# Skype Phone



## Smiles:-) (Mar 5, 2008)

I bought a Skype phone that acts as a regular landline phone and also a skype phone. It works great for skype to skype calls but for skypeIn calls it's not working so well. I get some of the calls but not all of them. Does anyone else have one of these phones that could help me with the set up? Or is it just going to be one of those hit or misses things.

Thanks


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## kiran4568 (Sep 10, 2008)

Smiles:-) said:


> I bought a Skype phone that acts as a regular landline phone and also a skype phone. It works great for skype to skype calls but for skypeIn calls it's not working so well. I get some of the calls but not all of them. Does anyone else have one of these phones that could help me with the set up? Or is it just going to be one of those hit or misses things.
> 
> Thanks


hii, 

Im not sure I can help but am really curious about the phone? is it the philips voip 845? im thinking of getting one for home in uk (my parents) and one for sue in abu dhabi when i move there next week but not sure if it will work :-s

thanksssssssssss


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2009)

I bought the Belkin wifi last August and it didnt work for me... i had to get a VPN and all that stuff to bypass everything so I said forget it... I ended up giving it to my parents when I went back home to Canada in August... so they use it now to talk with me all the time 

I guess that solved their problem of always trying to contact me 

-Joey


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

AFAIK, the Skypein numbers won't work here.

Even if you connect via a VPN. You will be able to make skype to landline calls via a VPN but not receive Skypein. It is an incoming port that will be blocked before it even reaches you. Remember, you are not using a modem here, it is an always on connection and the required port will be bocked by the ISP befre it gets anywhere near you.

If I'm wrong, I'd be delighted if someone can tell me it works and how


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

Ogri750 said:


> AFAIK, the Skypein numbers won't work here.
> 
> Even if you connect via a VPN. You will be able to make skype to landline calls via a VPN but not receive Skypein. It is an incoming port that will be blocked before it even reaches you. Remember, you are not using a modem here, it is an always on connection and the required port will be bocked by the ISP befre it gets anywhere near you.
> 
> If I'm wrong, I'd be delighted if someone can tell me it works and how


I've had it work, used a UK landline number provided by Skypein and even got SkypeOut to work (SkypeOut still works).

For SkypeIn to work you need to have a VPN and be connected to it at the time of the call (so basically have your computer always connected)

For SkypeOut to work, well it just does. The only thing about SkypeOut is that you have to charge it up when you run out of credit and that bit is blocked and so without a VPN you won't be able to recharge it - unless you set it up to automatically re-charge.

HTH


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## mrjamie79 (Dec 20, 2008)

can you not chat to ppl through msn and headsets?


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## dzdoc (Oct 26, 2008)

How does that work? I am coming and want to be able to talk to family without a huge fee. Defeats the purpose of coming to spend cash for that kinda thing. In the US can they just answer regular phone? does cells work with it? Do I need stuff for my laptop like those little camera thingies?


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

crazymazy1980 said:


> I've had it work, used a UK landline number provided by Skypein and even got SkypeOut to work (SkypeOut still works).
> 
> For SkypeIn to work you need to have a VPN and be connected to it at the time of the call (so basically have your computer always connected)
> 
> ...



SkypeOut no probs, but never had SkypeIn working. The person calling could hear it ringing, but my phone didn't ring.......ever


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## Smiles:-) (Mar 5, 2008)

Ogri750 said:


> SkypeOut no probs, but never had SkypeIn working. The person calling could hear it ringing, but my phone didn't ring.......ever


SkypeIn works on my PC if I have the VPN changer on but it won't always work on the Skype Phone I have. It only works sometimes. Such a pain. Oh well.


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

mrjamie79 said:


> can you not chat to ppl through msn and headsets?


You can but that limits the average person from doing what they're used to and calling you up through a normal phone.

Plus you both have to be near your computer which involves a little planning.

SkypeIn gives you a landline number that people can call from their normal phone and SkypeOut forwards it locally (around 17ppm) to you mobile of landline.

Alternatively for say partners and parents you can get them (in the UK) a 3 mobile on PAYG which allows them to directly ring into Skype for free - subject to keeping the phone topped up every 90days or so.

3 - Mobiles - 3 Skypephone


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## arthurjo (Jan 5, 2009)

have they lifted restrictions on skype here now?


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

arthurjo said:


> have they lifted restrictions on skype here now?


