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Home > Archive > Voice Over IP in UK > September 2007 > Is this equipment OK for Vonage use?
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Is this equipment OK for Vonage use?
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Excuse my ignorance of things broadband. I have signed up for Vonage
voip service, and wondered if someone could advise what additional
hardware I need...
My broadband connection is provided by Namesco. They sent me a ZyXEL
660-RC ADSL Single port ethernet router, plus 2 ADSL microfilters.
The router has one telephone cable socket and one ethernet cable
socket.
I gather I will need to buy an ethernet card for my PC, into which I
plug the ethernet cable. Is that correct? If so, will *any* ethernet
card do? Anyone recommend one?
The next question is: Where do I then plug in the other ethernet lead
going to the D-Link VTA VOIP adapter from Vonage? Do I need a
different router with 2 ethernet sockets? If so, can you recommend a
cheap one?
Re the microfilters: Am I correct in thinking I only need one,
provided it is plugged into the main BT socket, and then have all my
BT phones connected to one side of the mocrofilter - and then run a
telephone cable from the other side of the filter to my ADSL router. I
this correct?
Many thanks for any help.
Jim H
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| News Reader 2007-08-23, 7:11 pm |
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"Jim H" <JimH@jdjdjdjdjdj.com> wrote in message
news:qsrqc3pa61pkmpv2dm334ri1e34bc73bv2@
4ax.com...
>
> Excuse my ignorance of things broadband. I have signed up for Vonage
> voip service, and wondered if someone could advise what additional
> hardware I need...
>
> My broadband connection is provided by Namesco. They sent me a ZyXEL
> 660-RC ADSL Single port ethernet router, plus 2 ADSL microfilters.
>
> The router has one telephone cable socket and one ethernet cable
> socket.
>
> I gather I will need to buy an ethernet card for my PC, into which I
> plug the ethernet cable. Is that correct? If so, will *any* ethernet
> card do? Anyone recommend one?
>
> The next question is: Where do I then plug in the other ethernet lead
> going to the D-Link VTA VOIP adapter from Vonage? Do I need a
> different router with 2 ethernet sockets? If so, can you recommend a
> cheap one?
>
> Re the microfilters: Am I correct in thinking I only need one,
> provided it is plugged into the main BT socket, and then have all my
> BT phones connected to one side of the mocrofilter - and then run a
> telephone cable from the other side of the filter to my ADSL router. I
> this correct?
>
> Many thanks for any help.
>
> Jim H
Hi,
Largely sounds good.
Assuming the ZyXEL is good and behaves...
.... seriously, basically ANY standard 10/100 ethernet card will do great. £1
to £2 is fine ! ;) - This technology is so mature, advanced and developed
that all the cards are basically very good. If necessary consider your
operating system. E.g. VISTA may not have driver support for some cards yet
/ at all.
Depending on what VoIP solution you want... if software only using the PC...
you are all set.
If you want a hardware ATA, take your pick! lol. But you will need a
"switch" first. This allows a network to increase the number of connections
/ sockets it has. In your case... taking your one port into the switch and
then providing 4 or 8 ports (depending how many ports the switch you buy
has). You would then plug your ATA and PC into the switch (itself plugged
into your router).
E.G.
BT WALL SOCKET -> ROUTER --\/
--> SWITCH -> PC
|-> ATA
Note, however, often ATAs come with built in routers, sometimes with
multiple ports (e.g. a built-in 4 port switch), and sometimes a built-in
ADSL modem as well. So you may find you can do various combinations and end
up without needing the switch or maybe even your ZyXEL ;).
Others can and probably / hopefully will provide more detail, etc.
Best wishes,
News Reader
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| old man 2007-08-23, 7:11 pm |
| And check that your PC doesnt allready have an ethernet port, most do
"Jim H" <JimH@jdjdjdjdjdj.com> wrote in message
news:qsrqc3pa61pkmpv2dm334ri1e34bc73bv2@
4ax.com...
>
> Excuse my ignorance of things broadband. I have signed up for Vonage
> voip service, and wondered if someone could advise what additional
> hardware I need...
>
> My broadband connection is provided by Namesco. They sent me a ZyXEL
> 660-RC ADSL Single port ethernet router, plus 2 ADSL microfilters.
>
> The router has one telephone cable socket and one ethernet cable
> socket.
>
> I gather I will need to buy an ethernet card for my PC, into which I
> plug the ethernet cable. Is that correct? If so, will *any* ethernet
> card do? Anyone recommend one?
