# Is skype still banned and cookers!!



## josmiler05

Hi all,

I know the title is abit odd but I wanted to ask a couple of things and wasn't sure if I should use two threads! ...Anyway, does anyone know if skype is still banned in Egypt? My husband and I are coming over in october and I will be staying longer than him so need to have good contact with him!
Also we want to buy an electric cooker, rings together or on a seperate plate not bothered but couldnt find any in sharm before! Does anyone know where you can buy them in sharm?
Thanks


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## ASAMY

What i understood that Skype is banned if you are going to use internet on your cell phone based on vodafone/mobinil/etisalat

but in case of home internet, you can still use skype.

Also, I found out a good program that I use to call USA, Europe and Egypt.

The program is called Nymgo. If I give skype 100% in terms of quality then Nymgo is like 85%, much cheaper and you can set it up to an SIP phone (unless you use subscriptions with skype and not pay to go method where you can call Europe landlines for free)

I can not help with the electric cooker thign. I am sorry


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## mythik

Skype can't be used by mobile sim cards... i guess it makes sense for the telephone companies (can't be good for business missing out on all those mobile international phone call $$$)

...Unfortunately the USB modems that they sell also run on mobile sim cards, so if this is how you connect to the internet you'll be out of luck for skype.

ADSL / landline internet connections here in egypt don't have any trouble connecting to skype though, you just have to go through the hassle of getting the phone on in your apartment and then having ADSL enabled on your line... which can take 4 - 8 weeks 
(but after that most of the internet plans are unlimited downloads and *faster* than the USB modems... so it definitely has its advantages if you're here for a decent amount of time or you're a moderate to heavy internet user)


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## GM1

mythik said:


> most of the internet plans are unlimited downloads


what I know is that there is not one plan that has unlimited downloads! They have the "fair usage policy". For example: 1mb speed, download limit per month is 40 GB.


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## NZCowboy

mythik said:


> Skype can't be used by mobile sim cards... i guess it makes sense for the telephone companies (can't be good for business missing out on all those mobile international phone call $$$)
> 
> ...Unfortunately the USB modems that they sell also run on mobile sim cards, so if this is how you connect to the internet you'll be out of luck for skype.
> .....


Not exactly correct, I have Vodafone USB modem(sim card) and haven't had any problems with Skype, use it just about everyday. Even if they ban it there are so many other programs like skype such as oovoo, or you can just use a proxy server. Alot of Expat's use proxy servers to get downloads/streaming that is resistricited to one country,... BBC etc. I wouldn't worry about the proposed ban.


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## josmiler05

Thanks for all the replies.
I'm not worrying as much now as it sounds like there are manys to keep incontact with him. Although I'm not sure what you mean about proxy server!! I'm not that hot on computers!! Thanks guys


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## mythik

NZCowboy said:


> Not exactly correct, I have Vodafone USB modem(sim card) and haven't had any problems with Skype, use it just about everyday. Even if they ban it there are so many other programs like skype such as oovoo, or you can just use a proxy server. Alot of Expat's use proxy servers to get downloads/streaming that is resistricited to one country,... BBC etc. I wouldn't worry about the proposed ban.


Really? I'm with vodafone too - We got skype no problems before the "ban" and by sometime in Mar it was goooooone 

...I never ever thought about researching proxies for it though, good thinking 99!


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## NZCowboy

Proxy Server - in basic terms, a proxy server acts as an intermediary, in this situation the proxy server is located in another country/area that doesn't have regional restricitions. The client(you) connects to the proxy server(intermediary) which then connects to the internet. So any site that you access does not see the your location(IP address) only the location(IP address) of the proxy. The most common use of proxy's by expats is to access the BBC to watch live streamed football, as the BBC site only allows access to UK IP addresses.

Mythik - lateral thinking ) - before you get a proxy try oovoo its just as good as skype. My wife is in the airline industry and fly's all the time, a number of the middle eastern countries have also banned Skype, so my wife and her collegues now use oovoo when downroute in these countries to talk to family in Egypt. In the UK she still uses Skype, as she has it on her moblie aswell.

