3G connected and voice

[LandyMan]

I was wondering something yesterday: When you are connected via 3G, will you still be able to send/receive SMS's/voice calls?

 

[Crash]

From my experiences, when you are on a data call, most phones will disconnect so you can take the voice call.

I think you can send / receive SMS's while connected. Not sure though.

 

[MrG]

I have used my cell phone Cell C roaming on Vodacom 3G and played World of Warcraft over the connection on my pc, when I have answered a voice call, while continuing to play World of Warcraft.

So yes, data and voice go together... I just dont know how my brain feels after that much radiation... lol

 

[jbad]

I was wondering something yesterday: When you are connected via 3G, will you still be able to send/receive SMS's/voice calls?

What about VOIP - can 3G handle it, or is the network connectivity to unstanle

 

[ScrnScrm]

Have a look at ScrnScrm's recent posts, the answer is in there somewhere - not too long ago...

Or I can just repost it IC

Whilst on a circuit switched call (Voice or Video), you can still maintain an active 3G data connection. It will not suspend the data connection (like what happens on GPRS).
Cheers ~
ScrnScrm

 

[ScrnScrm]

What about VOIP - can 3G handle it, or is the network connectivity to unstanle

P2P VoIP (like Skype) will work. However, VoIP services that require QoS tags (like VoIP on MPLS Networks) will not work well because the traffic priority cannot be gauranteed.

 

[jbad]

Thanks ScrnSrnm - could it be that Vodacom control the traffic priority and that it will not be to their benefit to allow this - is there any reliable VOIP platform in SA (ecl P2P). What is the minimum dedicated bandwith requirements to effectivily do VOIP

 

[ScrnScrm]

Thanks ScrnSrnm - could it be that Vodacom control the traffic priority and that it will not be to their benefit to allow this - is there any reliable VOIP platform in SA (ecl P2P). What is the minimum dedicated bandwith requirements to effectivily do VOIP

Hi
Vodacom can shape their traffic to make Skype useless, but as far as I am aware, they are not currently doing this.
VoIP doesnt require "dedicated" bandwidth per se, it requires some sort of "Quality of Service" network that can supply "dedicated" bandwidth on demand. When there are no voice calls, the bandwidth is made available for other traffic types.
Nowadays, on MPLS networks, you can get good voice quality at about 8kbs, so you can support up to 7 voice circuits per 64k line. (remembering of course that when 7 voice calls are on the go, there will be precious bugger all left for other IP traffic).
If I recall correctly, uncompressed requires about 32k per VoIP call.
Internet Solutions, Datapro and Telkom, amongst others, currently offer MPLS networks (via VAN licenses) in South Africa.
Hope this helps!
Cheers~
ScrnScrm

PS-> Oh, one other thing. Different story altogether at MTN : they have a VANs license as well, and also offer VoIP on MPLS networks. So they have a vested interested in stopping you from using Skype on their 3G Network, hence the reason they have made such a public song and dance about the fact that you will get billed more if you are "caugh" using Skype on MTN 3G... Just something to remember!

 

[Tazz_Tux]

"caugh" using Skype

<sneaky>I wonder how they plan to detect voice packets inside encrypted tunnels</sneaky>

 

[vodacom3g]

A few points:

- ScrnSrcrm is correct, no port shaping is done.
- Providing QoS for VoIP is not going to be so easy in the short to medium term. While you can control QoS over the MPLS backbone, you call will still cross many links (radio, transmission, internet, etc.) where you cannot control the allocated bandwidth.
- I've lately seen some scary sniffers that will accurately detect protocols like Skype even when encrypted. Did not believe it could be done till I saw it working.