Directv DVR with Tivo and Vonage

[jimpats]

Hi,
I am getting the Directv DVR with tivo installaed at my home on wednesday. I have been reading around and i realised it has been suggested at various places that we do need a land based phone line to do the initial setup and then one can use the wireless networking to get the updates later on.
I am also switching to vonage at the same time.
Now i got two answers from directv one said no cant do it without phone line you need a land based line no phone over cable line works or supported.
Other guy told me that as long as the phone is connected be it land line or phone over cable or vonage or others it will work and needs to be connected to use recording at other options on tivo.
I am also interested in the new sports package cricketTicket and i think i will need to have tivo with full functionality to get that.
Now I see there are lots of people who have used various hacks and other methods like wireless phone jacks and others to get it working.
If someone can please suggest what works and what not.
Can i used vonage to do the initial set up or can i use my current phone which is from cox communications which is based on cable and not traditional land line to do the initial set up.
I appreciate your time and efforts.

Thanks and have a great day.

Jimmy

 

[gsxrscott]

Jimmy,

Your stb is making a modem call. I use vonage at my home for my alarm system and I also fax and make the occasional modem call over it with my computer. Tkey all work fine. Don't worry about it unless you have performance issues with your current VOIP.

Scott

 

[jimpats]

Hi,
Is it a good idea to use wireless phone jacks and connect tivo to the phone jack to vonage or should i go for wireless home networking and get adapter and router for daily calls.

Which seems to work better ?

Please let me know.

Thanks
Jimmy

 

[litig8]

I am in the middle of considering the same switch in a couple months when I move, and as I was researching this very topic, I was just told by Direct TV that you need a land based phone line. They explained that in order to get any of their sports packages (nfl sunday ticket), you need a land-line so they can enforce black-out requirements.

I am a total newbie so if I am being misinformed, please advise because it seems strange that I should be precluded from the benefits of VoiP simply because I want to get access to the Sunday ticket.

 

[DIRECTV_Mole]

Only a land-based phone service will work. VoIP WILL NOT WORK with the Tivo. You can use a wireless jack to the tivo, as long as it has at least a 56k modem, although in many cases it is cheaper to have the tech install a custom jack.

 

[rad]

Only a land-based phone service will work. VoIP WILL NOT WORK with the Tivo. You can use a wireless jack to the tivo, as long as it has at least a 56k modem, although in many cases it is cheaper to have the tech install a custom jack.

I guess my HR10-250 and two SD-DVR40's don't know that they're not supposed to work on Vonage (they have since November).

 

[silversurfer]

Your mileage will definitley vary on this subject! My first HR10-250 worked with Vonage without a problem but my replacement never made a call even with the same codes. It depends not only on the specific receiver but also on the actual chipset used for the modem in the receiver. It is like playing russian roulette! So it is entirely possible for one person with brand X receiver to get Vonage to work while the other person with the exact same receiver can't get it to work even though they use the exact same settings....

 

[DirecTVTechCSR]

I use vonage with my RCA DVR40

Works fine, never have had a nag message, and all my subscriptions (NFL sunday ticket included) have always worked just fine. My daily calls get made with no problems, and I even did the activation over the vonage line, and it works great. Also reports PPV purchases to DTV swimmingly.

The official position from DTV is that they won't work, however in some instances they will. I think it has a lot to do with how you are set up.

Just in case anyone is interested to know my setup is as follows:

Toshiba Cable Modem running into Linksys wireless & 4 port router. LAN 1 is connected to my Motorola Vonage Phone Modem, LAN 2 my primary PC. My other PC's are hooked up wirelessly. Line 1 output on the phone modem has a 2 way phone splitter, first split runs into the tivo, and second split runs to my cordless phone.

I do not have the "faxing" service thru vonage, just the basic phone package- although my fax machine works fine, and I can also connect a computer to the line and connect to the internet via dialup, which I did when I was working on a friends computer and needed to dial up to get some drivers for a new modem.

My opinion is that DTV's official statement on Vonage/VOIP not working with tivo is that in order to use vonage, you need a ... thats right... cable modem. Who do the satellite companies compete with? Ah yes. Cable companies. Who do you get a cable modem from? Ah. The cable company. Make sense?

If you are having problems with your tivo via vonage, make sure you set up to dial with the area code. And make sure you arent putting the area code in the prefix box, and if that isnt it, turn dial tone detect and avail to off, and also try slowing the modem as a last step.

Mine works with the default settings, except for the area code thing, thats set in. Also, sometimes if you have callnotes it prevents the call so check messages regularly. Anyway. YEah, it works for most people. Some will still have problems if they have a lot of noise on the line- I spoke to one customer who had used a dsl filter and managed to get it working that way, even though he didnt use dsl, somehow it cleared the extra noise on the phone line to allow his vonage to work.

 

[IP076]

I'm curious if anyone has any results using a Hughes DVR-80 and the Vonage system via the Linksys PAP2 adapter.

I've tried several ideas mentioned around the internet, all to no avail.

I'm wondering if it may have something to do with the software version installed. I'm probably going to take it over to a friends house with a landline and try to activate that way, then maybe I'll try the daily calls over vonage.

Thanks in advance for the info!

 

[Elf]

The info that we techCSR's are given is that "VOIP and Tivo will not work together". Basically, VOIP compresses the data stream and Tivo's data is already compressed so further compression causes it to lose packets, ergo, failed daily calls.

However, slowing the modem speed on the Tivo will often make the calls more likely to be successful.

And some folks don't have a problem with it at all.

Sports blackouts are actually based on zip code and don't have a heckofalot to do with your phone line ... it's just one more way for DTV to insist you keep a phone line plugged in.

--Elf

 

[Elf]

I should add: Tivos do sincerely dislike most wireless phone jacks - only 56K phone jacks are suggested / sanctioned / supported .... and at the price of a 56K wireless phone jack, you might as well have a separate phone line installed.

 

[IP076]

Hey, thanks for the info.

What is the simplest way to slow the modem down in the Hughes DVR80?

I've heard some dialing Prefixes may work, and I've also heard about using a DSL Filter too.

Just wondering if someone has any experience and can let me know a fairly simple way to do this, I think I'd like to stay away from the external modem, but if I have to I will. I am not going to a regular land line for 30 to 40 a month, when I can get this for 15 a month!

Thanks in advance!