Low volume on second picked up phone....need insight.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 21, 2005 Posts: 34

If the phone rings and phone #1 gets picked up everything is fine. But let's say that someone else wants to pick up phone #2 and get involved in the ongoing conversation with the caller and other household member. It seems that on phone #2 the caller can barely hear me and I can barely hear them.

RT31P2
All phones on CAT5E wiring
Star topology

Thanks for any insight!!!!

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

Are phones 1 and 2 specific phones in your house, or does this problem occur no matter which phone in the house is picked up first and another second? Assuming the former, how is phone 2 when it's used by itself? In either case, is the call quality at phone 1 affected when phone 2 is picked up?

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:56 pm Post subject:

Troubleshooting tips:

You need to determine whether the cause is one of your phones, a segment of wiring, all of the wiring or the adapter.

I would start by putting a splitter on the adapter and connecting both phones directly. If the problem exists you can rule out the house wiring (I suspect the problem is with your wiring).

If the problem exists then borrow a third phone and swap it out with your two phones to determine if one of the phones is the problem. If not then the problem is with the adapter, call Vonage and get a replacement.

If the problem is with one of the phones, return it to the store for a replacement.

So, since we have eliminated the phones and the adapters as the source of the problem we know it is a wiring problem. Disconnect all but two legs of CAT5 and test for the problem. If it still exists disconnect one leg and reconnect a different leg. If the problem goes away then the problem was with the leg that you just disconnected. Proceed in this manner until you have identified wiring problems in one or more of your runs. Then start adding the runs back in one at a time until all the 'good' runs are connected.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 21, 2005 Posts: 34

All the wiring is sound. There are 8 phones in the house and the situation happens on all of them. Of course it is contingent upon whether someone picks up which phone first. The second phone picked up has the problem. I am thinking that the TA doesn't have enough power to do multiple extensions at the same time.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:29 pm Post subject:

It depends what type of phones you're using. Some of the old-school style phones draw a lot of power when off-hook. Also, 8 phones is a bit much on a regular phone line. Add up the RENs (Ringer Equivalence Number) listed on the bottom of each phone. If it's above 5, then it's outside of phone co specs and don't expect Vonage or the regular phone co to guarantee that it'll work. One possible solution, 'though it might cause additional problems, is to have a Vonage tech increase the on-hook current. I'd use this solely as a last resort 'though. Best solution when you get to this many phones is either a small PBX or one of the expandable cordless systems (Uniden TRU8xxx series is a forum favorite and supports up to 10 handsets). Both the PBX and Uniden TRU8xxx series will also give you an intercom, which is probably needed if you have 8 phones strewn about the place.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 21, 2005 Posts: 34

I am using the old school Western Electric's throughout. I have disconnected all but three ringers so the ringing isn't an issue. I suppose the power supplied by the TA may be inadequate. Would a new TA solve this problem? I don't think I want the power increased though cause the volume and everything with one person on the line is perfect.

Thanks fellas.

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

MrKenmore wrote:

I am using the old school Western Electric's throughout. I have disconnected all but three ringers so the ringing isn't an issue. I suppose the power supplied by the TA may be inadequate. Would a new TA solve this problem? I don't think I want the power increased though cause the volume and everything with one person on the line is perfect.

If you haven't already, follow Scerruti's advice and connect a splitter right at the adapter and connect two phones right there. If the problem occurs with that configuration, then you can be pretty sure that the adapter is having problems driving two phones.

One question I believe you haven't answered is whether the volume goes down on both phones when the second phone is picked up. Does it?

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:29 am Post subject:

A new TA most likely won't help. They're all about the same when it comes to this. DO try hooking both phones up to a splitter directly into the back of the Vonage terminal adapter (humor us, please) and see if the problem still occurs. Even I've botched Cat 5 wire over the years. Doesn't happen often, but it DOES happen.

I do think your issue is a matter of the current being too low to power those ancient phones. After you've confirmed the problem is indeed with the phones, and I think it probably will be, call up Vonage tech support...good luck with this one, as you're going to have to guide the tech to the settings. You're trying to find something called "off-hook current". Safe values for this are 24-27mA. You can go higher than this, but then you risk causing problems with fax machines and other electronic phones (Panasonic cordless phones are very pissy when the current gets above 30mA). A value in the 24-27mA range should give you what you need without causing any real adverse effects.

Posts: 82 · Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 3:49 pm Post subject:

OK finally somebody posts about this. I spent over an hour with Vonage...talking to foreigners...hung up on in upper level support with another Vonage rep. I called again and the answer is "You may not pick up a second phone while on a call" . Does this apply to phone connected to adapter only? How does it work wired into your home telco wiring? After nearly two yrs this has stumped me and I never posted about it or did I inquire. Gee it took many Vonage reps to get the answer NO you cannot. I got a new cordless paired set non Vonage phone and hoped the second phone could join in a call...NOPE! Anybody with some knowledge on why it will not work would be nice...Although this should be stated somewhere on Vonages site that you may not have two people on a call at one time talking to whom you dialed. Furthermore any Vonage employees who read this need to inform your non English and some American peoples of this FACT! I love the service with exception to ever calling for help or explanation from your customer service dept...It has to be the utter worst and with all the unemployment hire some genuine Americans ha!! OOOOHHHHHHHHHH Im hot.