Using DirecTivo over Vonage (VoIP) - a solution

[vurbano]

Why not just activate the land line for a month and then cancel?

[searsba]

I read your post but am having some problems connecting. I have an Hughs SD DVR 40. The version is 3.11XXX and the last update I have is from Feb 2004 over a landline. I have a wireless network at home and tried both a belkin and Netgear USB device with no success. I however have set up the RCA modem outlet jacks and with the ,#219 can get the TIVO to at least get beyond the dial part and start connecting. It then fails everytime because it states the service is not available. I get the same message when I go to download new phone numbers to try. Any suggestions?

[super dave]

This is the post over at the Vonage Forum, apparently there is a beta firmware upgrade available for the Linksys routers. It shouldn't be long before there is a remedy. I am in line for the beta test release, I'll post when it happens and if it works. :up: :up: :up:

Post subject: TiVo Users! - Firmware Fix From Vonage Found HERE (http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic5493.html)

[stevel]

I wonder if they'll also have a fix for the Linksys PAP2 adaptor.

[searsba]

This thread has been very informative and useful for many, but I'm still not as successful as others in getting my Hugh SD DVR 40 version 3.11XXXX running over Vonage. I think I have a Tivo 2 but not sure.

I have a wireless home network, but am trying first to get the Tivo to work using RCA Modem wall jacks before I go to wireless. I had a land line when I bought the device, so have already gotten updates that way, and my last one was in February before I switched to Vonage. Since then, I've been trying to find a solution to get the connection up and running.

I've tried all the codes that I've seen across this thread and even those that didn't make sense. I've also called the Vonage tech folks and had them reduce some setting to lower the 'noise' when the tivo attempts to make a call, which was recommended in one thread or another.

I have gotten the furthest by using the 212 number that people have mentioned, and ,#034 as the call waiting inputs. That is, sometimes it gets all the way to negotiating and then the line drops. The vonage folks couldn't say why it dropped, so does anyone have a suggestion? I've also read about the PPP route, but don't completely understand the steps to do that. Need some basic help if that's my only option.

[stevel]

Have you tried a DSL filter? You can also try ,#019.

[super dave]

I just checked my box for the daily call status and it has finally SUCCEEDED on it's own. It never connected until I tried the Beta firmware. The prefix that worked was ,#034 and of course *70.

[keefer37]

How difficult is it to get the beta firmware?

[super dave]

How difficult is it to get the beta firmware?
See my post above, number 503 and go to that link. You will probably have to register, then PM the guy who is doing the Beta test. He then calls you and you install the firmware. Took 3 minutes.

[wgeclipse]

SuperDave Do you mind if I ask how you have your dialing options set? I have 2 HDVR2s, and an R10. I just received the firmware today, and have not had success in dialing in.

Dial-In Number 212-920-3005
Dial Prefix 2122773895
Call Waiting ,#034
Tone/Pulse Tone
Phone Avail Detect Off
Dial Tone Detection On


Note: About a month ago I was dialing in fine with the following options:

Dial-In Number 212-920-3005
Dial Prefix ,#034
Call Waiting ,,,
Tone/Pulse Tone
Phone Avail Detect Off
Dial Tone Detection On

[wgeclipse]

Forgot to mention that I am in Texas, and have only had past success with the New York Metro numbers.

[super dave]

SuperDave Do you mind if I ask how you have your dialing options set? I have 2 HDVR2s, and an R10. I just received the firmware today, and have not had success in dialing in.

Dial-In Number 212-920-3005
Dial Prefix 2122773895
Call Waiting ,#034
Tone/Pulse Tone
Phone Avail Detect Off
Dial Tone Detection On

At first I only had success with test calls, but last night's daily call actually went through. Why? I don't know, but here are my settings:

Dial in Number: 1-856-479-0001 (The same old local one I used with Verizon.)
Dial Prefix: ,#034
Call waiting prefix: *70
Tone
Off
Off

[keefer37]

See my post above, number 503 and go to that link. You will probably have to register, then PM the guy who is doing the Beta test. He then calls you and you install the firmware. Took 3 minutes.

Thanks. I PM'ed him. Hopefully I'll hear something from them and it will work for my DirecTiVos. My gf is getting tired of me trying all these settings and not getting anywhere. :)

[charles_d]

FWIW,

My GXCEBOT finally died and I replaced it with a new R10 this on Staurday. When I called to activate (through the retention department -- got the new R10 for free thriugh them), I made sure to ask about Vonage support. The CSR informeed me that VOIP is not supported, however, a minute later, he said that there was a new message on his screen that they now support VOIP and that I should call if I have any troble with guilded setup.

Guided setup completed without a hitch. Both calls (to the 800 number to get the list of available numbers and to my local number for the actual call) completed on the first try.

Has something changed on the DTV end?

[etsolow]

*sigh* ... Those guys on the Vonage forum aren't getting back to me. Is this beta firmware a file that they are distributing and then you update your own router, or are they doing the upgrade for people? If it's the former, I'd love to get my hands on that file...! :D

E

[super dave]

*sigh* ... Those guys on the Vonage forum aren't getting back to me. Is this beta firmware a file that they are distributing and then you update your own router, or are they doing the upgrade for people? If it's the former, I'd love to get my hands on that file...! :D

E
It is a file they email to you, I have it. Unfortunately I don't remember the password to use it, Andrew from Vonage walked me through the install real fast and I didn't have time to write down the password to make it work. They will be doing again soon, just keep reading the board.

[kbohip]

Here's a strange thing I've noticed with my two R-10's and Voange. My upstairs R-10 did the initial setup without even having to use the New York numbers. It just worked with no problems like it was a POTS line. My downstairs R-10 barely worked at all through the initial setup though. I even tried slowing the modem and using the New York numbers. No dice. It would always say call failed. I then remembered I was using the 25' phone cord that came with the R-10 for the downstairs while upstairs I was using a line I had installed earlier, not the one from the box.

I got another 4 WIRE 25' phone cord and plugged it into the downstairs R-10. Now it connects with no problem at all using the New York numbers. The cord that comes with the R-10's is a very cheap 2 wire cord and at least in my case was not allowing the daily calls. If all else fails try a bigger phone cord!

[gusdorf]

I have tried most of the methods described so far but here is my results.

I can get the dial tone, negotiate a connection but no data transfer. I am using a high grade Penrll Alliance V.32 modem which allows me to set the baud rate manually. I have it set up for Hayes 2-wire dial up mode. I have tried from 300 up to 19,000 but still no data transfer.

I have contacted weaknees and they have a modem cable combination they say works. See the email response below: Has anyone tried their setup???

"Our customers have had very good luck with our modem, yes. We don't have word from DTV on broadband for the DTV units, but we hope it will come.

Thank you,
weaKnees"

[etsolow]

Well, I got the updated firmware from Vonage and unfortunately it does not seem to have fixed anything. My HDVR2 and HR10-250 still won't even complete a test call, let alone an actual download. I haven't tried any of the zillions of dial prefixes yet... anyone have any thoughts on which might be appropriate?

[austerville]

I have the same problem - can't dial out with Vonage and was wondering weather connecting my Tivo to my pc, via the serial port, and dialing out using PPP is considered to be "calling in" for purposes of initiating the upgrade? I don't have the cable yet, otherwise I would just try it. Thanks

[stevel]

Yes, as long as it connects to the TiVo server, that counts.

[rpippen]

RedGrey,

In your solution for SRS6000 you said to change the dial prefix. When I go to change it it gives me a warning digital PBX systems will damage the units modem.
Is it ok to go ahead and change it. Also I have a Philips DSR708, if it is ok to
go ahead and chage the prfix should this solution work on my unit? Thank you for
your input.

[scottt]

As an FYI, I just got a DSR 708R/17 yesterday to replace a T-60 that is having the "Call DTV" issue. I hooked it up to my Vonage line (figured what the heck) and it dialed out perfectly. No DSL filter or such required (like my HDVR2 did). It called in, got local numbers for NY, and also made the NY call.

Phew!

[super dave]

http://www.vonage-forum.com/sutra32343.html#32343


Sorry for the delay in re-visiting this thread. After the initial feedback we've gotten (mostly from you guys) the NEW firmware is now available to everyone. Simply call ANYONE at Vonage, and just ask them to upgrade your firmware (its all done with a click of a button)

NOTE -- Try calling from a NON Vonage phone or place a call while your not on the phone, because it will not download the firmware while your on the phone. Also keep in mind after it sends the request it can take 3-7 minutes for it to effectively download and write the firmware successfully. DO NOT turn off or remove power from the device at this point.

All should work a lot better.

enigma91884
Vonage
Representative

I have copied and pasted enigma's post to here for anyone that doesn't visit the Vonage Forum.

[jimest]

I hooked up Vonage yesterday and my DirecTivo series 1 would not connect, I read the above about the new firmware and immediately called Vonage.

After talking to 2 heavily accented CSR I got transferred to someone familiar with "TiVo"

He told me that Vonage had a "Beta" firmware that they were testing and asked if I would like to take part in the test.