Nope, still works though


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## Nickel (Dec 7, 2008)

Has anyone tried the Yahoo messenger "Phone Out" here? I have a Washington State phone number for my computer from YM - takes messages also - but haven't tried it here yet.


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## Helios (Oct 22, 2008)

Skypeout works without VPN with du, I tried it yesterday.


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## harpersimon (Jan 5, 2009)

Am I right in thinking that generally there are all sorts of China style internet traffic restrictions in Dubai then!? Reading this..


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

harpersimon said:


> Am I right in thinking that generally there are all sorts of China style internet traffic restrictions in Dubai then!? Reading this..


Not to any extreme, adult sites, gambling and a couple of oddball ones like Skype. I have hardly even noticed the censorship to be honest...

...but I'm a good boy


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## dzdoc (Oct 26, 2008)

So should I just go to the skype web sites for info on what I need in the US.


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

dzdoc said:


> So should I just go to the skype web sites for info on what I need in the US.


Yes and if you think that you may need a VPN for anything then I would do that over there too. You'll find all the info you need about VPNs and what they do on Google as they're not something that we openly discuss on here.

HTH


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## Debian (Jan 3, 2009)

Ogri750 said:


> AFAIK, the Skypein numbers won't work here.
> 
> Even if you connect via a VPN. You will be able to make skype to landline calls via a VPN but not receive Skypein. It is an incoming port that will be blocked before it even reaches you. Remember, you are not using a modem here, it is an always on connection and the required port will be bocked by the ISP befre it gets anywhere near you.
> 
> If I'm wrong, I'd be delighted if someone can tell me it works and how


I totally disagree with you here. I'm a security technician that sets up vpn servers all the time. We've got over 600 clients in Dubai alone with many of them using us for Skype services for dedicated incoming and outgoing calls. It has absolutely nothing to do with local isp ports. You most likely did not set yours up correctly or the vpn provider you used may have been blocking that port on their servers. But the whole thing is easily done and takes less than 2 minutes to setup and connect.


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## Debian (Jan 3, 2009)

crazymazy1980 said:


> Yes and if you think that you may need a VPN for anything then I would do that over there too. You'll find all the info you need about VPNs and what they do on Google as they're not something that we openly discuss on here.


Why not? You act as though this is a taboo subject that people don't need to know about. Its a very legitimate service that many people need all around the world for a variety of reasons.

Would you enjoy it if your government dictated what you could see on the internet and what they felt you didn't need to see? VPN service providers keep the balance between total government surveillance of the internet and those that wish to be free of that surveillance and government hand-holding. If people wish to surf the internet free of government control, then why are you condemning it? Why can't it openly be discussed here?


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

Debian said:


> Why not? You act as though this is a taboo subject that people don't need to know about. Its a very legitimate service that many people need all around the world for a variety of reasons.
> 
> Would you enjoy it if your government dictated what you could see on the internet and what they felt you didn't need to see? VPN service providers keep the balance between total government surveillance of the internet and those that wish to be free of that surveillance and government hand-holding. If people wish to surf the internet free of government control, then why are you condemning it? Why can't it openly be discussed here?


Whatever a person's opinion is on censorship, it is the law of the land that we live in (the UAE). Whilst you live in a country of relative freedoms (as I did when in the UK) discussions on open forums about circumventing government control can lead to a number of things happening here: -

a) Criminal Prosecution including custodial sentence and deportation
b) This site potentially being closed down
c) Your site being blocked too

You might also want to protect your business interests by not advertising how many clients you have here whilst putting your website address on the bottom of your posts or you may inadvertently shoot yourself (and all the grateful clients you have) in the foot


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## harpersimon (Jan 5, 2009)

If you can use Skype over a VPN is entirely based around what traffic and ports are open on the firewall each end, and if the country ban that traffic, then it's been correctly stated as such. It has everything to do with local ISP provision - Many places (China, Brazil etc) require either permission for you to use some traffic or totally block it. Having set up VPN connections around the world, its fair to say that just because it works for you over a VPN to the UK doesn't mean it works for everyone. Have tried to put this simply but probably confused everyone!
Debian what are you using each end? Are you using PPTP (over GRE tunel) or L2TP out of interest?
(not sure this is a discussion for here as its a bit tech - but people might benefit if they really need things like Skype)


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## dzdoc (Oct 26, 2008)

Thanks for all the advice. I will go to skype and also google vpn. I don't mind the censorship as I am not into sites that are usually blocked. I just want to able to keep in touch with my kids, mom and husband without a huge cost. Need reasonable.


