Vonage - multiple phones (not lines - phones)

guygamps

Hi - currently I have to phones and broadband with Virgin Media.

Line 1 rental - £11, talk unlimited £25 - 5 sockets around the house - big house, 3 wired phones, and 4 DECT phones

Line 2 rental - another £11 plus shares the talk unlimited of line 1 - only 1 socket in my office.

Then I pay £25 per month for Broadband, I have negotiated a small monthyl re-bate over those costs, but still it is a lot.

The cost of running line 2 I get back from my employer (I work from home and only use it for work)

but line one which is for personal and family is costing £36 plus calls to mobiles which are not included.

Virgin broadband (NTL as was) has been 100% reliable, it is fast, good quality, has no download limits, and although not the cheapes I am basically happy with it, but their phone line costs seem OTT. so been thinking about VOIP.

I called Vonage, told them I am thinking of replacing line 1 with Vonage £5.99 per month package. Specifically asked the sales person if after successfully testing it, I could install in such a way alll my sockets around the house would go through vonage, was told yes no problem - I could wire the vonage router to nearby socket in such a way this would work... we even discussed if this needed to be the master socket and I was told no.

Got it, tried it , with just one phone plugged in to Vonage adaptor and then to my router, and I like it. So I called them and said "now to go to next step, connect to my socket so all the sockets work on vonage throughout the house.

Was told this isn't possible, only in North America

Wow, what a load of nonsense. I could purchase a DECT phone with 5 handsets, but my experience is (we are a large family) that people nevr put them back on their chargers, however many you have, and you really need at least one wired phone on each floor, otherwise phone rings, and you run around trying to find a handset!

So, basically I was mis-sold it, I am in a free trial period so no problem I can cancel.

but I like it, I like what it does, and like the potential for saving £30 per month overvirgin, and it can be done in USA, can it be done with a bit of know how here?

anyone any experience with that?

Thanks

Guy

dave_dph

Unless it is due to some technical issue that I am unaware of, then i can't see why it won't work.

I use voip.co.uk through a Linksys 2102 analogue telephone adaptor connected to my VM broadband service. All of my existing telephone sockets work on voip.

My extension sockets were wired in series from the old BT / VM telephone line box, in other words there was one wire feeding all the extensions and this wire connected to the line box.

My VM modem is in a different room to the BT / VM telephone line box, so this is all I had to do:

• Disconnect the extension wire from the line box so that you are not touching the BT / VM network

• Connect this wire to a standard telephone extension socket, in order to keep telephone service in the room where the original linebox is located.

• Connect a two core telephone cable to the telephone line output from the the Linksys 2102. Connect this cable to the input connectors of a telphone master socket.

• Connect your extension wiring into the new master socket.

Job done. All your extensions should work.

If this doesn't make sense or you need futher info please ask.

guygamps

unfortunately I don't really follow... so here are some questions:

remember I am currently on virgin (cable) not BT, it may or may not be relevant.
Unless it is due to some technical issue that I am unaware of, then i can't see why it won't work.

"I use voip.co.uk through a Linksys 2102 analogue telephone adaptor connected to my VM broadband service. All of my existing telephone sockets work on voip."

GUY: I have the "free" vonage adaptor made by D-Link it has one port which connects to my router, and 2 sockets for Line 1 and Line 2 phone lines, it has come with 2 adaptors, one end plugs in to this socket, the other end is BT style socket to plug your phone in to. Thats all I have, so trying to work out what else I need.

"My extension sockets were wired in series from the old BT / VM telephone line box, in other words there was one wire feeding all the extensions and this wire connected to the line box. "

GUY: Line box? whats that? grey thing on the side of the house? I really have no information at all about what it here other than this. NTL put it in, grey box at side of house, one new phone socket inside (next to an old BT that now of course doesn't work) and the other sockets around the house I think (but it is more than 8 years and I can't be sure) are all the old BT ones, except. twice over the last 8 years I had other sockets added, don;t know how they are wired, never asked, they work that;'s all I ever needed to know.

"My VM modem is in a different room to the BT / VM telephone line box, so this is all I had to do:"

GUY: my vonage adaptor is in my office, there is a phone land line socket there, but it is one of the ones added at some point (it was a garage I converted), and is nowhere near the first socket which I think is the one in the kitchen,

• "Disconnect the extension wire from the line box so that you are not touching the BT / VM network
  

• Connect this wire to a standard telephone extension socket, in order to keep telephone service in the room where the original linebox is located.

• Connect a two core telephone cable to the telephone line output from the the Linksys 2102. Connect this cable to the input connectors of a telphone master socket.

• Connect your extension wiring into the new master socket.

Job done. All your extensions should work."

GUY: sorry, the above is hard for me to understand, a neighhour has a friendly ex BT engineer who pops by and does the odd job for him, he is over next week so I will show him your message and ask his advice.

"If this doesn't make sense or you need futher info please ask."

GUY: I don't want to trouble you, I think from what you say it WILL work, if any extra info I have given above helps, let me know, otherwise sounds like a job for someone who knows what they are doing with phone sockets. Funny how i can build computer networks and AV systems, but know NOTHING about how a phone system works.

Thanks

Guy
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dave_dph

Sorry, I'll try and explain a bit better. When I say Linebox I mean the master telephone socket that was installed by NTL, it is larger than an extension socket and has a removable lower front cover - this is the cover you will remove to disconnect the extension wire.

The linebox will contain a ring capacitor which enables your phones to ring. Extension sockets do not have the ring capacitor. Only one linebox should be fitted on the line, regardless of how many extension sockets are added.