I said sure, he said I should have the new firmware by Monday or Tuesday (it's now 8:20AM Saturday.

I will wait until Monday and try my DirecTivo call again.

[super dave]

As an update my SAT-T60 has made another successful call. The 2 out of 6 calls that failed happened during the day, all successful calls were placed between 12-7AM. When I had a POTS line the daytime calls had a high rate of failure also.

So this firmware has helped my machine. The tech has told me they are still tweaking it, but at least it is a start in the right direction. DTV hasn't made any effort to right this problem, that I know of.

[stevel]

I don't see what DTV could do about it, to be honest. The problem is most likely in the Conexant modem chip.

[super dave]

I don't see what DTV could do about it, to be honest. The problem is most likely in the Conexant modem chip.
Checking my Vonage account I still see 20-24 calls a day to DTV. It is posted on the other thread, DTV doesn't care to fix it.

And if DTV wanted to they could come up with a way for us to use Broadband to call in, after all a majority of the people having issues are VOIP users.

[keefer37]

http://www.vonage-forum.com/sutra32343.html#32343

Sorry for the delay in re-visiting this thread. After the initial feedback we've gotten (mostly from you guys) the NEW firmware is now available to everyone. Simply call ANYONE at Vonage, and just ask them to upgrade your firmware (its all done with a click of a button)
All should work a lot better.

enigma91884
Vonage
Representative

I have copied and pasted enigma's post to here for anyone that doesn't visit the Vonage Forum.

Unfortunately, it's only for those with the Linksys box. I've got a Motorola.

[austerville]

I also have a Motorolla. Are there any plans to schedule a firmware upgrade for these units?

[keefer37]

When I called in to get the upgrade I asked that, austerville but was told it was still in testing. I asked if there was any list to be a beta tester but he was not aware of one. I am going to email though and ask the same thing.

[rtlinux]

OK, I have been looking around in GOD only knows how many forums for a solution to my Tivo/Vonage issue. so DTV connects fine (I know because I have not had issues with scheduling messages, etc) but tivo is the problem or is it. I use a Linksys Pap2 as I did not need another router (d-Link) and a 3-com AP for wireless [which blows anthong linksys or d-link has, I know as I used to have linksys wireless router].

Tonight I finally got my issue resolved!! after 45 days of late night fights with phone cords, dsl filters, internet searches and hundreds of failed test connections with any number of configs.

I almost went the external modem route but why??? I don't want a modem in my entertainment center. Besides Tivo does NOT need to connect everyday.

So here goes how I did it...

Connected my system to my laptop via homemade serial cable and set my dial prefix to ,#211 (tells my t-60 to use 115k over a serial port). Successfully made 10 DAILY calls with no errors!

Here is the pinout for the serial cable I made....
Using a db9 female end and a std 1/8" stereo mini plug make the wiring connection as follows. DB9-pin2 = mini plug tip, DB9-pin3 = mini plug center section, DB9-pin5 = mini plug base.

see attached doc(S) for detail on configuring windows

[jimest]

The firmware upgrade did not work for me.

I have the Linksys RT31P2 and I got the firmware upgrade but after rebooting my system it still will not connect. (DtiVo) So the problem is still there.

Jim

[d0choliday]

Thanks to everyone on this thread for offering solutions. In the end my DirecTivo connected with some fairly simple solutions and help from Vonage. Here's what worked and my specs.

Linksys RT31P2 phone router
Samsung Tivo SIR-S4080R
Comcast broadband internet with a Motorola modem and a Dell wireless router

1. Called Vonage to ask them for the firmware upgrade. They gave me the upgrade and also lowered my packet size(?) This didn't really help at first, but I have to believe it is now.
2. I read that people were using ADSL filters so I put a single filter directly in the back of the Tivo box and then plugged my phone jack into that. I agree that this makes no sense since I have broadband cable, but it did work. Perhaps it forces the connection to slow down some?
3. I used an old modem phone cord roughly 5 feet long as opposed to the one that came with my DirecTivo.
4. I used NO dialing prefixes. I turned off the check for dial status though and used area code 212 which was a suggestion from the Vonage customer care person. He said since that NY area code is closer to the Vonage center, where all your calls really go, you have a higher chance. I ended up picking the first dial in number offered, Manhattan North I believe.

Right now I'm getting about 1 in 5 calls succeeding. You may have to just try repeatedly. I get lots of connection failed messages.

From what I've read I will no longer have to connect the DirecTivo to a phone line unless I want to order PPV (which I don't need since I can order off the internet) or if there is a major software update. Please let me know if this sounds misinformed or wrong though.

I read an article about 3 months ago where Directv is in the works at developing their own PVR so they can abondon Tivo. I have to think this is the reason why they are not addressing all our problems and enabling USB. In any case, this was all a major pain in the a$$.

[slweil]

Please help! I have a LinkSYS RT31P2, an Airport Extreme Base Station, making my Macs wireless, a PC in the LAN outlet of the Base Station, and a Scientific Altanta cable modem. I've switched all the phones to one base phone that goes directly into the Linksys phone router, and other wireless extensions of that phone, so I could get around the "wireless jack" thing. I tried them and the phones had so much static, it was annoying, and I was using PhonexBroadband EasyJacks. I've tried everything, including disconnecting my phones from the router, and just having the Tivo unit connect directly to the router on a looooooooong telephone cord, and I still can not successfully connect. I tried the ",#019" but it didn't work. Any other suggestions? Any would be of help, I keep getting messages that I need to call in.

[sdesort]

I have a DirecTivo Series I, running software 3.1. I have a Linksys RT31P2, Firmware 1.28.00, Voice version 3.1.3(LI). Here is how I got it to work:

Motorola Cable modem -->RT31P2-->Linksys BEFW11 router/Access Point

RT31P2 is connected to household wiring, Tivo connected to convenient wall jack with DSL filter in place between Tivo and wall jack

Tivo set to use NYC number (Manhattan south I believe)

Tivo set to dialing prefix ',#096'

Tivo set to call waiting prefix '*99,*70,'

Vonage Bandwidth saver set to 90Kbps (max quality)

Using these settings, I have made every test call successfully, and 1 forced daily call. I will see what happens tonight during the automatic daily call.

This config may have already been successfully used by others here (and used by others unsuccessfully, I am sure), but I thought I would post it in case it helps.

Good luck!

--
Scot

[screamngiball]

I can't get communication going here. I have DLS (VoIP) for my phone and internet service. I tried ,#019 and it didn't work. I used a regular phone line and went from the back of my tivo to line one on my ata box. I would love to get some suggestions. Thanks. my tivo box is a sd-dvr40

[scottt]

As an FYI, I just got a DSR 708R/17 yesterday to replace a T-60 that is having the "Call DTV" issue. I hooked it up to my Vonage line (figured what the heck) and it dialed out perfectly. No DSL filter or such required (like my HDVR2 did). It called in, got local numbers for NY, and also made the NY call.

Phew!

Sigh, spoke too soon. In the process of getting my house ready for Verizon FIOS, Verizon cut my Cox cable line (1 day before we left on vacation). Cox ran a brand new line, but now that I'm back, neither TiVo will complete it's TiVo call. I want 6.2!!!!!!


Guess it was everyone dialing into get 6.2. I'm working just fine now. Got 6.2 too!

[Foxintampa]

Any fios users want to help me start a new forum dedicated to Fios, at fios dot nets?

[BPatti]

After 6 months of research I finally have the solution to my DirectTiVo over Vonage problem.

Install a 1-line DSL filter from Home Depot ($5.97) or 2-line DSL filter from Radio Shack ($16.99)
Set Dial Prefix: ,#104
Set Call Waiting Prefix: *99

I have 3 DirectTivo's:
Directv HR10-250
Hughes GXCEBOT
Sony SAT-60

Each one connected FIRST TIME and EVERY TIME with getting a new number, making a test call and making a daily call. I also tested a Hughes HDVR2 but it did not work.

If you have problems with your TiVo dialing out over Vonage, do yourself a favor and try this. IT WORKS!!!

[gusdorf]

Thanks for the update on your dial-in progress.

It looks like the Hughes HDVR2 internal modem is the culprit. I have tried most of the suggestions posted and none of them proved successful with my system.

I will be checking this site from time to time looking for the silver bullet, but I am thinking now the only solution for the HDVR2 is a hard line telco connection.

[stevel]

,#104 ??? That's a new one to me.

[Devlin85]

I have a DSR7000 and I've tried every F*king ,#*** and tried it with a DSL filter, and still no success. And DirecTV won't initiate the usb ports on the back, all you can do with them is get an IP with a USB NIC... nothingmore, Anybody got any advice.

[jjz]

I have the hughes HDVR2- I finally had (some) success using the dial prefix ,#340 (not so sure if this made a difference) along with the 877 area code- after using this set up and around 10 calls (all were interrupted during downloading) I got it to take the 6.2 upgrade- JZ

[magnus]

I have a DSR7000 and I've tried every F*king ,#*** and tried it with a DSL filter, and still no success. And DirecTV won't initiate the usb ports on the back, all you can do with them is get an IP with a USB NIC... nothingmore, Anybody got any advice.

