technogeeks, need help re: VoIP

I have a GPRS wireless broadband service (not satellite) and wonder if I can use Vonage or one of the VoIP companies (suggestions welcome)

my broad band speeds are

Up=184 kb/s
Down=1318 kb/s

can I do it??

I'm so frustrated with my landline and the troubles I'm ready to tear my hair out.

With that speed you are going to sound like you are in a box, and have continual drop outs. I believe for VOIP at least an upstream speed of 512k is recommended, and more if you can. Also cable broadband is not too good. because it is a shared bandwidth, i .e . a whole block of a neighborhood is sharing the same bandwidth. This can cause poor voice quality during peak times. if you are one of the lucky people like me with fiber then VOIP is a dream. I have used VOIP for about 7 years now and i will never go back to a traditional phone system.

On paper I think you could do it. I think vonage recommends at least 90KB/s up but I know you can go lower. We use 64KB/s on our key/hybrid system at work and even over a wireless bridge it sounds fine.

You might have the throughput but I'd be concerned about latency on the wireless connection. You should run a test at dslreports.com and see what your actual numbers are. Try the tests at the different times of the day.

Another consideration would be investing in a higher-quality router that supports QoS, Quality of Service. This will prioritize your voice traffic over data traffic on your local network. It's a pain to configure but with your limited bandwidth it might be something to consider.

:yourock: