Blocked service in united arab emirates--any way to fix ???

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 01, 2006 Posts: 4

Hi there:
I've had Vonage in the united arab emirates (uae, think dubai and abu dhabi) since last fall. It was working great, but as of 2 weeks ago, it is blocked! Strange thing is, it is blocked in only part of the country (not yet in dubai). One week after service was blocked, the censors blocked the Vonage website. No explanation, but folks here think the telecommunications monopoly Etisalat is planning its own Voip service and wants to block any competition. Vonage tech support was not very helpful. Now, I can bypass the proxy in the uae with widely available software, and can even access my Vonage voicemail this way;i can even get the Vonage softphone to work (very scratchy, though), but i can't figure out how to bypass the proxy with my Vonage box and get the regular service working again. Someone mentioned something about "port forwarding", but i'm not very savvy and need some help to see if this is a problem i can actually fix, or should i just cancel my Vonage (i shudder at the thought!). Any help would be much appreciated by all the expats in uae who rely on Vonage to keep in touch with friends and family back home. Thanks much!

Posts: 88 · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:31 pm Post subject:

Tell the censors that you pay for the service and they need to unblock it for you ... Did they really block it anyway? How can they just block the service because someone else wants to make money off of the same thing? You could always move to the USA, you wouldn't be so restricted. Problem Solved! NEXT CALLER PLEASE!

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

That's kind of glib advice; not very helpful.

Posts: 88 · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:40 pm Post subject:

Can you answer the questions? How can someone just come in and tell him he can't use Vonage anymore? That's silly. Problem Solved. NEXT CALLER PLEASE!

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

I'll spare making you look like an ass, but the UAE and many other countries have government-owned/subsidised telecom companies, and they CAN block certain services that they want to. Do I think it's right, absolutely not. Can they do it? Short answer, yes. My advice to the OP is to search this forum for solutions around the problem, since they do exist here, but remember, by circumventing the laws of that country, you may be liable.

Posts: 88 · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:02 pm Post subject:

If they can block the service for their financial gain who knows what they would do to him if he broke the law. The safest thing to do would be to move to the United States. Problem Solved! NEXT CALLER PLEASE!

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

Please stop giving advice to anyone here because it's obvious you have no clue.

Posts: 88 · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:07 pm Post subject:

I know that this problem doesn't exist in the United States. Why do you think I gave the advice I did? NEXT CALLER PLEASE!

Posts: 533 · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 6:49 pm Post subject:

navydavy2001 wrote:

Please stop giving advice to anyone here because it's obvious you have no clue.

Amen to that.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 01, 2006 Posts: 4

Dave:

Thanks for your thoughtful replies! As for the others, it is obvious that i wouldn't have this problem back home, but i am here for work for a few years and need to make this work for the time being. Now, please point me in a direction that will help me overcome this. As i said, in dubai and other parts of the uae, it is not blocked and people are using it without difficulty, so it is not (yet) banned officially, or it would not be working ANYWHERE in the country. I realize there is risk involved but for the sake of remaining connected with family and friends, I (and at least half a dozen friends) are willing to take it. Please, please, give me a clue as to how to approach this. Thanks again.