Vonage not active in Dubai, U.A.E. Probable ISP block.

Posts: 24 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 15, 2006 Posts: 24

Hi Ragga

Skype has always worked for me on Tecom connection. It is what I switched too when Vonage went down

There Skype-In service is quite good - it gives you a local number in a country of your choice - so folks can call you via a local number

Its costs about Eur 30 a year for the local number

Unfortunately I have noticed that the call does not always get through (often goes into instead into voicemai - even although my Skype is online)

I imagine the connection to not unhindered by Tecom/ Etlisalat - so you have a better success of calls with PC to PC calls - rather than Phone to PC calls

thanks

Posts: 6 · Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:45 am Post subject:

Just heard from aforementioned friend, both Skype and Vonage down this morning in Jumeirah!

Evil or Very Mad

aaaarrrrrrggghhhhhh

Posts: 59 · Full Forum Member Joined: Aug 16, 2006 Posts: 59

my skype doesnt work on my pc or mac.. then again i have the newest versions.. can you give me the version you are using on the tecom connection that works?

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 20

Hey people, i strongly agree with jumanji on keeping the pressure on. I myself have posted reminders previously as well, as this is extremely important and all of us should do our part in giving our due feedback to the telecom authorities. I'm currenlty out of town, but have made a couple international calls to TECOM for the same reason...

Furthermore, I've been reading some of your posts, and it appears that nobody has had any success with Vonage whatsoever. However, some sporadic instances of Skype operation have been noted, and some are fully operational and some are inconsistent. I would require a network guru to validate my theory, but my guess is that to block Vonage is simple (kill the random UDP ports from 10k - 20k and SIP 5060, etc...), but Skype is a little more tricky. In fact, if u read previous posts (including the links i've posted before), the Bitek Sniper application they may be using is responsible for sniffing out skype connections and then killing them. So, in other words, Skype may work for some people who are yet undetected, and may not for others, or it may even work at different hours of the day or randomly when alternate connections are attempted. Once again, this is a theory and i'm not even sure how Skype connects... but one thing is certain: Vonage is still dead!

another reminder: keep the pressure on people!

Posts: 24 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 15, 2006 Posts: 24

ragga wrote:

my skype doesnt work on my pc or mac.. then again i have the newest versions.. can you give me the version you are using on the tecom connection that works?

Hi Ragga

unfortunately skype updates itself so I have the latest version only on my PC which works fine

If you PM me I can send a link to my server for an older version that I have saved

thanks

Posts: 25 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 26, 2006 Posts: 25

did they reblock it?

Posts: 59 · Full Forum Member Joined: Aug 16, 2006 Posts: 59

I am hearing conflicting reports from everyone. I just suggest keep calling your internet company.

Posts: 24 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 15, 2006 Posts: 24

yep, will keep up the pressure

but you can get around it if you are technically minded, with a VPN

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 86

good morning.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 27, 2006 Posts: 2

Hey guys:
I am relatively new to Dubai (coming from Gainesville, Florida) and to this forum. I also brought my Vonage device here as well and it was working fine until Aug 27th. I had it at the office (Ras Al Khor Junction Bridges, next to Burj Dubai), and from what I understand, the commercial internet service had more freedom than the commercial; up until that point. Sad

I have been following the forum for a few days now and also have been trying to find solutions. I sent a PM to ragga but got no reply (I dont know if you got it). I succesfully conncted to Skype through VPN tunneling and it worked great. I still have my University of Florida account active and I connected with the UF VPN. Once connected, the only thing etisalat could see was my connection to UF. I could browse whatever I wanted and connect to skype. Now, the next step is to get a VPN able router (probably Linksys RV082) and connect to the VPN through the router. That way I hope the Vonage port will pass through vpn untraced and unblocked. I should be trying this within the next couple of days and I'll post a msg if successful.

Cheers,

C.