[ilesh]

I remember seeing something about being able to use sites like Hottelephone and Dialpad using VPC. I've tried directly configuring VPC for the internet using my cable company's starter CD but this doesn't work. Anyone know what settings I should enter to get these PC only Net to Phone sites working?

Thanks.

[bsaxton]

Seems like I remember it not working over cable modems on VPC - but not sure. Anyway, the key setting you need in VPC is the "Give PC a unique IP address" setting - you want that on. The other issue I have on my iMac 333 is that the audio input automatically switches to CD when I startup VPC. Also, on my iMac, the sound input gain is not high enough, so I open up a sound edit program (audiocorder I think) and adjust the gain. The final, limiting problem, however, is that I don't think my iMac 333 has enough horsepower to do audio in and out at the same time. So, it just bogs down the computer to the point that neither of us on dialpad can hear each other. If anybody knows a workaround for that, I'd love to hear it.

[David R]

I have been unable to record any sound with VPC.

If I use the "Sound Recorder" in windows, I sound like Speedy Gonzalez x200 (ie. so fast you can't understand what it is being said)

So I am guessing that this could be a potential problem when trying to use a net-phone service.

Hi...Dialpad and other companies state that their service will not work on VPC

I found a great solution though. Try http://www.i-link.com

This is a free phone-to-phone service. The web site calls you on your normal phone, then you hit #, and they connect you to who you entered. It's great.

Best of luck

Dialpad's help pages say that it will only work with machines that use the Windoze Java virtual machine, so much for open standards.

I sent them an email over a month ago asking when their service would support other systems, specifically Linux and Mac, and received no response.

Personally, I read their lack of full java support and non-responsiveness as developer incompetence/arrogance. I wonder when financial analysts will begin seeing things the same way.

Actually having tested DialPad... they're full of it. It does work with VPC 3.0. However, there are some issues to be aware of... careful reading of their documentation made me realize that the real issue is that it does not work through Network Address Translation (NAT or IP Masquradeing). VPC 3.0 added a new feature called Shared IP, which is a form of NAT.

To get Dialpad to work you will either have to have a seperate IP address for VPC, OR you can disable TCP/IP on the Mac by switching to MacIP and then using DHCP in Windows.

Finally, after talking with Connectix Technical Support (who confirmed everything I just said... we should ask them for assistance more often), they also pointed out that there is a known problem with VPC 3.0.3 and DialPad where the audio will echo, and they're looking into this.