nevermind. I just sent to the email address in your profile.

I was wondering if anyone could share how they have their Vonage wired up.

Vonage sent me a Linksys RT31P2 router with built-in adapter for the phones. I plugged this between my cable modem and my Netgear router and all seemed to go well. I didn't use any of the Linksys router features. Basically, I was just using it to hook up my phones and pass the internet onto my Netgear.

Then, I realized my ftp server wasn't working anymore. Yep, the Linksys has built-in firewall.

Try #2. I then tried to hook the Linksys box downstream of my Netgear router. This required disabling its DHCP server and giving it a friendly IP address. This "worked" except that now the Linksys/Vonage box was only getting bandwidth when it was available. Because it was downstream, it couldn't ensure "quality of service" and voices would drop during uploads.

Try #3. I put the Vonage/Linksys box up front again, directly connected to my modem. I then turned off the DHCP on my Netgear router and used it as a simple switch. Well, this doesn't work because the Netgear wasn't letting the DHCP signals from the Linksys box go through (on the Netgear page, they say this is to be expected.)

Try #4. Just like above, but re-enable DHCP on the Netgear and disable it on the Linksys. For some reason, the internet stopped working with this setup, even with "friendly" IP address. I'm hoping I can get it going, then forward ports 21-22 from the Linksys to the Netgear and then tell the Netgear which PC to forward them to.

It looks like most Vonage users are getting some new Linksys router with a 3rd party firmware that allows for prioritizing the traffic to suit the Vonage box, even if it's behind the router.

Can you just use their Linksys box (with a $20 switch if needed), and enable the FTP fowarding you need in it?

It's either that or set a static IP on your Netgear WAN interface in the trusted linksys subnet - which should be different from your current trusted netgear subnet. Then set FTP forwarding from your Linksys to the Netgear, and it should continue from the Netgear to the FTP machine, doubly NAT'ed.

-jk

Thanks! I was about to order a 70 dollar router that would have taken care of the problem, but instead just bid on a few 8 port switches on eBay. Here I am trying to get one of my routers to act like a switch, and I was trying to buy another router to fix my problem!

I was sure to use the same sub nets.

Why don't you just disable the Linksys firewall and leave it between your Netgear and cable modem?

I've been trying to figure out how to do that - with no luck. The documentation is pretty light. I've used Netgear for a long time and I'm more used to finding options with it than I am with Linksys.

I keep reading about you guys putting the VoIP box before the router. Do all the current vonage boxes have a hub or switch built in or are you doing it someother way ? I have the cisco unit and it only has one network connection on it so I don't know how I could put it upstream from my router ?

I have a Linksys PAP2 for my Vonage access. I assume it's like your Cisco unit. No router or switch built-in. Just one ethernet port that has to be plugged into my existing network.

When I got Vonage, my box came with a Linksys router that had a built-in ATA.

Here is my setup:

Modem > Linksys/Vonage box (192.168.15.1 + DHCP running) > Netgear (192.168.0.1 + DHCP running) > PC

The above setup works, but the Linksys firewall is active. And because it only lets me port forward or use DMZ in the 192.168.15.x grouping, I can't pass things onto my PCs or the Netgear router.

So, step 1, I turn off DHCP on the Linksys/Vonage box. All works fine.

Step 2, I assign the Linksys/Vonage box an IP of 192.168.0.32 (so all boxes have similar IPs). But now, I can not connect to the Linksys/Vonage box. I don't understand why...

Modem > Linksys/Vonage box (192.168.1.32 + no DHCP) > Netgear (192.168.0.1 + DHCP running) > PC

I can still get on the internet from behind both boxes, but I can not log into the Linksys/Vonage box to set port forwarding or to put my Netgear in the DMZ....

Am I over looking something?

UPDATE: This setup only seems to work for a short time before the internet stops reaching the Netgear box...Then I have to reset the Linksys to factory default to get everything (minus port forwarding) working again.

Set the address of the netgear router to be the DMZ of the linksys router. Then all traffic will be forwarded to the netgear, which using your previous settings should forward it on to the right computer.

Matthew

I read your post again. Plug your PC into the linksys directly, set it's IP to one in its range, and set the settings. Then plug your netgear router into it.

It should let you manage the linksys from beind the netgear, but perhaps something is throwing it off. All your netmasks are 255.255.255.0, right?

Matthew

I jumped on the bandwagon a few days ago. I went with the Linksys PAP2 so I didn't have to contend with reorganizing my home network setup. I've made a few local test calls and two long calls to Jamaica without an issue.

So far, I'm very impressed with the quality of call clarity and the web dashboard feature. I didn't like having to call Vonage however, their customer service still bites bobo.

I'll give it a few more weeks before I snip the tether to Bell though...