Old question needs new answer

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 15, 2004 Posts: 1

I am considering replacing my Bellsouth service with Vonage. I have a few questions that I have seen asked here numerous times and I am going to see if the knowledgeable people on here can give me the same answers in a different way. Pretend (well don't pretend because this is true) that I am only mildly literate when it comes to home electronics, telephony, computers etc. But I can follow directions perfectly. So instead of saying go ou the DNS and change the PBX wires....say something like "find the black box and look for a yellow wire"...etc. With that out of the way let me tell you what I want to do and maybe you can give me an idiots guide to all this.

1. I have a long single story ranch house. My computer is at one end and the incoming phone service is at the other. I have a cable modem and a router that has one open port. I have four cordless phones throughout the house. Getting the single cordless base and base units is not an option as they do not work with the length of my house...already tried it. I would like for all of them to work with Vonage and all its features , ie: caller id, voicemail...etc. by having them plugged into the existing phone jacks. How do I do this?

2. I have an existing alarm system that uses the phone line. Can Vonage handle this? It is presently the same phone line as all the rest of them.

3. I would like to do some light faxing (maybe 20-25 sheets out a month and about the same in) can Vonage do this?

4. I want my existing phone number to come with me Vonage which I know can be done as I have contacted Vonage. Is the time about two months still?

These are my questions. Remmeber that I am not stupid this is just not my area of expertise so please answer like you would a child and say go the the big black box and you will find........etc. As few technical terms you use the better. Thanks in advance.

-Jay

p.s. If it would be easier for someone to email me just use :
jay@smart-space.com

Posts: 188 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Mar 07, 2004 Posts: 188

First and formost, the alarm and the faxes are going to be "iffy". You will not be able to tell if they will work unless you try them. For every person that gets them to work, there is someone that can't get them to work. So, if you feel up to trying out Vonage, I would order the service along with the adapter. I would make sure that I saved all packing material. Then I would try it out and see if it worked for me. If you find that it does not work for you then you can pack everything back up and return it, probily for a minimal amout out of your pocket. If it works for you then, great. Some hints are, you are probily going to have the hardest time wiith your alarm system. If you can, maybe look into the possiblity of hooking it up through eithernet instead of phone. This forum and DSL Reports have alot of very smart people that can help but you won't be able to know if it works until you try.