My experience with Vonage and Directv with Tivo

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 24, 2004 Posts: 12

Here's my recent experience with Vonage and Directv with Tivo (series 2):

I decided to give Vonage a call early one morning a couple days ago to "pick the brain" of a tech support guy.

I asked him all sorts of questions about what he recommends for getting a Directivo to connect using Vonage. I acted like I barley knew anything so he would tell me anything he knows, then I slowly started mentioning things I've heard on these forums and other forums.

His first bit of advice was to use the code: ,#034

He then said I could try: ,#104

I understand that the first code supposedly slows down the Tivo modem a little, but I have no clue what that second code is supposed to do. If anybody knows I'd love to hear.

After giving me those codes he said I could also try using a DSL filter. He explained that it might help clean up the line and allow Tivo to connect better. He did stress that I "keep my receipt" because there is no guarantee it would work.

His advice stopped there and he wanted to end the call, but I brought up something else. I told him I read about "packet size" and how it could contribute to Tivo success. He said I could lower the packet size and informed me that it might help. The default is ".2" he said. He said you can have it at .1, .2., or .3 -- he recommended .1. So I told him to change it.

I also asked his to verify my firmware, he said it was up to date.

The next item I brought up is the fax line. I asked, could having a fax line help in this situation? He informed me that it really wouldn't, and you could use the prefix *99 which is the same thing as having a fax line. I was a little surprised and confirmed that a fax line is basically a permanent line with the prefix *99 "built in". He then said that all *99 does is disable call waiting, and make some other very minor tweaks on the line to make it work better with fax. He said even with that, most of the time users need to slow down their fax machines because the newer, faster fax machines will not work reliably with Vonage. He said its just one of the faults of the technology right now.

This was pretty much all I wanted to know for now, so I thanked him and hung up.

I should mention that I have Vonage running through the internal wiring of my house, something he did not recommend when updating/connecting the Tivo (he said it could cause a lot of interference with the connection). I should also mention I currently have Vonage connected directly to my cable modem, with a router connected to the output of Vonage. I've only had it this way for a week to test this stuff out. I plan to change it back so that Vonage is connected to an output of the router soon (and will run more tests at that point).

I started my DirecTV/Tivo testing. I plugged the Tivo into a phone jack nearby. Started by trying to update the phone number. No success. Tried a few more times, nothing (negotiating failure). I opted to just do a test call with the current number already saved in there. Did not work. I started using prefixes. Started with *99 only. Didn't work. Moved to ,#034 - nothing. Tried them both together, nothing. Then I tried ,#104 with *99 -- SUCCESS. The test call went through. I changed the phone number since it had updated the numbers. New number worked as well. I grabbed the latest download. I then removed the prefix and tried the new number - worked again. Tried an experiment to go back to the old number. It had to dial in again to get a new list, and it didnt work. I noticed I was also having trouble with my internet connection at this time, so I did a full reboot of Vonage and the cable modem. After that, I have had success every time with downloading new numbers, test calls, and daily calls, even with no prefixes.

Final Opinion: I have no idea and I don't expect this success to continue. For some reason the ,#104 code did something early on, but it turned out I really didn't need it after a fresh reboot. Now, keep in mind these calls that have succeeded have been VERY brief calls with no major downloads. I am not sure how it will behave with a major download.

Now if I can only get it working with Brinks security I'll be in good shape!

Also, I'm going to switch Vonage to an output of the router and will update if I get different results.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 19, 2004 Posts: 3

A few topics and some install instructions indicate that it's best to place the phone adapter in front of the router. I have a linksys Phone Adapter Model # pap2 Plugged into the first port of my Linksys router. Purchased form Best Buy. There's no uplink or output for the cable. Just the two phone jacks.

Is there a different Adapter or is there a splitter available.

Posts: 176 · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:38 pm Post subject:

I have the RT31P2, my phone adapter is the router. Smile

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 24, 2004 Posts: 12

seajazz wrote:

A few topics and some install instructions indicate that it's best to place the phone adapter in front of the router. I have a linksys Phone Adapter Model # pap2 Plugged into the first port of my Linksys router. Purchased form Best Buy. There's no uplink or output for the cable. Just the two phone jacks.

Is there a different Adapter or is there a splitter available.

I have a Motorola box, it has an "output" port for your computer or router. Maybe those Linksys models don't have the output, which means you need to plug it into the router.

Supposedly, for the purpose of having the best internet connection for your computer(s), it is better to have the Vonage box on the output of a router.

If you want better quality for your Vonage box, then connect it right to the cable modem.

I don't this for sure, but from what I've read and experienced it seems to be true.

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 05, 2004 Posts: 8

You say that #104 with ,99 allows your TiVo to dial out? How are you entering this string? (what keystrokes)?

I activated mine at a friend's house, brought it back to mine, and have it linked through network now.

Posts: 176 · Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject: Re: TiVo and phone line use ...

Sublimaze1 wrote:

You say that #104 with ,99 allows your TiVo to dial out? How are you entering this string? (what keystrokes)?

I activated mine at a friend's house, brought it back to mine, and have it linked through network now.

It's ,#104
You need the coma.

I set it up PPP through the serial out of the rear. Dialing in wouldn't work, so I got a cable at 9thtee and hooked into my serial port, set up the protocol and it makes the call through my PC.

Posts: 336 · Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 11:31 am Post subject: Re: TiVo and phone line use ...

SuperDave wrote:

Sublimaze1 wrote:

You say that #104 with ,99 allows your TiVo to dial out? How are you entering this string? (what keystrokes)?

I activated mine at a friend's house, brought it back to mine, and have it linked through network now.

It's ,#104
You need the coma.

Somewhere along the way #104 must have been disabled. Or maybe it only works on the Linksys adapter. I have the Motorola ATA and as soon as I dial #1 my phone clicks, and goes into a re-order tone. #104 cannot be dialed from my Vonage line.