Dish Network and Vonage

stillageek

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Original poster
May 25, 2004
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I currently have two 510 DVRs and one 522 DVR. I also have the Vonage VoIP phone system. I assumed I could just plug in the receivers to the Vonage box and be done. Nope. When I do the phone test via the diag menu it passes. When I try to dial out it fails. I think this has to due with Vonage and other VoIP being true digital. A modem works by converting digital to analog and at the other end being digital again. I assume anyway. I also assume that a digital signal cant carry analog well. I have searched the forums and found incomplete answers to my question. Does anyone have a succesful solution to using Dish Network and Vonage?
 
I found that if I use the Phone #2 port on the Vonage Motorola ATA (you need a second line to use it) it will work with the 510 but port #1 won't. Not sure what the differance would be.
 
stillageek said:
I think this has to due with Vonage and other VoIP being true digital. A modem works by converting digital to analog and at the other end being digital again. I assume anyway. I also assume that a digital signal cant carry analog well.

Not quite so, I think. ;) Remember, your telephone is an analog instrument and it works very well on Vonage. I sometimes get "dropouts" when my ReplayTV calls in for it's daily update. It takes about 12 -15 minutes to get the full download. I don't know if this is excessive or not since I never knew how long it took until I got Vonage and a record of calls. I've had better luck since I started turning off Outlook overnight. It's one less thing to compete with when it comes to moving data over a shared line.
 
argo said:
Not quite so, I think. ;) Remember, your telephone is an analog instrument and it works very well on Vonage. I sometimes get "dropouts" when my ReplayTV calls in for it's daily update. It takes about 12 -15 minutes to get the full download. I don't know if this is excessive or not since I never knew how long it took until I got Vonage and a record of calls. I've had better luck since I started turning off Outlook overnight. It's one less thing to compete with when it comes to moving data over a shared line.

Vonage is sampling the analog instrument (phone) and placing it on the IP network. Since you are only sampling the analog data, you lose a minute amount of content. With a POTS line, you are analog all the way to the CO where much more sophistocated digital equipment will sample your call or keep you analog if you're calling someone served by the same CO. If you're on a RT, the electronics are still more sophistocated than an ATA, but most people can't connect at higher than 28.8 or 33.6kbps due to the digital sampling.

There is a way to adjust the sampling rate of Vonage by dialing a pair of digits...two asterisks perhaps? I forget now, but it in some way makes a Vonage voice port act as a Vonage fax port for the duration of the call. The Vonage fax line has a different sample rate than the voice. Thankfully, most older IRD's don't connect at higher than 2400 baud.
 
cameron119: Thanksfor the good info. I guess that explains the periodic dropouts.

What can I expect if I buy the 721 I've been thinking about? Will it fly on port 1 or will I need a second line so I can use port 2? Or is the connect speed faster with the 721? I guess if all else fails I won't need to hook it up to Vonage.
 
argo said:
cameron119: Thanksfor the good info. I guess that explains the periodic dropouts.

What can I expect if I buy the 721 I've been thinking about? Will it fly on port 1 or will I need a second line so I can use port 2? Or is the connect speed faster with the 721? I guess if all else fails I won't need to hook it up to Vonage.

721 Doesn't require the dial-in. You can always phone-in PPV purchases. I wouldn't pay for the 2nd line for that.

I wish I could remember the code that allows the voice line to function better for fax...

Maybe ** (star, star) then the number?
 
Yeah, I wasn't thinking clearly on the phone line. I'll have to do some experimentation anyway. BTW, according to the label...mine is a VT1005V. So it might be a whole new ball game.
 
Actually, I found that the Motorola ATA needs the middle or highest setting for bandwidth or it will not dial out properly... On my CISCO one, I did not need to set it as high to save bandwidth. You might try changing this.
 
So do you have to have the Vonage box near your receiver? That's the only thing I don't like about Vonage. I have one phone hooked up to the box where my broadband connection is. Other than that I can't plug anything in.
 
glenn z said:
So do you have to have the Vonage box near your receiver? That's the only thing I don't like about Vonage. I have one phone hooked up to the box where my broadband connection is. Other than that I can't plug anything in.

Have you gotten rid of your old telephone service? If so, try disconnecting the old service connection where it entered your house. Then plug the line from your Vonage box into an old telephone jack. That should backfeed your whole house and let you connect to Vonage wherever you have a jack.

BTW, I still haven't gotten around to ordering a ppv to test out my 721 or 921 using Vonage. I am somewhat encouraged by these facts...1) Both units pass the dial out test and CID works on both, 2) My ReplayTV box is able to successfully dial out and download each days guide data, and 3) My HP all in one is able to send faxes, however, I've never tried receiving faxes on it.
 
Larry said:
Have you gotten rid of your old telephone service? If so, try disconnecting the old service connection where it entered your house. Then plug the line from your Vonage box into an old telephone jack. That should backfeed your whole house and let you connect to Vonage wherever you have a jack.

BTW, I still haven't gotten around to ordering a ppv to test out my 721 or 921 using Vonage. I am somewhat encouraged by these facts...1) Both units pass the dial out test and CID works on both, 2) My ReplayTV box is able to successfully dial out and download each days guide data, and 3) My HP all in one is able to send faxes, however, I've never tried receiving faxes on it.

Ahhhh - excellent idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that.

Thanks!
 
Vonage

I have Vonage along with a 522,510 and 811. I also live in a house. I disconnected the phone companies line to the box on the outside of my house. I then plugged the vonage box into a wall jack in the house. Now all of my jacks work normally. All of the recievers can dial out without an issue. I did leave a note inside the outside box instructing the phone company to contact me before attempting to reconnect. I also taped up each cable with electrical tape individually and then all together. I don't know why they would stop by to reconnect without me knowing, but if they did there is no way they would proceed without knowing something is up.
 

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