Skype VoIP Software
Skype is a type of IP Voice Communication software. With Skype you can communicate voice over the Internet to other Skype users for free. Internet users should be wary of Skype because its strategy is a throwback to the '80s built on proprietary standards that locks out all others.
SkypeOut allows Skype users to call traditional telephone numbers, including mobile telephones, for a fee.
SkypeIn allows Skype users to receive calls on their computers dialed by regular phone subscribers to a local Skype phone number. Includes Skype Voicemail. $18 for 3 months or $60 for a full year. If you pay $3/mo for Skype Pro, then total is reduced to $33 for a full year (including Skype Pro cost).
Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Users can make telephone calls over the Internet. Calls to other Skype users are free of charge, while calls to landlines and cell phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.
There are VoIP hardware manufacturers making telephones for use with Skype. You can purchase a desktop phone to use with your Skype account. Many interface with the PC via a USB connection. Some devices are able to function independently of a PC.
Support Issues
Skype Causes Speedstream ADSL modem to Reset
Skype prompted me to upgrade and I let it do so. It is now at version 3.8.0.139 and since that upgrade whenever Skype is launched it causes my Speedstream ADSL modem to disconnect from the Internet. It is as though Skype is causing the modem to reset. It takes several minutes for the modem to train back up.
Disconnecting from Skype and reconnecting via the Skype interface does not cause the problem. Only launching Skype.exe when it is not already loaded causes the problem. As the Skype executable starts, it attempts to log me into my Skype account. It is during the Skype startup process that the ADSL modem is knocked offline. I can reproduce this problem 100% of the time, confirming that it is indeed Skype that is affecting the Speedstream ADSL modem.
A quick search on google.com produces results of other Skype users complaining of the same thing happening. This started immediately after the Skype version upgrade.
Here are some links from others having the same problem I found after doing a google search:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=742486
Here's a guy having the problem with the beta Skype, even though I am not using the beta myself, the problem is identical.
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=153861
update: I just found this on the Skype forum:
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=137741
Looks like disabling UPnP in the Speedstream is the key. It will be interesting to see what Skype support reports back to me with.
update: Skype introduces their own UPnP implementation.
http://share.skype.com/sites/garage/2008/04/upnp_in_skype_38_for_windows_b.html
"With Skype 3.8 for Windows beta we have made our own UPnP implementation which is no longer dependent on Microsoft UPnP framework."
So, the new Skype UPnP knocks out the model of Speedstream ADSL router that I am using unless I disable UPnP in the router.
