I'm investigating alternatives to my cellular service.

I have a Nokia 6822b and a Nokia N800.

My carrier is T-Mobile, however since there is no T-Mobile coverage in my city, I roam on AT&T networks for free almost all the time. (Sometimes Einstein PCS or IWS, local carriers.)

Last night, after working with an incredibly helpful, persistent, and patient Tier 3 tech support agent at T-Mobile, I successfully linked my N800 to my phone and accessed the internet via GPRS->Bluetooth on my N800. During this test, the agent enabled GPRS Data on my account just to test, so I don't have it enabled anymore. It costs $20/month.

I didn't have a chance to try Skype during our test. I'm wondering if Skype works over GPRS. Is it fast enough?

If so, I would consider dropping my cellular plan down to 300 minutes/month, adding the Internet access plan, and using Skype through my Tablet-Cellular GPRS connection (or WiFi when available) instead of using my cell phone for calls (except emergencies). Does anybody do this?

I tried skype with at&t over edge and i could make a call. My handset also had 3g so i dont know whether it worked over 3g or edge. In any case it did work for a 1 minute call. I havent tested longer.

EDGE/GPRS is an extemely poor substitute for EVDO rev A or HSDPA. T-mobile is the last of the major carriers in the US to not have a 3g network deployed. EDGE is really the equivalent of a dialup modem in terms of overall bandwidth and suffers from extremely high latency. Both of these issues make it an unworkable choice for VOIP.

Based on these responses I'm thinking that my connection would be too slow. My phone is not 3G/EDGE so it would only be as fast as the GPRS data connection. (pretty darn slow from what I understand) I think I'd need at least 25-50kbps throughput in order for Skype to work reliably. Forget it

Yea, GPRS is much too slow to handle VOIP Gotta go 3G for it to be reliable, and even then you're looking at some decent latency.

You'll likely have 1~ second delay in your conversations when using mobile data.

No i did not feel any. It just felt like a normal voip call.

i use skype daily for 3-5hrs/day. no complaints from people on the other end. BUT, i use it over EVDO RevA not the slower 1xRTT which is equivalent to GPRS speed wise.

Still, I have made calls while driving down the highway and know somewhere I had to have fallen back in speed. to what level i have no clue. Just remember Skype is NOT VoIP type calling. it's a different sort of connection which can be good or bad depending on the situation. Still, as I recall you need a solid 56k MINIMUM for sorta ok voice. At that speed I would not wanna make a longer duration call.

At one point pre-feeBay the 56k thing was use as a selling point. At least I think that was the case? But, check your phone's UA while it might prohibit VoIP use, Skype might not be mentioned as it is not true VoIP....still, check to be safe...

hope it workes for you...