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is it just me or has skype stopped working for the past couple of days?

Yes, the wonderful people at Etisalat have now blocked it in the free zones as well.

Etisalat are nothing but a bunch of money grabbing, greedy buggers. Their approach is 'unislamic' because of their greed and having a monopoly, never mind what they say about blocking sites and cheaper ways to get in touch with people.

Their new slogan 'Reach' is a joke! You can't reach anyone!

Next they'll block Yahoo and MSN MEssenger - you wait and see!

Bring on DU, because I and certainly everyone I know will move over to them!

well, i wasn't in a free zone but i could always still use it.. i just couldn't go to their website but the application worked fine.... i hate this, my phone bills are going to go through the roof now.

Yep, they've now blocked the application too.

I think Etisalat need a boycott or a demonstration or something.

terranova wrote:well, i wasn't in a free zone but i could always still use it.. i just couldn't go to their website but the application worked fine.... i hate this, my phone bills are going to go through the roof now.

Have you tried using yahoo messenger with voice ??

We managed to use Skype yesterday morning, but I've just tried a test call and am getting 'no proxies' ...

I'm with the DIC and the Skype button is green, which means it's connected unfortunately no one on my list is showing that their online, so can't definitely check that it's not working - but it doesn't look good if I couldn't get through to the skype test call.

STOP PRESS

Tried it again and it went through to the Skype answering service, so it appears to be working here in DIC, proxy-free land. At least for now.

Cheers,
Shafique

I'm showing none of my contacts online for days now.

*Gets pissed*



*Runs Skype thru TOR*

so-so quality but what the heck, it works!


EAT THIS ETISALAT!

Okay how do I get around it Nick. I want my Skype back!

Well I am not sure if it's worth it... You get delays of 10-15 seconds at time. That's the problem with TOR it's not always fast. I am going to try it later tonight to see if it's better. If you want to try it anyway PM me your MSN address so I can send you TOR and tell u how to install it...

Choc is right, its definitely an etisalat block. Just suddenly for the past couple of days it has stopped connecting.

I even tried running the latest skype 2.6 w/o success.

Fudge Etisalat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just to confirm that our Skype is working - just spoke to someone in the UK.

We're with the DIC in springs - I know some of you who posted have the same provider, so surprised you can't connect. We have the 2mb connection.. but I wouldn't have thought the connection speed would matter if they were blocking the service.

Cheers,
Shafique

Shaf, today I finally see two contacts online. I will try a call later. Two days ago I couldn't even connect, and then I haven't seen any contacts on, which is unusual. Now things seem back to normal today.

shafique wrote:Just to confirm that our Skype is working - just spoke to someone in the UK.

We're with the DIC in springs - I know some of you who posted have the same provider, so surprised you can't connect. We have the 2mb connection.. but I wouldn't have thought the connection speed would matter if they were blocking the service.

Cheers,
Shafique

What do mean you're with the DIC?? Is that a seperate ISP?

Im on al shamil.

Tried skype again today, but it still does not connect. ARGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

therez def skype alternative i will post tutorial shortly.....

A64Venice wrote:What do mean you're with the DIC?? Is that a seperate ISP?

Im on al shamil.

Sort of. It still uses Etisalat plumbing. The ISP is called TECOM no?

Al Shamil is the type of connection - DSL as opposed to dial up.

There's another topic 'Vonage' with similar issues and a link to a useful topic on the vonage forums. It looks like Etisalat has managed to successfully detect and block VOIP traffic - there was something in the news a few months ago about them getting software for that purpose.

Strange.... I could still use it today on a normal Etisalat "Al Shame" Internet connection....
I'm in Sharjah, maybe they haven't updated their servers here yet?

Etisalat really is a shame... I have never experienced such a bad telecom provider anywhere.

Happy to leave in only one month

Ben

sniper420 wrote:therez def skype alternative i will post tutorial shortly.....

Im using MSN messenger now, but the quality is not as good as skype.

Guess what, Yahoo messenger call service also blocked.....

can anyone use either msn, yahoo, skype or any other voice chat and webcam software in DUBAI?? is it impossible to bypass watever they have blocked??? hmm im a heavy yahoo chat + webcam user to keep in touch with family and friends

Etisalat are a disgrace and they deserve to be screwed over big time!

maybe we should also get together and protest outside the etisalat tower.

Things will never change and can only get worse, whilst monopolies exist. I will very much doubt that things will improve when the new provider goes live.

arniegang wrote:Things will never change and can only get worse, whilst monopolies exist. I will very much doubt that things will improve when the new provider goes live.

*sigh*

my thought exactly...

A64Venice wrote:maybe we should also get together and protest outside the etisalat tower.

If u have forgotten ... there is no democracy in the UAE

it works for me .. try changing your proxy. If that doesnt use ssl/https

EDIT: btw on which subnet r u ppl >? am on 83.110.173

A64Venice wrote:Guess what, Yahoo messenger call service also blocked.....

this is so s#it! i could not talk to my bf, not in skype and not in yahoo!
what a crap!
and what is all this about?

I guess it is time to find a local boyfriend

dammit my bill is hitting the rooftop from now ons...

There are at least 2 alternatives to Skype... I am pretty sure if we search hard enough we'll find more. Let's just hope these don't get blocked too...