VOIP OVER SATELLITE VOICE QUALITY

Hello,
I will need to use a satellite link for the internet because it is very slow on the BT line. If I use VOIP for telephone conversations (eg SKYPE), will the latency make this application impracticable as a replacement for the usual BT wired connection.
William

While sat has come a long way, my understanding is the latency to get to outer space and back is just too high for tolerable phone quality connections.
I know they deployed a new sat not too long ago though that upgraded the service and latency, I do not know how much and whether its enough for the phone quality standards though.

Thanks for your comments.
Ideally I want to use VOIP for all phone calls so that I can stop paying the BT line rental. The satellite link would then be justified as it costs only £20 per month and I can get a grant for the installation (£750) from the Welsh Assembly because I am in a rural area with poor broadband (less that 0.5Mb/s) and no signal for wireless or mobile phones.

Hi there,
I am in the same boat as you in the sticks in Wales and want to do the same thing.
I've trawled the internet to find the best satellite solution. Tooway Direct seem to be the cheapest for satellite broadband (with first 3 months free on a 12 month contract) but I'm not sure if they do a separate bolt on VOIP package so you don't use your monthly broadband allowance to make phone calls. They do, however, use the latest KA satellite which is much faster and more powerful and the upload speeds are much greater than the older Astra satellites (so less latency?). Beyond DSL use the older type satellite which has less capacity for faster speeds (and more latency issues maybe?) but they do a £7 extra/month VOIP package so your broadband allowance stays separated. But think you have to sign up to a 24 month contract.
I have before used Skype on a 1MB connection through BeyondDSL on the (older Astra satellite) in the past and was able to video conference and make phone calls through the internet and it seemed acceptable most of the time. I'm hoping that if Tooway don't do a VOIP package at the moment,then they will soon.
I think I will go for Tooway for broadband and if they don't do VOIP packages then keep the BT line for now and also get a VOIP phone and try it out on the internet and see how it works with the latency. Then I can maybe use mostly the VOIP for outgoing calls and see how it affects my data transfer allowance. I would anticipate that if they don't do it now then it won't be long before they do bolt on VOIP packages and then I'll be set up with the kit on a faster satellite with more room for expansion and less latency (hopefully).
Can't wait to be getting 8MB speeds rather than the pathetic 0.1MB we get at the moment.

Good Luck,
ith reduced latency
Mike.