2 lines Vonage with UStec whole house distribution/wiring

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 5

I am about to signup for Vonage and have some questions which I would like to figure out before I do that.

Here is my current setup:
I have a UStec home wiring and distribution system, the system can handle 4 telephone lines, and I only use 2 of them now.

What I would like to do:
I would like to switch both lines to Vonage and use all my existing phone jacks and phones.

Problems:
According to UStec, all I have to do is take Vonage line 1's cable into UStec's telco input jack. The problem is I only have 1 telco input jack on my UStec unit (it handles 4 lines). And to get 2 lines from Vonage, I will have 2 cables from Vonage. Is there anyway I can "combine" the 2 cables/lines from Vonage into 1, so that I can plug it in my UStec unit?

What else do I need to do in order to make sure I can use my current phone jacks and phones?

Also, if I signup for regular service (e.g 14.99 plan), can I send/receive fax using that line? Or I have to order a special fax-only line?

Thanks!

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

What you need is the right kind of splitter for your phone jack. The most common type of splitter is one that just turns 1 RJ11 jack into 2 jacks wired in parallel. That's not the one you want. There's another type that splits a standard 2 line RJ 11 into 2 separate jacks. One jack is wired to pick up line 1 on the main jack and is typically labelled L1. The other jack picks up line 2 on the main jack and is labelled L2.

I assume that your telco input jack is a standard RJ45. Stick the splitter main plug into that, and then you can run cords from L1 and L2 to the two phone jacks on the Vonage adapter or adapters. You can also make up a special cable to accomplish all that by cutting up a couple of phone cords and doing some splicing.

You can use one of your Vonage voice lines for fax. Lot's of us do that.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 5

Steve,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have a splitter which "split" 1 into 3 jacks -- it labelled L1, L2, and L1+L2.

Will that work?

Also, do I need to do anything else to make sure I can use my existing jacks and phone?

Thanks!

Posts: 109 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jun 21, 2005 Posts: 109

printwork wrote:

Steve,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have a splitter which "split" 1 into 3 jacks -- it labelled L1, L2, and L1+L2.

Will that work?

Also, do I need to do anything else to make sure I can use my existing jacks and phone?

Thanks!

that will work... use L1 and L2 only.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 5

Thanks for the response.

I am wondering if I only want to make my land line #2 to vonage only. What should I do?

Can I put the ORIGINAL RJ-45 telco line (the one go into my UStec box) to the splitter L1, and Vonage Line 1 into splitter L2?

Or I need to rewire the original telco line somehow?

As my setup included a alarm system, Directv DVR, fax .. etc, and I am concerning if I can get all these working with Vonage?! Thus, I am thinking to keep the land line and switch land line #2 to vonage only.

Thanks!

Posts: 109 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jun 21, 2005 Posts: 109

that will work.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: May 06, 2006 Posts: 5

It turned out that my splitter is for RJ11, so it won't fit the original TELCO IN line. Any idea where I can buy one?

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

Isn't the TELCO an RJ45? An RJ11 splitter ought to plug into an RJ45, picking up just the center 4 wires.

If this isn't working for some reason, I'd give Radio Shack a try.