I recently switched to Vonage and for awhile my home alarm system could not dial the monitoring station to check in, when I lost my local phone service. I recently isolated the home phone lines and can use them as before with multiple phones, but the home alarm still cannot call out. I've read a few ideas as to a solution :
1) Re-program the alam to append a '#' at the end of the number it calls. Assuming I can reprogram it at all.
2) Some complicated rewiring to directly connect the Vonage router to the phone lines.
3) Ask my monitoring company to try to fix it, for a heft price.
4) Drop the monitoring
I quit trying VoIP...good thing I only had a handful. Too unreliable. Told the homeowners to order pots lines...now I can sleep at night.
| > 1) Re-program the alam to append a '#' at the end of the number it | > calls. Assuming I can reprogram it at all. | | That will do nothing | | > 2) Some complicated rewiring to directly connect the Vonage router to | > the phone lines. | | That will do nothing | | > 3) Ask my monitoring company to try to fix it, for a heft price. | | If you can't send signals now they won't be able to without adding a | cellular module of some kind | | > 4) Drop the monitoring | | Thats up to you | | > Anyone had success ? | | It's a 50/50 shot if an alarm panel works or not, the problem is there is no | standard for Vonage | |
what to you mean: "no automatic upload of any kind"?
| >> 2) Some complicated rewiring to directly connect the Vonage router to | >> the phone lines. | >
| > That will do nothing | | | yes, it will, but you need line siezure on the phones... | but you ALSO need to call vonage and tell them | to change the packet size to "10" and change the voice quality | to "high".....they will know what you are talking about.... | | >> 3) Ask my monitoring company to try to fix it, for a heft price. | >
| > If you can't send signals now they won't be able to without adding a | > cellular module of some kind | | no "cellular module of some kind" needs to be installed...... | after calling vonage, and changing the above mentioned, | everything should work, but if not, have the alarm company | come out, reprogram the board so there is no =automatic= | upload of any kind | | | | > It's a 50/50 shot if an alarm panel works or not, the problem is there is | > no | > standard for Vonage | | | vonage is the worst company out there.... | |
As you can see the answers to your question vary. That's because there is no guarantee that what works today on VoIP will work tomorrow. The Cable company, over time, will likely "manipulate" their protocols to accomodate new technologies or to tweek bandwidth. In doing so, these changes will be transparent to voice users. However, there's no way to predict how it will affect the transmission of signals by your alarm system. Stick with Pots, or get a cellular or some kind of radio backup system if you don't.
New Subject: I'm a very handy guy. Other than alarm systems, home audio, and other technical expertise, I can fix refrigerators, air conditioners, washers, driers, oil burners, do home electrical repair and installation, along with semi major home construction/modification. Also, small engine and marine engine repair and rebuilding. 30 years ago, I built my own kitchen cabinets from scratch. I recently renovated my kitchen again, Called the cabinet guy in. Paid a lot, but got the best job for the money.
When I don't have the time to explore or I think it's not worth the effort ...... I call the expert. Granted, I'm not the easiest customer to work for, but ...... If the guy knows his stuff, it's a piece of cake.
My question is ........Why would you begrudge paying your alarm company to come in and help you solve a problem? I can't imagine how "hefty" a price they could conjure up, to make you not want to take advantage of their knowledge and/or experience. Exactly how much did they tell you it was going to cost to fix your problem? You obviously don't know the answer to your problem and you're trying to find out ..... that I can understand. But you just sounded like you were motivated to seek information elsewhere, because there was going to be some outlandish cost involved and that the alarm company was going to rip you off for asking to get paid to help you with a problem.
Also, if they did come over and didn't solve the problem, how much would you/they expect payment to be?
If I don't get results, when people work for me, they don't get paid. Just the same as when I provide service to my clients, If I don't get it right the first time, I keep going back until it's fixed ..... no labor charge, only cost of equipment. If I ever couldn't fix something, I'd give them a refund for what they'd already paid me.
