Linksys RT31P2 Wired Router for Vonage Internet Phone Service
By: Linksys Average Rating: 2.5 Total Reviews: 41
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 On: 2008-02-02
When I terminated Vonage service, they charged the disconnection fee of around $30.00; however, they never advertise this anywhere. I was not aware of the hidden fees by vonage. I am outraged by this.
It took me almost 20 minutes to tell them I want to disconnect the service, but the operator would not accept this and wasted lots of my time, and I had to tell them again and again that I just want to disconnect the service, finally they did.
Now that I dont have vongage anymore, they have bombarded my mailbox with specials, and they need to stop this as well.
I am not recommending Vonage to anyone, especially because of bad support.
 On: 2007-12-15
I got this unit with my Vonage service. After about a year, phone port 1 went bad so Vonage moved my service to port 2. Now, about 2 years into my service, port 2 will go non-functional for hours at a time. I went through extensive troubleshooting with Vonage and the diagnosis was that the Linksys unit was defective. Two years is an unacceptable life span, as far as Im concerned. By the way, the router portion of this unit has never shown any problems.
 On: 2007-11-23
I use this router with Via-Talk upstate NY.
Once I got it up & going it works great!
I like Via-Talk. If I am talking a technical issue it
is lots easier when the person your talking to
speaks & understands English. Via-Talk is less $$ too.
I got my router from Via-Talk directly.
by: learthur2 On: 2007-04-12
Got the router, installed it, used it with Vonage for last 2 years:
1) Slow to reboot
2) Have to reboot after EVERY configuration screen.
3) Drops your calls when rebooting (some routers dont!)
4) Every 2-3 months the router gets "constipated" and gets very sluggish and unreliable requiring a HARD reset and reconfiguration (see #2 above).
5) This model is LOCKED to Vonage service.... cant change Voip service providers.
6) After 2 years the router simply quit working. All the lights work, but it doesnt route anymore and it doesnt let you make phone calls anymore.
7) Small glitches with its routing ability. The more configuration you do, the slower the routing becomes. Very underpowered processor doing the routing.
So yes, Vonage is inexpensive phone service.... but when you have to buy a new router every 1-2 years it isnt as cheap as you initially think!!
 On: 2007-03-20
I didnt have many problems with this unit until recently, when I was unable to place or receive calls. For the past six months, I had to do an occasional reboot (once/twice a month, maybe) when it would lock up and render my phone and internet service useless. The past couple of days, no dial tone and my incoming calls went right to voice mail. Spent an hour on the phone w/tech support troubleshooting today, only to have him tell me what I already knew - I needed a new adapter. I called customer service threatening to cancel if they didnt provide me with a phone adapter (I didnt pay for the first one, if they wanted to keep me as a customer, I wasnt going to pay for the second one). The account manager said no problem, and said theyd ship me out a new one pronto w/two day shipping.
I havent had any problems with my Vonage service. Call quality has been suprisingly clear (thank you Cox for great broadband) and in the 2+ years I have been with them, this is the first real issue I have had, and they were quick to keep me as a customer. Good job Vonage!
On: 2007-03-19
I didnt have many problems with this unit until recently, when I was unable to place or receive calls. For the past six months, I had to do an occasional reboot (once/twice a month, maybe) when it would lock up and render my phone and internet service useless. The past couple of days, no dial tone and my incoming calls went right to voice mail. Spent an hour on the phone w/tech support troubleshooting today, only to have him tell me what I already knew - I needed a new adapter. I called customer service threatening to cancel if they didnt provide me with a phone adapter (I didnt pay for the first one, if they wanted to keep me as a customer, I wasnt going to pay for the second one). The account manager said no problem, and said theyd ship me out a new one pronto w/two day shipping.
I havent had any problems with my Vonage service. Call quality has been suprisingly clear (thank you Cox for great broadband) and in the 2+ years I have been with them, this is the first real issue I have had, and they were quick to keep me as a customer. Good job Vonage!
On: 2007-01-24
As I read through the other reviews, I realized that my experience was way too common. It worked fine for about a year, with various reboots needed to get it back working, and then all of a sudden I get the dreaded blinking power light. It will not boot up. Now I have to go buy another router. Sounds like this Linksys product is a dud.
On: 2007-01-14
Im not sure I understand all the negative reviews Ive seen here. Ive had this product installed for over a year and in general it has been successful. I have excellent call quality (better than my traditional landline)and the box can actually drive more ringer equivilents than the line coming in from the phone company could. Ive recently gotten a lot of use out of the free calls to Western Europe. Im connected via a Comcast Cable connection. The speed and quality of the internet connection are important for voip. A DSL connection may not cut it.
