Two problems: TIVO & Alarm system

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 15, 2007 Posts: 1

I'm considering Vonage but from reading the forums there seems to be two issues (for me that is) that could cause me problems.

One is I have DTV and an old alarm system that has worked beautifully for the last 15 years. It looks like if I switch to Vonage that I will have problems with both unless I can do some modifications.

I do use a fax on occasion but it's not important if I can't get it to work.

Am I on target with my evaluation?

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 19, 2007 Posts: 7

when it comes to tivo there is a work around you have to change the way you tivo box dials out by entering one of the many prefixs available. when it comes to your alarm you need to make sure they support a Voip line if they do normally companys like ADT i know offer something called "cell back up system" it just depends if your alarm offers that keep in mind that is an extra expence to you. faxing you can make work as long as you make the proper adjustments to both your fax and your Vonage adaptor main thing is make sure your fax has adjustable modem speeds or baud rate and make sure you can turn of your error correction mode if your fax includes that ...

more info can be found at www.voipfrustration.com

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 22, 2007 Posts: 1

I have 3 TiVo's and just recently moved from my old AT&T land line to Vonage across my Internet connection. I am now having problems getting my TiVo units to successfully connect to DirecTV across my Vonage line.

If I go through the menu setup on the TiVo and have it test the phone line, it successfully connects. However, if I then go back to the setup screen and have it connect to the DVR service (Direct TV and TiVo), it fails on the first step and responds with the "failed to connect" message.

I assume there is a way to make this work, otherwise, Vonage would be losing a lot of customers. Someone please enlighten me on the exact configuration steps to make this work properly.

Thanks in advance.

Posts: 94 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Sep 15, 2006 Posts: 94

When we had DirecTV's Tivo, it would not work with Vonage. We have since switched to cable TV, and got a Tivo Series3. I have it connected via the Internet instead of over the phone, so no problems now.

With respect to the alarm, if you're willing to spend a little extra, I can highly recommend alarm.com. These guys use an integrated cell phone to report incidents instead of a regular phone line, so it's inherently Vonage compatible. You can also do a lot of other neat stuff. I have it set up to email me when the system is armed or disarmed, and also email me when someone opens up the front door or the side gate. If we forget to arm the alarm when we leave the house, I can also arm it via smartphone or Internet.