POTS & Vonage wiring question

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 19, 2005 Posts: 2

I did a quick search and didn't find and answer...

So I want to add Vonage as a second line. Can I use 1 pair out of the Linksys and 1 pair out of a POTS demarc and combine them into one female RJ jack ??

I have a bunch of 2 line phones in the the house and want primary line to be POTS and the second to be VONAGE. Right now I have 2 POTS lines each with a different dmarc tied togethter and have one of those multi-port RJ distribution harmonicas that I plug into the combined female.

since the POTS voltage is only on 1 pair and Vontage on the other would this be OK ?

Thanks

Posts: 482 · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 5:38 pm Post subject:

Yep, assuming you wire everything properly that's not a problem.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 19, 2005 Posts: 2

Thanks

Posts: 492 · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:07 am Post subject:

Well, you're looking for answers, you may wind up with problems. To wire your live phone adapter wiring into a live PSTN pair? Have you ever heard of Ringer Equivalence Number? What is the resultant REN when two live circuits are shorted together? Zero! When your PSTN line rings it will try to ring your phone adapter as if it were a telephone. That circuit was not made to accept that kind of current. What kind of current do you expect on this juryrigged circuit? If you don't know, you're just asking for trouble. Likewise when the phone adapter tries to ring your live PSTN line, will it be able to drive that circuit or burn up trying. Phones are not too inexpensive these days. Mine cost $80. The phone adapter costs from $80 to $90. Are you willing to spend that kind of money on replacing these items just out of some sense of convenience? That's your risk. This reminds me of the "People do stupid things" moto on the Vonage commercial. The reason that you can't find any info on this sort of wiring is because it isn't done for obvious reasons. I strongly suggest that you disconnect that juryrig asap. Hook up a real set of dedicated wires or pay the price for ignorance.

Sorry! I don't mean to be hard on you or insult you. I've spent my entire career in electronics. I know what I'm talking about. There is a motto we used to follow, "If you don't know what you're doing, do nothing". Don't do this thing.

Posts: 68 · Full Forum Member Joined: Feb 14, 2005 Posts: 68

This IS possible, provided you're doing it like this:

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The idea being that orange is isolated at the NID and unused, while blue is used by the landline.. All jacks in the house could either be wired with dual jack wallplates (where you have orange/white and blue/white in the center of each jack), or with single jacks where the outer are orange/white and the inner are blue/white..

In my house I did blue/white inner and orange/white outer.. Now, make sure you have some phone cord and splitters that support 4 wires, preferably in-line splitters and not the kind that you plug into a jack because these are easier.. albeit requiring more wire, pop it open, and at the end where you want there to be the vonage line, you'd take out the center 2 wires, and move the outer 2 to their spot (just cut off the original centers so you don't get confused) -- now you'll have a functioning 'orange jack' that'll work anywhere..

To use "blue", you'd just plug in your phone as usual. I imagine that might sound confusing.. but it's actually rather simple..

Posts: 492 · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:47 am Post subject:

I like it! Forgive me if I try it out with my calculator first. Thanks for the link, it's one for the books.

While I can't find anything monumentally wrong with your setup, I have to admit it is ingenious. You are correct about the orange and red wires being unused. They are run for the ease of the technician to hook up a second or possibly a third line.

Now Mr. ImPAQing has 2 PSTN lines. So, all four wires might be in use. Possibly only three wires. Depending upon how his 2 lines are wired could mean trouble for the phone adapter or not. However, if there is a free wire, I sure would like to see your setup in action. That is if IamPAQing follows your lead.

Not having a need for such a setup in my little one bedroom. There is only one PSTN line into here and it's in the other end of this place. So, I have no need for schemes to extend Vonage anywhere beyond right here.

Posts: 482 · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:10 pm Post subject:

mbhn5204 wrote:

Well, you're looking for answers, you may wind up with problems. To wire your live phone adapter wiring into a live PSTN pair? Have you ever heard of Ringer Equivalence Number? What is the resultant REN when two live circuits are shorted together? Zero! When your PSTN line rings it will try to ring your phone adapter as if it were a telephone. That circuit was not made to accept that kind of current. What kind of current do you expect on this juryrigged circuit? If you don't know, you're just asking for trouble. Likewise when the phone adapter tries to ring your live PSTN line, will it be able to drive that circuit or burn up trying. Phones are not too inexpensive these days. Mine cost $80. The phone adapter costs from $80 to $90. Are you willing to spend that kind of money on replacing these items just out of some sense of convenience? That's your risk. This reminds me of the "People do stupid things" moto on the Vonage commercial. The reason that you can't find any info on this sort of wiring is because it isn't done for obvious reasons. I strongly suggest that you disconnect that juryrig asap. Hook up a real set of dedicated wires or pay the price for ignorance.

Sorry! I don't mean to be hard on you or insult you. I've spent my entire career in electronics. I know what I'm talking about. There is a motto we used to follow, "If you don't know what you're doing, do nothing". Don't do this thing.

The question wasn't about splicing into a live PSTN pair, it was about using the unused pair in a 4-wire for a second line for Vonage, and that works just fine.

ImPAQing wrote:

So I want to add Vonage as a second line. Can I use 1 pair out of the Linksys and 1 pair out of a POTS demarc and combine them into one female RJ jack ??

since the POTS voltage is only on 1 pair and Vonage on the other would this be OK ?

Clearly Mr ImPAQing knows what he's doing. He specifically stated he wants to use one PAIR for POTS and the other PAIR for Vonage. That shouldn't have been hard to catch.

You may know what you're talking about, but in this case, you missed what WE were talking about.

Posts: 492 · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:18 pm Post subject:

I stand corrected. It was late at night and I got a bit hasty, sorry. Nevertheless, color coding in residential wiring has no standard. You still have to be careful. The first indication of trouble will be ground currents, characterized by a 60hz hum on the line. I'll say no more, but I sure would like to know how all this turns out. Good luck ImPAQing!