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Author Topic: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?  (Read 25543 times)

AKJW

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New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« on: March 01, 2008, 11:23:12 AM »

I now have a Cable Digital Phone, Internet and TV Cable bundle with a modem. Is it possible for me to hook up my voice dialer to this modem without interrupting phone service? All of my regular phone service has been disconnected.
Thanks
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jtykal

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2008, 01:37:13 PM »

You can connect your phone adapter to the your house phone wiring, allowing you to still use your house phone jacks to plug in additional phones, including your voice dialer. I did this with my Vonage service, and I suspect it will work with any other internet phone adapter as well.  Detailed instructions from Vonage for doing this are here: 

Do-It-Yourself Home Wiring Guide

One way to use Vonage on multiple phones is to modify the existing telephone wiring in your home to distribute the Vonage service to all of your phone jacks. Then you can plug a regular telephone into any jack and make a call.

This option works best if you own your own single-family home. If you live in an apartment or a multiple-family dwelling, chances are your landlord and neighbors will not want you to alter your building's telephone lines. It is not very difficult to modify your home phone wiring, but it helps if you are handy around the house and have a basic understanding of telephone wiring. When using home wiring, Vonage supports up to 1000 feet of wiring per line. IMPORTANT: Because you are dealing with lines that carry voltage, there's always a risk of causing a fire or damage to your phone lines and equipment. If you are not comfortable doing the work yourself, you should hire a professional electrician or telephone technician to do the job instead.

It is important to understand that by modifying your telephone wiring to distribute Vonage throughout your home, you will be totally disconnecting yourself from the phone company. But the process is completely reversible. So if you sell your house in the future, for example, you can restore your old phone configuration with minimal difficulty. Note: If you plan to transfer your phone number to Vonage, you must wait for that process to complete before you begin rewiring your house.

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP ONE - ISOLATE YOUR INSIDE WIRING

    * To re-wire your home for Vonage, you first need to isolate your inside phone wiring from the lines that come into your house from the phone company. This is a step you shouldn't skip, even if you think your phone line is already dead. If you don't isolate your inside wiring, and the phone company decides to send voltage across the line you thought was dead, it could damage the telephone equipment inside your house or worse, cause a fire.
    * To begin, find the box on the outside of your house where the telephone lines come into your house from the street. This is called the Network Interface Device (NID). It's the legal demarcation point where the outside wiring from the street (owned by the telephone company) meets the wiring inside your house (owned by you). When you open the box, which is usually locked or fastened with a screw, you will have access to the side containing the wires going into your home, but not the side with the lines coming from the street. You'll also see a ground wire coming out of the phone company's side of the box. This wire protects you against lightning strikes, so make sure you never disconnect it.
    * Once you've opened your side of the NID, you'll see one or more sets of screw terminals inside. Each will have a short piece of telephone wire coming out of it with a phone connector on the end plugged into a corresponding jack. If there's only one line coming into your house, you'll most likely have only one set of screw terminals. To disconnect from the phone company, simply unplug each of the short telephone wires from its corresponding jack.
    * Next, you need to make it obvious to others that you've unplugged the wires on purpose and they shouldn't undo your modifications without risking damage to your inside equipment. Start by wrapping the end of each of the telephone wires you just unplugged with electrical tape so it can't be plugged back in without unwrapping the tape. Then, clearly label the inside of the box with a message that says something like: "Do not reconnect! May cause damage to inside equipment!" A sign written or printed in waterproof ink and taped inside the box works well. No matter how you choose to label the box, be sure it is obvious, clear, and easy to read.
    * Once you've clearly labeled the inside of the NID, close and refasten the box. Then, just to be safe, label the outside of the box as well. To be extra safe, you can also wrap a cord or nylon tie-wrap around the box so it can't be opened without cutting it. Remember, to avoid damage, you want to make it as inconvenient as possible for someone to change what you've done without your knowledge.

STEP TWO - CONFIRM THE LINE IS DISCONNECTED

    * After you've isolated your wiring from the phone company's, it's important to confirm the line is disconnected before installing Vonage.
    * Go back into your house and pick up a phone plugged into a jack that previously worked. You should hear absolutely nothing; the line should be totally dead. If the line's not dead, go back and check your work. If your work looks correct and the line's still not dead, it means that voltage is somehow still being carried on the line and it's not safe for you to proceed any further. Consult a professional electrician or telephone technician for help.