The "adaptor" http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=2370 that you mention will contain a ring capacitor, so in effect it is acting like a line box. Obviously you can not add extension wiring to this adaptor so you will need to replace it with a linebox http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=7311 In turn this linebox will need to be fed from the Vonage box. To do this you will need a piece of telephone cable with an RJ11 plug fitted at one end. Only two wires need to be connected in the RJ11, I think it will be the centre two pins. You should be able to tell by looking at the RJ11 on the existing adaptor and then make sure your new lead uses the same two connectors. To make life easier I just used a lead from an old DECT base unit and cut the standard telephone plug off the other end!

Once you have your lead (RJ11 at one end, no connector at the other end) you have to connect it to your new linebox. Remove the lower front cover and then the two inner larger screws in order to access the input connectors. These input connectors maybe screw clamps or the standard grip connectors found in BT or NTL sockets. Connect the two wires from your RJ11 lead to these line connectors in your new linebox. It shouldn't matter which wire goes to which connector. If the linebox has the grip connectors as apposed to screw connectors you will need a tool to connect the wires http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=7187

Plug the RJ11 into your Vonage box and plug a working telephone into the linebox. The phone should work exactly as it did before. All you have done in effect is replace the small ring capacitor socket with a normal linebox.

Ok, that was the difficult part! All you have to do now is connect your extension wiring to the new linebox. To do this, remove the extension wiring from the NTL linebox - the one in the kitchen. This is easily done by removing the lower front cover and disconnecting the colour coded wires from the grip connectors. Make a note of which wires go to which numbered connectors. In order to keep a telephone in this location you will need to put an extension socket onto the extension wiring that you have just disconnected.

Go back to your office. Discconect the wiring from the NTL extension socket and connect this wiring to the new linebox which you have set up from your Vonage box. You have to connect the wires to the same numbered pins as they were connected to in the original NTL linebox. If you do not do this then your extensions will not work correctly.

That should be it. All your extensions should now be on Vonage!

In theory you could use your original NTL extension socket from your office to connect onto the extension wiring in the kitchen. This would save you buying a new extesnion socket. I wouldn't suggest using the original NTL linebox from the kitchen to connect to the Vonage box, this socket belongs to NTL and you are not supposed to touch the wiring behind the inner plate.

I hope this has made it clearer? I am happy to pm you my number if you want to give me a call, it might be easier to explain verbally!

guygamps

Thanks so much, more than enough info here... as I said i think i will pass this on to someone, because a) he;'s retired ex BT and will do stuff like this for a bit of beer money, and b) he is doing stuff at my neighbours this week so it would be an opportunity to get him over easily.

Again thanks.

Vonage itself seems pretty good, apart from the "hassle factor" of getting your phone sockets on it, I can't see a downside providing you have a good reliable internet connection (which indeed I do).

Is there a downside?
Guy

dave_dph

guygamps wrote: »

Vonage itself seems pretty good, apart from the "hassle factor" of getting your phone sockets on it, I can't see a downside providing you have a good reliable internet connection (which indeed I do).

Is there a downside?
Guy

I have used voip.co.uk for a good 18 months and never had any major problems. There was a few weeks when I had disconnections etc when they were changing platforms, but apart from that it has been fine. I have never used Vonage as for my usage they are too expensive, so I can't comment.

Will you be porting your Virginmedia number over to Vonage then?

guygamps

dave_dph wrote: »

I have used voip.co.uk for a good 18 months and never had any major problems. There was a few weeks when I had disconnections etc when they were changing platforms, but apart from that it has been fine. I have never used Vonage as for my usage they are too expensive, so I can't comment.

Will you be porting your Virginmedia number over to Vonage then?

Well at £5.99 per month including unlimited calls to UK landlines 24/7, (not just eves and weekends) I can;t see how it is anything other than great value for money, compared with virgin £11 line rental plus £25 for talk unlimited, so YES I am thinking of porting over my virgin landline number... but note:

The key to its vaibility is that I have a good broadband connection (again virgin) which although not the cheapest has proven 100% reliable over 7-8 years, with barely a flicker, so i will be keeping virgin BB

Also I have a second virgin landline, another £11 per month, which I charge back to my employer, i will be keeping that so a) I will stand have a landline on the premises, b) I can therefore take advantage of any virgin phone/BB bundle they want to offer me, whilst c) saving £30 per month on the costs that I do not claim back from my employer

So I would have vonage VOIP plus virgin landline side by side, but save £360 per year.

but, it looks like I will need to pay someone to re-engineer my phone system a little since much of the above is beyond my understanding, still if it costs be £60 of beer money for a retired BT engineer, I have made that back in 2 months is my way of looking at it.

Guy

ChrisRob300

Hi

I am using Vonage.

Can I unplug the faceplate from the master socket and then replace an extension socket with a master socket?

current master socket is downstairs and broadband is upstairs.

Regards Chris

dave_dph

ChrisRob300 wrote: »

Hi

I am using Vonage.

Can I unplug the faceplate from the master socket and then replace an extension socket with a master socket?

current master socket is downstairs and broadband is upstairs.

Regards Chris

In theory yes, but if the master socket belongs to BT or VM you are not supposed to touch it.

You could always buy a cheap master socket from a hardware store to put near to the voip router. Put an extension socket next to the original master and then connect the two with the original wiring.

ChrisRob300

dave_dph wrote: »

In theory yes, but if the master socket belongs to BT or VM you are not supposed to touch it.

You could always buy a cheap master socket from a hardware store to put near to the voip router. Put an extension socket next to the original master and then connect the two with the original wiring.

Thank you for you help.

I think the master socket is BT but now used by Virgin Media?

I have a new master socket, to replace my extension socket. That is good use for the extension socket.

Chris

DVardysShadow

dave_dph wrote: »

In theory yes, but if the master socket belongs to BT or VM you are not supposed to touch it.

There is NO problem with connecting or disconnecting wiring to the front plate.