Vonage and DSL connections

If you have a Vonage system and you use DSL internet connection and you want multiple phones to work you run into problems with inside/outside wiring.

If you just have one phone that you want connected to Vonage then everything will work out fine. Its when you plug the Vonage Router via the Telephone cable into the phone jack/biscuit you get a busy signal from the phone.

This is because with voltage running through the pair your Vonage system will send a busy signal to the tele set.

To fix this you need to send the voltage through a separate pair on the jack and have the rest of the house set to the other set.

WARNING: NID's come in all shape and sizes. It would be best to research the particular NID you are working on before continuing. Most telephone companies use Red,Green,Black,Yellow wires for working pair. This is not a hard set rule and may be different in your area. I take no responsibility for any injury you may sustain or device's you may break in the process.

For simplicity sake I will use the Red and Green pair as the current pair in use with Black and Yellow as the second pair. The pictures I'll use are random ones I've gotten from the Internet.

On the NID outside the building you will see Red and Green attached to the NID Posts. This picture uses the Red and Blue wires for a live connection.


Looking at this picture you see that Black is twisted to White and Yellow is twisted to Green. The Black and Yellow are the colors from the Telephone company the Green and White is from the installation cable.

The first thing to do is remove the live connection from the NID posts. Unplug the RJ11 connection as the picture shows. I like to mark my wires with masking tape just for reference, because you never know what can come up while your working these. Untwist the ground pair (Yellow, Black) mark them and let hang.


You will now connect the Red and Green that was originally connected to the NID posts to the pair that the Yellow and Black were originally on. Basically just switching the wiring connections.

I recommend using Scotchlok's from 3M to connect your wires instead of twisting them together, but if your in a pinch ~ twist and cap the connections.



Here is a link to Digikey to purchase Scotchloks.

You now should have a Black and Yellow pair to connect. Wrap those on the NID posts the Red and Green were on and head back inside to your wall jack.

At the wall jack you need to remove the Red and Green pair and place the Black and Yellow pair on. So if Red and Green are on the 1 and 2 connects place the Black and Yellow pair on the 1 and 2 and the Red and Green on the 3 and 4.

You now have electricity going to that jack from the NID on the Black and Yellow pair. You can plug in your DSL connection. Turn on the Modem and get sync. This will allow you to get an Internet connection for your Vonage system and computer. You can test this by plugging in a phone to the jack and you should get a busy signal.

All the other phones in the house will be on the Red and Green pair and have no electricity going to them. So when you pick up another phone in the house you will hear no busy signal or dial tone just yourself breathing into the phone.

This is where you must make a decision. You can either run a telephone cable to a non charged outlet or you can wire up a dual jack wall plate.

Here is a crappy picture of the reverse side of a dual jack plate.

I prefer the dual jack method. This way you have a live DSL connection and a dead Vonage connection all in one spot.

To do it just connect the Red and Green pair to the 1 and 2 connects on the plate back. just as all the others in the house were/are. All wall plates are wire color coded to make things simpler.

I can only recommend that you test continuity with a tone tester or at least a voltmeter before you plug your phone in. Also make sure you close up your NID box outside to protect if from the weather once you are finished.

This may seem confusing while reading it, but once you get into it you will see very quickly what is going on. You are just taking voltage from one set of wires and putting it on another then ending that connection on the other end.

I've run into problems with older house wiring that this will just not work due to other IW issues. I cannot stress enough that color scheme and NID types vary all across the world and this blog post is by no means an end all solution to the DSL Vonage problems. If you continue to have problems you can also check on the Vonage forums.

JS

Telnet in Vista

What happened to Telnet on the Vista OS?????

Telnet is a great application for basic remote administration of computers. Sadly in Vista though it is turned OFF by default. This only adds to the frustration that is the Vista Albatross.

To turn it on you have to get to Programs and Features in the Vista complex. To get here do this:

Start Pearl > Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on and off (Left Hand Side of Window on bottom) > Telnet Client

Enable it by placing a check mark beside it and click OK and/or Close X all the way out to the desktop. Now go to the Run command and type in telnet.

A telnet session will open allowing you to connect to a remote host device.

Frustrating at first, but easy to remedy in the end...

JS

HyperTerminal Alternatives

When consoling into a router you have generally use some type of program to view the internals of the router. For Cisco routers I used to use Hyperterminal. It is a free program and is included on all Windows OS pre Vista.

You can find it under the Programs || Accessories || Communications || Hyperterminal

If you would like Hyperterminal on your Vista OS you can still get HyperTerminal from Hilgraeve, the company that created it, but you will have to purchase the Personal Edition. Link Here

One thing comes to mind when thinking about Hyperterminal. That is the burning, dizzying sensation I get from looking at black on white text for over two hours.

As great as Hyperterminal is or was there are alternatives out there for the Windows and Linux systems.

Tera Term:

This product was created in 1996 by T. Teranishl for the Windows 3.1/95/NT/ it supported Telnet, SSH and serial port connections. The new version picked up where the older one left off and is still free with a ton of extended options.

You can customize Tera Term to look how you would like. I prefer the Green text on Black background ala the Matrix code.

Real Term:

For Linux I prefer Real Term. It looks a lot like a tty connection, but has a GUI at the bottom of the screen that allows for serious configuration and testing. It can be used for far more serious stuff than just a simple COM connection. I have never used it though for anything more than a tool to get into a Cisco router.

These are just two products from many that are out there that I prefer. I am sure there are better tools out there so do a web check and see what you can find and let me know.

JS

Making your own Butt Set

My beautiful Butt Set broke on me while on site one day and I had to make one on the fly to get the job done this is what I did....

To make your own Butt Set, Linemans Headset, or Beige Box you will need:

A land line phone (not a cordless phone)
Two alligator clips
Soldering Iron and Solder
Scissors or wire cutters

Remove the cord from both ends of the phone.

I prefer to use the straight cord with the RJ11's and not the curly cord with RJ11's. It just gets all tangled and creates an unruly mess.

Cut one end of the cord and peel back the vinyl/plastic coating exposing the wires bare with the scissors or wire cutters.

Split open the wire end/open end of the alligator clips so you will have room to drop solder onto the wires and have a clear view of what you are doing. Scrap the open end of the clip with your Scissors to remove any coatings that are put on the clip at the manufacture leaving bare metal to bare metal connection between the wire and clip.

Place the Green wire onto the end of the alligator clip and drop a little bit of solder on it making a clean connection. Let it cool.... Be careful the clip connection is delicate and can break easily.

Now do the same with the Red wire.

Color code is not really an issue just use two wires from the cord and solder them onto the alligator clips. I try to keep them color coordinated for detail and simplicity. These will be connected to the posts later for call outs.

Now that the clips have been added to the wires plug the other end into the phone set. Make sure the phone is on Tone not Pulse.

You now have a working Butt Set and to test it you can either go to a 66/100 block, open up your phone Biscuit or go to a NID splitter and connect the one clip to one post and the other clip to the other post and make calls.

I didn't go into great detail or add pictures to this because Butt Sets can be used illegally. If you have any type of Telco experience you will understand this tutorial without any further explanation.

Vonage and Multiple Phones

Vonage is a great service. It works with just about every existing phone set up there is. Well.... almost.

I've been on some calls and seen some pretty crazy stuff that was unfixable. Usually it's the inside wiring that needs to be replaced or some rouge phone that won't work, because it was installed oddly.

Some of the easier calls I get are when a customer has multiple phones and only one is ringing through Vonage.

This is a very easy fix.

First you have to make sure that at least one phone is working with Vonage. That will make sure the electricity is off the NID and disconnected from the telephone pole and the number was ported on Vonage's end. If you don't hear any static or a busy tone or any other strange issues then you can assume all is well.

You will need:

Phone Line Splitter
2 Telephone Cords

Use a telephone line splitter and plug it into a wall jack where your old phone used to be when you had a Telco carrier.

Plug one phone cord into one side of the splitter and run that to the telephone that was plugged into your Vonage router/ATA.

Plug another phone cord into the other side and run that to the Vonage router/ATA where the working phone was plugged in at.

Working Diagram:

After it set up you can do a test call to 1-800-444-4444 and you will get a read back from MCI about what number you are calling from.

This seems like a no brainer and to regular telco guys in the field this is day one stuff, but I can't count how many calls I get that are all fixed with this set up. I just keep in mind that this is the stuff I get paid to know not the customer and I always explain to them what I did and how it works when I am finished.

If you want more in depth discussion about Vonage's Services and fixes for complex or baffling problems with the Vonage Service go to the Vonage Forum. Here you will find other field techs and intelligent people with WAY more experience than me that can answer just about every question you will have.

JS

Wireless Setup Extended...

I want to expand upon the previous post of the wireless setup.

When I stated that you should use the same SSID that was for the simplicity of network identification. If you have a Public and Private network make one named Private so you know when setting up the AP's that it needs to have access to all things company shared. Mark the other network Public to keep it Internet accessible only. It's all about ease of installation and documentation.

Speaking on ease of installation another thing that helps is keeping all of your devices within the same block or row on your switch. It will be easier a year down the road when you are looking at documentation when problems occur and it will be easier for everyone when you are finishing the installation and go to jack all the ports.

I've done installs where the switch had every other port configured to VOIP then every other port configured to computers and 4 ports in the left and right block dedicated to the printers with two ports configured for trunking. What a mess this makes. It is so confusing to the installers running data lines and to any future network admins reading your documentation. Before you know it you have a spaghetti mess of cables, everyone is confused and the install doesn't look professional.

Some would say a set up like that is for security purposes so if someone gets in they will not know where they are at. I agree to an extent, but really, if some hacker gets into your router/switch you failed. It wouldn't matter anyways - if they have gotten this far then they will know the difference in set up on port configurations to get to the proper devices.

Anyways enough of that stuff. Here are my recommendations for wireless AP setup:

Step 1: Test your switch by connecting into it with a cable and see if DNS, DHCP, etc... is set up correctly and you can get out to the Internet.

Step 2: Plug in your WAP and test it with any of the tools mentioned before or even your Windows Network Finder application. Verify it is running and the SSID is what you set it to.

Step 3: Do some testing with the encryption turned off. Make sure you can access file shares or what ever it is that you want the client to do when this is fully functional. This will keep things simple and easier to trouble shoot if a problem arises.

Step 4: Add PSK, WEP, or WPA authentication and connect with a simple Pre Shared Key. Check all file shares and verify Internet connectivity.

Now that you see everything works finish up and set up your AP for proper security authentication to lock it down. Finalize the network for whatever your organization will need for security and take the AP to the desired location in the building and add it to the network permanently.

Ideally you would want to do this in a lab setting, but in most cases (at least for me) it is done on the fly in a production environment after hours.

JS

Outlook and the wrong MAPI

After installing a trial offer of Microsoft Office 2007 you have the option of purchasing a copy, use the current copy in limited form, or uninstall it.

If you try to reinstall Office 2000 or Office 2003 over the copy of Office 07 then start Outlook you will get a warning pop up stating that you are using the wrong version of the MAPI32.dll file.

First thing to do is remove MS Office 07 from the Add/Remove Programs applet. After this you have two options of getting this fixed.

Option 1:

Go to C:\winnt\system32 or C:\windows\system32, double-click Fixmapi.exe program.

If you can't find the program and don't want to take the time to search for it try -

Option 2:

Find the MSMAPI folder. It should be located at C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI and should contain a folder called 1033.

Rename the MSMAPI folder to MSMAPI.old.

Close all the windows and start Outlook again.

I used C:\ as the primary drive for this example. If you cannot find the folders where the example stated then do a search for them and you should be able to find them.

JS

Wireless Network Setup and Channel Crossing

When you have a large area that will be covered by multiple AP's (access points) some strange things can happen. Interference is a big one. You can get interference ranging from microwaves all the way up to brick walls.

One thing to keep in mind is what type of wireless are you setting up. A\B\G\N (N is not yet released) are the flavors that are out there. I won't get into the specifics of the data bits or ranges, but it is good to know that B\G\N can work together or are cross compatible and backwards compliant. What is important are the channels they work on. For both B\G you get three clean channels from each those being 1,6 and 11.

Before installing the framework and have a working Internet connection it is a *great* idea to map out where you will install the AP's. I made the mistake of not mapping one time... never again. Start mapping out/site survey with your laptop and the free program Netstumbler. See if there are any other networks in the area what the SSID's are and what channel's they are operating on. Speaking of SSID's I recommend keeping them all the same for your network.

Depending on what type of wireless protocol you use, encryption level, outside interferences and other wireless networks in range you can map out the full network and install it in no time at all. Honestly the hardest thing about setting this up are the data runs from your framework.

Just for simplicity sake I will start with channel 1 on the first AP using 802.11g standard and no interference. Set your first AP 125ft - 150ft from your framework configured on channel 1. From that point map your next cell 125ft - 150ft away and use channel 6 then for the third AP use channel 11. Never crossing the same channels.

All of this changes when you have multiple flooring schemes and firewalls (the real brick and mortar kind) in the way. The point I'm making is that if you have all three AP's on say channel 6 they will cross each other and cause network connectivity issues/drop outs and disruptions. You should never have two AP's crossing each other on your network or others that are on the same channel.

After you have everything installed and working do another site survey and verify all of your AP's are on different channels, overlapping, the SSID's are the same, everything is encrypted and signal strength is strong. Store that data for future changes that may come about.

If you want a really good wireless networking tool that is far more advanced than Netstumbler I suggest Kismet and Cain and Able. I absolutely love both of those tools, but offered Netstumbler for ease of use and graphical depictions.

J