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Network requirements for ObiTalk to work

Started by shap, April 09, 2011, 11:37:00 AM

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shap

Hello,

I searched for the answer in current topics, but did not find the answer...

If iPhone ObiTalk app. calls the obi number of the some gateway - what actually happening from the network point of view ? i.e. ObiTalk on iPhone create a TCP connection to ObiTalk network servers and they relay the call to the gateway ? i.e. all network traffic go through ObiTalk servers in this case ?

Or ObiTalk app. create P2P connection to the gateway ? In this case, some ports needed to be opened, right ?


ckleea

I am also interested to know. Some users report that they can't connect in some mobile phone carriers but workable when connect via wifi

shap

#2
I found one similar question - however w/o an answer. My guess is: in order to initiate connection between 2 obi points (gateway's or obi applications)  you must contact ObiNetwork servers that actually connect you. This is similar to Skype and I am ok with this as far as ObiNetwork servers are reliable.

However, the most important question here, if after initial connection between Obi endpoints, the voice is also relayed thought those servers ? It seems that yes, as to connect one point to another you must open a network channel between them - not an easy thing to do behind the firewalls.

Why it is matter to me ? Because if for every communication between Obi endpoints traffic needs to go to US servers and come back (I am located out of US), it will add a significant latency...

I would appreciate if anyone from Obi can comment on this.

shap

From what I checked it seems I was right - all communication between Obitalk points done through the relay gateway 204.236.134.243 - i.e. ObiTalk server at Amazon cloud.

Even if you open a ports for inbound connections to your ObiGV, it will still use a relay server for RTP data if you call from outside your private network, i.e. from iPhone ObiOn application over 3G. If you are on the same LAN, ObiTalk seems to understand this and then no relay is used.

I do not know where exactly server is hosted (Virginia or N California) but while it may be less significant to US users, for users abroad it can add a significant latency.

However, ObiHai is a new company and I hope they will get enough funds to continue and develop there network. By now - I am very pleased with the device functionality, it does exactly what I need !