caller ID stops working periodically

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 28, 2004 Posts: 10

My Vonage service generally works well but frequently the caller ID service will stop working. This often happens on busy days when I receive a lot of calls. The phone will continue to ring as normal, but the callers' information does not appear on my phones.

In order to get the caller ID back I have to power cycle the Motorola ATA. Because this is happening so often I bought a lamp timer and programmed it to turn off power to the ATA for one minute in the wee hours of the morning. This way I always have caller ID in the morning but the service often goes out by evening.

I spoke to Vonage about a year ago, and the conclusion was that the power supply was not supplying enough current to the ATA. We resolved that Vonage was going to send me a new power cord.

After several months I enquired about the status of my power cord, and they said that they were working on ordering my cord from Motorola. I still have not received my cord.

When I was troubleshooting the problem the techs said that many people have this problem. What, if anything, has been done about it?

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:38 pm Post subject:

a common problem as they stated and the power cord is the resolution. clever workaround though. they should send one, keep on them, or just request a linksys device from them. if you're worried about it not working as well, just keep it how you have it.

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 28, 2004 Posts: 10

reebok wrote:

a common problem as they stated and the power cord is the resolution. clever workaround though. they should send one, keep on them, or just request a linksys device from them. if you're worried about it not working as well, just keep it how you have it.

I called Vonage today, they said that they shipped out my new power cord in May of 2004! I did not receive it. I stated that I did not receive the new power cord and requested that they send another one. The technician stated that he will send me out a new cord. The tech also said he was going to check the settings of my adapter, but we got disconnected. I'm sure my configuration is fine.

I'll call back in a few days to ask what the status is on my power cord.

When / if I get the power cord, and I've had a chance to test it, I'll write another post with my results.

-- Rick

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 28, 2004 Posts: 10

reebok wrote:

a common problem as they stated and the power cord is the resolution. clever workaround though. they should send one, keep on them, or just request a linksys device from them. if you're worried about it not working as well, just keep it how you have it.

In my last post I spoke to a tech who promised to send me a new power cord. I called back on Thursday to verify that the cord has been shipped. It had not, and the tech explained to me that further research revealed that the power cord was not the problem. He said that the Motorolas periodically lose their configuration (???) and they send out updates every two weeks to address this problem (?!). In any case I'm still having a problem.

Taking your suggestion, I politely but firmly told the tech that I would take a new device. He offered to ship out a new Linksys RT31P2 device to me, provided that I let them put a hold of $99.94 on my credit card until they get the Motorola device back. Fair enough because I don't have any use for the darn Motorola.

Suprisingly Vonage overnighted me the new device!

I was a bit apprehensive about switching to the new device. Whereas the Motorola is strictly an ATA, the Linksys RT31P2 is a router, switch, *and* ATA. I'm sure I could disabled the routing features of the Linksys to make it behave like a simple ATA. But I figure why not use all the features of the device? So I removed my old router and replaced it with the Linksys.

I'm acctually happy with the Linksys. I've always liked Linksys routers because they have relatively good QoS and port forwarding features. Plus, I can now liquidate my old router for some much needed scratch.

My new setup is working fine so far, and I've been up for two days with the caller ID still going strong!

One possible drawback though: the RT31P2 does not offer wireless connectivity, for those who want it. Personally, I'm not a fan of wireless, so it's not big deal for me. When / if I need wireless though I'll get a cheapie wireless access point.

So far so good! Although Vonage *could* have proactively addressed my concerns much sooner.