VoIP requires a large amount of bandwidth…or does it? There may be alternatives to consider if you wish to adopt VoIP but also happen to be a dial-up or low-bandwidth user. Some individuals report that Vonage's service works reasonably well for dial-up VoIP, but the company doesn’t officially state their services are available to low-bandwidth users.

More is better but…

Some people simply don’t have the luxury of a high-bandwidth connection but that doesn’t mean they have to be left behind when it comes to VoIP. One company, PCPhoneline.com, claims to work with dial-up VoIP connections as low as 19.2 kbps. The site sells IP phone products, as well as offers downloads in the protocols of Skype, SIP, or IAX2. It should be noted, however, that some users claim to have experienced firewall problems when PCPhoneline.com tried to gather information from their computers. As the users themselves explain, this situation probably happens because the software is checking to be sure that multiple copies are not installed. Still, for those who might be leery about an outside company gaining access to their computers, it could be an issue. Other paid providers of low-bandwidth, dial-up VoIP include Cuphone.com and Azatel.com. In particular, Azatel designs, manufactures, and integrates SIP & MGCP products such as Analogue Terminal Adapters (ATA).

Paid low-bandwidth VoIP options include:

• PCPhoneline.com
• Cuphone.com
• Azatel.com

Perhaps using a paid VoIP service is out of the question. If that’s the case, then there is an alternative to consider. It’s free of charge and loaded with features and options, unlike many VoIP programs on the market today.

The new wave of free low-bandwidth, dial-up VoIP

Wavigo.com offers a free program that works using peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, in combination with SIP. Dial-up speed must be at least 33kbps, which many computers and ISPs can keep up with in today’s Internet market. An added bonus is it only takes 10mb of RAM to run, as compared to other VoIP programs that require 25mb or more.

Beyond simple VoIP

Greg Parker, creator of SpiderSoftware, offers more than just VoIP with Wavigo. The program is in fact an "all-in-one" P2P extravaganza. With Wavigo, users can talk, do SMS-text, instant-message (to Yahoo, MSN, AIM, ICQ, Google, Skype), transfer files, e-mail, and send offline messages. You can also access a wealth of information (news, sports, and weather information) or conduct web searches using Wavigo. Wavigo is also a full multimedia player, so you can manage podcasts or play games if you like. Future features will include WavOut, which will allow users to make outgoing calls to landline and cell phones, and a mobile version of Wavigo for your PDA.

See also:

• Bandwidth Requirements
• Codecs
• Asterisk: Open-Source PBX

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