Keeping in Contact With Family, From Afghanistan?

Posted by timothy on Saturday February 7, 2009 @10:36AM from the and-don't-say-learn-pashto dept.

LiNKz writes "Within a short while I will be heading to Afghanistan and in the interest of keeping in communication with my wife and family I've been looking at different means of it, from VoIP to cellular services. I'm not sure how well connected or how stable of a connection the base I'm deploying to has, which means VoIP might simply not be an option. I have, however, noticed in my searches that Afghanistan has recently boomed with cellular coverage though that too seems to be difficult to ascertain. I'm curious if the Slashdot community has any information or experience regarding international cellular services offered in this country and the means of obtaining it."

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Try something new: "voicebeep" by nitroamos · 2009-02-07 10:43 · Score: 5, Interesting

It's a cross between instant messaging and asynchronous voip.
http://voicebeep.com/sayit
Re:Not an issue anymore by Crewdawg · 2009-02-07 14:00 · Score: 5, Interesting

I would disagree slightly here. I am an IT Manager that has a dozen or so remote sites in Afghanistan and Iraq. I would not consider the internet and call centers plentiful. We are often forced to use VSAT to get any connection at all. When there is a military provided connection it is usually a SIPRNET or NIPRnet. Use of VoIP and personal communications on these networks is usually prohibited. We do have good luck with Skype and even Vonage when there is an internet connection, though it is often heavily delayed (think 800 - 1200ms delays).