I would agree that Vonage customer support leaves a lot to be desired. That said, its still better than the service I got from SBC.
One thing I would like to see improved is the performance of the router after a power failure. Most of the time it requires a manual reset after a power failure. It doesnt seem to find the cable modem if they are both powered up at the same time.
On: 2006-12-23
I was thrilled that I could save money on my phone bill, but this system is down every other week. When it is working, the line if very loud and noisy. I worry that we will have an emergency and be unable to call 911 because our Vonage is down AGAIN! Getting someone to help takes a long time, they are nice and very polite, but expect to spend several hours (at least) turning things on and off and checking your computer settings with the tech support every time it goes down. I wish I had stayed with AT&T. Getting my phone number transferred to Vonage was such an ordeal, I have not switched back to AT&T yet because I dont have the energy for the transfer drama.
 On: 2006-09-30
I confirm that a simply power surge seems to damage these routers; I am now having to buy a 2nd because of this. When the service is running without technical difficulties this is a superb product giving you the ability to control your phone service via the web.
BUT if you run into technical difficulties and are forwarded to India for tech support, expect to be on the phone a long time due to the language problem. I was run through several steps, with lots of "excuse me could you repeat that" from both ends, very frustrating.
On: 2006-09-29
I confirm that a simply power surge seems to damage these routers; I am now having to buy a 2nd because of this. When the service is running without technical difficulties this is a superb product giving you the ability to control your phone service via the web.
BUT if you run into technical difficulties and are forwarded to India for tech support, expect to be on the phone a long time due to the language problem. I was run through several steps, with lots of "excuse me could you repeat that" from both ends, very frustrating.
On: 2006-08-14
It dies right after the Warranty expires. The power keeps blinking. Vonage technical support confirned a dead router. This is my first linksys equipment and will be my last.
On: 2006-07-12
I had this router with vonage for several months, but eventually gave it up because there were too many issues, and I grew tired of speaking to tech support. With many calls, after a few minutes suddenly the line would mess up and I could hear the other person but they couldnt hear me, or vice versa. My dad has also had a number of problems with his vonage account, and now we both largely use our cell phones, as neither of us has a landline any more. The idea of unlimited long distance both to the US and nearby countries is enticing, but I wont be trying it again until the quality is closer to that of landline phones. Ill look forward to that time, as it was very convenient to be able to take the router and plug it into any cable modem I came across, and use it as if I were still at home.
On: 2006-05-05
I have been using vonage and the same router with no issues.. I recommend
On: 2006-05-04
I have been using vonage and the same router with no issues.. I recommend
On: 2006-03-24
I got the Vonage service just under six months ago then moved and brought my phone number with me - today there was a brief power outage - and the router did not come back. For your amusement, this is the list of stuff that Vonage wanted me to do (Imagine, if you will, all these instructions given in an Indian accent, not unpleasant, but everything had to be repeated four times, and common idiomatic US english was not understood.
1. unplug the router and plug it back in.
2. Hold the reset button for 50 seconds, unplug the router and plug it back in.
3. Plug the wall wart (idiom) cube (idiom) wire from the router to the power outlet on the linksys router to the wall power outlet into a DIFFERENT WALL SOCKET! (chuckle)
4. Reboot my Cisco router (yeah, sure - everything else is working, I told them sure - they wanted me to disconnect the router from the T1 and the ethernet and then plug them all back together - I told them yes and ignored them, just waited a minute, this was a stupid suggestion, I had 1000 kilobits on the line both ways, and everything else was working).
5. Unplug all other computers from my Cisco Router (I simply refused on this one, it is just silly).
Vonage wants $99 to replace this router - and they send it DHL, which does not work in my rural area (why else would I have a T1 and not a DSL or Cablemodem connection)?
But I can send the router back to them when I cancel my service and suffer no penalty, and then get a free one with free shipping from Tomatovine. Maybe theirs will work a bit better.
Vonage service has deterioriated to where I would not recommend them to anyone. I did not mention that this was the third call to Vonage - the first two resulted in hangups. This router is not good - a power outage should not kill a consumer grade device like this. Power outages are common in the consumer world.
On: 2006-03-18
I get interference from my computer monitor and other devices in my home. Im pretty sure it is getting in through my ac power. I plan to install a $9 choke to filter this out.