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## Debian (Jan 3, 2009)

crazymazy1980 said:


> Whatever a person's opinion is on censorship, it is the law of the land that we live in (the UAE). Whilst you live in a country of relative freedoms (as I did when in the UK) discussions on open forums about circumventing government control can lead to a number of things happening here: -
> 
> a) Criminal Prosecution including custodial sentence and deportation
> b) This site potentially being closed down
> ...


Our site has been long blocked in the United Arab Emirates. But that does not stop people from still contacting us via email for our services. Additionally, this site is hosted on an American server with no chance of the UAE government being able to shut it down. It is not hosted in their jurisdiction which means they have no control over it or how it operates. The UAE government is going to block whatever sites they want regardless of their content. Our servers don't identify who they belong to and don't advertise themselves as any sort of vpn/proxy service either. So that makes it extremely hard for the UAE government to block the services we provide. They might be able to block our domain from being reached, but thats about all.

What I find quite strange is that only UAE and Oman block our site. All of the other Arab nations have no problem with it. It just goes to show that some countries still live in the 16th century of government repression of the people. No government has the right to say what people can read and do online or in their personal lives. No one made any government an overlord of their people. Only a scared government would do that.


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

Debian said:


> Our site has been long blocked in the United Arab Emirates. But that does not stop people from still contacting us via email for our services. Additionally, this site is hosted on an American server with no chance of the UAE government being able to shut it down. It is not hosted in their jurisdiction which means they have no control over it or how it operates. The UAE government is going to block whatever sites they want regardless of their content. Our servers don't identify who they belong to and don't advertise themselves as any sort of vpn/proxy service either. So that makes it extremely hard for the UAE government to block the services we provide. They might be able to block our domain from being reached, but thats about all.
> 
> What I find quite strange is that only UAE and Oman block our site. All of the other Arab nations have no problem with it. It just goes to show that some countries still live in the 16th century of government repression of the people. No government has the right to say what people can read and do online or in their personal lives. No one made any government an overlord of their people. Only a scared government would do that.


I appreciate your sentiment but the reasons may not be medieval ignorance bur to give commercial advantage to local telecommunications companies in a fledgling country.

The one thing you're missing is that by spouting inflammatory statements about the UAE on thiis forum you could cause this site - not yours - to be blocked and that would be very damaging to the community which surrounds this forum.

See you didn't quite get the whole not shooting yourself in the foot part of my message


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## dzdoc (Oct 26, 2008)

Debian said:


> Our site has been long blocked in the United Arab Emirates. But that does not stop people from still contacting us via email for our services. Additionally, this site is hosted on an American server with no chance of the UAE government being able to shut it down. It is not hosted in their jurisdiction which means they have no control over it or how it operates. The UAE government is going to block whatever sites they want regardless of their content. Our servers don't identify who they belong to and don't advertise themselves as any sort of vpn/proxy service either. So that makes it extremely hard for the UAE government to block the services we provide. They might be able to block our domain from being reached, but thats about all.
> 
> What I find quite strange is that only UAE and Oman block our site. All of the other Arab nations have no problem with it. It just goes to show that some countries still live in the 16th century of government repression of the people. No government has the right to say what people can read and do online or in their personal lives. No one made any government an overlord of their people. Only a scared government would do that.


Hey Debian, 
Tech question for you. Looked at your site. Do I need to sign up for vpn while here in the states and how do I then connect from UAE? I would then need internet access there, correct? How does the TV portion work? Skype then works through the vpn I am guessing and does my computer "ring" in the uae on skypein? Beam me up Scotty so confusing for us older than 30.


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## Debian (Jan 3, 2009)

Commercial advantage of what? I see no place where we interfere with the commercialization of the UAE. As far as repressive governments go, yes I disagree with it and foreigners in the UAE should not be subjected to that repression especially if they hold passports for their own countries. The UAE can do what they like with their own citizens but should not be able to dictate terms to foreigners who wish to use outside services to keep in touch with their families. All we offer is an alternative and the freedom to choose. We're not forcing our services upon any one the way the government of the UAE chooses to.


