New installation

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 20, 2005 Posts: 19

I just bought the Vonage Phone adapter from London Drugs and arranged to switch my internet service to the phone line I will be keeping and disconnecting the other line. I have phone and internet service on the one line.

My house has three floors and I need phones on each floor. I now have cordless phones on each floor.

What is the easiest and best way to install this setup? Can I use the existing phone jacks or do I need to keep the base units plugged into the Vonage adapter?

Thanks for your comments.

Posts: 188 · Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject:

Wow! That's big question! The answer depends on how handy you are. If you are not handy, the best set up is a cordless phone system that supports at least four handsets. This way, you can have four cordless phones using the one active phone port on your adapter (port 1).

If you are handy, you can disconnect your wall phone jacks from the demarc and power them with your adapter. I won't even pretend to tell you how to do this but there are plenty of people in this forum that have done it and it is easy........................for them! Smile

I'm confused about your comment "arranged to switch my internet service to the phone line I will be keeping and disconnecting the other line. I have phone and internet service on the one line." Does this mean that you are using DSL with your Vonage service and that you have two phone lines from a wireline provider and you are cancelling one wireline and keeping the other? Sorry, I'm just another westerner Smile

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 20, 2005 Posts: 19

Thanks for your comments. I live in Vancouver.
Basically, I am just trying to reduce my monthly telephone, cable and internet service costs. But, it is a jungle out there and the plans are confusing and difficult to compare. I also have a cell phone now with Telus, but I think I will switch to Rogers when the plan expires in six months.

I have two telephone numbers in the house now and I will cancel one number. Internet service is now with Infoserve at 24.95 monthly.
I will hook up to Vonage next Wednesday, after the telus repairman has been here. I would like to use the existing jacks; however, while I am Ok with tools, I have no knowledge or experience with telephone cables. Maybe Telus "naked Internet" option is the way to go?

I would also consider switching to Shaw instenet service - I already have Shaw cable - if this would also save money.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 20, 2005 Posts: 5

Speakeasy: Regarding using existing phone jacks - If there is a demarc box on the side of your house, open it and pull out the phone cable from there. If you live in an older house, it might be in the basement. You should be able to locate the phone wire coming into your house and disconnect it.

Take a look at these resources:

http://www.primustel.ca/en/residential/talkbroadband/pdf/TalkBroadband_Wiring_Guide.pdf
(for Primus TalkBroadband customers, but method applies to Vonage as well)

http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 20, 2005 Posts: 19

Jyeung, Thanks.
I know where the connection box is outside the house and I can easily follow the instructions you provided. Disconnecting a wire or a plug is just within my range of capabilities.

But, I see that if I want to divest myself of Telus, then I will have to get cable internet service.

Any problems with Shaw bundles?

Posts: 188 · Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:47 pm Post subject: Re: New Installation

Speakeasy wrote:

Thanks for your comments. I live in Vancouver.
Basically, I am just trying to reduce my monthly telephone, cable and internet service costs. But, it is a jungle out there and the plans are confusing and difficult to compare. I also have a cell phone now with Telus, but I think I will switch to Rogers when the plan expires in six months.

I have two telephone numbers in the house now and I will cancel one number. Internet service is now with Infoserve at 24.95 monthly.
I will hook up to Vonage next Wednesday, after the telus repairman has been here. I would like to use the existing jacks; however, while I am Ok with tools, I have no knowledge or experience with telephone cables. Maybe Telus "naked Internet" option is the way to go?

I would also consider switching to Shaw instenet service - I already have Shaw cable - if this would also save money.

I don't think that Telus offers "dry DSL" but you can ask. They likely won't understand the concept Very Happy

If they don't offer dry DSL, switching your ISP to Shaw will save you money versus Telus as you won't be forced to subscribe to local phone service in addition to your internet service. I have Shaw and it works well with Vonage. The bundles depend on what kind of cable package that you have (or want). The cheapest bundle is $56.95. That is the "high speed internet plus basic cable" bundle. I have the "total home bundle" which is $89.95.

Posts: 188 · Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:58 pm Post subject:

jyeung wrote:

Speakeasy: Regarding using existing phone jacks - If there is a demarc box on the side of your house, open it and pull out the phone cable from there. If you live in an older house, it might be in the basement. You should be able to locate the phone wire coming into your house and disconnect it.

Take a look at these resources:

http://www.primustel.ca/en/residential/talkbroadband/pdf/TalkBroadband_Wiring_Guide.pdf
(for Primus TalkBroadband customers, but method applies to Vonage as well)

http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html

Thanks! Wow! That is easy, even for me! Very Happy

It's too bad that I live in an apartment and therefore I don't have access to the demarc.

Posts: 6 · Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:39 am Post subject: Re: New Installation

miket603 wrote:

I don't think that Telus offers "dry DSL" but you can ask. They likely won't understand the concept Very Happy

If they don't offer dry DSL, switching your ISP to Shaw will save you money versus Telus as you won't be forced to subscribe to local phone service in addition to your internet service. I have Shaw and it works well with Vonage. The bundles depend on what kind of cable package that you have (or want). The cheapest bundle is $56.95. That is the "high speed internet plus basic cable" bundle. I have the "total home bundle" which is $89.95.

I just switch from Telus to Shaw and Vonage works very well. If you own the Telus ADSL modem, Shaw can buy back the modem and give you a new cable modem for free. They will also give you 1mo free.

For Telus "dry" DSL, they do offer it w/o landline phone but you have to pay extra $15/month. That's the reason I switch to Shaw and ditch all Telus service altogether.

Posts: 110 · Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:07 am Post subject:

miket603 wrote:

jyeung wrote:

Speakeasy: Regarding using existing phone jacks - If there is a demarc box on the side of your house, open it and pull out the phone cable from there. If you live in an older house, it might be in the basement. You should be able to locate the phone wire coming into your house and disconnect it.

Take a look at these resources:

http://www.primustel.ca/en/residential/talkbroadband/pdf/TalkBroadband_Wiring_Guide.pdf
(for Primus TalkBroadband customers, but method applies to Vonage as well)

http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html

Thanks! Wow! That is easy, even for me! Very Happy

It's too bad that I live in an apartment and therefore I don't have access to the demarc.

Ya, that seems really neat. Also I'm in an apartment, so I guess its useless to me Sad

. But its something to know incase I wanna convince family/friends to switch over to Voip. Smile

Posts: 53 · Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:51 pm Post subject:

I live in Vancouver as well, West End.

Telus offers dry DSL, to my understanding it's to exsisting DSL customers only. They also offer a $15 discount if you are a Telus Mobility Customer. I am paying roughly $43 w/ taxes.

If you're going to go with DSL service, I don't think it's wise to disconnect any wiring related to the phones service, something to consider.

I live in the West End and the DSL signal is stable and works quite well with Vonage.

I also have internet with Shaw Cable, $37.95/month before tax w/ bundle, same rate as Telus DSL. I also pay an extra $10 for High Speed Extreme, waste of money. The only reason I have both right now is becaise I can't decide which one to keep. In this area, the cable signal is not much faster than DSL and it's not stable, even with High-Speed Extreme. The QOS rating from the speed test puts the Shaw signal between 12-30%, Telus is usually 98, 99%. Vonage works fine on cabel, but there is occasionally some line noice, not always.

I live in an apartment building so I'm not able to do much with the wiring to service other phone jacks.

Hope this helps.