Overall I like the product but the noise in annoying. Be aware you might need to filter either the phone ports or the AC power supply on the DC side of the brick with a toriodal choke. It is a simple matter to wrap the thin DC leads around a choke 25 times to eliminate interference coming in the AC side of the unit.
On: 2006-03-17
I get interference from my computer monitor and other devices in my home. Im pretty sure it is getting in through my ac power. I plan to install a $9 choke to filter this out.
Overall I like the product but the noise in annoying. Be aware you might need to filter either the phone ports or the AC power supply on the DC side of the brick with a toriodal choke. It is a simple matter to wrap the thin DC leads around a choke 25 times to eliminate interference coming in the AC side of the unit.
On: 2006-01-13
This device was sent to me by Vonage about eight months ago when I first signed on. Remarkably easy to setup, given that I have a business class router (acting as a bridge) and a pre-existing wireless router already installed in my home office. The quality was always 95% or better for the phone audio (part of this depends on the phone, in all fairness), and very little down time (unless the internet service became unavailable); otherwise a reboot of this router always got me up and running again.
That said, the device just stopped working a day ago, and provided for me nothing but a blinking power light along with a seizure for staring in disbelief for too long.
So, my rating of two (2) stars is for the abrupt end to a device that I feel should have lasted more than a year at the very least. I am currently without business phone, and that is a very unpleasant place to be ... sorry Linksys, you lose on this one.
BTW, I have had two support experiences with Vonage: the first was dreadful, and the one I had this evening which was very efficient and helpful, save the fact that I now have to _purchase_ another router if I choose to keep the Vonage service. The quality of Vonage support in no way affected the rating Im giving of this product.
On: 2005-12-23
Well I only use it to put internet in the other computers and it works and even though I had trouble with the setup I still say the setup was easy.
But for all the other stuff like fax and phone I cant mention on that
Verdict: 5.0 out of 5.0 I gave 3 stars at top cause I dont use it for fax and phones so I cant actually give it a 5 but if you are going to use the router of same reasons then yeah it works.
On: 2005-12-22
I have been working with the Vonage customer service line for three days now and still do not have a working phone. First they told told me to go out and buy a device that they later told me would not work with their service. I finally get the right device and was told my phone should be working at midnight. The phone never started working...still isnt. I call the customer service line again and they tell me to call the people at linksys. The number they gave me for linksys turns out to be a Gay Sex Hotline, I guess they thought this would be funny? I called back to get the correct number and the man tells me that they do not have the number and puts me on hold to talk to his manager. I wait for about 15 minutes then hang up....so NO I would deffinately not recommed vonage.
On: 2005-12-22
Well I only use it to put internet in the other computers and it works and even though I had trouble with the setup I still say the setup was easy.
But for all the other stuff like fax and phone I cant mention on that
Verdict: 5.0 out of 5.0 I gave 3 stars at top cause I dont use it for fax and phones so I cant actually give it a 5 but if you are going to use the router of same reasons then yeah it works.
On: 2005-11-21
Totally trash
Not Reliable
Worst Customer Service
Do Not Waste Your Money
Used It for 6 months...changed back to regular phone
On: 2005-10-11
I am happy with the Linksys RT31P2 device (4 out of 5). Have been using it at home as my only phone for past 8 months. Device is easy to operate... good manual and intuitive interface from Linksys.
I have an older Motorola VT1000 that I use at work... I am going to replace it with the Linksys RT31P2. The Linksys device sounds better, easier to hook up, and has a router (which is very nice), better security, etc.
Very happy with Vonage (4.5 out of 5). I Would never go back to a land line phone. Vonage is way cheaper. 500 minute plan with tax costs me less then $17 a month. Here in Upstate NY I was paying $45 to $50 a month for a land line phone through Verizon.
Uptime is good... as good as you Internet connection. I have a cable modem (Time Warner - Roadrunner)... modem is always up... Vonage is always up. When it has gone down... you can easily set up Vonage to forward to another phone (cell).
Have service at work through a DSL line... doesnt sound as good as through my cable modem at home.
Really like the Vonage web site and Internet services... email notification of voice mail, forward your calls to another number, real time list of calls in/out, get voice mails sent as email attachments, etc.
Vonage seems to be leading the VoIP pack when it comes to features... like 911 dialing.
Two other members of my family have hooked up Vonage recently... including my 80 year old grandma.
