Connect Vonage router to Linksys WRT54G

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 02, 2009 Posts: 4

I just signed up and am waiting for my Vonage router to arrive. I already use a Linksys WRT54G router which I would like to continue to use. Is it possible to connect the Vonage router to the Linksys router? With a setup similar to this:

............................................---------------------->Computer
.........................................../---------------------->Computer
Cable Modem-------->Linksys WRT54G Router-------->Computer
..........................................\---->Vonage Router---->Telephone

If it is which ports do I need to forward to the Vonage Router, or should I just set that as a DMZ zone? Is it possible to set the Vonage router to IP 192.168.1.110? I assume I would keep the subnet at 255.255.255.0 and set the gateway to 192.168.1.1 (Linksys router ip) I have no idea which router Vonage is sending me, but since it is a new account I assume whatever they are using now. Should I use or request a different one if possible?

Posts: 25 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 31, 2008 Posts: 25

This is absolutely possible - in fact it is the very same setup I am using since I got vonage (about a year ago.)
You don't have to forward ports - all you do is to give your vonage router highest priority in your QoS settings, so phone calls have priority over web browsing, p2p etc.
Since my Linksys router has the IP of 192.168.1.1, I set the vonage device to 192.168.1.2.
Turn off DHCP in your vonage router and you can use the LAN ports for other computers. This ensures that they all belong to the same subnet and you don't have an IP conflict.

One important point: I had problems with QoS and was messing around with the settings forever.
1. Use MAC addresses for QoS settings. IP addresses have to be converted to MAC addresses anyways, so this saves some traffic and CPU load on the router.
2. I finally changed my router firmware to tomato, because the call quality was not good enough for me. Honestly: QoS settings on Linksys firmware is horrible! - Tomato runs super stable, does not require programming knowledge and the calls are 1a quality. I can't say how happy I am with that change and would never go back.
(If you want more information on that topic - let me know!)

Enjoy!

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 02, 2009 Posts: 4

Thanks for your reply. I'm using DD-WRT firmware, so setting QOS should be no problem. I received the router from Vonage, its their Vonage router (not Linksys, Belkin, etc, their own brand) It only has one ethernet port going in and one going out, plus two phone jacks. There isn't much I can do until Monday when I move, my current ISP doesn't allow the use of VOIP. I was worried their router didn't have many options but it seems better than the old Linksys firmware.