Section 5.6. Troubleshooting


5.6. Troubleshooting

Continuing with their excellent web content, Vonage has one of the most complete Help sections. There are numerous illustrated installation screens with video-type illustrations showing outstanding detail for each step of each procedure.

5.6.1. Vonage Help Pages

Figure 5-11 shows the main Help screen for Vonage. You reach this screen by clicking the Help link on the top horizontal menu.

The last link on the bottom left of Figure 5-11 is Troubleshooting. Clicking this opens up a list of over 100 topics ranging from general questions to fairly deep technical details. Every router and telephone adapter sold or recommended by Vonage has installation and troubleshooting instructions in this area. You can also reach many of these explanations through the Installation Support links in the top-left corner of the main Help screen.

Figure 5-11. Lots of help and good explanations


As usual, Vonage marketing gets a large amount of space on this page. The bottom-right quarter of the main Help screen is What's Hot in Help, which is all marketing information such as new customer totals, new retail partnerships, and teasers about their upcoming video service. Oh, yes, there's some generic blather about protecting your credit card information that's a rehash of credit card bill inserts for the last dozen years.

Overactive marketing aside, the Vonage Help screens are unusually well done and full of useful information clearly presented. Again, kudos to Vonage.

5.6.2. Top Troubleshooting Tips

Michael Tribolet, Executive Vice President of Operations for Vonage, says there are three issues that come up the most in Vonage's technical support center. These will apply whether you're on Vonage or another provider:


Wrong plugs

People plug their phones into the wrong telephone port on their router because the print is small on the router or they don't realize there's a difference in the ports. Sometimes things work anyway, but not always. This is no different than plugging your phone into the wrong wall plug in the office or somewhere else you have multiple holes. Check to see that all the cables are connected, and plugged into the proper ports, before calling for help.


Router problems

All the routers Vonage ships are configured properly to let broadband phone traffic through the firewall in a secure manner. But sometimes people changes their firewall configuration and close those ports by accident. In addition, telephone adapters that plug into the routers can't be preconfigured to open the right software ports to allow the broadband voice traffic through the firewall, so users must configure their firewalls themselves.


Relocation

Seven percent of the people in the United States move annually, and many of those are Vonage customers. In fact, if you move regularly, using a broadband phone service as your number makes sense, because you can take your number with you. But what often gets lost or left behind are the instructions for configuring devices after the move.

So you don't have to search, here are the software ports that must be opened in your firewall for your Vonage phone to work:

  • SIP (ports 5060 through 5061) using UDP protocol

  • NTP (port 123) using UDP protocol

  • TFTP (port 69) using UDP protocol

  • DNS (port 53) using UDP protocol

  • RTP (ports 10,000 through 20,000) using UDP protocol Figure 5-12 shows the Linksys screen used to add these security changes.

Every router is different, so take a look at your manual when setting these ports. The example in Figure 5-12 shows the process, but since this particular router came with Vonage service configured at the factory, changes like this weren't necessary. Please call your broadband phone provider, Vonage or whoever, and ask for help rather than guessing

Figure 5-12. Configuring a new Linksys router with Vonage support for service access through the firewall


about your firewall. Computers on the Internet need protection, so make sure your firewall is configured properly. You'll have much more fun with your computer if it's safe, I promise.

5.6.3. Reboot

Rebooting fixes more computer problems than anything. The same goes for routers, telephone adapters, and cable/DSL modems. Reboot for better health.

Vonage and many other providers, including many broadband ISPs, have some pretty extreme views on rebooting, more extreme and time-consuming than I usually recommend. But you'll often have to go through the reboot when you call to report a problem, so here goes. (In fact, if you change certain items in the Vonage administration screen, such as Call Waiting, you must reboot.) Here are Vonage's instructions:

  1. Turn off your computer.

  2. Unplug everything except your computer, meaning your router, telephone adapter if you have one, and your cable/DSL modem.

  3. Wait for three minutes.

  4. Plug in your cable/DSL modem and wait until it completely restarts and connects to your broadband service provider.

  5. Plug in your router and wait for it to restart and connect to your cable/DSL modem and service provider.

  6. Plug in your telephone adapter (if you have one) and wait for it to restart and connect to your router.

  7. Reboot your computer and wait for it to restart.

  8. Pick up your Vonage phone and check for a dial tone.

Personally, I always recommend unplugging things and waiting for one minute. But if that doesn't work, try the three minutes Vonage recommends. Since many people get impatient and turn things on too quickly, maybe telling them three minutes will make them wait at least one minute.



Talk is Cheap
Talk is Not Cheap!: Saving the High Costs of Misunderstandings at Work and Home
ISBN: 1885167334
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 102

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net