Using Direct TV with VoIP
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I had vonage for several months and based on that experience some receivers work and some don't. There is not much ryhme or reason to it. I had a HR10-250 that worked fine over Vonage but that receiver had the dead HDMI output issue. My replacement would not work with Vonage and I tried all the tricks. Nothing I did would ever make it dial over Vonage. I tried all the codes, I tried the DSL filter, I tried the 2 wire cable you name it I tried it and it never once succesfully called out. I finally had to drop my Vonage and go back to POTS. So it is a crap shoot...I loved Vonage as a service, worked great.. But until they resolve this issue I will be stuck with good ole copper..
I am not familiar with Vonage.
It is a standard RJ 11 interface? Is the line digital?
Modems in box may not function with a digital line like that. Remember the old days when everyone feared plugging in the modem into a digital phone line and starting the computer on fire..........
It is a standard RJ 11 interface? Is the line digital?
Modems in box may not function with a digital line like that. Remember the old days when everyone feared plugging in the modem into a digital phone line and starting the computer on fire..........
Vonage is a Voice Over Internet Protocol service. Basically you plug your normal phone into this box they give you, and you plug the box into your router. You make and receive calls as normal, but the calls go over the internet instead of the telco switch.
No I did not try that...Too much hassle in my opinion. I went to Vonage because at one time they were cheaper than copper but the market has changed here in Abilene and that is no longer the case....
I'm wondering, has anyone tried using the Vonage FAX port for a Tivo to see if that would work any better?? My thinking is that this this is a 'data' type call that it might be similar enough to a FAX call that it might work.
Yea, you'd have to pay the $9.95 for the 2nd FAX line but it might still be better then having to go back to a POTS line.
Yea, you'd have to pay the $9.95 for the 2nd FAX line but it might still be better then having to go back to a POTS line.
I have not tinkered with Voip since i set up this Cisco system at the house here about a year and a half ago. It is certainly not as easy as the Vonage and ATT product are! We have a giant processor unit that connects to the house network (cAT 5e with two Cisco Catalyst switches). Two lines go to each room, one for lan and the other phone. The corded phones in some of the room (that cost a good $400+ a piece when i bought them) are sweet, have the huge screen on them and all that jazz, email the works. We have a few of those cisco cordless as well that work over the 802.11b standard.
I am certainly not involved with telco products other than the at home products, i was shocked to see that things like Vonage even exist these days!
I would think that the reason reciever modems are not working over voip has to do with signal compression and conversion that trunkates some data? Maybe the fax port is engineered to keep the data uncompressed (arent fax machines at like 9600 bps anyways)?
How do you that have vonage or have had experiance rate it? I might as well take a stab at it down at the place in Arizona. I read that you can actually take the box with you and plug it in to a high speed connection and you "take your land line with you"?? Thats pretty funny.
I am certainly not involved with telco products other than the at home products, i was shocked to see that things like Vonage even exist these days!
I would think that the reason reciever modems are not working over voip has to do with signal compression and conversion that trunkates some data? Maybe the fax port is engineered to keep the data uncompressed (arent fax machines at like 9600 bps anyways)?
How do you that have vonage or have had experiance rate it? I might as well take a stab at it down at the place in Arizona. I read that you can actually take the box with you and plug it in to a high speed connection and you "take your land line with you"?? Thats pretty funny.
Having the computer and phones over the same network is pretty nice. It was nice to totally rip out the phone block in the basement and just use cat5e wiring for everything.
Ran most of the cat 5e cable myself, i left the long basement up to the second floor runs to an electrician. The lines are run all the way up from a common drop in the basement into the attic and then down thru the walls. Everything is put into a patch panel and patched into the switches.
All the corded cisco phones have a built in switch on them, i think for a computer but i have never used it. To tell you the truth the only non wireless ethernet jacks in use are desktop computers and the voice server that deal with all transfers, the "music on hold" (which really needs to be changed) and all the garbage email and news you can screw with on the phone screen. I would say 95% of the time we cruise around with laptops and use the wireless over anything else, it is so much easier to use for a home situation.
I think the service is Ameritech or SBC? (i would really have to look it seems like these companies change all the time), works very well, never any issues with it. Calls can be forewarded to cell phones as well which is pretty cool.
The Vonage looks simple and effective, so i think i am going to pick up the box at circuit city or wherever it is sold. I do not use the phone a ton down in AZ, but do us it for Fax quite often. Do you have to pay the extra $5 a month for fax or can you just use one line for voice and fax?
Do you have the vonage service currently or are you looking to get it at the new place?
Ran most of the cat 5e cable myself, i left the long basement up to the second floor runs to an electrician. The lines are run all the way up from a common drop in the basement into the attic and then down thru the walls. Everything is put into a patch panel and patched into the switches.