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## Debian (Jan 3, 2009)

dzdoc said:


> Hey Debian,
> Tech question for you. Looked at your site. Do I need to sign up for vpn while here in the states and how do I then connect from UAE? I would then need internet access there, correct? How does the TV portion work? Skype then works through the vpn I am guessing and does my computer "ring" in the uae on skypein? Beam me up Scotty so confusing for us older than 30.


Yes, you would need general internet access from the UAE. Once you have that, then you connect to one of our encrypted vpn servers. Because of that encryption, you block out government eaves dropping and can use the normal Skype services as though you were still in the United States, United Kingdom, or whatever vpn location you choose. The tv portion works in a very similar manner although we offer 2 differnet types of connections for that. I won't openly discuss that here because I understand not every one here agrees with opening the internet, but you are more than welcome to send me a private message with your specific questions. As for Skype ringing, yes, your computer would chirp with Skype's annoying ring tone. Hopefully one day we can customize that ring tone.


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

Debian said:


> *Commercial advantage of what? I see no place where we interfere with the commercialization of the UAE*.


By providing VPN services which facilitate the use of free VOIP products you are directly disadvantaging the local telecommunications networks here who offer international telephony services of their own. That in turn means they make less money, which means they have less money to improve the infrastructure and eventually make the cost of their services cheaper for Locals and Expats equally. Does that make it clearer??



Debian said:


> As far as repressive governments go, yes I disagree with it and foreigners in the UAE should not be subjected to that repression especially if they hold passports for their own countries. The UAE can do what they like with their own citizens but should not be able to dictate terms to foreigners who wish to use outside services to keep in touch with their families. All we offer is an alternative and the freedom to choose. We're not forcing our services upon any one the way the government of the UAE chooses to.


I am sure that you have never been to the UAE because otherwise you would not be spouting all this ignorant rhetoric about what is a very liberal and forward thinking middle eastern country. It's safe and welcoming and it has been a pleasure thus far to be part of the community here. I don't feel repressed at all. Anyone who comes to the UAE should accept to abide by the laws of the land or stay at home - it's that simple. The UAE Gorvernment are well within their rights to dictate to ANYONE who comes into their borders how they want them to act whilst here and it would be ridiculous to think otherwise. Would you expect people to ignore the rules of Canada if they came from another country - of course you wouldn't!!

Do you actually have any genuine interest in the UAE or are you here for other purposes...?



Debian said:


> I have taken your recommendation regarding the signature line. But I am also putting my time in answering other topics around the numerous forums here as well *so it does not look like I'm just here to advertise*.


Taken from one of your previous posts on the mexican forum here - (http://www.expatforum.com/expats/me...ico/1680-american-television-2.html#post88949)


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## Debian (Jan 3, 2009)

crazymazy1980 said:


> By providing VPN services which facilitate the use of free VOIP products you are directly disadvantaging the local telecommunications networks here who offer international telephony services of their own. That in turn means they make less money, which means they have less money to improve the infrastructure and eventually make the cost of their services cheaper for Locals and Expats equally. Does that make it clearer??


In the 40+ years I've been alive, I have never seen a telecom lower the price for their services. I think the majority of the community here would agree with that. A telephone company is interested in profits, nothing else. So I hope we're clear on this issue. 




crazymazy1980 said:


> I am sure that you have never been to the UAE because otherwise you would not be spouting all this ignorant rhetoric about what is a very liberal and forward thinking middle eastern country. It's safe and welcoming and it has been a pleasure thus far to be part of the community here. I don't feel repressed at all. Anyone who comes to the UAE should accept to abide by the laws of the land or stay at home - it's that simple. The UAE Gorvernment are well within their rights to dictate to ANYONE who comes into their borders how they want them to act whilst here and it would be ridiculous to think otherwise. Would you expect people to ignore the rules of Canada if they came from another country - of course you wouldn't!!


Its your choice if you wish to live there or not. But don't tell other people what they can and cannot talk about on this forum. Until the day you own this site, you cannot speak for it. 



crazymazy1980 said:


> Do you actually have any genuine interest in the UAE or are you here for other purposes...?


You can quote any of my posts that you like. I do not have to justify to you why I am here, but I visit most all of the forum countries here and converse on a wide variety of issues. It seems all you wish to do is nit-pick and look for reasons to support your cause. But its not your place to dictate law nor is it your place to say what people can discuss on this forum. VPN service is not against the law in any country that I'm aware of and is used for a wide variety of reasons, not just for Skype services or anything you deem as government circumvention. It would do you a good service to read up on vpn's and what they provide to the end user and what security services they provide above and beyond what a normal internet service provider can provide. People have the freedom of choice in any country and you have no right to condemn them for that.