One thing about installation... look at the Vonage site on how Vonage will connect with the other phones in your house. Will either need to use one base phone with multiple wireless. Base phone needs to be where cable modem/computer is... because Vonage adapter hooks into cable modem then computer. Or, back feed your land line phone cord from the phone service box on the outside of your house. I for one use the base phone with a handset. Buy a phone you can add a handsets to later.
I have been looking into the newer wireless/router/phone adapter all in ones from Vonage/Linksys... look they have some major issues to work out. i.e. Linksys WRTP54G, Linksys WRT54GP2. For now looks like keeping your wireless and phone in two seperate devices is best.
On: 2005-10-09
The vonage service is tolerable. For $15 or $25/month, you get enough service for what you need. Sometimes there is echo on the line, but its usually okay.
I am unimpressed with the RT31P2. My dhcp hosts table fills up with bogus 00-00-00-00-00-00 mac addresses, and resetting the dhcp doesnt do the job. I eventually had to set up my own DHCP server at home.
The DDNS to dyndns.org doesnt work properly. It never does the automatic refresh so my system regularly loses its dyndns address.
Today it is displaying a new failure mode, where the router is unreachable for administration but still works for phone and onto the internet. I guess I should be happy because a reboot clears this problem, but Ive never had a router from linksys or dlink that has been this screwy.
On: 2005-09-01
I replaced an older Linksys router and separate Motorola Vonage adapter with this unit to simplify my set up and to also allow for spares in the event of a hardware failure. As expected I had to call Vonage to activate the new MAC address. It took the tech a minute or two to figure out that this was not a new installation but once we got past that things went smoothly because I know what I am doing. Several times the tech told me to look for labels or tabs that were named something else. This might confuse a newbie. As to the Linksys itself it works well, as did the previous unit. I also use a Netgear router on the other side of my DMZ and each has strengths and weaknesses.
by: drake-of-the-silver-lake On: 2005-05-26
Just this Spring, I was hit with $1600 of cell phone bills from Cingular. This included billing errors, and their customer service leaves a great deal to be desired, to put it mildly. (In fact, that is the understatement of the century. I am trying very hard to be nice here.)
After a surprise $400 bill for April, I immediately paid Cingular to get out of their horrible contract, then shopped for a new phone service.
A friend of mine happened to be using Vonage with no problems, so after investigating what all it offered, I took the plunge by buying direct from Vonage.com, which I note with some regret, as I notice a more favorable price offered here. But that is small potatoes. This is the real beans: for $25 a month, I call anywhere in the USA or Canada, anytime. This has a great deal of money-saving potential if you think about it for about five seconds.
I received the same LinkSys model as offered here and my review is of both Vonage and the LinkSys router, which has given no problems.
Some reviewers here claim the voice quality isnt good. I have noticed no difference whatsoever. You do have to have decent and reliable broadband service to consider something like this. I get internet via a broadband cable modem at the lowest/cheapest bandwidth plan.
After 6 mos I have NO complaints, and am VERY pleased I dumped my traditional phone carrier. Dont believe the lies they try to spread; this stuff works great, is easy to set up and you will thank your lucky stars after figuring the money you save.
Just take the plunge, disconnect all other phone services, and rely solely upon vonage. Thats what I did, and no problems thus far. No telemarketers, I get all the "expensive" "deluxe" phone services like Caller ID, I manage the account via the internet, no long distance charges, and all for $25/mo. from what I understand.
The only cautionary note I have to say about Vonage, but which really applies to any VoIP service is, you need to be mindful that your phone service will be disrupted during either power failures (unless you buy an uninterrupted power supply) OR internet blackouts. So this is NOT a total solution for people in bad health, or pregnant women, who are likely to have a sudden need to contact emergency services. For those people, I recommend having a backup line in addition to Vonage and just using Vonage for their second line.
You get to pick your own phone number with the area code you desire. Presto, suddenly your pals in New York can call you for free.
International calling such as to Australia is about a nickle a minute and dirt cheap everywhere except Afghanistan. There are many other features and advantages, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the possibilities when you read their literature.
Despite the recent media brouhaha, there is 911 support. The Bell companies which lobby the government are trying to make a big deal over 911 support, but if you simply follow the instructions and register for it then you do have access to emergency services.
The hardware arrived at my doorstep in less than three days. It took me about an hour to install on my PC, which includes opening the box and unwrapping the contents and positioning the equipment just the way I wanted. The only reason it took me that long was that my set-up happens to be a little more complicated than what is typical. I will not go into the details, but to summarize, I found setup rather easy. Vonage is compatible with any old phone. I chose remote phones so that I can use it anywhere in the home.
