, or anything Internet related.  Say you are connecting to someone who happens to be on another ISP.  You pay for your local connection (but not neccessarily the bandwidth) and so does the person you called.
Inbetween those two points are numerous routers.

Do a PingPlot, to our arenas.  We pay Savvis (currently) for our Internet service.  Yet, those packets take a little bandwidth away from every router they traverse.
Now, the ISP you go through pays the ISP they are connected to who pays the ISP they are connected to and so on.  However, the pitance you pay for Internet service cannot cover the actual cost of the bandwidth you use in a VOIP connection.
Streaming data traffic is the worst abuse of the Internet.  The resources involved are staggering and they are tied up until it is done.

This just touches on the overall issues.

[SOB]

You simply don't know what you're talking about, Skuzzy.  It took me at least an hour and a half to download all of Hollywood!