>
> The next question is: Where do I then plug in the other ethernet lead
> going to the D-Link VTA VOIP adapter from Vonage? Do I need a
> different router with 2 ethernet sockets? If so, can you recommend a
> cheap one?
>
> Re the microfilters: Am I correct in thinking I only need one,
> provided it is plugged into the main BT socket, and then have all my
> BT phones connected to one side of the mocrofilter - and then run a
> telephone cable from the other side of the filter to my ADSL router. I
> this correct?
>
> Many thanks for any help.
>
> Jim H
| |
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| On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:52:28 GMT, "News Reader" <no@email.invalid>
wrote:
>
>"Jim H" <JimH@jdjdjdjdjdj.com> wrote in message
> news:qsrqc3pa61pkmpv2dm334ri1e34bc73bv2@
4ax.com...
>
>
>Hi,
>
>
>Largely sounds good.
>
>Assuming the ZyXEL is good and behaves...
Hi,
Thank you for the valued help! my pc does appear to have an ethernet
port already. At least, it has a socket that takes and ethernet cable.
You clarified that I will need to buy at least one extra component
(the ethernet switch). Since I'll have to place an order for an extra
component, I'm thinking I may as well solve another problem at the
same time: The distance between my home office and the BT main socket
is a long way, and It will be a PITA to route the cable. Do you think
it would make more sense to buy a wireless router with 4 ports, such
as: http://tinyurl.com/ytjluz ? Or will this mean I also have to buy
a wireless card for the pc?
You may be wondering why I don't plug my router into the nearest BT
extension socket and use microfilters on all the BT extension phones.
The reason is that the BT extension phones all belong to my landlady!
It'll worry her her big time if I ask to meddle with her extension
phones, etc.
Thanks again,
Jim H
| |
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| On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:50:52 GMT, "old man" <dl@spoofmail.notme>
wrote:
>And check that your PC doesnt allready have an ethernet port, most do
Thanks a lot for that! Yes, I now see my PC does have a socket that
takes an ethernet cable plug. It's not on a card but coming from the
motherboard by the look of it. Hopefully that means I don't need an
ethernet card...
Jim H
| |
| mymail@hotmail.co.uk 2007-08-23, 7:11 pm |
| On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:38:56 +0100, Jim H <JimH@jdjdjdjdjdj.com>
wrote:
> Do you think
>it would make more sense to buy a wireless router with 4 ports, such
>as: http://tinyurl.com/ytjluz ? Or will this mean I also have to buy
>a wireless card for the pc?
You will need a wireless adapter which plugs into a USB port but
wireless is good especially for someone like myself who absolutely
hates the sight of cables all over the place .
The router is a perfect choice had one of these for about 18 months
now with no problems at all but check out the prices at various
outlets when I got mine Maplins where selling the same router for
twenty pounds more than PCworld , in fact PCworld was the cheapest I
could find locally .
| |
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| Jim H wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:50:52 GMT, "old man" <dl@spoofmail.notme>
> wrote:
>
>
> Thanks a lot for that! Yes, I now see my PC does have a socket that
> takes an ethernet cable plug. It's not on a card but coming from the
> motherboard by the look of it. Hopefully that means I don't need an
> ethernet card...
If it's an RJ45 socket on your motherboard, then it's very, very unlikely to
be anything other than Ethernet. And you'll probably find it's there in the
control panel, saying that the cable is unplugged :-)
--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (UnSoEsNpEaTm@ale.cx)
22:09:22 up 39 days, 3:54, 2 users, load average: 0.50, 0.59, 0.52
09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0
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| On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:11:35 +0100, alexd <troffasky@hotmail.com>
wrote:
>If it's an RJ45 socket on your motherboard, then it's very, very unlikely to
>be anything other than Ethernet. And you'll probably find it's there in the
>control panel, saying that the cable is unplugged :-)
It does indeed - thanks.
Jim H
| |
| News Reader 2007-08-26, 7:11 am |
|
"Jim H" <JimH@jdjdjdjdjdj.com> wrote in message
news:a9urc39rls3vrrs3c8uobotd6so2t0ji6h@
4ax.com...
> On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:52:28 GMT, "News Reader" <no@email.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
> Thank you for the valued help! my pc does appear to have an ethernet
> port already. At least, it has a socket that takes and ethernet cable.
>
> You clarified that I will need to buy at least one extra component
> (the ethernet switch). Since I'll have to place an order for an extra
> component, I'm thinking I may as well solve another problem at the
> same time: The distance between my home office and the BT main socket
> is a long way, and It will be a PITA to route the cable. Do you think
> it would make more sense to buy a wireless router with 4 ports, such
> as: http://tinyurl.com/ytjluz ? Or will this mean I also have to buy
> a wireless card for the pc?