You should try PPP, it works like a charm. If you have a PC nearby and really do not care about when it makes the daily call. I only used it to get the 6.2 upgrade... and now both of my machines are running it.

If you're interested.....

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=191812&highlight=ppp

[wildtexaschef]

I have the new R10, and a Phillips DSR704.

Short of adding the external modem. (Have no desire to do so, sounds like a mess to me)

Has anyone had any luck connecting this units via vonage?

,#034

(comma, #, Zero, Three, Four)

Is suppose to work on all DirecTV Tivos to slow the modem down to 9600baud.

My Fax machine works just fine at 28.8k, so why shouldn't a TIVO work at 9600 on vonage?
Explain that one! I did have to turn up the quality of vonage to 90k to get the Fax machine to work at 28.8k, but it does work. So I really don't understand why the TIVO can't connect.

Thanks

Gary

[wildtexaschef]

Sorry... one more update....

I also still have an UltimateTV DirecTV DVR... It is able to connect via Vonage.

So with my FAX machine & UltimateTV working with Vonage, still can't understand why TIVO doesn't work with Vonage.

[stevel]

Because the modem and the modem control software in the TiVo is intolerant of the minor distortions one gets with digital and VoIP phone lines.

[wildtexaschef]

You mentioned that the modem control software in the TIVO's is intollerant to the phone line conditions of a VoIP phone line.

Do you think this is something that could be fixed if TIVO changed, updated, or fixed the software?

If it is something that can be fixed in an updated software release, then why doesn't TIVO do it? Is TIVO even aware of this problem? Do they even care if they fix this issue? Why haven't they even tried to fix this issue if they aren't doing so?

Why are we putting up with this kind of treatment from TIVO? We wouldn't put up with this kind of Treatment from our car companies if our Cars didn't work.

Why Why why?

Sorry I am venting. I know what I want. and Im not getting what I want, and it ticks me off that TIVO or DirecTV don't really care.

Unhappy TIVO user with no where else to go :(
Gary

[etsolow]

[...]TIVO's [...] TIVO [...] TIVO [...] TIVO [...] TIVO? [...]

Why Why why?

[...] TIVO or DirecTV don't really care.

Unhappy TIVO user [...]
At least you mentioned DirecTV in there once. DirecTV has an iron fist of control over any enhancements to the DirecTV DVRs (running TiVo software). Blame them. If they'd let us use the darn USB ports, like all the new standalone TiVos can, this would be largely a non-issue.

[DrC4]

So get this, I have been fighting with DTivo and Vonage for a while now. Tried everything that has been suggested, every " #99" and ",#034", DSL filter, no DSL filter, even lit candles and danced naked around the dang things. Nothing. Couldn't get past "Negotiating."

So I figured that I would pack the darned thing up and take it to a friends that had POTS and just upgrade there. No worries. So I disconnected the satellite inputs, restarted the box (via an unplug/re-plug), and gave it a test run, just so that I would know what I was getting into when I got there.

Now here's the neat part. It connected. Yup. The test call WORKED! So I figured that I would try an actual DAILY call. Something that hasn't happened since I hooked up the darned thing. After a few times not working, IT WORKED!

So now I am the happy owner of 6.2. So far so good. The speed increase is nice.

So, take it from the Windows using community: If things don't work right, just reboot!

You may all hate me now.

[kittiyut]

Will it work if I use Packet8 instead of Vonage ?

KeN

[workindev]

Vonage must have made a change to their service recently because I was able to get my HDVR2 to dial out yesterday without any prefixes or any problems. This was after trying it on and off for the last year without success.

If you gave up and haven't tried in a while, give it a shot now.

[ibleedblue]

I just got my DTivo hooked up yesterday. I told the installer that I had Vonage and he pulled out a memo that he had been sent dated 7/1 that told the installers how to connect the DTivo to Vonage. We put in the Manhattan south number and it went right through. I checked a few times and the only failure I got was when the service wouldn't answer. I made a copy of the memo before he left. If anyone wants it, feel free to PM me and I'll scan it and get a copy to you.

[jcthomas]

Thank you to ibleedblue. I have PM'd you and appreciate the offer.

[Cyberbaker]

Was this memo a "D*TV" memo or a Vonage memo? I just PM'ed you to get a copy of the memo.

I have a series 2 HDVR2 and just installed Vonage and terminated my POTS connection....and of course I'm experiencing problems connecting. I'm on the phone with Vonage now, and they are upgrading my router firmware (Linksys), but from reading this thread, I'm not certain if that is sufficient.

On my HDVR2, I'm already running SW Ver. 6.2-01-2-151.

Vonage told me that after the firmware upgrade, I should be okay...also, they said to change the area code of the dial in number to 212 and then leave the rest of the number the same (I'm in 408), but this doesn't sound right.

My understanding from reading this thread is that I need to re-run the guided set up and that I need a POTS line to that...Is that correct?

Any help would be appreciated!!!!!

[rigs49]

That my friends is some serious McGyvering. Great job (even though I will not do this) great job. Again some serious McGyvering.

[JohnM720]

I have also pm'd you and appreciate the assist. I am having DTivo installed
on Monday so anything to make it go smooth is a help.

[super dave]

I now have an R10 along with my SAT-T60 and they both dial out over Vonage without any problems. I have a Linksys RT31P2 and use local numbers.

[Cyberbaker]

John:

Any luck with your set-up...? I tried the instructions in the memo, but could not get it to work.

[bonscott87]

My new R10 has been bugging me for a while to dial out so I decided to try this New York number. Well, doesn't me no good since I can't connect to the 800 number to change the area code.

HOWEVER, on a whim I removed all dialing prefixes. Can you believe the R10 now dials out every time just fine just going direct to my local number with no prefixes? I haven't done a think and I have the old ATA 186 Vonage box.

So seriously, if you have an R10, give it a try now. Be sure Vonage is set to highest quality first. My HDVR2 still won't dial out but I have that connected via PPP so I'm not worried.

[JohnM720]

John:

Any luck with your set-up...? I tried the instructions in the memo, but could not get it to work.


The unit was just installed today, but so far have had no luck getting it to dial out. What I find interesting is if I don't use the ,#034 prefix i get call failed could not connect. If I use the prefix I get call failed Busy. The question is - Is it really busy or
is that a bad message. I cannot even try the Manahattan South number because I cannot get the 1st call to go through to select it from the list. When I get back home tonite I will try again, so maybe if the busy message is real I may have more luck in the evening hours. The memo also shows the ,#034 is entered as the call waiting prefix, but I am also going to try to switch it to dial prefix and see if that helps. If I get it to work I will let you know and if you find a solution let me know also.

It was an R10 unit that was installed and my Vonage settings are already on 90Kbps

John

[restart88]

My new R10 has been bugging me for a while to dial out so I decided to try this New York number. Well, doesn't me no good since I can't connect to the 800 number to change the area code.

HOWEVER, on a whim I removed all dialing prefixes. Can you believe the R10 now dials out every time just fine just going direct to my local number with no prefixes? I haven't done a think and I have the old ATA 186 Vonage box.

So seriously, if you have an R10, give it a try now. Be sure Vonage is set to highest quality first. My HDVR2 still won't dial out but I have that connected via PPP so I'm not worried.

Your whim corrected my problem too! Thanks!!

In my case after I took out the prefixes I set it up to dial a local access number. It would dial out with "detect if phone is in use" switched off. So I tried switching it on but had it dial the access number as a regular long distance number. Hey, it's Vonage - all costs the same! :)

Anyway it all works fine now. I don't know if it will dial D* but I don't see why not.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. Later I may go to the PPP serial to PC route but now I'm in no hurry at all.

[kctivo]

Thanks for the info. This was really helpful. I also had to call Vonage tech support and they did something in the backend to help it along. I now have 2 great services, Tivo and Vonage

[themediadrop]

I've been having super problems getting my Series 2 Hughes to connect for the last few months, after doing it quite a few times through March over Vonage's service - not sure what the difference is, perhaps it's that I need the packetization rate changed again or something (I hear it reverts at some points). Needless to say, I've found that no combination of wireless phone jacks or really really long phone lines to the home jack on the router seem to work these days.

Hoping that the memo discussed above will do some good when the installer shows up on Saturday, because I know how picky they are if they're not able to dial in right away.

Quick question, though - do the new HDTiVos come ready to roll with IP-based communication, or do I still have to make that first call on a telephone line to get going?

[restart88]

I just ordered Vonage service and was checking out what posts I could find where people where using there Vonage in a Wireless G network and DirecTivo.

Has anything changed with the Vonage hardware that will require me to use an external modem to make daily calls?

