Hooking up multiple lines

Posts: 350 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Dec 04, 2005 Posts: 350

janesplace wrote:

No, the other jacks don't work by plugging the adapter into the wall without the splitter. Vonage told me to do this, but doesn't the phone have to be plugged in also?

I was told that I have to bring Vonage into the house? I don't understand how to do this. I thought it would work through my wiring in the house. The phone wires are in the wall with CAT 5 wiring.

If you connect the Vonage device to the wall jack directily, the other jacks SHOULD have dialtone to the Vonage device.

SHOULD is the key word here. HOWEVER, you might have a special case. Could you describe how you disconnected the phone line in the Network Interface Unit? Better yet, do you have a digital camera and can take a picture of the inside of the NIU?

If Cat5 cables are used for the phone wiring, I suspect that each jack is wired directly to the NIU and disconnecting it isolated each phone jack. If this is the case, you may need to bridge the jacks together at the NIU.

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

janesplace wrote:

Hi,

Yes, I only have one line. Yes, the jacks work before I unplug from the phone company. I still have my local phone service, just in case I can't get this to work.

But you're sure that the local service is disconnected because the phones are completely dead now that you've disconnected their service, right?

janesplace wrote:

Yes, if I plug the one phone into the adapter, it works but the other jacks in the house don't work.

No, the other jacks don't work by plugging the adapter into the wall without the splitter. Vonage told me to do this, but doesn't the phone have to be plugged in also?

It doesn't have to be if other phones are working in the house, but I assume that you want it to be. We're just troubleshooting now. We'll use the splitter later. One possible problem. If the cord that you're using to plug the adapter into the wall is bad, then things obviously won't work. You know the cord that you used to plug the phone straight into the adapter is good, because the phone worked. Are you using the same one to plug the adapter straight into the wall? If not, try that.

janesplace wrote:

I was told that I have to bring Vonage into the house? I don't understand how to do this. I thought it would work through my wiring in the house. The phone wires are in the wall with CAT 5 wiring.

You are correct, and it should work the way you're doing it. We just have to figure out what went wrong.

About splitters. There are at least two kinds. One is a simple Y-splitter that turns one jack into two identical jacks by wiring everything in parallel. On this type, neither of the two jacks should be labelled Line 1 or Line 2. The second type is a splitter that separates the two lines in the typical wall jack into separate lines so that you can use single line phones with a two-line system. The splitter works by wiring the two output jacks differently, and the jacks are labelled Line 1 and Line 2 typically. You need to use the simple Y-splitter for what you're doing.

Now, a little more trouble shooting. Plug the Y-splitter into the phone jack on your Vonage adapter. Plug a phone into one of the jacks on the splitter and plug nothing into the other jack on the splitter. The phone should work. Does it?

If it does, run a cord from the second port on the splitter to a wall jack. Your test phone should still work. Does it? The other phones in your house should now work too, but I'm assuming that they won't because of the problem that we're having.

Assuming all of the tests have gone as expected, and your test phone works with the splitter in place and the Vonage adapter plugged into the wall, then I would conclude at this point that something went wrong during your initial attempt to disconnect the local phone service. Make sure that you re-established all of the wiring that you initially disconnected before the repair man told you that all you need to do is unplug it. In fact, try this test. Unplug your Vonage adapter from the house jack. I repeat: Unplug your adapter from the house jack!! Now plug the local service back in and verify that all of your phones work. Then unplug the local service again and verify that the phones are dead.

OK. Get back to us and we'll pick up from there.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 10, 2006 Posts: 5

Hi Steve,

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you until now. I'm been busy.

You are right about the individual jacks. That's the way it is wired.

Yes, my current phone company connection works. When I unplug the jacks, it is disconnected.

The cord is brand new, so that's not the problem.

I will try the splitter and get back to you.

I have a digital camera and will take a picture of the box and the wiring and send it to you.

jane

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

OK, we look forward to hearing from you. One of the things I forgot to mention. When you try the experiment of re-connecting the old landline, be sure to check the jack that you're using to hook up the Vonage line.