BajaNomad

Hughes Net & Telephone ?

CaboMagic - 2-23-2011 at 05:11 PM

Any input appreciated:
Does/will Vonage work with Hughes satellite in Punta Pescadero (East Cape)
Thanks in advance.

Floatflyer - 2-23-2011 at 08:17 PM

We have the Pro Plus level of Hughes Net service, $79 per month. We use Net2phone now, after using Crystal Voice Live, no longer in business, and Skype. We are able to make calls, with a delay in the coversation, at various times of the day. It seems to depend on how busy the network is. Early mornings and later in the evenings are generally pretty good, otherwise, sporadic. Good luck. FF

Pompano - 2-23-2011 at 08:23 PM

Skype works great for me on my Hughes.net house dish in Baja Sur..Mulege area


I do text, voice and video calls free around the world to other members. I use it daily on frequent calls to Europe and Australia, not to mention all over North America to home phones and businesses.

I find the clarity very good, compared to when I used Crystal voice and other services.

Good luck with whatever you decide to use.

[Edited on 2-24-2011 by Pompano]

Bob and Susan - 2-24-2011 at 06:34 AM

we have pro plus too...we even tried to use a static ip address...
even the profession packages are too slow
nothing worked

we had vonage for a while...sat links are just too slow

unless the person KNOWS where you are and is patient with a delay
they WILL hang up

the receiving end gets broken messages...they ALL complained

unless you have dsl don't waste your money on vonage right now

oldlady - 2-24-2011 at 06:50 AM

In La Paz, I have had the same experience/circumstances as Bob and Susan.

Skype dudn't work well either. Any ideas as why Pompano is getting better results?

Bob and Susan - 2-24-2011 at 07:11 AM

he's not...he's just patient...and the friends are patient

Russ - 2-24-2011 at 07:40 AM

I have a few people on my system and we all seem to be able to use Skype. There is a delay in the conversation but you can get use to that. And some time the internet service sucks. I have noticed the more folks that are online at the same time the slower it is. It does use a lot of your allotted Mb's so watch that but it's free and it's nice to see and talk to friends and family.

CaboMagic - 2-24-2011 at 07:58 AM

Thanks all ..

.. in Dec Skype service there was awful ..

If anyone here understands this stuff, (from Nov 2010)
http://www.ehow.com/how_7572795_use-vonage-hughesnet.html

Trying it this weekend and will report back ..

Magic best wishes ~

Pompano - 2-24-2011 at 08:32 AM

I just used my laptop & Skype to video-phone Rome & Co-Pilot. It was a clear image and the voice quality very good.

I am quite used to the little 'delay' in satellite communications after many years of use and don't think of it as any major hassle..especially with 'educated' friends and business places.

When calling a new number...computer to station..say a business or residence, I immediately qualify the call with this beginning statement:

"Hello, please listen and do not interrupt while I am talking.

This is a satellite call and you will experience a slight delay after I stop talking.

Please do not overlap my voice as you will only further the delay between us.

Please say 'Over' at the end of each of your voice messages.

Do you understand?...Over."

This actually can become quite fun! I get some terrific response at times...:rolleyes:

El Jefe - 2-24-2011 at 08:56 AM

We use Magic Jack and it is about the same as Skype.

I told my family all the stuff above about "over" at the end and speaking clearly.

A typical call to my 89 year old mom goes something like this.

"HELL.....OH.....TOM......MY.
THIS.......IS.....YOUR.........MO.......THER..........SPEA........KING
HOW......ARE....YOU......DO........ING?
OH..........VER."

She's so cute, it cracks me up.

Pompano - 2-24-2011 at 09:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by El Jefe
We use Magic Jack and it is about the same as Skype.

I told my family all the stuff above about "over" at the end and speaking clearly.

A typical call to my 89 year old mom goes something like this.

"HELL.....OH.....TOM......MY.
THIS.......IS.....YOUR.........MO.......THER..........SPEA........KING
HOW......ARE....YOU......DO........ING?
OH..........VER."

She's so cute, it cracks me up.


Hah! Good one, El Jefe.

I've got a funny story, too... about phoning my mother from Baja many years ago.

I think it was about 1999 and we had just installed a new cell phone at mi casa in Coyote. This was a Tel Cel desk phone type and used a tower over on the mainland near Guaymas. Everything had to be just right to make a call.

The TelCel tech had just finished installing the service..and said "Okay,Rogelio..it all ready and working."

I turned to my wife and said.."Okay, who shall we call first?"

She said. "Your mother, naturally. She will be so pleased to get a call from you."

"Good idea, babe!" said I.

Perfect choice, I thought. My mother is a 'phone person' and has many cellphones, desk phones, wall phones, etc..throughout her house and talks on all of them every day.

I sit down at the desk phone and eagerly dial my mom's number in Fargo, ND. Aha..it is ringing..ringing..then I hear her voice.."Hello?"