I just got a Netgear wireless G 108 Mbps and love it. SA Tivo connected to router by Linksys ethernet because I didn't want to chance problems with the wireless access point. My R10 is working fine with Vonage. When D* gives me something to do with the USB ports I'll move my Linksys to it and get a supported wireless access for the SA.

But I have read here somewhere that some have set up Vonage, I'm assuming, as wired to all phone outlets? How do you do that? Do you lost quality?

I've debated getting a 5.8 G extendable cordless phone system but if hard wiring is cheap & easy I might go that route.

[bonscott87]

But I have read here somewhere that some have set up Vonage, I'm assuming, as wired to all phone outlets? How do you do that? Do you lost quality?

I just use some RCA wireless modem adapters. They plug into any electrical outlet. So the base unit gets plugged into an outlet near your Vonage box and a phone cord run from the Vonage box to it. Then anywhere you plug in an adapter becomes an instant phone outlet. Works great.

[gfoulks]

But I have read here somewhere that some have set up Vonage, I'm assuming, as wired to all phone outlets? How do you do that? Do you lost quality?

I've debated getting a 5.8 G extendable cordless phone system but if hard wiring is cheap & easy I might go that route.

To enable all phone jacks in your house for Vonage all you need to do is plug your Vonage Phone adapter into any available phone outlet. Now all of your phone outlets are powered by the Vonage phone adapter.

-CAUTION-
Before doing this you MUST unplug your house from the telco's network first. If you plug your Vonage adapter into an outlet that is already connected to the telco's network... the voltage on the line will fry your phone adapter.

To unplug from the telco network simply go to the Network Interface Box and open the Customer Access Panel. Disconnect the cable from the jack(s). I've put a piece of duct tape over the ports with the following caution written on it (Caution Sensitive Equipment Inside- Do Not Connect Phone Port without first notifying owner) just in case the phone company comes around one day, opens the box and tries to connect the network back into the house.

[restart88]

Thanks guys! From the sounds of it I might be better off going the wireless RCA route. Just curious, what frequency do they use? I was just afraid it wouldn't work with Tivo.

I know what you mean about voltage going through the telco lines. If I do totally shut off my landline then I might go the wired route instead.

[bonscott87]

Thanks guys! From the sounds of it I might be better off going the wireless RCA route. Just curious, what frequency do they use? I was just afraid it wouldn't work with Tivo.

I know what you mean about voltage going through the telco lines. If I do totally shut off my landline then I might go the wired route instead.

FYI that the wireless RCA jacks aren't really "wireless". It uses the power lines in your house to transmit the phone signal.

[krausdoug]

Thanks for all the great information on this topic! I still can't make my Phillips DSR704 (series 2) to make the call. I looked on the back of this unit and it does not have a serial port, but it does have 2 USB ports. Can I use these to connect to my computer? I've heard that DirecTV tivos have all nextworking ports (ethernet and USB) disabled.

[cactus46]

Hi krausdoug,

In the picture I see referenced by DirecTV for DSR704/708, it shows the Serial port between the phone jack and the USB ports. It is the upper of the two minature jacks and labeled Serial.

You can see a picture of it on DirecTV's web site: http://www.directv.com/learn/pdf/System_Manuals/Philips/Philips_DSR708.pdf page 28 of 174.

John

[edishe]

I don't have DirectTV - I have Comcast and cannot figure out how the Vonage would work. I tried plugging in the wire that was hooked to the telephone jack to the Vonage box that my phone is hooked up to but the call didn't go through. I am thinking about cancelling Vonage and going back to the Telephone company if this gets too complicated.

[restart88]

I don't have DirectTV - I have Comcast and cannot figure out how the Vonage would work. I tried plugging in the wire that was hooked to the telephone jack to the Vonage box that my phone is hooked up to but the call didn't go through. I am thinking about cancelling Vonage and going back to the Telephone company if this gets too complicated.

What Vonage adaptor do you have? Is it the one with the built in router?

Generally what you would do is plug in a Cat5 cable out of your modem to the Vonage adaptor's WAN and then connect a Cat5 from the PC port to your PC ethernet card. There are other ways but until we know your setup why risk further confusing you?

Keep in mind that if you have internet access in this setup the problem is likely not with the hardware connections. Also keep in mind that it takes up to 5 minutes for the adaptor to initialize. When the green light quits blinking your phone should work.

If it still doesn't work, contact either tech support or read the online FAQs at the Vonage site.

If the hardware is correctly installed but the phone still doesn't work it could be a software issue with your computer, such as Zone Alarm or other such software blocking access. Disable the possibly offending software temporarily to see if that's the problem. If you are using a router make sure its setup is granting access to the adaptor.

I love Vonage but truthfully you do need a cell phone or a landline as a backup. From my experience 95% of the time it is problem free, and of the other 5% it's usually your ISP connection and not Vonage at fault.

[bonscott87]

I don't have DirectTV - I have Comcast and cannot figure out how the Vonage would work. I tried plugging in the wire that was hooked to the telephone jack to the Vonage box that my phone is hooked up to but the call didn't go through. I am thinking about cancelling Vonage and going back to the Telephone company if this gets too complicated.

Don't *ever* hook up your vonage box to your regular phone jack. You will blow out the vonage box by doing that. It should be one of the first warnings in your quick start guide.

[DesignDawg]

Don't *ever* hook up your vonage box to your regular phone jack. You will blow out the vonage box by doing that. It should be one of the first warnings in your quick start guide.

Never say never. Actually, if you want to use your home's existing wiring so all your jacks work, you HAVE to plug it into one of your jacks. --BUT, you are right that you could cause damage that way. You MUST unplug the phone line at your NID first, so you're not getting power from outside. Then, when you plug your Vonage box into a jack, it will power all your jacks, just as your NID once did.

Actually, that's in the install instructions for the ATT Callvantage service. I don't know why Vonage doesn't officially tell people to do this, too??

Ricky

[jkfry]

I have Vonage and a DSL connection (all works great) tv currently set up on dsl land line I want to get directv off that line as every call cost $
I have only one vonage phone # and don't want 2 lines so I am looking for help on setting that up if possible.

my tivo box has a phone jack and a usb jack what do I need to add

oh my phone is connected to the vonage modem and is a extend a phone set up

please help
thanks
Janice

[restart88]

I have Vonage and a DSL connection (all works great) tv currently set up on dsl land line I want to get directv off that line as every call cost $
I have only one vonage phone # and don't want 2 lines so I am looking for help on setting that up if possible.

my tivo box has a phone jack and a usb jack what do I need to add

oh my phone is connected to the vonage modem and is a extend a phone set up

please help
thanks
Janice

I'm not sure you can do it as described with DSL. Wireless jacks maybe. But since DSL uses phone lines won't there still be power coming in? Perhaps you could get a 2nd NIC box and tie the lines into that, so that the only externally powered line is in the DSL box or something.

[vurbano]

Don't *ever* hook up your vonage box to your regular phone jack. You will blow out the vonage box by doing that. It should be one of the first warnings in your quick start guide.


just unplug the phone companys incoming line outside in the box and you can hook up any of the VOIP services, packet8, callvantage, vonage, doesnt matter and use all of the house phone jacks.

[Zan569]

OK I'm kinda slow when it comes to computers and setting things up so hopefully someone can help me.

I just got Dirctv Tivo Samsung DVR Unit is what they gave me. I have vonage though a wireless router with 2 phone ports.

But now I don't know what to exactly do to get the Tivo to work. I connected a phone cord from the router (phone port 1) to the Directv Tivo box and it couldn't make a call. I tried putting in the prefix ,#019 and it couldn't make the call. Please someone tell me what I am doing wrong and how I can get this to work.
I've read through this forum and everyone is talking about external modems. Is this something I'm going to have to get to get this to work? Help me please.


Thank you so much

[Bmoore10]

Good luck. I have the Directv brand with TIVo (one of the newer ones with a 250meg hard drive) and vonage. It was a nightmare on with vonage and directv technical assistance. Finally after tons of other things that didn't work -- the external modem work perfectly. I got an old modem and had a computer guy program it to some of the specs on this forum and it worked once I used a TIVO number out of New York. If you can't get anything else to work go to the "weakknees" site and buy their external modem set up. Do a search for "weakknees and tivo" and it should come up. Its a modem and a special cord all configured. I think it costs $69. Its worth the money if all else fails. You might want to e-mail them with your unit info and get their 2 cents before you buy. Now, your unit doesn't seem to be the same as mine so you may need to search this forum for someone talking about your unit or someone will ultimately answer with more knowledge than me. Here are some preliminary must try items:

1. Go on your Vonage website and account and make sure your call quality is on 99bps. You should see on your Vonage website dashboard a link for call quality and be sure to set it to the 99 setting for the best call quality.

2. If you can tell the TIVo unit what phone number to try for the TIVO call, try using a New York City TIVO number (even my external modem only worked with a New York number). Apparently the New York numbers are closer to some vonage switch and the call quality can be better for the call. Some other people on this forum may be able to give you better detail. On my unit you have to put the new number in the dialing prefix spaces on the call set up screen. Anyway some of the New York numbers are 212-920-3005 or 212-202-9705 or 212-277-3895. The cost shouldn't be a factor cause vonage long distance is part of the vonage package.

Good luck. Brian

[Devlin85]

I talked to Vonage today and finally got my **** connected. They gave me 3: 28.8 kb/s servers to connect to as well as the tivo supplied ,#034 command. According to Tivo ,#034 will turn down the connection speed to 28.8 kb/s on any TivO (also DirecTiVo) (,#064 in some cases) and using these servers will actually make it work. Use and one of these 3 "long distance" servers (don't matter if its free) to connect, set up your dial in number as: 212-277-3895; 212-920-3005; 212-271-7103 ( with ,#034 as dial prefix), or for those of you who cant currently connect do this:

dial # = "your local dial in #"
prefix = "2122773895"
"2129203005"
"2122717103"
call waiting = ",#034 (or ,#064)"

They also say disable phone avail detection and tone detection, but i them both on and it works just fine. It will fail occasional. (also if you set your dial in number as one of the numbers listed and its doesn't work, try it using as listed in example above, your connection may still be trying to transmit to fast.) (Damn Complicated TiVo)

Also in a chat I had with a TiVo Hardware Enginere in charge of "Connectivity" , Internet and other "Voip" related Issues I Inquired about the Voip connection issued and weather they were planning on introducing the use of the USB ports on the back TiVo's for nearly 85% DirecTv Audience for use of USB NIC's and the possibility of connecting through the internet for the daily call. And he said its not in planning in the near future. They still want to know that the satellite is at "home base." So it looks like weary connections for Direct Tv users with Tivo For a while to come.

[Chilli_Dog]

I tried your settings and was unable to connect. However, I was able to tweak your settings slightly and voila -- it completed the call. This surprised the heck out of me since I've been trying variations of these settings for months with no luck.

Here are my settings:

Set Dial-In Number: (local #)
Set Dial Prefix: 2122773895
Set Call Waiting Prefix: ,#034,*99,
Set Tone/Pulse: Tone
Set 'Phone Avail.' Detection: Off
Set Dial Tone Detection: Off

It doesn't connect every single time, but it connects the majority of the time. Hope someone finds this helpful.

[melchioe]

Hey, I just went from 0% success in DTV over vonage since April 2005, to 100% after doing two things, one FREE, and one costing $40.00 (note: since april, I have tried so many # codes, call-waiting prefixes, area codes, and such that my wife was ready to slap me. I was addicted to the codes, man… I haunted the lists, and tried new ones every day, and new combos too.)

$40 – went to compusa and got a WRTP54G to replace the PAP2 and WRT54G – after rebates, total coast is $40, plus I can take the PAP2 with me now to remote locations, and have internet phone when I travel to Europe or Mexico. This one brought my successful call rate from 0% to about 70% (and gave me a nice nite-light in the living room – those blue indicator lights are bright, man. Plus, it’s much neater there now that I only have one box.)

Free: swapping my cable modem from the old DOCSIS 1.1 Motorola 4200 to a newer DOCSIS 2.0 modem – Time Warner just swapped it – it told them it dropped connections occaisionally. This brought my success rate from about 70% to %100 ( I never tried this with my old PAP2 and WRT54G combination, but I suspect it would have given me pretty good results).

Reasoning:
Latency and packet loss are our enemies. There is a huge difference between data over analof lines and over digital. On an old POTS line (Plain Old Telephone Service), it could get pretty noisy, but since the connection was always open once established, there was virtually NO latency. On my data connection, I was running an average of 120ms delay, up to 1200ms. Fine for modern packet-oriented data connections that automatically resend dropped packets, and can re-order packets that arrive out of order, but traditional modems expect all packets to arrive in order, and that they will not be delayed in getting there. Modern packet communications are much more fault-tolerant when considered as a whole system, but when you put analog modems over a digital connection, odd things can happen if there is latency or packet loss.

DOCSIS 2.0 has much greater capability in both upstream and downstream dataflow - the pipline is much bigger. The WRTP54G has the Qos built in, so the Vonage traffic gets higher priority (I had it set for high priority in the WRT54G, but it never seemed to make a difference.)

The two things I did above were designed to minimize latency, but I also see an improvement in my packet loss as well.

YMMV, but I firmly believe that what we need to do to fix this is minimize latency and packet loss. All of the codes, slowing down modems, etc., are designed to make the analog modem system more tolerant.

[thedish]

I have Verizon VOIP (aka Voicewing) and Directv DVR model Hughes SD-DVR40.

My computer is located about 50' from the DVR. I can't get closer.

I have tried almost everything to be able to make a call, including various codes (not a techie here) found on the internet.

I last used a 50' phone cable to connect the telephone adaptor to the DVR, and got an error message of 'call failed' or 'line busy'.

HELP! Do I need to buy a modem? Upgrade? What can I do?

Thanks for any assistance,
Dish

[restart88]

I have Verizon VOIP (aka Voicewing) and Directv DVR model Hughes SD-DVR40.

My computer is located about 50' from the DVR. I can't get closer.

I have tried almost everything to be able to make a call, including various codes (not a techie here) found on the internet.

I last used a 50' phone cable to connect the telephone adaptor to the DVR, and got an error message of 'call failed' or 'line busy'.

HELP! Do I need to buy a modem? Upgrade? What can I do?

Thanks for any assistance,
Dish

How does your computer figure into this? You need a phoneline. DTivo cannot easily connect via direct broadband, though some claim it can with additional hardware. The DVR seems to be looking for a dialtone. I have no problem using Vonage as my phoneline, but I suppose Voicewing might be different.

Double check your dialing settings in the DTivo menu. Try playing around with them, especially call waiting settings.

[thedish]

How does your computer figure into this? You need a phoneline. DTivo cannot easily connect via direct broadband, though some claim it can with additional hardware. The DVR seems to be looking for a dialtone. I have no problem using Vonage as my phoneline, but I suppose Voicewing might be different.

Double check your dialing settings in the DTivo menu. Try playing around with them, especially call waiting settings.




don't you need a broadband connection to get vonage? i have dsl for my computer internet. i don't have cable modem or cable tv. and i'm not a techie, so i don't think i'll have much luck playing with the settings.

[thedish]

ALSO--could the LONG phone cord be the reason i can't connect??

dish

[super dave]

ALSO--could the LONG phone cord be the reason i can't connect??

dish
I don't think the length of the cord could have that much effect on it. The jack I use is easily over 50' from the Vonage adaptor. One of your settings is putting the VOIP line into a busy signal.

[Knight3131]

Hello Everyone,


Hopefully someone will be able to help me.


I have HR10-250 and I have optimum voice (cablevision's phone service).

I connected a south bell wireless jack since the phone is far away and running cables will only cause problems.


According to one personell at cablevision DVR doesnt work with their phone service but at first they told me it did. They told me I need to change something in the DVR to 14.4 kbps. I dont know how to do that.

Has anyone been able to set it up with optimum voice with cablevision or time warner cable.


Thanks


PS just spoke DTV and they dont know what they are doing. The last person i spoke with told me they activated the access card for a HD receiver not a HD DVR. I spoke to 4 different people and no one notice this after speaking them that someone made a mistake.

[PHijduk]

Hello Everyone,

Hopefully someone will be able to help me.

I have HR10-250 and I have optimum voice (cablevision's phone service).

I connected a south bell wireless jack since the phone is far away and running cables will only cause problems.

According to one personell at cablevision DVR doesnt work with their phone service but at first they told me it did. They told me I need to change something in the DVR to 14.4 kbps. I dont know how to do that.

Has anyone been able to set it up with optimum voice with cablevision or time warner cable.

Thanks

PS just spoke DTV and they dont know what they are doing. The last person i spoke with told me they activated the access card for a HD receiver not a HD DVR. I spoke to 4 different people and no one notice this after speaking them that someone made a mistake.

Just a note my success is from is using Vonage...but the commands down below slow down your internal modems speed on the DirecTV unit...the phone numbers are DirecTV/TiVo based so give them a shot as well.

If you check out the prior Post from Devlin85 he found this information out from Tivo Support

According to Tivo ,#034 will turn down the connection speed to 28.8 kb/s on any TiVo (also DirecTiVo) (,#064 in some cases)

You may want to try this command and/or call Tivo (since the HD unit is TiVo based) directly to see if can be slowed down even further to 14.4kbps.

I ended up using a combination between posts from Devlin85 and Chilli_Dog and this is what my configuration looks like and works at:

Set Dial-In Number: (local #)
Set Dial Prefix: 2129203005
Set Call Waiting Prefix: ,#064,*99,
Set Tone/Pulse: Tone
Set 'Phone Avail.' Detection: Off
Set Dial Tone Detection: Off

Other known working numbers are 212-277-3895 and 212-271-7103.

In addition to the above I did install a DSL Filter on the line (mentioned early on in this thread as an option) since I had one laying around from my last house (cable now :up: ). In addition I moved the quality setting all the way up to high. I am going to slowley move this down until I start getting failures and then leave at the lowest possible that works.

[oldguy]

I don't think the length of the cord could have that much effect on it. The jack I use is easily over 50' from the Vonage adaptor. One of your settings is putting the VOIP line into a busy signal.
The *99 code cause some Vonage adapters (such as the MOTO 2442) to get a busy signal.
I just did extensive tests with both my HR10-250's and the following works for me:
dial prefix 2122773895
call wait prefix ,#034

[realcouple]

There is a lot of great information here! Unfortunately I am not sure it will help me in my situation. I have a Directv DVR R10 tivo unit. My Broadband Connection Is a Hughes Net DW7000 Satelite set up. As of this moment I don't have VOIP but I would love to have it If I knew it would work with my set up. Saying goodbye to my phone company would save me around $50.00 a month. According to Hughes net VOIP might work but with a slight delay. Is there anyone out there familiar with such a setup that combines VOIP, Directv Tivo, and a Sat. broadband connection?

[Kash76]

Saves me about $40 a month :)

[PHijduk]

There is a lot of great information here! Unfortunately I am not sure it will help me in my situation. I have a Directv DVR R10 tivo unit. My Broadband Connection Is a Hughes Net DW7000 Satelite set up. As of this moment I don't have VOIP but I would love to have it If I knew it would work with my set up. Saying goodbye to my phone company would save me around $50.00 a month. According to Hughes net VOIP might work but with a slight delay. Is there anyone out there familiar with such a setup that combines VOIP, Directv Tivo, and a Sat. broadband connection?

I am not sure about any VoIP company other than Vonage, since it is the one I use, (over cable) but you have a 30 day trial that comes with it. You may want to call them directly and see what they have to say? If you do attempt the 30 day trial, ask first if you get the set up fee returned should you cancel before the trial is up. other wise the set up is close to $25. And should you decide to port your home number over to can it be reveresed should you cancel.

I did pull this statement off the ASK Vonage site

Does Vonage service work with my DSL Satellite Internet connection?

Yes, our service generally works with DSL Satellite Internet connections or any Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) device (i.e., your home router). DSL requires Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) authentication ("username & password") to access the Internet so you will have to configure your Vonageadapter or home router for this service.

There may be some latency inherent on a satellite connection or line of sight issues that could affect audio quality when making calls through the Vonage service. Our calls require 90 kbps of consistent upload/download speed to make and receive calls through the Vonagenetwork.

Just remember you will have to adjust your DTiVo settings until it connects should you decide to go with Vonage or any other VoIP.
:)

[luder]

I've managed to get this working... sorta... and I wanted to tell people my experience with it, and maybe see if anyone has any advice.

I have an HDVR2, so my only solution is to use the external modem as described. I bought a one from ebay (28.8 US Robotics FAX modem). Tested the modem on a PC first. It worked just fine. I built the 1/8" headphone to DB25 cable that he described, basically exactly the same as he described. I happened to have a RJ45 to DB25 dongle. I wired it exactly as described, carefully noting which DB25 pins mapped to which RJ45 pins. I cut off 4 of the unused pins inside the DB25 dongle, stripped the ends and wrapped them together to make the cross connects on pins 4&5 and 6&20. I took an unused CAT5 cable and cut off about 12" on one end. I then took the wires on the CAT5 cable that were associated with the DB25 pins 2, 3, & 7 and stripped them.

At first I used an old pair of headphones as RedGrey did. But for some reason I couldn't get this to work. The headphones worked before I cut off the end, but as soon as I did, I'd lose continuity. The headphone cables, as one would expect, had a signal and a ground cable within them. The problem seemed to be that they were in too close proximity to each other and when I cut the cable it was just way too easy for them to contact each other. So I went to RatShack and bought one of their unwired connectors (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F003%5F001%5F004&product%5Fid=274%2D284). I made sure to get the Rat Shack folks carefully point out to me which of the three leads on these things were tip, ring and base. I then soldered my stripped cat5 wires to each of those ends, and Voila. The DTiVo was able to make as many successful test calls as I wanted.

But! That's not the end of the story.

Right now it appears that my DTiVo is trying to download 3.1.1b upgrade. And this is a problem. When I use vonage, I occasionally get echos on the line. The modem does NOT like that. It starts to download, and then invariably, the RX light will eventually stop blinking. Then eventually, the modem will hangup the phone (probably initiated from the other end) and then eventually the DTiVo will give a status of "Failed. Call interrupted". Sometimes I can get the download to go for 40 minutes. Other times it will only go for 5 mins. But it always ends exactly the same way.

The end result of this is that, even though I'm able to complete a successful test call, because I haven't completed a successful "daily call" I'm still getting the NAG screens saying that I haven't succesfully completed a call since the ice age. (That's a slight embellishment on my part.)

I'm thinking of taking my tivo over to a friend's house with a regular phone line and using it just to complete the download. I think once I get past the download it won't be that big of a deal. But it would seem that Vonage does not have good enough sound quality for a 28.8 modem to download a DTiVo software update. I'm sure that it's good enough for much shorter calls.

I'm thinking of trying to force the modem to a slower speed to see if I can get it to work. Any other ideas as to what I might try?

The other question I have is will I eventually download the entire update piece by piece, or does the entire software update have to come through in a single phone call?

Edit: Added NAG screen info

Hey i think i know why it didnt do well, just b/c i had a experiance this once.. One time when my vacum sucked up the wires of my $80 dj headsets and i had to fix the wire.. There are two ways to prep the wire inorder to have a headset wire have a conituity you can connect it to a circuit board or wires with soldier if you play with soldier buy some rosin it makes the job 10x eaiser.. I used a solider gun (i used 100-1000w) and burn away the clear coat on the wire then dip the wire in soldier rosin and put soldier on it and your done.. Or you can do the getto way and use a razor and scratch the clear coat .. the key is to get the clear coat off the wires to have conituity hopes this helps your project...

I personally use Sunrocket for my voip and ,#034 works great !!!

[restart88]

I wouldn't even think of trying VoIP with Sat broadband, especially if it only saves you $5.00 a month.

I do not understand that at all.

I'm on Vonage's 500 minute plan and it costs me like $15 a month, plus I have a virtual number that family can call to avoid toll charges and that's $5.

Verizon keeps trying to lure me back but can't even come close. Like $40 - $60 for comparable service and I'd still lose some features like email notification of calls and simultaneous ringing of my home & cell.

Now DSL would be a lot cheaper, but since I'm too far down the line I can't get DSL. But for me I wouldn't think of NOT having Vonage. My sat receivers don't mind one bit, nor does Tivo. Of course the broadband connection is much better for Tivo. ;)

---------------------------------
Oops. "Sat broadband"

Sorry, yea you're probably right about that. Guess I'm not quite awake yet. :D

[tbeckner]

FYI.

I have Vonage and use the Motorola VT2442 ATA. I had to do a Clear and Delete after one of the DirecTiVos (HDVR2) encountered a hardware error, which forced me to do a Guided Setup and phone connections. I used the VT2442, and it connected two calls out of four and finished the Guided Setup.

So, it appears that the VT2442 works 50% of the time with ZERO changes (one call was an 800 number and other call was local number, and each failed once). :)

[scottt]

I do not understand that at all.

I'm on Vonage's 500 minute plan and it costs me like $15 a month, plus I have a virtual number that family can call to avoid toll charges and that's $5.

Verizon keeps trying to lure me back but can't even come close. Like $40 - $60 for comparable service and I'd still lose some features like email notification of calls and simultaneous ringing of my home & cell.

Now DSL would be a lot cheaper, but since I'm too far down the line I can't get DSL. But for me I wouldn't think of NOT having Vonage. My sat receivers don't mind one bit, nor does Tivo. Of course the broadband connection is much better for Tivo. ;)

---------------------------------
Oops. "Sat broadband"

Sorry, yea you're probably right about that. Guess I'm not quite awake yet. :D

I mis-read the original post that I responded to. He mentioned a $50.00 a month savings, I read that as $5.00.

I've had Vonage for almost two years now. I love the savings.

[restart88]

What kills me about the Bells is they unoffically support bill cramming. At mom's, twice in 3 months they added roughly $15 in 3rd party charges that she never requested and they wanted her to contact the party and have them remove it claiming they (SBC/ ATT) were "not allowed" to remove the charge. I raised cain over it and they removed the 1st one and assured me they put blocks on her account so it would never happen again. Yet 3 months later they did it again - same company, different supposed service. Again I raised cain and eventually they removed it too. But who needs the grief? They wouldn't remove these charges until I contacted every regulatory agency I could think of.

Why? you may ask, would a Bell be so resistant to removing such charges? Because they rake in a lot of money from such erroneous billings just for collecting your money to pay these scum bags. And according to my internet search of the biller it appears to have actually been related to Sprint!

Then 2 months ago my sister accepted a LOCAL collect call lasting about 8 minutes from a payphone. They charged over $15! :mad:

I could add more examples but there's no escaping the fact that with Vonage you are MUCH safer from phone billing scams. :up:

[Noumenon]

Just a note my success is from is using Vonage...but the commands down below slow down your internal modems speed on the DirecTV unit...the phone numbers are DirecTV/TiVo based so give them a shot as well.

If you check out the prior Post from Devlin85 he found this information out from Tivo Support



You may want to try this command and/or call Tivo (since the HD unit is TiVo based) directly to see if can be slowed down even further to 14.4kbps.

I ended up using a combination between posts from Devlin85 and Chilli_Dog and this is what my configuration looks like and works at:

Set Dial-In Number: (local #)
Set Dial Prefix: 2129203005
Set Call Waiting Prefix: ,#064,*99,
Set Tone/Pulse: Tone
Set 'Phone Avail.' Detection: Off
Set Dial Tone Detection: Off

Other known working numbers are 212-277-3895 and 212-271-7103.

In addition to the above I did install a DSL Filter on the line (mentioned early on in this thread as an option) since I had one laying around from my last house (cable now :up: ). In addition I moved the quality setting all the way up to high. I am going to slowley move this down until I start getting failures and then leave at the lowest possible that works.


I used this setup with an HDVR2 as well and it got stuck at the "connecting" step while "Negotiating". It fails the same way with other setups.

[XMan__007]

My adapter feeds the whole house through it's POTS wiring system, which isn't the best cabling, and distance is an issue as the Tivo by my ATA device works much better then the other two for connecting successfully. The furthest on in the chain gives me more problems however I know have it working pretty well. I have actively 4 devices, 3 Tivo's and 1 5.8GHz two handset phones, on my REN 3 adapter and can easily drive a fifth phone, old princess line or more.

Here is what works for me....

Tivo with VoIP Service
======================

System Equipment:
-----------------
Comcast Broadband Service
Motorola Surfboard SB4200 Cable Modem
D-Link DIR-655 Gateway WiFi Router
Broadband Telephony Systems (BBTelSys)
PAP2T-NA (ATA adapter)


TIVO SETTINGS:
-------------- Series2 Series2 Series1
Manufacture Hughes Philips Sony
IRD Model HR10-250 DSR7000/17 SAT-T60
Software Version 6.3e-01-2-367 6.3e-01-2-101 3.5c-01-1-011

Dial-In Number [(612) 630-5365] [(612) 630-5365] 612-630-0770
Dial Prefix [*99,] [*99,#019,] *99,
Call Waiting Prefix [*70,] [*70] *70,
Tone/Pulse Dialing [Tone] [Tone] Tone
Availability Detection [Off] [Off] Off
Dial Tone Detection [Off] [Off] Off


Command & Feature Descriptions:
------------------------------
*70, Disable Call Waiting
*99, Sets ATA adapter Bandwidth Saver to High
* Use if you have one of these adapters:
Linksys RT31P2
WRT54GP2
PAP2
* These adapters automatically select Bandwidth Saver to High:
Cisco ATA-186
Linksys RTP300
WRTP54G
Uniden UIP1869V
#019 Sets Tivo's modem to 19,200bps


Dial Tone Detection - Most VoIP providers supply VoiceMail in this case you must turn this feature OFF in order for Tivo to work.

Dial-In Number - You may want to select a major city for your phone numbers and you'll have to play with different numbers to find the one that works best. Even when you find a good number it probably won't work all the time but should still do the job. If you notice above my area code is not the same as the number I'm using to connect to Tivo service so the area is used to dial out.

Dial Prefix - Use this to setup your Tivo and ATA adapter prior to dialing out.

QoS - If your router has QoS make sure to set it up for your ATA adapter giving it preference for the proper ports with UDP protocol. This is also important for echo’s and choppy sound when using your phone.


Here is a good site for some general problems with VoIP;
http://www.voipfrustration.com/

[cyclonecj]

I have been having trouble with my Vonage connection using a Linksys WRTP54G and a DirecTivo Phillips DSR708. Finally got it working so I thought I'd post to help anyone else that's having the same issue.

Here's my Phone Settings:
Dial-In Number: 651-239-1400 (I'm in St. Paul, MN)
Dial Prefix: 7189875137
Call Waiting Prefix: *70,#064,*99,
Tone/Pulse: Tone
Availability: Off
Dial Tone: Off

I had previously been using a 212 number but it just stopped connecting. Anyways, hope this helps someone.

[Ebbhead]

I have a Series 1 Tivo and VOIP (mstar (http://mstar.net/)/Utopia (http://www.utopianet.org/)). I have had VOIP for 2 years and did not even know there was a problem with Tivo/Voip until a few days ago when Tivo began telling me a daily call was required. Tivo had been making successful daily calls for close to two years on my VOIP service without any special tricks on my part. Now I need some help getting my Tivo to work again.

Here are my modem settings:
ACTIVE PROFILE:
B1 E1 L0 M1 N1 Q0 T V1 W0 X4 Y0 &C1 &D0 &G0 &J0 &K0 &Q5 &R1 &S0 &T5 &X0 &Y0
S00:000 S01:000 S02:043 S03:013 S04:010 S05:008 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:095 S12:050 S18:000 S25:005 S26:001 S36:007 S37:012 S38:020 S46:138 S48:007 S95:000

STORED PROFILE 0:
B1 E1 L0 M1 N1 Q0 T V1 W0 X4 Y0 &C1 &D0 &G0 &J0 &K0 &Q5 &R1 &S0 &T5 &X0
S00:000 S02:043 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:095 S12:050 S18:000 S36:007 S37:012 S40:104 S41:195 S46:138 S95:000

[STORED PROFILE 1 omitted. It's identical to STORED PROFILE 0]

I am able to dial and connect through the external modem, but negotiation always fails. I have tried dialing prefixes ,#396 ,#319 and ,#334 without success. I am using the serial cable that came with my Tivo to connect the Tivo to the modem.

I have a dsl filter and have tried various permutations of using that with the internal modem and the external modem.

When I call customer support for my VOIP service they don't know what I'm talking about when I ask about "packetization rate" so it appears I can't get them to change that for me.

I would appreciate a solution. Can anyone verify that my modem settings are right/wrong? Any other suggestions that are specific to Series 1 that may be beneficial?

[jmbeam]

What do I lose my not dialing in everyday? I have not dialed in for almost 3 years. Would dialing in give me a better picture etc? Do they perform the updates over the dish instead of by telephone? I have two HD Direct Tv Tivo's with Vonage. Is their a simple way to connect these by wire or wireless?

It stinks but I only receive about 7 channels that are in HD. I am told that I need the new boxes to receive Mpeg 4 and all the HD channels. However this leaves me without Tivo and requires me to sign up for two years. They are willing to provide the equipment for only the shipping fee. I forgot to ask if I own them or not. I am hesitant because I love Tivo plus Direct Tivo has screwed me a few times. The only reason I stayed was due to NFL football. However I will nener again sign up for it. They bleed you dry. For the first 3 years I received the games in HD. This year I had to pay an extra $100. No way. I also cant receive HD locals either. The only HD games I get are with ESPN and the NFL network. I paid for the oTA equipment but they never spent much time in attempting to get me coverage. Oh what to do.......

[stevel]

Dialing in is not required at all, after the first time. If you don't call in, you'll get a daily nag message after 30 days or so and won't get new versions installed. (The updates come over the sat but the command to install comes over the phone.)

If you get new equipment from DirecTV it will be a lease.

[EricStratton]

I just got a used Sony SAT T-60 and I just thought I'd add what worked for me in case it'll help anyone out. I was able to make a call out simply using XMan__007's settings (except my dial-in number was different, of course):

Dial Prefix = *99,
Call Waiting Prefix = *70,

This was a whole lot easier than when I set it up for my Samsung SIR-S4120R.

ES

[upperq]

u can use HDVR2by doing all these things

This is more complex because the modem in the HDVR2 does not support the ,#019 prefix so you cannot slow it down below 56k. To make it work consistantly, you will need to use an external modem and a custom cable.

I picked up a 28.8 modem on e-bay for about $10.

To connect to the modem you will need to use the serial port on the back of the DirecTiVo - it looks like a headphone jack. You can use the "TiVo Serial Cable" and a DB9 to DB25 adapter for this, but I don't recommend it because this will require you to pre-program your modem using a computer in order to get it to work. I prefer to make a custom cable and use 2 cross connects to force the modem into the proper mode. The wiring chart is attached.

To make my cable, I cut and stipped the cord from an old pair of headphones and crimped on an RJ45 connector using the first 3 pins on the RJ45. Then I picked up an RJ45 to DB25 adapter and did my custom pinouts, including the cross-connects. I found this to be easier than trying to wire the stereo plug directly to the DB25.

Connect the serial port to the modem, and the modem to the phone jack. Then go into:

DirecTV Central > Messages & Setup > Recorder and Phone Setup > Phone Connection > Change Dialing Options

Set the Dial Prefix to ",#319" without the quotes. This tells the reciver to use the external modem.

Make a test call..... occasionall the call will fail for me, but it works about 9 times out of 10.

___________
anime (http://www.animevenue.com)

[Yogibear]

Hello I am new here, I own a Direct tv/Tivo, had it for a couple years now. My Tivo is:
Network-Hughes network systems
platform-series2
Modal-sd-dvr40
Software-6.4a

Bought Vonage in late July and hooked it up early August. Since then my Dvr hasn't connected to Tivo's service for updates. I think it can't get through the Vonage V-Portal. I don't know what to do?

I also found that I can buy a TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter so I can use my wireless internet instead the phone line.
https://www3.tivo.com/store/accessories.do?WT.srch=1

[ForrestB]

Yogibear,

See Stevel's response above - DirecTivo's don't need to be connected to a phone except for activating software updates. Based on past experience - typically DirecTV goes several YEARS between software updates.

[Dkerr24]

Hello I am new here, I own a Direct tv/Tivo, had it for a couple years now. My Tivo is:
Network-Hughes network systems
platform-series2
Modal-sd-dvr40
Software-6.4a

Bought Vonage in late July and hooked it up early August. Since then my Dvr hasn't connected to Tivo's service for updates. I think it can't get through the Vonage V-Portal. I don't know what to do?

I also found that I can buy a TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter so I can use my wireless internet instead the phone line.
https://www3.tivo.com/store/accessories.do?WT.srch=1

Yogi... that Tivo Wireless G device only works with standalone Tivo units. Won't work with a Directv receiver with Tivo unit (Series 2).

[Dkerr24]

u can use HDVR2by doing all these things

This is more complex because the modem in the HDVR2 does not support the ,#019 prefix so you cannot slow it down below 56k. To make it work consistantly, you will need to use an external modem and a custom cable.

I picked up a 28.8 modem on e-bay for about $10.

To connect to the modem you will need to use the serial port on the back of the DirecTiVo - it looks like a headphone jack. You can use the "TiVo Serial Cable" and a DB9 to DB25 adapter for this, but I don't recommend it because this will require you to pre-program your modem using a computer in order to get it to work. I prefer to make a custom cable and use 2 cross connects to force the modem into the proper mode. The wiring chart is attached.

To make my cable, I cut and stipped the cord from an old pair of headphones and crimped on an RJ45 connector using the first 3 pins on the RJ45. Then I picked up an RJ45 to DB25 adapter and did my custom pinouts, including the cross-connects. I found this to be easier than trying to wire the stereo plug directly to the DB25.

Connect the serial port to the modem, and the modem to the phone jack. Then go into:

DirecTV Central > Messages & Setup > Recorder and Phone Setup > Phone Connection > Change Dialing Options

Set the Dial Prefix to ",#319" without the quotes. This tells the reciver to use the external modem.

Make a test call..... occasionall the call will fail for me, but it works about 9 times out of 10.

___________
anime (http://www.animevenue.com)

Jeez... that was a lot of work for something completely unnecessary.

[Yogibear]

well before I got a email telling me about a reply I call direct tv and they told me get a dsl defuser to slow the connection down. But now I guess I don't need the phone line after all

[Yogibear]

Can I ask once again what does the phone line does beside ordering shows and movies.

[ForrestB]

Can I ask once again what does the phone line does beside ordering shows and movies.

Besides ordering shows and movies, the phone line is also used to activate new Tivo software versions that have been downloaded over the satellite. This happens every few years.

Movies and shows can also be ordered thru DirecTV's website (no phone line required).

[Yogibear]

Besides ordering shows and movies, the phone line is also used to activate new Tivo software versions that have been downloaded over the satellite. This happens every few years.

Movies and shows can also be ordered thru DirecTV's website (no phone line required).

Ok then let me ask you can this Tivo software be activated without the phone once downloaded.

[Dkerr24]

Ok then let me ask you can this Tivo software be activated without the phone once downloaded.

Nope. It needs the phone call to begin the installation.

[Yogibear]

then that would be a problem with vonage the next time I get an update. Hope vonage can fix this problem before then.

[ForrestB]

then that would be a problem with vonage the next time I get an update. Hope vonage can fix this problem before then.

I'll quote myself "Based on past experience - typically DirecTV goes several YEARS between software updates".

Please check back in 2010 when this may be a real problem.

[jrs.reign]

To affix to the modem you will charge to use the consecutive anchorage on the aback of the DirecTiVo - it looks like a headphone jack. You can use the "TiVo Consecutive Cable" and a DB9 to DB25 adapter for this, but I don't acclaim it because this will crave you to pre-program your modem application a computer in adjustment to get it to work. I adopt to accomplish a custom cable and use 2 cantankerous connects to force the modem into the able mode. The base blueprint is attached.

To accomplish my cable, I cut and stipped the bond from an old brace of headphones and coiled on an RJ45 adapter application the aboriginal 3 pins on the RJ45. Then I best up an RJ45 to DB25 adapter and did my custom pinouts, including the cross-connects. I begin this to be easier than aggravating to wire the stereo bung anon to the DB25.


________________
ip pbx (http://www.inin.com/productsolutions/pages/enterprise-ip-telephony.aspx)

[inkymycat]

Hello

I have been doing massive research with not much luck. I currently have a AT&T lan Line as well as AT&T DSL. I am happy with the service but tired of AT&T and the long wait times when I do have problems. Seems line every 6 months or less they are going up. I hardly use my lan line to make calls. If I need to make calls I have a Magic Jack or my parents Vonage.

My plans are to get rid of my AT&T phone line and DSL Service. I will be going back to Comcast for a while. At least Comcast doesn't have long hold times where I'm at like AT&T does. OKay my parents Vonage is currently on my DSL Inernet (I get comcast 8meg connect next week). I would like to use my parents Vonage to make my daily calls for my Directv R10 Series 2 receiver.

Directv tells me that I need to have my phone line to download my programming updates. Tivo tells me that directv can send all my updates though my dish. Directv says they can't do this. I do not buy Pay PerView movies via Directv or have any sports channels I subscribe to. So is directv giving me a line of bull when they tell me I need to have a lan line hooked up to my tivo unit. My software on my tivo is 6.4a-0-2-521.

I have read the original post but seeing as this is 2009 is it any different now. I want to work with what I have and don't want to update my Directv tivo unit.

Thanks for all your help. :eek:

[PHijduk]

Without your phone you will get your program guide information via the satellite.

Without your phone line you will get notices that your receiver has not called in...no biggie!

Without your phone line you cannot order PayPerView via the remote...you will need to call in.

[inkymycat]

I wonder why Directv cant tell you this. I dont care about PPV nor do I use it. I did find some information on Weakness.com about series 2 receivers not needing to be plugged into a phone line. I will find out tomorrow after noon if everything works.

Thanks again for the fast response.:up:

[goo_nadd]

I have a HR10-250
I had to install a new internal HD.
How can I make my initial call to Direct TV via Vonage?

I can use the DVR feature until I make the initial call.

Thanks in advance

[rbtravis]

Only if you wrote down the phone numbers before you changed the drive, alongwith the rest of the phone settings. :)

[pixelpusher220]

This thread finally got my situation fixed.

Series 1 Philips DirecTivo DSR6000 (I think)
Vonage old adapter, no lcd just a led light for connection.

Everything was working just fine until around a month ago (August 2009). Then it stopped connecting.
Old settings were:
Local: 7039950509 (this still is a modem on the other end)
prefix: *99,#034,1

I've changed to:
local: 2122717103
prefix: ,#034,,12122773895

The catch was that in trying to test these settings, it was failing during the hangup process when 'preparing data'; rather frustrating since it obviously connected successfully and completed whatever the test call does. Since with the above settings were dialing, but my original dial in local number was still 703 area code I tried changing my dial in number to a 212 number. After doing that, then the test call went through without a hitch.

My first daily call after making above changes succeeded. wheee

[goo_nadd]

Only if you wrote down the phone numbers before you changed the drive, alongwith the rest of the phone settings. :)

I have the old phone number but there's no way to enter it.
The setup only ask for the the area code. It trys to call in for the list of local numbers.

I wasn't getting consistent dial up before the change. The Vonage just doesn't work.

Can I take the Tivo to a friends house and make the initial call?

I'll have no dish connection. Just a working phone line with video out.
What a pain.

[stevel]

Yes, you can take the TiVo to a friend's house. But pay closer attention to what pixelpusher posted. They used the "prefix" to enter the number to dial. Done this way, the number the TiVo thinks it is calling is ignored.

[rbtravis]

You don't go into Setup, but to ->messages and settings>settings>change phone settings> dial-in number. Then insert your saved phone number. :)

[goo_nadd]

You don't go into Setup, but to ->messages and settings>settings>change phone settings> dial-in number. Then insert your saved phone number. :)

Looks like the >change phone settings> are not avalible until the first test call is complete.

I tried all the prefix's with no luck.

I really appreciate the replys.