Vonage is the reason Tivos Can't Connect

Posts: 71 · Full Forum Member Joined: Mar 09, 2004 Posts: 71

Vonage is the Reason Tivo's Can't connect. ATT Recently made Changes so that Tivo's Can Connect via Voip with no problems. They even Support it. So if you have a Tivo, I suggest we all start requesting Vonage to make these changes, and Support Tivo's Connecting via Voip. with att it has something to do with enabling fax.

Posts: 176 · Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2004 5:03 pm Post subject:

Vonage is working on it. They have comitted engineers just to get the series 2 to work. I have a series 1, so I have a few other options to try, but I'm not in the mood. It isn't imperative that it calls, and the nag doesn't really bother me. I save over $40/month on a stupid phone bill. That makes me much happier.

Yes, ATT claims their will work with TiVos. I was on the tivo community forum yesterday and all the guys that switched were extremely bummed out that their TiVos STILL couldn't connect. ATT is using Linksys, just like Vonage, and this is the problem. It is a true router, and if it detects something that it feels shouldn't pass, the firewall will block it. Same problem that Vonage has.

All of this tech is still new, so I will sit and let it mature. I am enjoying saving money on my phones, which made it feasible to get high speed cable. As the bugs get worked out I will be happy that I started saving money early.

Also if you go to broadband reports you'll see that ATT is also adding more taxes than Vonage. Not only is more money to start with, but they are adding fees, like I would expect Verizon to do with VoiceWing and any other major provider that has POTS. That's why I chose a Voip only company. And those guys that switched just for TiVo, guess the grass wasn't greener on the other side. Wink

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Dec 29, 2004 Posts: 37

Also, if you have a series 1 or series 2 stand alone TiVo, you can use your existing network to make the daily phone calls. For the series 1, you have to buy a special network card http://9thtee.com/turbonet.htm but for the series 2, you can use any TiVo approved USB network adapter. http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2006.htm?

For DirecTV TiVos, currently, networking is not enabled.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 30, 2004 Posts: 6

Actually for Directivo's Series 2 you can use a PPP (serial connection) to connect. Either through a direct serial connection or you can purchase a serial to ethernet adapter (you need a serial adapter for the Tivo Unit (weakknees.com) and the serial to usb adapter (neteon.net). I connect through the internet with the above equipment on 3 directivo's and it works great.

I do wish Vonage would fix the problem themselves because connecting through the phone line would be so much easier and cheaper.

Doug...

Posts: 59 · Full Forum Member Joined: Dec 16, 2004 Posts: 59

In my experience, making modem calls (that's what your Tivo is doing) over a Voip connection is always going to be sketchy. You can improve your success rate, but it will never be as reliable as a POTS connection in that regard unfortunately.

You are citing AT&T as having solved this problem, but notice the weasel words that they put in their FAQs on their web site:

"Does AT&T CallVantage Service support Personal Video Recorders (such as TiVO)?
When you turn Fax and Modem Support on, AT&T CallVantage Service will work with some Personal Video Recorders such as TiVO.*"

That asterisk then leads to this footnote: "AT&T does not certify that Fax and Modem Support will work for all Digital Video Recorders"

The things that give you the best chances of making a modem connection over a Voip call are:

- disabling silence suppression
- use G711 codec
- setting the packetization period down to 10 milliseconds (the lowest value)

After that you just need a bit of luck. I have been able to make Tivo dialouts for my SR2 over my Voip connection (I left Vonage and use Alltalk), but that was only because I was able to modify the settings on my Cisco ATA to use 10ms packetization. And that still doesn't get me 100% success; but I would say 9 out of 10 dialouts work and that is enough for me.

Posts: 27 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jan 07, 2004 Posts: 27

Have you tried adding the prefix

*99,

To dialing, this puts the Vonage in "Fax mode" and many have had success with connecting a Tivo.

One question though. If you have Vonage, you already have a broadband connection, why not hook up your Tivo directly over your network and skip the whole phone thing. I have been using my network for Tivo for many months and it works great.

Tip #1

I tried using a wireless connection to transfer from one Tivo to another - but it was way to slow, so I opted for a wired connection between the Tivos, that really flies.

Michael
EVDO Info :: EVDO Forums

Posts: 646 · Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:59 pm Post subject:

I wonder if you could get a more successful connection by choosing an access number that is closer to the Vonage gateway? I've heard people say on here that they've got one in Chicago that serves the midwest, but I don't know for sure.

If I had a Tivo, I would try using a Chicago access number, just for kicks.

Posts: 646 · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:14 am Post subject:

Looks like I was wrong about the Chicago thing. I live in Michigan, near Detroit, and it looks like my RT31P2 is chatting with a server in New York while I make a phone call.

I connected my cable modem, router, and a computer into an old ethernet hub, and then ran a packet sniffer (Ethereal) on the computer while I placed a phone call. There was lots of RTP traffic to 216.115.23.14, and a tracert leads me here:

Vonage-Holdings-Corp-Vonage-Toll-Free-NWRK.ge-2-3-0.403.ar1.NYC1.gblx.net

Well, I guess all I'm saying is, if you're in Southeast Michigan, you should try using a New York Tivo access number. If you're anywhere else, then, well, it depends.

Posts: 176 · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:30 am Post subject:

I am going to pick up some cable today and try the Serial PPP suggestion. I don't care if the machine can call daily, I want the nag to go away.

Here is more info from various posters and pictures:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?postid=2484034#post2484034