The internet is a everchanging beast, as soon as one hole is closed another opens. A famous example is when China banned Google a very successful proxy server operation opened up called Elgoog (Google backwards), this largely contributed to the unbanning of Google in China.


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## josmiler05

NZCowboy said:


> Proxy Server - in basic terms, a proxy server acts as an intermediary, in this situation the proxy server is located in another country/area that doesn't have regional restricitions. The client(you) connects to the proxy server(intermediary) which then connects to the internet. So any site that you access does not see the your location(IP address) only the location(IP address) of the proxy. The most common use of proxy's by expats is to access the BBC to watch live streamed football, as the BBC site only allows access to UK IP addresses.
> 
> Mythik - lateral thinking ) - before you get a proxy try oovoo its just as good as skype. My wife is in the airline industry and fly's all the time, a number of the middle eastern countries have also banned Skype, so my wife and her collegues now use oovoo when downroute in these countries to talk to family in Egypt. In the UK she still uses Skype, as she has it on her moblie aswell.
> 
> The internet is a everchanging beast, as soon as one hole is closed another opens. A famous example is when China banned Google a very successful proxy server operation opened up called Elgoog (Google backwards), this largely contributed to the unbanning of Google in China.


Thanks for the information it really helps.


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## countess

I use Etisalat and they have done nothing about blocking Skype. I have several friends on Vodafone who do appear to have now lost the service. Good thing is though - not sure if it is just coincidence - Skyping on Etisalat seemed to improve enormously once Vodafone stopped. There is another system called oovoo which one friend is using now on Vodafone and she says it is excellent.


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## josmiler05

countess said:


> I use Etisalat and they have done nothing about blocking Skype. I have several friends on Vodafone who do appear to have now lost the service. Good thing is though - not sure if it is just coincidence - Skyping on Etisalat seemed to improve enormously once Vodafone stopped. There is another system called oovoo which one friend is using now on Vodafone and she says it is excellent.


Hi Countess,
Do you have a usb Etisalat like a pay monthly dongle? If so thats seems the way to go.
Jo


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## hhaddad

I use skype on Etisalat usb modem on the move and linkdsl at home and it works fine on both.


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## jojo2005

Hi all - names Jo and this info is really helpful. Thanks. I have just bought a flat in Hurghada and will be out there again in a couple of weeks for 10 days. Trouble is my boss says I have to do some work this time as I have already been on holiday twice this year!!


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## Bongus2

Skype in not banned - I use it all the time.
Go on line to find an agent in Sharm - I found loads of hidden suppliers that way.


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## Liralen

I can confirm that skype calls via vodaphone dont work anymore.. and havent for some time. They do work on my ADSL.

I also had one of the US Vonage "remote lines". A US phone number that would call through to my computer. It works in other countries I visited, but I was disappointed to find, that it doesnt work here, no matter what internet connection I used.


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## BBusyB

I'm finding it intresting that people are unable to access skype using Vodafone Data modems, as I've been using mine with ease to make voice and video calls.

Now if I try to use Skype on my iPhone over 3G, then Skype is uanble to log in, so Vodafone is obviously blocking at least the mobile client. I've a work around for this as I pay for a VPN service which provides me with 2 VPN's one with a UK IP and another with a US IP for $10 a month, and I just switch on VPN on my phone if I want to use skype. I got the VPN mainly to access some sites in the UK where they won't let me log in or make purchases from a non UK IP so its well worth the cost to me.

While I'm not using the Vonage remote line on my computer, I do have a couple of VOnage boxes from the UK which work fine and really well over ADSL. I'm getting somthing like 4MBps Down / 1Mbps ans stay out in boonies so you can get even better speeds in the City .


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## NZCowboy

I'm still using Skype on Vodafone USB modem, no problems. 
As BBusyB says there are plenty on ways around it, such as VPN(proxy server).
My wife travells to other Middle Eastern countries where Skype is banned and i have set up VPN for her so that we communicate via Skype.


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