Challenges using Wifi hotspots to make voip calls ... London's hotspots unfit for voice | The Register

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London’s hotspots unfit for voice | The Register

Most of London’s wireless hotspots can’t support more than one voice-over-IP call at a time, according to a survey by WLAN analysis specialist AirMagnet.

While they’ve only surveyed about 15 sites in and around the Oxford Street area, AirMagnet have a point. There’s nothing worse than setting up your laptop, getting connected, bringing up Google and having to wait 6 seconds whilst your wifi connection tries to locate the Google server, … tick tick… find the server … tick tick tick… and eventually bring up the massively simple Google homepage.

Totally depressing. In Geneva, wherever I found a wifi connection (pay or free), the speed was phenomenal. I mean *phenomenal*.

Back here in London, I’m convinced that a lot of the hotspots I use are running on some crap 512k connection. I’ve never tried making a wifi call from them — Youtube videos don’t even stream properly. I’m generalising, but I’m doing so from experience. It’s a total arse saying to a friend, ‘hey, look, let me show you this video on Youtub,’ and then having to sit there in silence watching the red bar inch along whilst the flash system caches it.

Anyway, interesting article nonetheless.