STEP THREE - CONNECT YOUR PHONE ADAPTER

    * If you've successfully isolated your wiring and you've confirmed the line is dead, the hard part's over. It's time to connect to Vonage!
    * Simply plug your DSL/cable modem into the Vonage phone adapter. Then plug your phone adapter into any telephone jack using a standard telephone cord. Finally, plug regular phones into the other jacks in your house. Telephone jacks are wired in parallel, so when you plug your phone adapter into any working jack, it will spread the signal to the other jacks in your home.
    * Like any telephone line, there is a limit to the number of phones you can connect to a single Vonage line. If too many phones are connected, the signal will fade, and not all of the phones will ring when a call comes in. Therefore, we recommend you only connect five phones maximum to a single Vonage line.
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AKJW

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2008, 01:51:48 PM »

Thanks, but I am in an apartment and not handy around the house, etc. I was wondering if I could use aTwo way telephone jack on the modem and plug the cable company's phone line in one side and the voice dialer in the other.
Thanks
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HA Dave

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2008, 01:56:37 PM »

I now have a Cable Digital Phone, Internet and TV Cable bundle with a modem. Is it possible for me to hook up my voice dialer to this modem without interrupting phone service? All of my regular phone service has been disconnected.

If you have the "cable company" (Digital) phone.... it works just like a regular (old fashion) phone service (once on your side - of the modem).


Thanks, but I am in an apartment and not handy around the house, etc. I was wondering if I could use aTwo way telephone jack on the modem and plug the cable company's phone line in one side and the voice dialer in the other.


Should work fine.... give it a try.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2008, 02:17:59 PM by Dave_x10_L »
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AKJW

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2008, 02:25:51 PM »

That worked perfect! Just was afraid to try it without somebody saying it should work. And so simple!
 :D ;D :o
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jtykal

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2008, 02:42:02 PM »

Well sure, if you want to do it the easy way...   ;)
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-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2008, 02:45:53 AM »

jtykal,

Wow!  Vonage actually supplies those instructions?

One important little factoid they left out:

If you have DSL and not Cable internet, disconnecting the lines coming into the house from the phone company is in fact also disconnecting your DSL signal which comes in over those lines, making not only your Vonage, but your internet service in general unusable!   :o

Thank you Vonage!  NOT!    ;)
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Oldtimer

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2008, 08:51:22 AM »


One important little factoid they left out:

If you have DSL and not Cable internet, disconnecting the lines coming into the house from the phone company is in fact also disconnecting your DSL signal which comes in over those lines, making not only your Vonage, but your internet service in general unusable!   :o


Bill is right.  This is an important point, but there is also a simple way around this and also the installation of DSL itself.

Instead of putting the DSL filters on each of the many phone devices in your house simply put just ONE in the network interface (NIC) itself and run a separate line from there to your DSL modem.  Actually if you do disconnect your pots service per the vonage instructions you don't need the filter at all, just the direct line to your DSL modem.

Now for the new warning,  If you put the DSL filter/splitter in the NIC instead of on each device you lose the LAN that can be overlaid on the house telephone wiring that is a feature of some DSL  modems such as the one from 2Wire, but that may not be a real problem since the same 2Wire device has built in WiFi.
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jtykal

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2008, 09:09:16 AM »

Vonage bashing aside, the topic of the post is CABLE digital phone service, not DSL.
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HA Dave

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2008, 10:23:25 AM »

Vonage bashing aside, the topic of the post is CABLE digital phone service, not DSL.

That's true! However the OP (Original Poster) got the information requested.

That worked perfect! .........


The topic had not yet been exhausted... and [this thread] makes for a nice depository for information for PHONE connections with the new digital systems. Most users of the forum... never actually join or post a question. The vast majority just search and read.

Whereas the OP's solution was very simple.... there is a BUNCH of really good information here. Including your information about Vonage.

« Last Edit: March 03, 2008, 10:25:50 AM by Dave_x10_L »
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comcaster

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2008, 03:52:00 PM »

Thanks for this thread. Anyone with any experience specifically with Comcast Digital Voice and getting the DS7000 to dial out?
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comcaster

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Re: New Cable Digital Phone Service - Voice Dialer how to?
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2008, 04:45:32 PM »

Never mind, comcast digital voice is compatible with X10 DS7000 dialer - got it working just fine with dual jack plugged into comcast modem (1 jack for telephone, 2nd jack for security console/dialer).
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