All the corded cisco phones have a built in switch on them, i think for a computer but i have never used it. To tell you the truth the only non wireless ethernet jacks in use are desktop computers and the voice server that deal with all transfers, the "music on hold" (which really needs to be changed) and all the garbage email and news you can screw with on the phone screen. I would say 95% of the time we cruise around with laptops and use the wireless over anything else, it is so much easier to use for a home situation.
I think the service is Ameritech or SBC? (i would really have to look it seems like these companies change all the time), works very well, never any issues with it. Calls can be forewarded to cell phones as well which is pretty cool.
The Vonage looks simple and effective, so i think i am going to pick up the box at circuit city or wherever it is sold. I do not use the phone a ton down in AZ, but do us it for Fax quite often. Do you have to pay the extra $5 a month for fax or can you just use one line for voice and fax?
Do you have the vonage service currently or are you looking to get it at the new place?
Looking to get it at the new place. We switched from SBC (was Ameritech) to Insight Communications (our cable provider who I only had internet with) which wasn't any better on price.
Vonage isn't that expensive. Their premium service includes unlimited local and long distance, most every feature you can get with a baby bell company, and E911 for, with taxes, $32 a month.
Yes, you can fax with the normal port, or so I've heard. The fax port is if you get a dedicated fax line for $10 more a month, so it doesn't interfere with the voice side. We may look into this, not sure yet.
What kind of service does SBC give you to work with your VOIP setup that you have currently? If you don't mind me asking, how much does it run you a month?
Vonage isn't that expensive. Their premium service includes unlimited local and long distance, most every feature you can get with a baby bell company, and E911 for, with taxes, $32 a month.
Yes, you can fax with the normal port, or so I've heard. The fax port is if you get a dedicated fax line for $10 more a month, so it doesn't interfere with the voice side. We may look into this, not sure yet.
What kind of service does SBC give you to work with your VOIP setup that you have currently? If you don't mind me asking, how much does it run you a month?
HR10-250 and Vonage - works fine!
I use vonage and just got the HR10-250 HDTivo. After a few days of trying different things, I got it working for every call.
1. Set your Vonage to the highest bandwidth setting: 90Kbps (I'm going to try it at 60Kbps tomorrow).
2. Plug the HDTivo directly into the Vonage box (I had it running through a surge protector, didn't work. Using a splitter for the phone line did however so i now have a phone and the HDTivo plugged into the same phone port).
3. My vonage box is the VT1005V made by Motorola.
4. I used a 2-pin phone line cable (read that on another forum somewhere).
5. I used the following settings dialing options:
Dial Prefix: ,#014
Call Waiting Prefix: *99
Tone/Pulse: Tone
'Phone Avail.' Detection: Off
Dial Tone Detection: Off
Works every time now!
I use vonage and just got the HR10-250 HDTivo. After a few days of trying different things, I got it working for every call.
1. Set your Vonage to the highest bandwidth setting: 90Kbps (I'm going to try it at 60Kbps tomorrow).
2. Plug the HDTivo directly into the Vonage box (I had it running through a surge protector, didn't work. Using a splitter for the phone line did however so i now have a phone and the HDTivo plugged into the same phone port).
3. My vonage box is the VT1005V made by Motorola.
4. I used a 2-pin phone line cable (read that on another forum somewhere).
5. I used the following settings dialing options:
Dial Prefix: ,#014
Call Waiting Prefix: *99
Tone/Pulse: Tone
'Phone Avail.' Detection: Off
Dial Tone Detection: Off
Works every time now!
Kaputnik, Will it stay connected long enough to get a download? I could often get mine to connect to do the daily update but it would never stay connected long enough to get a software download.
VOIP and D*
I recently read that another trick to getting Tivo and D* to work over VOIP is to utilize one of those DSL line filters. Anyone else try this?
I recently read that another trick to getting Tivo and D* to work over VOIP is to utilize one of those DSL line filters. Anyone else try this?
I switched to Vonage some time ago and have noticed no difference in my D* service.. I order PPV movies with my remote and they are on the next bill. My sub to NFL ST works fine. I put no filters nor make any adjustments to my equip at all. If it weren't for the fact Vonage comes with free caller ID and my D* received has call id built in, I would never know I even changed anything..
A lot of this depends on your internet connection too. I have cable internet with latency issues. I have Vonage as my phone service. No matter what code I try and no matter what the Vonage technician does to my line I cannot get either of my DTivos to dial out using it.
Neutron said:
OK, this is only one days results but try this:
- Send an e-mail to dslreports@vonage.com and tell them you have DirecTV series 2 Tivo's and ask that they change the packetizion rate.
- Once they've done that give it a shot. You might need to change the phone numbers to another city, while I live in the Chicago area those numbers didn't work, I changed it to use area code 212, New York City, and I was able to make the daily call on all three of mine with only one failure.
Again, that was only one day, I need to try some more calls but this is farther then I've ever been able to make this work before. Good luck - Rick
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