I need to be able to video chat with a couple of co-workers over long distances and sometime between other countries. Constantly moving around Wifi networks in Universitys, Librarys, office buildings.
I use Linux, the others use OSX. I read an article all about how to ditch Skype and use the SIP protocol with a program called Jitsi. I've checked Jitsi out and it's pretty cool and works on OSX. It used to be known as the "SIP Communicator" and that was the main point behind it's creation. But it also works with XMPP.

Now after research, it seems that both SIP and XMPP can be used for video calling too, but the calls are connected in different ways and that has different impications. In SIP, two clients connect to a central server to preform a handshake and tell each other where they are, then the clients connect directly to each other for the call. With XMPP, the sever is never taken out of the loop, and is used as a middleman and the video streams are routed through it.

But what I read about both protocols does not tell me what one is better than the other for my situation. All I know is that there is some deal with SIP where it can't connect under certain network configureations. And since we're always on new wifi networks we'll never know or be able to change their confugureations.

So knowing all that, what protocol would be better for us? We don't need, like, HI-DEFF BLU RAY QUALITY VIDEO, just enough so we can see each others faces and have audro clear enough to understand each other and have the protocol be good enough to reliably connect when we need it to.

So, what do you think?