Skype call quality in BA ?

[Johnno]

Actually - on the off-chance there are any telecommunications gurus who lurk here I have one more question too Here in Australia when I am working my normal landline in Perth is hooked up (call routing) to a 1900 and 1300 call centre that routes the calls to my phone and the phones of whoever is ''on duty'' at the time. My boss has said she is happy for me to continue working for her from Buenos Aires as long as when they route the calls they don't drop off and there aren't call quality issues...

I've got a friend down there who will set up a good router to do the QoS priority stuff so that SKYPE gets maximum priority and will set up in the apartment that 100 pesos a month Fibertal internet plan (6mbps) mentioned above (thanks for the intel there Dave

NOW - considering my job depends on this (well - the ability to come to BA and immediately go back to doing the job I am doing here in Oz - but from there) what does everyone think my chances are ?

The boss back here is not a technical expert - she has doubts it will work even - but she is happy with the work I do for her so is happy to give it a go - and obviously as a newcomer to BA (only there once before) it would be nice to know that I have my job immediately sorted, will be paid in Aussie dollars (1 for 1 with the US dollar at the moment almost) and heck, overall things will be pretty good

Nicest thing of all - I will simply work about 4 shifts a week - from the comfort of my own apartment - and earn enough to be reasonably comfortable there

 

[ghost]

I guess the question is ....will Fibertel stay in business or be sold off and does your building offer Fibertel as a provider. Other than that you should be OK with the connections.

 

[Johnno]

Thanks for that I will keep my fingers crossed - the building is in Belgrano so I'm hoping its going to be covered by Fibertel...

 

[ghost]

The new $99 peso/month 6 Mbps line from Fibertel is amazing! I have been getting well over 11 Mbps download (even hit 17 Mbps) and 1.5 Mbps upload. This is almost 5 times better than my 3 Mbps line from them. See if the landlord will upgrade the line and let you pay the difference...

Also, get a router that lets you do QoS (quality of service) so that you can put Skype traffic at higher priority than other traffic.

That is amazing. I'm running the 3Mbps and will now change. The download times are horrid. Example.............a movie at 720 meg will take 2 days to download whereas my connection in the States will deliver the same movie in 15 minutes. But back to Skype, I have had no problem even with conference calls to China with guys hooked in from NY and San Fran. But I don't do it 8 hrs per day. The OP should bring extra headsets, those things tend to fail quite often.

 

[katti]

I agree with Napoleon, internet isn't always good and not very stable. For example on a public holiday internet can be extremely slow. If you call skype without camera you will be fine, but we often have to turn off the video as it is too much and cuts the call.
If your job depends on (urgent) calling, it can even be advisable to have 2 internet providers, as it often happens that one is down, only for an hour or so.

In my husbands office they have 2 internet providers, they use skype and they have another Voip-system, called Mitel, which is connected to our office in Belgium. With this phone we make calls to Belgium and pay national fees (calls to the belgian office are free). But this system also depends on the internet.

I have skype on my iphone, that works quite well here (only consumes a lot of battery), even when on the road, on 3G.

 

[Vasco]

I just wanted to pipe in here as well.

I just had to go through a 5 hour conference call last night using Skype and a 3mb Fibertel connection with people in Canada and Japan. The call worked seamlessly, and for my part, the quality of audio (we didn't use video) on my computer (a MacBookPro) was 100 times better than a regular phone call on my Telecom landline or Movistar cellphone.

 

[ghost]

Same thing here about the speed. We are paying for 5 megs but actually getting 3 times that much as of last week! Love it...

There is something bizarre about paying for 5 meg and getting 16 mega. My guess is that Fibertel has a 20 meg pipeline and they aren't controlling it very well. Enjoy the speed.

 

[Johnno]

Thanks so much guys - I am now feeling much more confident about February - when I get down there I will plug in my skype phone and be in business BTW - this is the phone I have bought - anyone using it down there already or have any feedback?

http://shop.skype.com/intl/en-au/phones/rtx-dualphone-3088.html#a1Tab

Its a DECT skype phone (cordless) but with the base station directly wired into one of the router's ethernet ports - my guess is that this should work pretty well...

A few of the Skype people told me the Nokia N900 would be the BEST of all options because its wifi and 3g - but I already have the HTC Desire with extended battery and all the extras and for me skype ''on the go'' is not needed - its purely for me to work my 4 x 8 hour shifts from the apartment and so that I keep getting paid

John.

 

[ghost]

Thanks so much guys - I am now feeling much more confident about February - when I get down there I will plug in my skype phone and be in business BTW - this is the phone I have bought - anyone using it down there already or have any feedback?

http://shop.skype.com/intl/en-au/phones/rtx-dualphone-3088.html#a1Tab

Its a DECT skype phone (cordless) but with the base station directly wired into one of the router's ethernet ports - my guess is that this should work pretty well...

A few of the Skype people told me the Nokia N900 would be the BEST of all options because its wifi and 3g - but I already have the HTC Desire with extended battery and all the extras and for me skype ''on the go'' is not needed - its purely for me to work my 4 x 8 hour shifts from the apartment and so that I keep getting paid

John.

Keep it simple and stay as hard wired as you can. WiFi ranges here are very much diminished because of the red clay brick they use to build houses and apartment buildings. It's loaded with iron ore and really has an impact on range.
You may want to bring your own wireless router [high quality] because the routers provided by Fibertel are not very good and often recycled. ie the previous owner might have gotten into the works with some Mickey Mouse tweaks and hacks that will cause you headaches or the thing was zapped by one of the many power surges we have here [people here tend not to run surge protectors]. Also, I have noticed that battery life is somewhat diminished by the same iron impregnated brick. This is not a scientific study, simply observation and comparison.
Gt some good headsets and you should be good to go and up on the net working in a day or two. Good luck. [fortunately you are not earning in Pesos] Oh yeah, better get a good ATM card like Charles Schwab or all of your money will be eaten via the ATM transaction fees.
Good luck.