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

Debian said:


> In the 40+ years I've been alive, I have never seen a telecom lower the price for their services. I think the majority of the community here would agree with that. A telephone company is interested in profits, nothing else. So I hope we're clear on this issue.


REALLY  In the UK Telephony and Internet Service are consistently being reduced in price and service levels are increasing all the time, free calls are now the norm and broadband speeds are forever increasing



Debian said:


> Its your choice if you wish to live there or not. But don't tell other people what they can and cannot talk about on this forum. Until the day you own this site, you cannot speak for it.


I don't tell people what they can and cannot say, this is a self regulating forum based on regular users politely (as I did originally) informing newer users what is clearly stated in the T&Cs of this site - the two below you have broken in this thread alone.



Rules of the Site said:


> 3 Contributions must not:
> 
> 3.1 contain any material which is or could be defamatory in any way;
> 
> 3.8 Except for Premium Subscribers (who are permitted to use the Website for business purposes only in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to the premium subscription service), you agree to use the Website for personal and non-commercial purposes only.





Debian said:


> You can quote any of my posts that you like. I do not have to justify to you why I am here, but I visit most all of the forum countries here and converse on a wide variety of issues. It seems all you wish to do is nit-pick and look for reasons to support your cause. But its not your place to dictate law nor is it your place to say what people can discuss on this forum. VPN service is not against the law in any country that I'm aware of and is used for a wide variety of reasons, not just for Skype services or anything you deem as government circumvention.


I have no cause except for the continued availability of this site to both the users in the UAE and those looking to gain information about whether becoming an expat is the right thing for them. I seek no financial gain - EVER!!



Debian said:


> It would do you a good service to read up on vpn's and what they provide to the end user and what security services they provide above and beyond what a normal internet service provider can provide.


I may just do that, always good for an IT security professional to know what the new fads are!!!

VPNs from a security point of view are only secure if you can guarantee BOTH ends - ideal for communicating business to business for example. PPTP was designed for PEER to PEER, hence why it's part of the abbreviation. 

When a person uses a VPN service such as yours to browse the internet they are opening themselves to all their traffic being analysed by the company whose service they purchase. The security is thus only good from their computer to yours - after that the traffic is completely unencrypted - and you know that. It only acts as a bypass to the ISP - which usually are government regulated - individual companies such as yours may not be subject to any regulation whatsoever and you could be doing anything with their information - which could include passwords, credit card numbers and also their entire browsing history - which you could then pass on to criminal or marketting services to make money.

As for anominity as a Canadian entity you are however subject to the laws of the land and if a legal entity wishes to issue a warrant of disclosure for any activity emanating from your servers (or those around the world) you are legally bound to oblige. If another country has a law enforcement agreement with canada they may share that information and that could lead to prosecutions in said countries. You may only keep your logs for so long but data stays on hard disks much after it has disappeared from the recycle bin.

...but what would I know!!



Debian said:


> People have the freedom of choice in any country and you have no right to condemn them for that


Have you ever left Canada - that is a very naive thing to say!


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## harpersimon (Jan 5, 2009)

I think you guys need to take this offline as neither of you are now discussing anything interesting, other than whose right and wrong between the 2 of you. I haven't been a member long but I want to see advice and tips and chat, not arguments. so please carry on, as its a free forum - but do it in another thread, or PM each other to death.

PS -Vpn services in some regions of China are illegal for foreigners to use unless you have obtained permission for the traffic type you are sending - you forgot to answer my VPN type you are using question earlier, and 'blocking out government evesdropping' you are dreaming about that.. trust me. 
have a nice day


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## Nickel (Dec 7, 2008)

Debian said:


> In the 40+ years I've been alive, I have never seen a telecom lower the price for their services. I think the majority of the community here would agree with that. A telephone company is interested in profits, nothing else. So I hope we're clear on this issue.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


With an "attitude" like you have shown here, won't be using YOUR service in the near future!!! Geez, get off your high horse and maybe travel the world a little to see what it is like instead of spouting rhetoric from ......... where was it, Canada? Geez!!!


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