# Videoconferencing recommendations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740 "2003-03-28T08:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740/1 "2003-03-28T08:19:10Z")
I need to set up some videoconferencing sessions with a friend of mine, through our home PCs. Any recommendations on how we should do this? We want to do this as cheaply as possible. I have a broadband connection at home, but she only has a dial-up connection, which complicates matters. ---
**Author:** ![blakeformayor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@blakeformayor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blakeformayor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740/2 "2003-03-28T15:01:48Z")
I’ve had some success using Polycom’s ViaVideo equipment. Read all about it at: [http://www.polycom.com/products\_services/products\_categories/0,,pw-186-152-219,00.html](http://www.polycom.com/products_services/products_categories/0,,pw-186-152-219,00.html) I believe the cost is reasonable, keeping in mind that with this kind of stuff you largely get what you pay for. The dial-up is going to slow things up considerably. I’ve only used ViaVideo over broadband at both ends, so I can’t speak to exactly how well it will work over a modem. Maybe worth a shot, though. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740/3 "2003-03-28T16:34:37Z")
Yahoo Chat has a video conference that’s pretty neat. Free. You didn’t say what camera you have so I don’t know if it works with Yahoo Chat. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740/4 "2003-03-28T16:53:18Z")
I believe that Yahoo Chat requires a broadband connection, though. Thanks for the tip regarding Polycom. Let me look into that. I’d prefer an option where we don’t have to buy much (or any) extra equipment, though. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740/5 "2003-03-29T15:49:03Z")
Yahoo Chat doesn’t require that, I use it with a 56k modem. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740/6 "2003-03-29T15:51:47Z")
Also, MS has Netmeeting, free. All the major ISPs should have some form of them. A huge selection can be found at [download.com](http://download.com), which is a free/shareware site. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/videoconferencing-recommendations/164740/7 "2003-03-29T17:16:09Z")
One nice plus of Yahoo Messenger is that it works thru a firewall/NAT router. Netmeeting and others that conform to the video conf. standard are difficult to impossible to set up thru such a link.