Vonage VoIP Forum Digest - July 28, 2005

July 28, 2005

By Daniel Connor

Welcome to today's edition of the Vonage Voip Forum Digest.

In today's edition, we'll look at what technology reviewers at two large newspapers have to say about the just-announced Broadband Telephone System Model IP 8100-2 package from Vonage and VTech. We'll read Vonage Voip Forum threads about turning a Netgear wireless router into a wireless access point.

Vonage In The Headlines

USA Today Reporter A Big Fan Of Vonage-VTech Cordless Phone

USAToday personal technology columnist Ed Baig seems to be a big fan of the cordless phones that are included in the $150 Broadband Telephone System Model IP 8100-2 package from Vonage and VTech.

"Typically with Vonage and other Voip services, you can use any ordinary touch-tone phone to get going," he writes. "Why, then, opt for the Broadband Telephone System package? Well, the starter kit comes with everything needed: two 5.8 gigahertz cordless phones, plus a box that connects via supplied cables to a modem or router.

Baig correctly explains that once you make that connection and have activated your Vonage account, the phones should work. You won't need to connect the phones to a wall jack or PC.

"Having the extra phone comes in handy," he adds. It's easy for more than one person to join the conversation. You can add up to four handsets in all; extra phones cost $50."

And The New York Times Likes Vonage-VTech, Too

Adam Baer of The New York Times also likes the VTech IP-8100-2.He writes that the Broadband Telephone System Model IP 8100-2 simplifies the Voip set-up process while cutting down on clutter.

"The system has caller ID, a 50-name phone book and a voice-mail indicator, and it allows you to add up to two additional handsets for $50 each," he writes this morning. "It won't work for customers of Vonage competitors like Packet8 or Broadvox, but if one of those is your service, take heart. As the popularity of Internet phone service picks up, the selection of VoIP-ready phones on the market is sure to grow."

On The Vonage Voip Forum

Vonage Voip Forum Member Dominus has started a new thread about the problems he has been having turning his Netgear wireless router into a wireless access point. He explains that he needs his Netgear router to get his notebook PC working wirelessly- and with his Vonage service. He'd rather not buy a new access point just for this job. At $100 a pop, I don't blame him.

Apparently Dominus tried Netgear tech support, but wanted more information so he posted here. And this shouldn't be a surprise, but a very helpful answer came from one of our star Forum members, paul248.

Paul took the time to describe the steps that Dominus (or any other user with a similar predicament) should follow to enable his wireless notebook to work with his Netgear wireless router. Take it away, Paul:

1. First of all, connect the WAN port of the Linksys into your DSL modem. Plug the PC into a LAN port on the Linksys.
2. At this point, make sure that the Vonage service is working, as well as the Internet connection on the PC. You might have to go to http://192.168.15.1/ to set up PPPoE or whatever your connection requires.
3. Connect the PC to the Netgear router, and turn off pretty much everything except the wireless. You especially turn off the DHCP server, but also anything related to its router functionality, like NAT, firewall, etc.
4. Set the Netgear's LAN IP address to 192.168.15.2.
5. Now, run a cable from a Linksys LAN port to the Netgear LAN port. This should combine all the LAN ports on both routers, as well as the wireless, into one big happy network. You should be able to connect the PC to a LAN port on either router. http://192.168.15.1/ should take you to the linksys settings, and http://192.168.15.2/ should take you to the netgear settings. Both of those addresses should work from either a wired or wireless connection.

Paul, thanks.

Occasionally, we like to post Polls here. Not only are they fun, but they are a good way to tell what's on the mind of our Forum Members. After all, although one or two of you may post strong opinions on a Vonage-related issue, those opinions may or may not be representative of the overall membership.

Sometimes the Polls we run are in response to a Vonage product announcement, or an article about Vonage. The fact that a Vonage spokesperson said earlier this week that much of the money Vonage has raised through venture capital would be used to fund expansions gave me an idea to start a poll.

The poll is in the thread, How about new features instead of expansion? For the poll, we asked the question, "Should Vonage add additional features before expanding?" I checked the results early this morning and it seems like at least three-quarters of you think, "Yes."

This thread, of course, also allows for comments. In separate posts, Vonage Forum member scerruti says that he would really like video capability, but he adds that he thinks that for the time being a good bit of Vonage's research energy and efforts have been devoted to E911 compliance issues.

By the way, we have been following these E911 issues very closely. If you want to stay on top of these fast-moving developments, I can think of no better way - or easier to do so than to receive the Vonage Voip Forum Digest every day. If you go to this page: http://www.vonage-forum.com/syndication.html, you will see a list of RSS Newsreaders from which with one or two clicks, you'll be able to get your Digest delivered directly to your Newsreader each morning. The Newsreaders we've linked to on that page include such reliable and trusted services as Bloglines, Feedster, My Yahoo!, Newsgator and Feedburner.

I am open to add others, just contact me with the info of the Newsreader.

That's what's hot about Vonage today. Check with us Friday morning for the next edition of the Vonage VoIP Forum Digest!! And, in that edition, look for our popular new "In The Blogs" feature.