New Type of Network Interface Unit = Bad News (I think)

Posts: 83 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:08 am Post subject:

Sorry on my part, I do see in one of the earlier posts that you said there were only two wires, one on reg and one on green. But a visual is just so much more persuasive.

So, it seems to me you are at the point where you need to investigate the inside wiring a bit more. See where the cable (with the two now-disconnected wires) from the NIU goes in the house and continue tracking it down to see if it is daisy-chained or if the inside jacks are home-runs to some point that you haven't yet discovered.

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

b_underdog wrote:

Ok, the phone light was flashing slowly, about once every two or three seconds. But I'm assuming this is because I had a voicemail. I cleared the voicemail and now it is a solid light, whether or not I have the phone plugged into the router directly or if I hook a wire from the router to a jack in the house (to try and get it ran throughout the house). When I pick up the phone to make a call, the phone light does flash quickly, like 3 times a second. My phone is working perfectly, for both inbound and outbound calls. Hope this helps.

OK, I think we're all beginning to understand a bit better. The phone light is on solid when the phone is plugged directly into the Vonage box. Is it also on solid when you plug the Vonage box into the house wiring?

Assuming it is, try to get hold of a simple Y-splitter. Plug it into the Vonage adapter and plug a phone into one port of the splitter. Presumably it works. Now plug a cord from the other port into a wall jack. Does the phone still work?

Have you tried different cables?

Posts: 8 · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:57 pm Post subject:

I've tried different cables and it's the same problem. The cables tested fine. I plugged a splitter into the Vonage adapter. When I plug the phone into one side, the phone still works. When I plug another cable into the other side and plug it into the wall, the phone stops working and I get a flashing light on the adapter (like it's off the hook). As soon as I remove the cable going to the wall jack, the phone works again and has a solid light on the adapter.

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

OK, that almost certainly means that you have a short in the house wiring or an off-hook phone plugged in somewhere. I don't suppose there is any chance that you accidentally shorted the wires together when you disconnected them from the red and green terminals in the junction box?

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 13, 2006 Posts: 1

b_underdog wrote:

The problem is that it's one of those new-fangled interface boxes just like the one here:

You can read about it on the Home Wiring and Installation Guide on this site. My Vonage is working correctly...I bought the adapter at Best Buy and activated it online. It works as advertised.

By the way jmelcher, I see you're in Evansville...I'm from Bedford, Indiana...lived there most of my life.

Hello folks!
I have this new NID unit and understand that I have no choice but to disconnect the two wires. These wires are red and green. I read that "green" is for grounding. So if I do disconnect them am I disconnecting the grounding ? Is that a safe thing to do? What other alternative?
Thanks!

Posts: 8 · Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:03 pm Post subject:

Sorry to bump this old post but I wanted to let everyone know that I did get this working a few days after I posted. Turns out that the jack that I was trying out my phone on was wired incorrectly (don't know why previous owners didn't fix it since it was in the master bedroom). I went to Radio Shack and bought a phone line tester and that is how I found the problem. I plugged it into another jack downstairs and it lit up green. After swapping two wires on the plug, it started working. I should have known to test the phone out on another jack especially since I fix Cisco routers and computers every day at work! Thanks to everybody for all your help trying to get this resolved.

Brian

p.s. I always get mad at people who ask for help on a forum and never come back to say whether they got it fixed or not. I just finally remembered posting this.

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:39 pm Post subject:

congratulations and thanks for the follow-up