Is getting broadband phone with broadband internet access like having a traditional phone and dial-up?

Question

I'm trying to convince my parents to switch to a broadband ISP. Our current one only goes at about 145 kb (it's divided in two since we have two computers, so it should be 300 kb/sec), and we pay about $55 USD a month for it. Well, I don't want to see my dad have the wool pulled over his eyes and get ripped off, so I want him to switch to different service providers for internet and phone.

Here's what I'm thinking: get Vonage (http://go.gethughesnet.com/plans.cfm ). Our current service combined costs $109, but these new services combined will cost $84.98 USD. Over a year (minus the installation fees), we could save almost $300.

The only thing I'm concerned with is that the two services will act against each other like a traditional phone and a dial-up internet connection. Is this true? If not, how does it work? Thanks, your answers are always appreciated!!

PS: I only state the third paragraph because I want to tell my dad about it later; I'm not trying to advertise anything, it's just that I can't see my dad get ripped off like this.

Answer 1

Voice over IP services (like Vonage, and others) use only part of your bandwidth (much like having another computer or browser attached). It won't need all of your bandwidth and can coexist with other applications on the same connection - as long as your other applications aren't pegging your bandwidth. If you are constantly downloading enormous files (or streaming data) and max out your bandwidth, you may run into problems. It's *not* like dial-up where the line is busy while you're working with data, or unavailable for the computer while you're talking.

However, the service that you referenced is broadband via sattelite. This leads to two potential issues: 1) you may have unreliable service when the weather is bad (because water in the atmosphere can interfere with reception), and 2) bouncing a signal off of a sattelite in both directions may have large transmission latency - which may lead to really awkward delays in conversations.

Imagine a very wide pipe. You can certainly pump a lot of water through the pipe at a very high rate. But if the pipe is also very long then it will take a long time for the water to get from one end of the pipe to the other when you turn on the spout

When you're doing VoIP, it's like you're sending little drops of water back and forth through the pipe. A little drop is not going to overfill the pipe, but the delay waiting for the drop to get to the other end (latency) can get annoying.

We're not talking huge delays here - it's only a fraction of a second - but it can add up, and you can definitely hear the delay - and it can make conversation awkward at times.

Answer 2

Lem is correct about about satellite latency issues.  Most VoIP service providers will discourage you from using their service over satellite.  It will work, yes.  But the latency will be just too irritating to have good conversations.  You would have to adopt a ham radio, or simplex, approach to conversations.  If you take turns talking and say "over" then it could work - but most people don't have the patience for that.

That said, you could use satellite for all your web surfing and file transfer, etc, Only.  

Then just use the landline 300 Kbps service for your VoIP service.  To me that sounds reasonable.

It just comes down to whether you want to pay for the two separate services.