ISP blocking voip :(

S

|seeyouauntie|

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 27, 2001
Messages
343
To summarize...I'm in the middle east and the country I happen to be in has only one ISP. They're a monopoly in every sense and if they can't make a buck or two off anything comms related, they won't allow it. :( :mad:

So, I've had a packet8 subscription working for a couple months and the ISP has now gone and blocked the voice packets. I've called and asked if it were possible they could allow myself and others to use their own personal voip's. Nope. They want you to buy their's. I've told them that they cannot match the quality of the hardware, service or offer the calling rates I get with packet8. Again, no sympathy.

So I ask...Is there any way to mask the voice packets and use my packet8 service? Thanks in advance guys...
 
I know man. But I figured this was so ridiculous, someone might offer some advice. It was worth a shot...
 
Hrmmm, there is a highly technical way around this, but I doubt anyone could pull it off unless they had outside cooperation.

You oculd use static routes for the VoIP server's IP to a box on your subnet that oculd VPN the connection to another box outside your country. The setup would be involved and convoluted/prone to break, but it'd work. You'd basically have to find out the IP block that the VoIP packets are going to, setup the static routes to a box on your network that routes/has a vpn connection to a box off your ISP's network.

*shrug* have fun!
 
You're not the first...and many ISPs will be blocking, if not blocking at least de-prioritizing VoIP packets...in the very near future. Just watch whats coming... ;)
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
You're not the first...and many ISPs will be blocking, if not blocking at least de-prioritizing VoIP packets...in the very near future. Just watch whats coming... ;)
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Indeed. With SBC being the second coming of Ma Bell ( in every way that matters ), we've only begun to see a shit storm over voip.

All I can recommend is to contact packet8 and see what they'd recommend you do.

( heard an ad on the radio the other day from sbc. It was FUD in every sense of the word, about 911. Even threw in a bit about "What happens if my baby needs to go to the hospital?!". It was shameless. I tried to be upset about it, but it was so bad I had to laugh. Poiticians around election time are more subtle. )
 
They might be blocking other VOIP carriers becuase they are trying to evesdrop? Some countries don't like the idea that their citezens can call around the government.


For you, i'd recommend get satellite and that solves all your problems... well except local call costs ;)
 
XOR != OR said:
Indeed. With SBC being the second coming of Ma Bell ( in every way that matters ), we've only begun to see a shit storm over voip.
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Yeah last months PCWorld or PCMagazine had an article..the major ISPs, mostly DSL providers, are now obtaining the tools to either A) Block VoIP...which they legally probably will not be able to do in some cases..., or B) At least lower the QoS tremendously so that it becomes almost non-functional.
 
Ockie said:
For you, i'd recommend get satellite and that solves all your problems... well except local call costs ;)
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Ever used satallite, its not that reliable, not being able to make calls because of rain, not to mention the latency of it
 
Ockie said:
For you, i'd recommend get satellite and that solves all your problems... well except local call costs ;)
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Satellite is absolutely terrible for VoIP. If for no other reason, the latency alone. Add in to the mix normal satellite behavior ( dropped packets, variable quality based on weather ), and you get something that just won't work.
 
Thats what happens when your in a 3rd world country. Only easy fix I can think of is to VPN to a machine/network than can pass you the VoIP traffic.
 
Can you buy a business class internet connection where they don't block anything? Residential class internet is relatively inexpensive, but you don't get the freedom of business class.
 
k1pp3r said:
Ever used satallite, its not that reliable, not being able to make calls because of rain, not to mention the latency of it
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I'm not talking little cheap 18" pizza dishes we have on our roofs here in America... I'm talking a big dish, proper equipment, and proper installation.
 
Ockie said:
I'm not talking little cheap 18" pizza dishes we have on our roofs here in America... I'm talking a big dish, proper equipment, and proper installation.
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Regardless, from what I've seen, there is no way to get around the latency of it.

VoIP needs a round trip latency of 150ms, or you start getting the walkie talkie effect ( you may have heard this on some lower quality cell connections ).

Now, I may be wrong, but I was of the understanding that we are bumping into physical limitations of the speed of light ( or close enough ), sending a signal out to a sat in space, then back down, takes time no matter how you slice it. Even with the low earth orbit things they were talkign about, I still wouldn't want to mess with it.
 
I didn't think blocking traffic such as this was legal...seems kind of monopolizing (sp?) and anti-competitive.

