Want to try Vonage, but SO confused!

Posts: 58 · Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 7:02 am Post subject:

archergirl wrote:

Well... the first paragraph made great sense to me! =/ No way am I going to go jack around with wires and voltage and whatnot. I have a normal house with normal wiring and normal cordless phones. I just don't want to pay out the wazoo for phone service we don't use a whole lot.

The voltage on your incoming line from your phone company is virtually harmless to people. The cable you need to unplug uses nearly the same plug type your telephones use. This certainly isn't a high-skill or hazardous operation.

However, if you're not comfortable doing it, don't. You can't hurt yourself, but you could damage your equipment if you don't do it correctly. It's a pretty simple three step procedure (open box, unplug cable, close box), but if it's beyond your comfort level, don't feel pressured into trying it.

archergirl wrote:

If I can really just plug one of my phones into the adapter thingy and plug that thing into my modem, and get dial tones on both my phones, I'll be happy. I also do have an old corded phone I could plug into the bedroom instead of the cordless, if that would make a difference.

It doesn't work that way. Both of your cordless phone base stations need to be plugging into something that is eventually connected by wire to the Vonage adapter, otherwise it won't be connected to the system. Think of it like plumbing -- for your shower and sink and toilet to get water, they need to be connected to your homes plumbing system. You can't install a shower and then just put a toilet on the floor beside it without hooking it up to anything, and hope that it works (it won't).

What the other poster was attempting to describe is that you plug your Vonage adapter into one of your homes existing telephone wall outlets. This will connect it into your homes phone system, and all the phones plugged into other jacks on the system will automatically get a signal. However, for this to work you have to disconnect the phone box on the outside of your house, otherwise you'll fry your equipment (as you'll have two different phone systems both trying to supply electric voltage at the same time, and none of the things plugged into that system are designed to handle that much voltage).

None of this is terribly tricky or time consuming. I stepped my father through the procedure (over the phone), and he's certainly no handyman (although admittedly in this case I had the advantage of having wired my parents home for telephone service originally, so I was easily able to tell him exactly where to go and what to do). But I also know that some people just aren't comfortable doing anything that involves wires, and if this is you, you might be better off finding a friend or family member who is more comfortable with this sort of thing to do it for you. It shouldn't take them more than 5 minutes to actually do (although hunting for the phone input box might add some time to this if you don't know where it is -- it may be very well hidden in an older home).

This is the cheapest and easiest solution to connect your phone setup -- other solutions will either require you to buy more equipment, change your phones, reduce the number of phones you're using, or run your own wiring (which would be a bit silly if the two rooms aren't right next to each-other, as you already have perfectly good phone wiring going through your home).

(And no, switching one to a corded phone won't make any difference. Both corded and cordless phones still need to be connected into the phone wiring, and thus are identical for purposes of getting the system to work).

Yaz.

Posts: 208 · Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 8:54 am Post subject:

Oh, if you're concerned about talking to a salesman (especially because of outsourcing concerns), why don't you just sign up online?

Edit: I sent your a Private Message. Take a peek.

Posts: 1327 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1327

I think the person was calling Vonage to get correct information before they did sign up.

Posts: 208 · Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 11:28 am Post subject:

Yeah, I can only imagine what gets lost in translation. Wonder how you say "unplug your demarcation point" in other languages.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: May 06, 2007 Posts: 4

If your looking to try a Voip provider try something like voip.com or other services. Vonage wants to get you into a 2 year contract, that is a lot of money. If you are not sure that Voip is even right for you, then just say no.
Also, to hook up Voip service with Vonage router can and Will impair your Internet connection unless you know enough to get it working properly. (they can help you, but you will be talking to some one in india so good luck understanding that.)

That said, try to find a Voip provider that doesn't give a router out, but a Voip box instead. simple 1 plug in and 1 plug to phone. no routing or networking hardship.

Posts: 208 · Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 12:46 pm Post subject:

Eh, I disagree. It's not really a "contract" - but I agree the disconnection fee hurts a bit.

Still, my Verizon Wireless cell phone is a $175 disconnection fee. My cable provider is $100 (I assume to prevent me from jumping to FiOS)

Anyway, 39.99 isn't too bad. It's about a month and a half of service. That's doable if I really wanted to get out.

Posts: 1327 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1327

I just went to my phone box outside and disconnected the line, a 2 minute job. Now I can use all the jacks in my house, it only took me about 7 months to hook up this way.

Posts: 241 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Mar 17, 2006 Posts: 241

Yaztromo wrote:

\The voltage on your incoming line from your phone company is virtually harmless to people.

Ring voltage is usually 70 to 90 volts AC (and as much as 150 volts), actually.

Posts: 58 · Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 9:00 pm Post subject:

pdhenry wrote:

Ring voltage is usually 70 to 90 volts AC (and as much as 150 volts), actually.

Yeah, but it's only at about 20mA of current -- less than what a typical 9V battery can pump out.

I can't say that I've ever heard of anyone being harmed by a live telephone wire.

Yaz.