Joddle

Good morning all - I am pretty fed up because my local shop has sold me a USB 3g modem for my computer saying it would be suitable for Skype (voice only) but when I tried it it won't work at all on Skype. I fact it won't work with any VOIP programmes although it does work with Windows Messenger and with normal browsing etc. Now I am tied into a contract for 18 months!

I am in Valencia and the firm I am using is Yoigo and I had wanted the USB so my sister in law can keep in touch with us whilst travelling in the UK over the next few months. She has the Yoigo USB and we have regular ASDL in the UK and here in Spain and had hoped to use the link for keeping in touch. (Cheaper than her using her mobile) With messenger we should be able to do that but really we had wanted a unit that works with VOIP as my sister in law does not have a phone line at home and this would have helped with her phone bills.

So the main issue is, do ANY Spanish companies have USB modems which will work properly with VOIP?

jimenato

What's the problem? We had a vodafone dongle years ago and it wasn't brilliant but it did work with skype. Does yours not work at all?

Fred James

Some mobile companies do restrict access to Skype - Yoigo is one of them which is why it doesn't work.

I would take it back and demand to cancel the contract.

Joddle

The problem is the girl in the shop said it would work and it does not - We are using messenger for now which is OK but obviously the staff who sell the stuff don't have a clue. We were definitely mis-sold. It works fine for browsing etc - its just not VOIP friendly.

twistedmelon

Out of my depth on this one but doesn't a dongle just allow you to connect to the internet without needing a landline. Therefore what you do with that connection is surely upto the user not the provider.
Anyway, isn't there something written in the contract about VOIP.
I agree with Fred, take it back pronto and don't be fobbed off.
All the best.

Fracman

Joddle,

Good advise from Fred, back in November last year we took out a contract with Movistar for a dongle as we live in the campo as there is no chance of having a telephone line or adsl in the near or distant future, we get a strong 3G signal and it has never ever dropped out or failed to conect,we use it every day for Skype so we can also talk to friends and family all over the world.
As we both have lap tops I also purchased a MIFI-2352, great piece of kit , its basically a very small home wirless router that enables up to five laptops or printers to connect, we put the Movistar sim card in it and now we can both be on line at the same time.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Ken

Joddle

It looks like a change of provider will help - although the Movistar is twice the price of Yoigo but if it does what we need it wodl be worth it. Its seems price may be the clue to quality here!!!

jurdyr

need to get Viber , works on your pc and phone free calls when you have a data pack included in you moblie phone package

Joddle

Please explain - thats all new to me - what is it? and how does it work please? and how much doe it cost to buy and to run?

jurdyr

viber.com
download the free app Viber to your pc are phone ( smart phone only iphone , blackberry and so on )
Make Unlimited Free Pc to Phone Calls, Free Voip Calls to anywhere , Free International Calls, Free Phone Calls Worldwide, Free Mobile Calls, Free Internet Calls. Voice over Internet Protocol lets you make free long-distance phone calls using your computer including PC to mobile calls. Try new methods to Make Free Voip Phone Calls and call India free. Discuss on this Voip Forum, Voip Apps for free calls, Free SIP Calls, Cheap International calls ! Find solutions about Voip predictive dialers, Conference call Colutions, Voip pbx, Hosted PBX, Voip telephony, Voip Business, Residential Voip service.

you have it and person you get in touch with have to have viber aswell

go to there website viber.com

Joddle

Not sure about this - I already use Voip Discount on my PC but again it is VOIP and that is the protocol which my UB modem won't support. The calls are described as "free" but what about the connection from an android - to another mobile - for that what resources is it using and surley that is not free!! somone is paying for the 3g connection and traffic? Still need more info and alas the website does not appear to make that very clear - at least to me anyway.

Ka Ora!

You could try a VPN service to the UK or the USA that way any Voip traffic will be encapsulated within a encrypted vpn stream. The ISP and the Modem cant tell the difference between data types when the traffic is encrypted as data is just data.

You do need to try it before committing to any VPN service as they could throttle encrypted traffic or be blocking all encrypted traffic as Skype is already encrypted traffic it depends how they have their Cisco routers configured, But logiclly a more effective way of blocking Skype is just block the connection server with a drop all Skype packets in the router config so does it let you log on to Skype?

Also if you currently have any firewalls running disable them and try again.

bobd22

I use a dongle when I'm in Spain without any problem it's a Masmovil sim operates on orange network I use Skype without any problems. I did bring an unlocked dongle with me from the uk and put masmovil sim in. Reasonable charges from them as well of course you must get an orange signal for it to work.

Ka Ora!

It's not likely to be the hardware that the OP has blocking the access to Skype, It's blocking that will be at router level by the ISP "Traffic Bandwidth Management". A few ISP's are known for this issue although they are usually in places like the Middle East or China.

bobd22

Just a thought Joddle did you inform the shop where you took the contract and dongle what purpose you intended to use the dongle for? if so they obviously should not have recommended yoigo which does not provide the Skype or other VOIP facility. If that's the case but it back in their court i.e. get them to cancel as unsuitable. As I said I use the Masmovil with skype without any problems, don't know about other VOIP's with them.