The time has come to get rid of the monopolistic stranglehold that the old corrupt phone companies have on America, and let innovative, progressive new companies compete for our communications dollars. I am sick of paying fifty, seventy, or even a hundred dollars plus per month for a stupid phone. When will other consumers wake up and smell the coffee. The phone companies are really hammering the American consumer, charging $10 extra per month for little things like call waiting, call forwarding, or ring back, all of which are free with Vonage.
Lets be honest. If Vonage took ten hours to setup, and required you to pay a technician $500 for installation, it would still be a super deal. But neither of those two scenarios is the case. This thing has matured enough to where it makes sense.
I recommend telling your old, inefficient and probably corrupt phone company BYE - BYE !
Oh, I got a letter from BellSouth the other day offering me $100 and no setup fee if I came back to them. That letter went into the garbage can along with Cingulars offer of $200 off if I would come back to them. I may make a mistake once in a while, but I certainly do learn from previous experiences and dont get taken advantage of twice by the same company.
I am awarding five stars because I like my Vonage service and am grateful there is a "Goodly Knight" out there to do righteous battle against the evil overlords, Cingular and Bellsouth.
On: 2005-04-23
I had to try it out. I hear so much advertising and hype about Vonage. So, I went down to the local computer store and bought it took it home to set it up and problems right off the back. I have a 3mb DSL connection that is great. I used the temp number and started to make calls, the quality was poor. There was a echo and a delay that was very annoying, I would often talk over people. I tried it for the trial period and then returned it. I called their support and if I have to wait 20 miniutes forget it! I tried 3 times and they lost a customer.
I looked at other companies and found a smaller VoIP provider that is working great for me OurDigitalVoice. I called their tech support a 2 min wait and the people are friendly and informed. Vonage is just too big for their britches if you ask me!
On: 2005-04-22
I had to try it out. I hear so much advertising and hype about Vonage. So, I went down to the local computer store and bought it took it home to set it up and problems right off the back. I have a 3mb DSL connection that is great. I used the temp number and started to make calls, the quality was poor. There was a echo and a delay that was very annoying, I would often talk over people. I tried it for the trial period and then returned it. I called their support and if I have to wait 20 miniutes forget it! I tried 3 times and they lost a customer.
I looked at other companies and found a smaller VoIP provider that is working great for me OurDigitalVoice. I called their tech support a 2 min wait and the people are friendly and informed. Vonage is just too big for their britches if you ask me!
On: 2005-04-21
Very disapointed that it is not clearly stated by Amazon that this product is to be used only by Vonage (very expensive compared to other providers like Inphonex which is now my provider). I bought two routers RT31P2 and two PAP2 phone adapters all with Phone ports hoping I would be able to connect all my family (spread around the world). I got a Huge surprise when I noticed that they are locked only for use with Vonage. It says there is a Mail in Rebate worth 50 bucks, anyway it will only last less than two months. Other providers dont even charge monthly fees.
I had already sent all the units to various countries and after finding out that they are to be used EXCLUSIVELY with Vonage I just had to let them die where they were sent. It is not worth the shipping to bring them back.
As disappointing as this, was that I supposed this was going to happen so I contacted customer support from Amazon and asked them (before buying) if they were a "with Vonage telephony system" or if they were a "exclusively for Vonage telephony system". They didnt know so I just assumed they wouldnt be so distracted to not mention this. Specially for starters like us it may have been the most important thing to advertise: EXCLUSIVELY FOR VONAGE
I have always been a fan of Linksys products, my house is full of their products and never had trouble with the hardware. For sure I will continue to buy Linksys products, for sure I will never use vonage (eventhough I am sure it provides excellent clear voice communication; dont get cofussed, there are others that will give you more for a lot less go to yahoo and spend 30 seconds making a quick search and you will see), and for sure I had to tell other people what they are doing so nobody else will loose the money I lost, and what is most valuable, my time.
Make sure that when you buy a PAP2 it says: Model PAP2-NA
Conclussion: I just lost 260 bucks plus shipping and handling (internationally)
On: 2005-04-20
Very disapointed that it is not clearly stated by Amazon that this product is to be used only by Vonage (very expensive compared to other providers like Inphonex which is now my provider). I bought two routers RT31P2 and two PAP2 phone adapters all with Phone ports hoping I would be able to connect all my family (spread around the world). I got a Huge surprise when I noticed that they are locked only for use with Vonage. It says there is a Mail in Rebate worth 50 bucks, anyway it will only last less than two months. Other providers dont even charge monthly fees.
