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On Mon, Jan 31, 2005 at 02:53:14PM -0500, Jerry Feldman wrote:

> Good consideration. I think that Vonage allows you to use your existing 
> phone wiring, but I'll do some reasearch on it. 

   "Allows" would be one way to put it.  It's probably more correct to
say that it's possible, they just don't want any responsibility for
it.  As long as you're not driving too many phones it's just:
   1. Disconnect the correct pair (probably red/green or blue/white)
at the current demarc
   2. Plug the phone adapter into an available wall jack
   If you're wired sanely, that should have the effect of connecting
all of your phones to the live pins of the adapter.  This is basically
what I've done at my house, and it has worked for months.  We're using
three phones, one of which is the base unit for a three-handset
cordless system.

   Something to keep in mind is that you'll have to decide what
equipment is right for you.  There are four options that I know of
that will work with Vonage (they all have two phone ports):
   1. Motorola VT1005, Radio Shack, $79.99 - $50 MI Rebate
This is what I have, and what USED to be the "Free Phone Adapter" with
new service.  It has "WAN" and "LAN" ethernet, and the intended use is
to connect it directly to your CM/DSL and put everything else behind
it.  This would allow it to do traffic shaping and QoS tagging.  I
happen to use it as an internal network endpoint, and it still works.
If I bothered to twiddle my firewall rules it'd probably work better.
   2. Linksys PAP2, RS/CompUSA/BestBuy/etc, $59.99 - $50 MI Rebate
This is similar to the Cisco ATA-186(?) that used to be Vonage
standard issue.  It can only operate as an endpoint, so it's up to
your router(s) to make sure it gets enough bandwidth.
   3. Linksys WRT54G-P2, RS/CompUSA/BestBuy/etc, $129.99 - $50 MI Rebate
Full-featured home gateway w/ 802.11g.  It's similar to the popular
WRT54G, but with phone ports.  If used as your CM/DSL router it'll do
traffic management for you.
   4. Linksys RT31P2, Vonage, Free w/ new service
Home gateway, wired only.  Same as the last one, just without the
WAP.

   If I were doing it again, I'd still take whatever they'll give me
for free.  The "free" router model doesn't have to be used as a
router, but gives you the option of doing so.  I only go with the
retail packages when I'm setting up a home office user on short
notice.  It takes just under a week to get the equipment from Vonage,
but you can have the retail package active in about 15 minutes.

- -- 
Matt Brodeur                                                       RHCE
MBrodeur@NextTime.com                           http://www.NextTime.com

You can make it illegal, but you can't make it unpopular.
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