 |
 | Vonage Forum Menu |
| | |
| Vonage Forums |
|
|
| | | |
| Vonage In The News |
| | |
| Vonage Customer Reviews |
| | |
| |
Vonage I don't know how much people reading this thread know about phones, so I'll put
I don't know how much people reading this thread know about phones, so I'll put in as much as I know.
A telephone can be thought of as being two circuits in the same box. The first one is the handseet, microphone and hook switch. If the hook switch is "on" - that is, if the phone is on the hook - then this entire circuit is disconnected from the line.
The 2nd circuit is the ringer circuit. In most phones, it is always connected. In modern phones, it consists of a DC blocking capacitor, and the LED half of an opto-isolator. When the phone rings, the AC of the ring circuit will result in the LED blinking at 20 Hz. This sort of circuitry is relatively new - it used to be that it was an electromagnet in series with the DC blocking capacitor. The electromagnet made a bar swing back and forth between two bells - thus the old two-tone bell sound.
From a line loading point of view, there are two items of interest - one is how many off-hook phones can be on the line and still let you hear the conversation. This is not usually that big a concern - it's rare that more than two are off hook at once, and usually two is not too many.
The other is the REN that everyone is talking about - how many ringing circuits will the ring generator handle. Which brings me to my point - regardless of the sticker on the phone, a phone with the ringer turned off will have a REN of zero (providing that the ringer switch does the right thing - disconnect the ringer circuit from the line, rather than simply ignore whatever signaling the ringer circuit is providing).
Back in the bad old days, when the phone company was a total monopoly and they charged for every extension, they used to 'sniff' the lines, checking the REN loading. If you had too many phones, you'd have trouble. Unless, of course, you cut the ringers out of the extensions.
So if you have a zillion phones, turn as many ringers off as you can. And as others have said in this thread, if your zillion phones are merely handsets connected to a single cordless base, don't count them - the REN applies only to the base station. And modern multiplex cordless base station phones undoubtedly use the optoisolator circuitry I've described, and will have a very, very, very low REN in any event.
And if you really have two dozen phones, you should probably consider a small PBX and simply feed the Vonage line(s) in as trunks. The PBX will have its own ring generator, and present a minimal load to the trunk.
Read The Full Thread: Phone Specs - REN
• I've seen this discussed on other boards. Since I have extensive POTs knowledge,
• My house has 15 phones (one number). About 9 of them ring. Without compromising
• we recommend a REN total of 5, but you can go up to about 6 or so
• If you use a cordless base with additional handsets, you are only using the REN
• so, I guess the answer is No. Guess I'll have to wait for a real home VoIP system.
• Well that's a pretty snotty attitude. If you weren't aware, FCC regulations are
• This home VoIP is fake? I've been SCAMMED!
Actually, there are several ways
• I have a central hub with about 25 ports coming off it. (I have a fair sized house).
• Well said.
nsayer posted "I don't know how much people reading this thread know about phones, so I'll put" on 02/18/2005 |
|
|
| |
| Vonage Service Plans |
| | |
| Vonage VoIP Members |
| | |
| Vonage Stock Price |
|
Value: 1.70
Change:  -0.03
Up to 15 Minute Delay | | | |
| Site Search |
| | |
|
|
Vonage VoIP Phone Service is redefining communications by offering consumers
& small business VoIP Internet phones, an affordable alternative to traditional phone service.
The Vonage VoIP Forum Generated This Page In: 0.33 Seconds and 238 Pages In The Last 60 Seconds
The Vonage VoIP Forum
|
Members
New 
New Today 0
Yesterday 4
Total 64288
Who Is On Site
Visitors 89
Members 0
Total 89