Vonage V-Portal using in wireless hotel room

Posts: 24 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 15, 2008 Posts: 24

Hello.
I travel a lot and I am finding lately that many hotels only offer wireless for my computer which is fine but useless to use with my Vonage V Portal router/modem.

I have asked about this "bridging" but no one can give me a clear answer on how or if I can do it.

Tech men ... HELP!

Thank you!

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 12

buy a "ethernet bridge" linksys model is WET11

Posts: 1326 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1326

you don't have to travel with your Vonage adapter. Since you travel with your lap top you can use Vonage Talk. If your lap top has built in microphone that will work or you can use a head set with microphone.

I use Vonage Talk when I travel and it works fine. Vonage Canada doesn't mention Vonage Talk, but you can download it and also see some other Alpha products. http://alpha.vonage.com

Posts: 24 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 15, 2008 Posts: 24

roscopco wrote:

you don't have to travel with your Vonage adapter. Since you travel with your lap top you can use Vonage Talk. If your lap top has built in microphone that will work or you can use a head set with microphone.

I use Vonage Talk when I travel and it works fine. Vonage Canada doesn't mention Vonage Talk, but you can download it and also see some other Alpha products. http://alpha.vonage.com

Thank you.
I have downloaded it and entered my regular Vonage info -- is there an additional charge for this as I am already a subscriber to Vonage premium monthly?

thank you!

Posts: 1326 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1326

If you are on the unlimited plan then as of now there are no charges, but if you are on the 500 minute plan incoming calls count because they are treated as a transferred call.

I hope this helps.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 09, 2008 Posts: 5

I have to say that I'm not thrilled about the move from the wifi devices that were available when I subscribed 2 years ago. As a matter of fact, I'm in a bit of bother as a result of the evolution.

1. The UTStarcom wifi phone(s) that I have from 2 years ago are on the blink (losing charge quickly, etc.) and replacement batteries are not available (even from UTStarcom or PCD). Now, Vonage isn't working with UTStarcom anymore and there isn't any support for the device.

2. Vonage talk isn't available for Macs. I have a Macbook.

3. I travel enough where I'm sort of in a bind now because I often rely on a wifi signal and loved being able to set up office in a coffee house when traveling.

Any ideas?

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 15, 2009 Posts: 2

I'm using the V-Portal and I've set it up to connect via XP's wireless internet. It was pretty quick and easy.

1. Connect the WAN port on the V-Portal to the Ethernet port on your laptop.
2. Under Control Panel > Network Connections, right-click your Wireless Network Connection and select Properties.
3. Click the Advanced tab and check the box beside "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection".

I also had to disable Windows Firewall since I was too lazy to figure out what ports needed to be opened. But going with the latter method (i.e. opening ports) is definitely recommended, especially if you're travelling a lot (I'm in a static location behind a firewalled router, just don't have a physical Ethernet port to plug into).

About a year ago I set up my friend's Linksys Vonage device (don't know the model # off hand) to do the same, but it was a little more complicated. In that situation I had to connect the Ethernet port of his laptop to one of the LAN ports and connect an Ethernet cable between the WAN and LAN ports on the Linksys to form a loopback. For some reason it wouldn't work using the more simplified configuration that I'm using with the V-Portal.

Anyway, hope that helps someone.