# Using Vonage (VOIP)



## tdzankl (Mar 23, 2010)

Hi, we are likely relocating to Dubai this summer from North America. We currently have a Vonage phone which is VOIP. We are able to take our Vonage with us which will allow all of our family and friends to dial our North American phone number to reach us overseas so it would remain a local call for them....does anyone know if it is possible to do this from the UAE, as I know they have blocked certain portals for skype in the past, etc...

Does anyone use Vonage or know someone who does? I'd love to be able to continue with it as it would really help our family out!

TIA,

Tracy


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

It doesnt work. Its blocked.


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## Iron Horse (Apr 10, 2008)

From a recent Gulf News article, they wrote how Du is looking to partner up with a company to bring an inexpensive system here. However, I wondered how can they make it inexpensive when it was free before?

gulfnews : Du gears to offer VoIP services

gulfnews : TRA approves local VoIP


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## aryanarai (Jun 12, 2010)

Does anyone know if there is a service that is not blocked? I am looking for the same thing. However, in my situation my husband will be calling us in dubai and we can't afford to rack up thousands of dollars in telephone bills.


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

aryanarai said:


> Does anyone know if there is a service that is not blocked? I am looking for the same thing. However, in my situation my husband will be calling us in dubai and we can't afford to rack up thousands of dollars in telephone bills.


The callcentric.com service is very configurable as it's very much a service for geeks -- you bring your own ATA device. Conversely, Vonage is locked down and you don't have any option to change the ports or protocols used. Callcentric is also considerably cheaper than Vonage BTW.

No idea whether you'll be able to bypass the port blocks in Dubai, but you're much more likely to be able to do it with this type of service than Vonage, who have become almost as bad as the Baby Bells they compete with.


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> The callcentric.com service is very configurable as it's very much a service for geeks -- you bring your own ATA device. Conversely, Vonage is locked down and you don't have any option to change the ports or protocols used. Callcentric is also considerably cheaper than Vonage BTW.
> 
> No idea whether you'll be able to bypass the port blocks in Dubai, but you're much more likely to be able to do it with this type of service than Vonage, who have become almost as bad as the Baby Bells they compete with.


On second thoughts and with a Google, they appear to block all the UDP ports. I'd be locking at a router with VPN to connect the ATA.


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

Well that stinks. I was worried this might be the case. Besides the aspect of the ability for friends and family to be able to make calls as local I need to keep at least one of my numbers active (wanted both). All of my financial accounts have the number I have had for the last 16 years tied to them, and I cannot really change these to an international number.

I may have to keep the Vonage number and forward it to my international number, unless someone else has a better suggestion


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

fcjb1970 said:


> Well that stinks. I was worried this might be the case. Besides the aspect of the ability for friends and family to be able to make calls as local I need to keep at least one of my numbers active (wanted both). All of my financial accounts have the number I have had for the last 16 years tied to them, and I cannot really change these to an international number.
> 
> I may have to keep the Vonage number and forward it to my international number, unless someone else has a better suggestion


Xfer both your North American numbers to a VOIP provider such as callcentric. You have the option (via a browser) of what you want to do with your calls -- ring on a voip ATA or software, redirect to voice mail (accessible via a browser or phone) or forward to another number.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

tdzankl said:


> Does anyone use Vonage or know someone who does? I'd love to be able to continue with it as it would really help our family out!


Hi fellow Texan,

We are moving back to Dubai from Egypt, and had to sell our Vonage hardware because it is blocked. It was a tough daysince we too loved our Vonage.

I assume you / your husband works for an American company, which most likely mean that you have VPN access to get company emails, etc. if so, then simply use Skype.

To get a local number in Houston, you pay $2.99 / month and get a choice of area code and prefix. You could then call (via computer on VPN) local Houston numbers and have them call your local Houston number as well.

The only restriction is your computer must be connected to VPN.

If you want to dedicate a home computer to Skype (running VPN), then you could subscribe for private VPN (i.e. I use StrongVPN dot com) and pay a small monthly fee.

The other good thing about having private VPN is you could use Netflix to stream movies, CBC shows, etc.

We have VPN on our iPads to Skype and watch movies, US shows...

-Signed: spoiled Americans


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

ccr said:


> Hi fellow Texan,
> 
> We are moving back to Dubai from Egypt, and had to sell our Vonage hardware because it is blocked. It was a tough daysince we too loved our Vonage.
> 
> ...


If you run VPN from a router, presumably your ATA will work, too?
Plus if your VPN service is US based, you can have Hulu Netflix et al. as well?


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

> I assume you / your husband works for an American company, which most likely mean that you have VPN access to get company emails, etc. if so, then simply use Skype.


Not the case in my situation, I work for a UAE company so do not have access to a US VPN.



> Xfer both your North American numbers to a VOIP provider such as callcentric


I guess I am not sure the difference (except perhaps costs, which I have not looked into in detail). Seems that even though callcentric gives you more options than just the single router that Vonage requires, you are still blocked. Or did I miss something where it would allow me to use some device that will work with callcentric and is not on a blocked port.

Thanks


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

fcjb1970 said:


> Not the case in my situation, I work for a UAE company so do not have access to a US VPN.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


On Callcentric you can change the port used whereas on Vonage, you can't. Whether this will allow you to bypass controls put on by the ISP, I have no idea. But it certainly gives you more opportunity to do so.

The Callcentric control panel via the web interface has many more features including creating your own rules for forwarding.

It's considerably cheaper than Vonage.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

Fatbrit said:


> If you run VPN from a router, presumably your ATA will work, too??


Sorry, I don't know since I only use VPN from a computer.

I am interest in your comment and I would like to learn more how to run VPN from a router to use Callcentrix.



Fatbrit said:


> Plus if your VPN service is US based, you can have Hulu Netflix et al. as well?


Yes, I subscribe to StrongVPN(dot com) for personal VPN and have access to Netflix and ABC, etc. but not subscribe to Hulu yet. I imagine it should work.


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## saima1215 (May 31, 2010)

ccr said:


> Sorry, I don't know since I only use VPN from a computer.
> 
> I am interest in your comment and I would like to learn more how to run VPN from a router to use Callcentrix.
> 
> ...


How do you subscribe to Strong VPN? The website itself is blocked. I need to use my magic jack so that I can communicate with my family in New York. The calls get very expensive. Can you please help me out? Thanks!


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## saima1215 (May 31, 2010)

Yes I have access to the alternative site. So how does this work and what package should I take? I have DU internet connection at the moment.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

No discussion of VPNs in this forum please. They are essentially a way of getting around (breaking?) the law in the UAE, and we do not encourage any illegal actions on the forum.

Thank you

:closed_2:


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