Initial setup

Posts: 25 · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:55 am Post subject: Initial setup

I'm going to start off by first apologising if this has been covered before...I have read for 2 days now and have a headache from all the information overload....

I just ordered the Vonage service(finally) and the phone adapter is in the mail...although I don't know which one it is, I'm assuming the default they send out is the R31P2...?

I already have this setup at home......ISP is Comcast at the 4.0/256 level and it goes from linksys modem----->linksys WRT54G----->wired desktop and wireless laptop....

my question is that where can I or rather should I put the phone adapter so as to get good QoS AND not have to change my existing setup? I read that people have put it in front of the WRT54G to get better QoS and to put it after the linksys router would mean worse QoS (if I use the regular firmware and NOT an aftermarket one, which I don't want to do)......

as you can tell,I'm quite confused and would love some help.....much appreciate any input.

Thanks.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:58 am Post subject:

The WRT54G/GS are amazing machines... I'd highly recommend aftermarket firmware for them, even if you're not a tech geek. I probably have 10 or so WRT54GS routers out in the field and they've been very reliable on the aftermarket firmware (running Sveasoft Alchemy). Even had 50 or so users & a video feed uplink going on one and it never showed any signs of bogging down. The aftermarket firmware installs in a very similar manner to a regular Linksys firmware update, should take a whole 10 minutes if you've never done it before, probably 1-2 minutes if you've done them before.

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:24 pm Post subject:

to answer your question, the ideal way from many posts on this forum and personal experience is to put the wrt54g in front of the rt31p2 (connect the rt31p2 to the wrt54g) which is opposite of your plan. then set up qos on the wrt54g which handles it better than the rt31p2. I highly recommend against 3rd party firmware, but anyway, your choice. just make sure you have the latest from linksys if you stick with official firmware.

Posts: 25 · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:02 pm Post subject:

I personally don't want to use third party firmware just because I don't know enough to mess with technical stuff....I can read and follow basic instructions and that's about it.... Embarassed

thanks reebok....actually that's what I want to do(put the WRT54G BEFORE the rt31p2) but everyone here seems to have put it the other way around.....I guess I will go with the former and see how it works....

you mentioned to "set up the QoS on the WRT54G"......how will I do that? or is it all going to be painfully obvious when I install it? My main concern is the quality of the voice and my wife will effectively kill me if this doesn't work as well as our land line..... Confused

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:11 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure where they've put it in the offical Linksys firmware, but it'll probably be in the same general area.

In the Sveasoft Alchemy firmware, you can change/configure QoS by going to your router's web interface, ex: http://router-ip/

then clicking on Applications and Gaming, then clicking on QoS directly beneath it.

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:48 pm Post subject:

look in your manual if you can't get it from vonagetpa's instructions. router-ip would be http://192.168.1.1

Posts: 25 · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 5:06 pm Post subject:

would someone mind posting how I should connect the rtp132 to my existing setup?

comcast internet ------> linksys modem ------->WRT54G

I want to add the rtp132 AFTER the wrt54g......any help would be appreciated. I actually need to know what to plug where......sorry for the noobish questions....would appreciate any help.

Thanks.

Posts: 646 · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:44 pm Post subject:

Connect the WAN port of the RT31P2 to a LAN port on the WRT54G. It should "just work."

Once you get that going, you should look into setting up QoS on the WRT54G. If you plan to be uploading things from the computer while you're on the phone, QoS can give the voice traffic priority over the computer traffic.

Posts: 25 · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 8:17 pm Post subject:

thanks....I actually found that setup page on vonage's site.....funny how the instructions said the phone adapter power light would flicker for sometime before getting stable....mine was stable from the get go..........and now I have Vonage...voohoovohohooo.......

I just realised something though....until my number gets ported, I won't be able to get my calls from that number on my phone anymore right? what about voice mail? will someone who calls my "old number" get my old voicemail or the Vonage one?

Ummmm.....also,any tips on setting up the QoS on my wrt54G? I can see the tab for it on the router's webpage but don't know what to do with it?!? Embarassed

I would really like to thank you all for helping me get this far....

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:26 am Post subject:

uh, not if you don't have a phone plugged into it. if they could get your Vonage voicemail, this would be a moot point anyway.
there are probably 10,000 posts on qos, including dozens recently. search for it.