Voip Over Satillite

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 04, 2005 Posts: 1

Any Helpful Hints out there with voice delay using sat. ISP Calls go out very good now but voice is still about seven second delay and some times have the echo problems also.

Posts: 1389 · Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:17 pm Post subject:

Not much to say on this really....the inherent latency with sat ISP makes it hardly usable...

Posts: 277 · Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:31 pm Post subject: Re: Voip Over Satillite

danp6420 wrote:

Any Helpful Hints out there with voice delay using sat. ISP.

Yes, the helpful hint is - don't. I believe if you look, your satellite ISP states clearly that the service is not suitable for Voip usage. Unless you can figure out some way to beat the laws of physics and speed up the speed of light, you cannot do anything about the delay. Trying to run Voip over satellite just isn't a smart idea at all.

Posts: 132 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 16, 2005 Posts: 132

"Doctor, it hurts when I do THAT"...

Posts: 6 · Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:32 am Post subject:

Voip over most consumer satellite systems is recommended only if you have no other options. I use Vonage with DirecWay from Belize for contacting family and friends in the USA. Since the local monopoly charges $1.00+ per minute, I can put up with the 600ms delay and the other minor limitations.

Be sure you have 'Bandwith Saver' set to the lowest setting and don't even think about using the Satellite connection for anything else while using the Voip. Also, nights and weekends are best. There are times during peak usage hours that the Voip just won't work.

Now if you have a commercial grade satellite system like DataBahn, using their Voip service is almost like using a good landline. I don't know how they do it, but the delay is not even noticable. Of course, I can't get DataBahn here!

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 24, 2005 Posts: 7

Only part of the delay is physics.

The numbers are: 2 * (distance to satellight in miles) / (speed of light in miles per second) = 2 * 22400/186282 = 0.24 seconds. Double this delay again (0.48 seconds) if you're waiting for an answer to a question assuming the other person doesn't start talking until they hear you stop. This part you can't do anything about.

The rest of the delay is going to be your packet queueing up waiting to be transmitted to & from the satellite. This part can be reduced by the higher priced services.

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

Being in the Navy for a better part of a decade, I communicated via satellite voice many, many times, and I think it comes down to price vs capability. If you could save a ton of money, or if you have no other option to doing Voip over satty, deal with the delay, and go for it. If you don't save a lot of money, and can access a different method of transmission, I'd say why bother with satty.

Posts: 7 · Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:46 am Post subject:

I work on satellite comm equipment for the Air Force. I don't think it would be much of a problem at all. Echo cancellation in the system should mean that you don't hear yourself again when it gets processes at the other end. You will just have to remember and think about the delay and that it will take a few seconds for you to start hearing a reply from the other end, otherwise you'll be talking over each other. Good luck.