Elated, I semi-shouted,

"Hi Mom! It's Rog. Guess what? You are the first one we are calling from our new phone service here at the Baja house. What do you think, pretty nice, huh?"

There was a little pause and then this:

"Hello? I don't know who this is..you are too scratchy and I can't understand you..and besides I'm on the toilet."...and she hung up.

We have laughed about that one for years. :yes:

El Jefe - 2-24-2011 at 11:34 AM

That's classic. :spingrin:

BCSTech - 2-24-2011 at 08:40 PM

Trouble is it's hard to make a general statement about Voice Over IP working on HughesNet, except to say that it generally sucks. HughesNet techs will tell you it's not supported and they won't help you with it.

Your mileage can and will vary - HughesNet service speed and quality differs from user to user because HughesNet assigns different satellites and channels to different users, and some work better than others. It's largely the luck of the draw. Some channels are horribly overcrowded with other users, and some not so bad.

If you're getting a new HughesNet system in BCS, don't waste your money ordering the Small Office or Business Internet service level. You'll find your speed is actually better with the lower-cost ProPlus level because it's on a less crowded satellite than the one required for Office or Business level service.

If you're going to try VoIP over satellite, Net2Phone is your best bet because it can be configured to use less bandwidth than other services. Vonage doesn't like the delay to/from the satellite, MagicJack is a pig for bandwidth, and Skype is somewhere in between. I don't know about Ooma but I hear it doesn't work very well over satellite. We always install Net2Phone when we we put in VSAT satellite Internet systems.

But we never recommend using VoIP over HughesNet. It's just too unpredictable and customers are generally disappointed.

monoloco - 2-24-2011 at 08:49 PM

Alan, Do you think the Net2Phone would work better with Tecel Banda Ancha than Majicjack does?

karmatourer - 2-24-2011 at 09:26 PM

Waaaaaaaaay off topic.
Are you the Bob & Susan planning a trip to Havana?
If so,drop me a line-I have info.
If not,I need to change meds.:lol:
Quote:
Originally posted by Bob and Susan
we have pro plus too...we even tried to use a static ip address...
even the profession packages are too slow
nothing worked

we had vonage for a while...sat links are just too slow

unless the person KNOWS where you are and is patient with a delay
they WILL hang up

the receiving end gets broken messages...they ALL complained

unless you have dsl don't waste your money on vonage right now

Net2Phone VoIP vs. MagicJack

BCSTech - 2-25-2011 at 08:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by monoloco
Alan, Do you think the Net2Phone would work better with Tecel Banda Ancha than Majicjack does?
Net2Phone will use less bandwidth than MagicJack but the Net2Phone adapter is a stand-alone device, not like the MagicJack dongle that plugs into a USB port. Net2Phone needs to plug into a LAN Network jack, like on a router or cable modem. You could set up Internet Connection Sharing to share your TelCel connection with external equipment, and connect the Net2Phone adapter to the LAN jack but this is a little more complicated.

Net2Phone also offers a "pay as you go" soft phone (like Skype) that you can use with a PC-connected headset. I haven't tried to use it on Banda Ancha but you can download it here:

http://web.net2phone.com/consumer/commcenter/download.asp

Net2Phone CommCenter works with PCs running Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP. It won't work with Vista or Windows 7, or Apple or Mac computers.

Bob and Susan - 2-25-2011 at 09:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by karmatourer
Waaaaaaaaay off topic.
Are you the Bob & Susan planning a trip to Havana?
If so,drop me a line-I have info.
If not,I need to change meds.:lol:


no cuba for us...isn't that place "off limits" for americans?

back on track...
we use yahoo messanger
pay as you go
it still sucks with the sat internet
but
in town on a dsl line it works great


[Edited on 2-25-2011 by Bob and Susan]

joel - 8-22-2011 at 12:19 PM

What hours do most folks find are the best? Someone mentioned mornings and evenings.... Is that most people's experience.

Anyone know of weather conditions that matter? Wind, heat, humidity, haze, clouds, etc?

Bajajorge - 8-25-2011 at 09:34 AM

Other than a 2-3 sec delay using Hughsnet and Skype, it's OK. For phone service back to the US, I have ATT Mexico Plan. For about $50 a month I get 450 minutes with no roaming, includes Baja. The minutes rollover. Telnor for local service.

CaboMagic - 8-25-2011 at 06:25 PM

For our purposes it was inefficient and just plain awful ...
Absolutely love the area but-- it was impossible for us to conduct necessary business - darn it!

Magic best wishes ...

BCSTech - 8-28-2011 at 10:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by CaboMagic
For our purposes it was inefficient and just plain awful ...
Absolutely love the area but-- it was impossible for us to conduct necessary business - darn it!
You're referring to HughesNet? Some people find it supports VoIP pretty good but it's the luck of the draw, depending upon which satellite and channel you've been assigned, and how good your equipment and installation is.

We always install commercial VSAT systems and Net2Phone when having a working phone is the top priority.