Calling and texing with JMP VOIP through included Snikket XMPP server

I have been a long time beta user of JMP. Note that although the service works really well it remains in beta, make sure you can reach emergency services in any scenario!

Their service is great and they are super helpful. I recently came to known that they they right now have a partnership with the XMPP service Snikket. Now you can get for $3 an Canadian or US phone number and use the Snikket app (or any other XMPP client) to make and receive calls and text. In the past you had to set up your own Jabber server or use one you trusted, but now you get your own instance, hosted at Hetzner where you own the data yourself.

Now we all know that texts and phone calls are not private, but VOIP can be a good way of keeping your location safe and keep your safe from SIM chipset attacks. That besides the ability to segment things for additional security and privacy.

5 Likes

How is the combo JMP + Snikket nowadays? Still worth trying?

Iā€™ve been using JMP + Snikket for several months and like it. I think Snikket servers are in Switzerland but the company might be in the UK if that matters to you. I have the data plan and the voice/message plan. Iā€™m charged for usage and not by the month.

The JMP data plan is unique in that your phone will roll onto the best network at your location. In the US I spend equal time on ATT and TMo (doesnā€™t work in the EU).

I like that the XMPP group for Soprani.ca Project is very helpful with the JMP and Snikett founders/devs hanging out there. I also like that some of them speak at conferences (Fossy for one) and are associated with the Software Freedom Conservancy.

Cheogram, the JMP version of Conversations, works well on Android and can interact with the dialer. Calls can be placed in the dialer or in Cheogram. JMP Number is an Android utility that can create text groups in Cheogram.

Gajim is useful for accessing Snikket messages from the Linux desktop (can transfer the data to other computers if you are distrohopping). Dino is nice but I think it doesnā€™t pull in more than the most recent 3 days of messages which can leave a gap in message storage if you, say, go out of town for a week and then come back to your desktop computer.

There are some weakness to JMP. Sending messages into text groups that are too large can fail. I think they know about this and have a fix on the roadmap iirc. Iā€™ve also had problems texting into text groups that have custom names on iOS. When the name is removed from all devices in the group it works well. Likes donā€™t appear on texts but after.

3 Likes

Hi, that is quite a nice feedback. I wasnā€™t expecting a response so elaborated covering many things. Thanks for taking time sharing your experience.

Didnā€™t know that we can have a plan for usage and not by month with them. This is even better since I donā€™t think I would use much.

About the XMPP group for Soprani.ca Project that you mentioned do they have some documentation to guide basics to get it setup? JMP and Snikket doesnā€™t seem easy to get it up but I could be wrong.

Have you tried other options besides Cheogram for Android? My initial use case is to try to setup 3 or 4 VoIP numbers on my phone and make them my day to day drivers leaving the SIM as a backup in airplane mode for places that donā€™t get network.

Gajim and Dino would probably not be my case initially.

Iā€™m ok with the text groups issue that you mentioned because really Iā€™m looking for making and receiving calls via VoIP.

1 Like

If youā€™re planning to make voice calls on a daily basis, check the pricing. The monthly rate includes approximately 3 minutes daily (or a couple longer calls per week). After that there are reasonable calling rates. Itā€™s more designed for people who primarily send text messages.

The service uses concepts that are unfamiliar to normal user, but it isnā€™t hard to set up. The website walks through the four steps, but at least some of it needs to be done in an XMPP client.

Notwithstanding a common misconception, JMP+Snikket makes sense for people who donā€™t want to rely on one service provider. It seems to be fundamental to their development philosophy to make the service interoperable and give users lots of options (at the expense of making it more confusing). Although using a different connection to the phone network is challenging, they do provide free gateways to do that. In addition, you can choose your XMPP server (or run your own), choose your clients (mobile, desktop or web app), use your own domain and they provide functionality to reduce your use of the phone network and shift to E2EE communication. Except during North Americaā€™s night, support on their real-time channel is exemplary.

They will do it for you if you ask also their support is really chill. They just help you to get going. JMP: Frequently Asked Questions

See video also:

1 Like

I like to also update this thread with the information that the Cheogram app has a very neat GUI implementation of the commands needed to manage your VOIP account. Itā€™s all really seemless at this point. Also the app has integration with standard phone app so you can even configure your normal phone to call using your JMP number. That for me is game changing as it is stable and reminds of the days when SIP was an option in the android dialer.

In my experience now JMP works better than MySudo on Android.

1 Like

As an update from the original post, the price of JMP is 5 USD/month. Itā€™s been out of beta for almost a year.

The open source Cheogram Android app which supports JMP as well as E2EE XMPP is a Conversations fork and the developers push improvements upstream when applicable.

Thank you for sharing the video instructions.

I have a feel questions:

  1. Can Cheogram receives calls or texts in your Android phone if we are traveling overseas ? For example, If I need to make a two factors authentication and we are not in one of the countries that has the phone number created will it receive the text or voice call?

  2. What is the current acceptance for companies regarding VoIP phone numbers coming from JMP at the moment?

  3. What are the major grips for you that still need to be worked? I see that you praised their progress over MySudo and interested to find if there are still areas to be refined.

Thanks

I see that you previously contributed adding that if I plan to use their service for calls that I should check their rates. Does this second post with the 5USD/month rate means that you are ā€œappendingā€ the other message sharing the rate? I just want to understand it better if the recommendation for someone looking to use it for calls may be carefully evaluated.

Thank you for adding more context about the JMP+Snikket being a service for those looking to not rely on one service provider. In a real world Andorid phone user only is there a need to setup JMP with Snikket or can one just simplify and use only the Cheogram app with JMP? I think this may be a stupid question but I need to make it.

When this thread was started a year ago, the OP mentioned the monthly rate. Since then, it has changed.

That monthly rate includes unlimited text messages and some calls, but for users who make or receive a lot of voice calls, the details about their per-minute fee for voice calls are available. The outgoing voice call rate varies widely depending on which country youā€™re calling. Incoming voice calls are always the same rate.

Can Cheogram receives calls or texts in your Android phone if we are traveling overseas ?

Although the main JMP service will not connect your phone to the internet, as long as you have an internet connection in any country, you can make and receive calls or texts. But your phone number will be a North American phone number (unless you have access to Twilio/Vonage and technical skills).

They have a completely separate service (with separate fees) which provides a data-only eSIM or SIM, but I think it only works in Canada and US. Those fees are not favorable for heavy usage, but for people who donā€™t use much data, a nice aspect of their eSIM plan is that your data allotment doesnā€™t expire at the end of the month.

What is the current acceptance for companies regarding VoIP phone numbers coming from JMP at the moment?

Thereā€™s a wiki page where users have reported successes and failures using JMP phone numbers for various companies.

1 Like

I wonder if they plan to offer numbers from other countries in the future

Should JMP+Cheogram be a VoIP recommendation in the tools?

The two tools you mentioned are already mentioned in this draft pull request:

Related discussion: