Vonage and DirecTiVo Hughes HDVR2

[DirecTV-FCC]

I have just joined today and need assistance prior to the DirecTV people coming to my house tomorrow to wire my receivers. I've just moved into my new house and need help planning how to best address the following situation.

I have the Hughes DirecTiVo unit (HDVR2) and love it. I have two other basic receivers without TiVo. Do I really need the phone line 24/7? Since I have Vonage in place already and am pleased with it, how would you best wire the configuration?

I have a TV on the main floor about 50' or so from where the Vonage router is and another TV in the basement where it typically would go.

Any and all feedback would be appreciated.

[bmoon1492]

What I do is run the a long phone line about once a month. Call Vonage, they now have the correct codes to input into the dialing properties so it will actually connect if that turns out to be a problem.

Basically, without a phone line you don't get software updates or the ability to do pay per view. Oh, and the constant reminder to check the phone connection.

[DirecTV-FCC]

Excellent - what I thought would be the issue - Do I need to just plug into the phone line in the Vonage Linksys box? Or do I need a splitter? What have you done?

[SteelersFan]

What I do is run the a long phone line about once a month. Call Vonage, they now have the correct codes to input into the dialing properties...
Do you know what these codes are? I have tried many settings to no avail.

[bmoon1492]

Do you know what these codes are? I have tried many settings to no avail.


I'll grab the codes this evening off my Tivo and post. Sometimes it takes a few calls to connect other times it connects on the first call.

[bmoon1492]

Excellent - what I thought would be the issue - Do I need to just plug into the phone line in the Vonage Linksys box? Or do I need a splitter? What have you done?

I don't pay the extra $$ to enable the second port in back of the Vonage Linksys so I got a splitter at Radio Shack so I can keep a rolled up 50' telephone cable connected which I just pull out monthly and connect to the back of the Tivo unit, but you can just disconnect your phone and plug in the "tivo" telephone cable when you need it.

[DirecTV-FCC]

Great - the splitter I had lying around doesn't seem to work with my Vonage box, so maybe it's the device itself. I'll look for your email and look forward to getting back DirecTiVo tomorrow (hopefully). The NHL playoffs start this weekend and I miss Center Ice.

[dhines]

i just got my HDVR2 to dial in (through vonage) last night. my settings were as follows:

dial prefix: 12122773895
call waiting settings: ,,*99,,*70,,#019
dial in number: 1-212-277-3895
phone check: off
auto something: off

please forgive the verbage, as i am doing this off the top of my head. but if you go to the dial options screen, the above references will make sense. just to warn you, it may take several attempts before you get a successful connection. BTW, make sure you set the 'bandsaver' opion on highest quality, or you will have issues.

one additional point, i specifically used the 212 area code number because it is apparently more accepting of calls using vonage.

[TrippM]

You can go to the telephone box on the outside of your house and disconnect the phone company wires, run the line from your Vonage router to a phone jack and then all of the phone jacks will have Vonage service. I've done this at my house with no problems. This helps to eliminate the long lines to the router.

Here is a link to an article explaining the process.

Link (http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html)

[bmoon1492]

Here is what Vonage gave me.


dial prefix: 12122773895
call waiting settings: *99,,#019,,
dial in number: Your Number
Phone Available: Off
Dial Tone: On

[Boston Fan]

You can go to the telephone box on the outside of your house and disconnect the phone company wires, run the line from your Vonage router to a phone jack and then all of the phone jacks will have Vonage service. I've done this at my house with no problems. This helps to eliminate the long lines to the router.

Here is a link to an article explaining the process.

Link (http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html)
This is exactly what we did in our house- and the very guide we followed. It works great. Just make sure you unplug the connection at the junction box to the outside line as instructed. The small amount of current running through from the outside line will damage your Vonage phone adapter.

Other than that it's a snap. Just plug your Vonage adapter directly into the nearest wall outlet, and than every phone outlet in your house will be active and available for use.

[SteelersFan]

Here is what Vonage gave me.


dial prefix: 12122773895
call waiting settings: *99,,#019,,
dial in number: Your Number
Phone Available: Off
Dial Tone: On
Thanks. I give that a try.

[Yog-Sothoth]

If you have an alarm system, it's a little more complicated (as stated in the article). I had my Vonage working fine with my ADT system. I've since cancelled ADT and am now using NextAlarm for monitoring (it plugs directly into my network, in lieu of a phone line).

[DirecTV-FCC]

Guys - Thanks to everyone for their posts. I literally spent days trying to comb through the other threads and this just clarified it for me.

My Plan A is to buy at Radio Shack a spool of phone line and run it into my Vonage box. That's about $7 to try out.

Plan B is to deal with the junction box. The main reason I didn't was that I bought all new phones for Vonage and the move...I guess I could return them.

Thanks again.