When it works it works okay although there is no guarentee the ISP's won't change something in the protocol later making reporting useless, also most don't realize they have no battery backup on the cable or dsl modems
yes, it will, but you need line siezure on the phones... but you ALSO need to call vonage and tell them to change the packet size to "10" and change the voice quality to "high".....they will know what you are talking about....
no "cellular module of some kind" needs to be installed...... after calling vonage, and changing the above mentioned, everything should work, but if not, have the alarm company come out, reprogram the board so there is no =automatic= upload of any kind
i mean, the system sends absolutley no signals unless it is forced to....I.E...cust test, or real alarm intrusion...if the system tries to do an upload, for instance, to keep the clock in sync, there can be problems...
NO ONE should use vonage...it is crap, and there is no real support for their product......thier answer to everything is either, "we'll send you a replacement", or, "our stuff works fine, YOU need to fix yours"......absolute crap!!!!!
| >> 2) Some complicated rewiring to directly connect the Vonage router to | >> the phone lines. | >
| > That will do nothing | | | yes, it will, but you need line siezure on the phones... | but you ALSO need to call vonage and tell them | to change the packet size to "10" and change the voice quality | to "high".....they will know what you are talking about.... | | >> 3) Ask my monitoring company to try to fix it, for a heft price. | >
| > If you can't send signals now they won't be able to without adding a | > cellular module of some kind | | no "cellular module of some kind" needs to be installed...... | after calling vonage, and changing the above mentioned, | everything should work, but if not, have the alarm company | come out, reprogram the board so there is no =automatic= | upload of any kind | | | | > It's a 50/50 shot if an alarm panel works or not, the problem is there is | > no | > standard for Vonage | | | vonage is the worst company out there.... | |
$75 for a visit to the house plus time, etc, ok maybe not 'hefty' as my post suggested but I like solving technical problems, like understanding the issue and giving it a shot before paying someone to fix it, and am cheap. I don't begrudge them a chance to earn a living but don't want to pay for a visit when there's no solution either. We'll see how it goes. From this discussion and looking on the web there's not a magic solution out there but thanks to everyone for their ideas.
As for Vonage, I wasn't happy with my local phone company, so it was either digital or rely on my cell phone for everything...until I remembered the alarm. So far so good, but we'll see when something goes wrong. As for the alarm, if I can't get monitoring for the price I'm looking for, and I know there's companies like alarm.com out there, I'll just leave a note asking the burglers to shut the attic siren off when they're done.
I have Vonage and my home alarm is wired to it also. I had to go to the vonage web site and set the bandwidth saver feature to the highest setting and it works fine now, I can even dial into it with compass and program it.
Sounds a lot like many DIYers I talk to. If you can fix it yourself and you don't mind spending a little time on it, why not?
I have been using Vonage for a number of months. At first the signal was usually poor and phone calls were often dropped. Over the past four or five months it's improved significantly. Phone calls are now as clear as on my land lines and dropped-calls are extremely rare.
ISTR in a thread here (or maybe in CHA?) someone stated that you cannot fax via VoIP. That is not correct. One of fax machines is on a VoIP line and it works perfectly. I haven't used VoIP for my alarm though. It's still connected to one of my POTS lines. One of these days I'll probably experiment with it, maybe in September after I get back from Brazil.
I'll cross that bridge if I come to it. As of now, I've been doing it once a month for almost a year which is good for me and never a problem when reporting to my monitoring co. since.
The only way I'd monitor an account via a VOIP/Broadband (if I couldn't get a decent signal from the Cellular Network) connection would be with the following conditions: 1. The alarm must be monitored via TCP/IP (No digital communicator over VOIP)... 2. The customer's modem (or Router) that provides the Internet Gateway must be powered by an UPS...
I think relying on a Digital Communicator over VOIP is risky, there's too many variables that can change day to day... IMO: That leaves the installing company with one of three choices...They can monitor a system via TCP/IP, Long Range Radio (AlarmNet "A", or the AES network), or use Cellular...
The smoke detectors aren't connected to the system, and yes I'd let the insurance company know. You get 911 with Vonage, and I activated it right away. The major difference seems to be that you tell them where you are, but as the thousands of postings to comp.dcom.telecom indicate there are a few opinions on the issue.
Hopefully you don't have smoke detectors connected to your system and don't forget to notify your insurance carrier of your decission as well. Do you get 911 service with Vonage?
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