As long as you pay for the service you are free to do whatever you friggin want to the way I see it.

Whats the ToS say?
 
riot8ap said:
I didn't think blocking traffic such as this was legal...seems kind of monopolizing (sp?) and anti-competitive.

As long as you pay for the service you are free to do whatever you friggin want to the way I see it.

Whats the ToS say?
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From what I gather he is not in the US. The network in the middle east and some other countries is govt. run and highly filtered.
 
riot8ap said:
I didn't think blocking traffic such as this was legal...seems kind of monopolizing (sp?) and anti-competitive.
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Anti-competitive and monopolizing only matters when it's a known monopoly doing it, otherwise it's left up to market forces to correct the behavior. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Who knows, it may still work. The cable companies would put themselves in a good position against sbc/att dsl if they didn't hamstring voip. They have their own motivations of course, and I could see them take pre-emptive moves against Video over IP by reprioritizing packets so only web and email work reliably with any decent latency.
As long as you pay for the service you are free to do whatever you friggin want to the way I see it.
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Depends on the ToS, as you already know. And most companies have a TOS that would allow them to be down a month while they kicked puppies and ate babies and you'd still have to pay them.

I am bracing for the worst. Given the political climate in the US ( and you'll note, the OP is in a foreign country ) and the merger of the baby bells into Ma Bell, I think we can expect to see anti-VoIP passed through congress any day now, tacked on to some completely unrelated bill.

SBC is terrified of VoIP, and they should be given their level of service and costs.
 
Ockie said:
I'm not talking little cheap 18" pizza dishes we have on our roofs here in America... I'm talking a big dish, proper equipment, and proper installation.
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That would be extreamly expensive just for a phone, not to mention as XOR != OR did that you will still have latency, not to mention loss os signal in a storm. Sat just isn't a viable solution for VOIP yet and it may never be
 
k1pp3r said:
That would be extreamly expensive just for a phone, not to mention as XOR != OR did that you will still have latency, not to mention loss os signal in a storm. Sat just isn't a viable solution for VOIP yet and it may never be
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Your thinking about the little dishes that we get here with directway or directv in the US. They go out in any storm.

The higher equipment you have and a larger dish, your signal strength is greatley increased and you should have a much better effect than our sattelite services.

Anyways, it's doable, but may have somewhat of a lag, and it will be expensive.


I never said overkill was bad ;) Hell when I speak I'm only talking about overkill :p
 
Ockie said:
Your thinking about the little dishes that we get here with directway or directv in the US. They go out in any storm.
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Why do people continue to say this. I had DirectTV for several years and the longest storm outage I faced was all over 5 minutes during a Hurricane! Normal rain or snow did not affect my connection. Of course you have to have a good signal to start with, a marginal signal in good conditions will fail in light rain. I had high 90s on ALL transponders and 100 on several. If you are shooting your dish through a tree full of leaves of course when they get wet you lose all signal.

Sorry for the slighty OT post.

Latency on Sat phones though does suck.
 
m1abram said:
Why do people continue to say this. I had DirectTV for several years and the longest storm outage I faced was all over 5 minutes during a Hurricane! Normal rain or snow did not affect my connection. Of course you have to have a good signal to start with, a marginal signal in good conditions will fail in light rain. I had high 90s on ALL transponders and 100 on several. If you are shooting your dish through a tree full of leaves of course when they get wet you lose all signal.

Sorry for the slighty OT post.

Latency on Sat phones though does suck.
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I've heard rumors of new satellites that will use onboard weather-monitoring sensors to automagically increase power to affected areas. They should be coming out in the next few years or less.
 
Ockie said:
Your thinking about the little dishes that we get here with directway or directv in the US. They go out in any storm.
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No, I'm thinking of satellite tech in general.
The higher equipment you have and a larger dish, your signal strength is greatley increased and you should have a much better effect than our sattelite services.
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None of which helps latency.
Anyways, it's doable, but may have somewhat of a lag, and it will be expensive.
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"somewhat of a lag" would kill VoIP. Ground services typically get 20ms-50ms. This is workable in voip apps. Satellites have been known to have 100ms+ ( closer to 200ms normally ). Combine with latency from the rest of the loop ( not to mention latency from the actual POTS network ), it's hardly worth the effort.
I never said overkill was bad ;) Hell when I speak I'm only talking about overkill :p
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Overkill wouldn't work for this.
 
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