>
> You may be wondering why I don't plug my router into the nearest BT
> extension socket and use microfilters on all the BT extension phones.
> The reason is that the BT extension phones all belong to my landlady!
> It'll worry her her big time if I ask to meddle with her extension
> phones, etc.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Jim H
>
Hi,
Various things their.
The one I will certainly consider to pick up is the distance. Wireless may
not have sufficient range. I forget the maximum range of CAT5 / Ethernet
cable (I think it may be 100 meters). Wireless will often provide quite
dismal range so be aware of that.
Again, the only thing I would hazard, is that if you are going to buy an
ATA, you may want to consider or check that out first, as you may find the
ATA device you wish to go for actually includes both a four port switch,
ADSL modem and router, wireless, etc., etc. ! lol - so worth considering to
save unnecessary duplication / replication or newly purchased bits becoming
/ being redundant.
Others can be more helpful I am sure  .
Best wishes,
News Reader
P.s. Anything that is to connect via wireless (rather than being plugged
into the wireless routers additional built-in wired switch sockets) will
also need it's own separate wireless adapter (either internal PCI or
external USB, etc.).
| |
|
| On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 11:54:31 GMT, mr overquoter said:
[snip huge quote]
>Various things their.
First thing is to trim your quote so that everyone else doesn't have
to wade through a couple of pages before reaching your nuggets.
| |
|
| On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 16:12:18 +0100, jimmy <me@here.invalid> mused:
>On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 11:54:31 GMT, mr overquoter said:
>
>[snip huge quote]
>
>
>First thing is to trim your quote so that everyone else doesn't have
>to wade through a couple of pages before reaching your nuggets.
Second thing is to learn how how to spell.
--
Regards,
Stuart.
| |
|
| It happens that Lurch formulated :
> Second thing is to learn how how to spell.
how how?
| |
|
| On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 22:13:03 +0100, Jono <nothanks@blueyonder.invalid>
mused:
>It happens that Lurch formulated :
>
>how how?
>
No.1 rule of usenet, he who criticises others shall XXXX it up!
--
Regards,
Stuart.
| |
| Paul Hayes 2007-08-29, 1:11 pm |
| Are you intending on locating the ATA in the same place as your PC? If
so then I suggest the best thing to so would be to keep the Zyxel router
(the single port ones are actually pretty good), buy a switch (these are
available very cheaply all over the place including ebay) and run an
Ethernet cable from the router to the place your PC, ATA and whatever
else will be connected. Then have the switch sat on the desk where your
PC and ATA are.
cheers,
Paul.
--
Working Email:
paul-at-polog40-dot-co-dot-uk
| |
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| On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:26:48 +0100, Paul Hayes
<nomailforme@polog40.org.uk> wrote:
>Are you intending on locating the ATA in the same place as your PC? If
>so then I suggest the best thing to so would be to keep the Zyxel router
>(the single port ones are actually pretty good), buy a switch (these are
>available very cheaply all over the place including ebay) and run an
>Ethernet cable from the router to the place your PC, ATA and whatever
>else will be connected. Then have the switch sat on the desk where your
>PC and ATA are.
>
>cheers,
>Paul.
Thanks for the advice, Paul. I'll do that. The Zyxel router is now up
and running without a hitch. Now I just need the switch so I can plug
in the ATA. I've ordered a cheap (£7) Dynacom one which had good user
ratings at dabs.
Jim H
| |
| News Reader 2007-09-06, 1:11 am |
|
"Jim H" <JimH@jdjdjdjdjdj.com> wrote in message
news:lkfjd3hvf7mve0gshsma1gq97cm7j3oete@
4ax.com...
> On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:26:48 +0100, Paul Hayes
> <nomailforme@polog40.org.uk> wrote:
>
>
> Thanks for the advice, Paul. I'll do that. The Zyxel router is now up
> and running without a hitch. Now I just need the switch so I can plug
> in the ATA. I've ordered a cheap (£7) Dynacom one which had good user
> ratings at dabs.
>
> Jim H
>
Hi,
(Bit random this but still)...
Switches are pretty amazing pieces of kit / gear. They can pump vast amounts
of data very reliably, effectively and quickly... Whilst in our current day
and age (their current state of maturity) are very cheap / good value, etc.
.
Enjoy... best wishes,
News Reader
P.s. Four port 10/100 switch full duplex - 4 * 100 * 2 = 800 MB/s ... hmm,
nice.. ;) (and £2 or maybe £8.. lol) .
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