any idea why vonage device won't work if connected to switch

Posts: 63 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 07, 2007 Posts: 63

I tried installing a vonage device behind a switch (3com and cisco)..it has internet but it doesn't have a voice..is my switch blocking the voice??

Posts: 52 · Full Forum Member Joined: Feb 22, 2007 Posts: 52

It shouldn't be, assuming your switch is connected to a router. The switch should simply be seen by the router as an extension of its physical ports. I have been using Vonage and other VOIP services through a switch connected to a router for years, no problems. However, sometimes when you hook up a new device it is best to turn off and restart both the router and the switch so it doesn't get confused. This gives it a chance to recognize the new connection.

Posts: 4751 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4751

No disagreement, but if the Vonage unit isn't working that way, by all means remove the switch temporarily and verify that Vonage works when it's connected directly to the router.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 34

the vonage device will work behind a switch provided the switch is behind a router. the vonage device needs to have an ip address to work. the switch does not give ip addresses. the ip address will come from the router. if the switch is connected to a simple modem, the ip address might be assigned to the PC so the vonage device won't have ip address anymore.

Posts: 15 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jun 04, 2006 Posts: 15

orient_guy wrote:

if the switch is connected to a simple modem, the ip address might be assigned to the PC so the vonage device won't have ip address anymore.

... with the assumption that the modem is configured to ONLY assign a single IP address. I said this because some modems are configured to lease as many as eight (public) IP addresses. In this case, then the Vonage device should be able to request an IP Address from the modem.

One way to find out is to temporarily unplug the computer from the switch, turn off the modem, connect the Vonage device to the switch, and power on the modem and the Vonage device. If this works, then plug in the computer and turn it ON to see if both the Vonage device and the computer can still connect to the Internet.