U.S.Military in Osan Korea, we can't make calls. Blocked.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 25, 2008 Posts: 1

I'm a US Air Force member currently stationed in Osan AB, Korea. Recently, our DSL carrier here has blocked Vonage use, I assume from blocking a specific port that allows Vonage to work. We were told it was a Korean Government issue...

Hundreds of us stationed here are now left phone-less and unable to contact family in the states as comfortably as we were before, and they can't contact us.

One trick I have figured out was to forward my incoming calls to my international cell phone...which works fine, however I get charged International minutes for this use. I believe I can switch to a Vonage Asia plan, and get unlimited minutes there.....but regardless, I couldn't call out. Which frankly, ****.

So anyway....to my point...
Is there ANYTHING we can do? Some sort of download or back door or SOMETHING we service members here in Korea can use so we can make calls out?

Any help in this matter would sure help all of us out and make many, many people here in Osan AFB, and potentially all the Armed Forces in Korea, happy Servicemen and women.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 22, 2008 Posts: 3

Check into VPN options, some are mentioned in the following thread:

http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic15004.html

Here's a google search with more gneral VOIP/VPN results.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&suggon=0&q=vonage+vpn&btnG=Search

Also, for general web browsing 'over there' (i.e., NOT VOIP, P2P, etc.,,,) you may want to check into Tor:

http://www.torproject.org/

Posts: 527 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 527

Until this gets sorted out, if it does, try this (assuming that freeworlddialup is not an illegal VOIP company in Korea):

Get a sip number from a free VOIP company like free world dialup .( http://www.freeworlddialup.com/ ) and register it with ipkall (see http://www.ipkall.com/)

When you register your SIP phone number with ipkall they give you a Seattle based Phone number. The call then goes to your SIP account.

Then register your Seattle based number with Grand Central ( http://www.grandcentral.com/ ). Grand central assigns you a phone number of the area code of your choice, so you can get a local number and have Grand Central simulring your Seattle number. From their, you can call numbers in your directory and have them connect to the phone of your choice - your Seattle number.

For testing, you can use x-lite ( http://www.counterpath.com/13 ) softphone or freeworlddialup's communicator on your computer.

It's not Vonage, but it works.