A text/audio/video chat client that can connect to an IP directly?

Is there any chat client that would just let you connect to someone's computer directly? (provided they're also running the same client). I'm in a place where I can connect to their ip directly, but none of the chat clients work (restricted internet access).

Edit: I use Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04. Looking for something that preferably works across (at least) these two platforms.

Wile E. Coyote

Posted 2011-01-18T18:52:53.290

Reputation: 141

Since I have to guess what OS, I'm going to go with RSTS/E, but I'm not familiar with chat software for it. If, on the off chance that you're using Windows or OS X, here's a link to a video chat program (unfortunately it seems inactive) called SquidCam which I've used before.

– Paused until further notice. – 2011-01-18T20:23:59.897

Use a standard SIP/H.323 client? – Zoredache – 2011-01-18T23:56:46.287

I don't think there's a huge market for this so I doubt something would have been developed to do such a job. I do like the idea though. (hint that I've added it to my future project list) – Ciaran – 2011-07-12T23:19:29.697

Answers

Linphone works okay on both of those platforms. I think what he was asking is about how some clients won't call directly like ekiga. Anyway, I KNOW that linphone will allow direct calls. Bear in mind NAT breaks SIP

RobotHumans

Posted 2011-01-18T18:52:53.290

Reputation: 5 758

Set up an XMPP (jabber) server on one or both of the computers. Bear in mind that if you're behind a NAT router you'll need to forward some ports to get this (or anything like it, in fact) to work. Note that for voice/video you'll need an add-on to your client. A list of servers is here (I use ejabberd) and you can find clients everywhere.

marcusw

Posted 2011-01-18T18:52:53.290

Reputation: 1 678

Originally answered to a different different question:
https://superuser.com/questions/621229/secure-pc-to-pc-voice-call-without-going-through-a-server/621285#621285

Linphone should do the trick. It supports call encryption via ZRTP. NAT traversal is easy with it via specifying a STUN server (i.e. stun.ekiga.net). It's super easy to set up. However, as it is SIP based, you will need a SIP server to go through. Personally, I just use sip.linphone.org as my proxy.

However, you should be able to set up SIP Witch on both computers to allow direct peer-to-peer communication without any 3rd party servers. See, for example, their documentation on how to set up SIP Witch on Ubuntu and adapt the instructions to your distro. Here's a better description of how to set up SIP Witch for a home network.

landroni

Posted 2011-01-18T18:52:53.290

Reputation: 389