I had already sent all the units to various countries and after finding out that they are to be used EXCLUSIVELY with Vonage I just had to let them die where they were sent. It is not worth the shipping to bring them back.
As disappointing as this, was that I supposed this was going to happen so I contacted customer support from Amazon and asked them (before buying) if they were a "with Vonage telephony system" or if they were a "exclusively for Vonage telephony system". They didnt know so I just assumed they wouldnt be so distracted to not mention this. Specially for starters like us it may have been the most important thing to advertise: EXCLUSIVELY FOR VONAGE
I have always been a fan of Linksys products, my house is full of their products and never had trouble with the hardware. For sure I will continue to buy Linksys products, for sure I will never use vonage (eventhough I am sure it provides excellent clear voice communication; dont get cofussed, there are others that will give you more for a lot less go to yahoo and spend 30 seconds making a quick search and you will see), and for sure I had to tell other people what they are doing so nobody else will loose the money I lost, and what is most valuable, my time.
Make sure that when you buy a PAP2 it says: Model PAP2-NA
Conclussion: I just lost 260 bucks plus shipping and handling (internationally)
On: 2005-04-17
Vonage - Very Poor Customer Services and Billing
We signed up for vonage servicve with number transfer from verizon. Within over 20 days phone number was not transferred. I faxed authorization form and verizon phone bill 3 times to Vonage. I believe, they purposely delay so trial period is over and then you have to pay cancellation fee if you want to cancel. I figured it out when I cancelled my service after 20 days, I was on hold for over 30 minutes though. I was charged $87.73 plus $1.29 plus $43.59 cancellation (even the equipment was shipped day after cancellation and I have proof USPS tracking they received it within 3 days) plus setup fee. Their office is in Edison NJ and I am in North Brunswick, NJ. I was on promotion for 1st month free but this trial for 20 days cost me about $140 even I did not use phone that much (1 or 2 local calls only for test purpose) so I cannot say anything about the quality of their phone service. I have been calling them and CS tranfer me to billing which automatically disconnects me after 8-10 minutes of waiting, it happend 4 times. No reply of any emails it has been over a month now.
Their equipment installation was easy and temp number was up as soon as I plugged it in after activation. So if you are not transferring a number, do not need their customer support and want to stay with them for a long time then it might be a good provider for you, you may want to consider AT&T Callvantage.
After this horrible experience with Vonage, I sgined up for AT&T Callvantage, though a little expensive but I am very happy. They tanferred my number within 10 days and excellant customer service. Phone dialtone is exactly as land-phone and no background noise. I made international calls also and have not any problem with AT&T Callvantage so far.
On: 2005-04-15
I purchased this to combine a router and phone adapter (to get rid of the Motorola PA that I got when I signed up for Vonage in July 2004). I wrestled with getting it set up correctly and went through the usual HEL* with Vonage support (their support is horrible, horrible, and more horrible). After 3 weeks I got the case escalated to their tier 3 team (the only ones who know anything at all) and with careful troubleshooting he saw that the MTU size is what was causing me to not be able to connect outgoing calls. (I could receive calls, not not place calls - dial tone was ok). After wrestling with my ISP thinking it was their fault, we re-registered my old phone adapter with Vonage, removed this router and all was working again.
On: 2005-04-14
I purchased this to combine a router and phone adapter (to get rid of the Motorola PA that I got when I signed up for Vonage in July 2004). I wrestled with getting it set up correctly and went through the usual HEL* with Vonage support (their support is horrible, horrible, and more horrible). After 3 weeks I got the case escalated to their tier 3 team (the only ones who know anything at all) and with careful troubleshooting he saw that the MTU size is what was causing me to not be able to connect outgoing calls. (I could receive calls, not not place calls - dial tone was ok). After wrestling with my ISP thinking it was their fault, we re-registered my old phone adapter with Vonage, removed this router and all was working again.
On: 2005-04-06
I would love to be able to give a review of my router, but I have yet to receive it. I ordered it, and paid for overnight shipping over 5 days ago. I still have not received my order. Also, I have emailed Vonages CEO, CFO, and Customer Service Vice President and I still have not received my adapter device. The Customer Service Reps are also VERY rude. I have spoken to over 5 of them, and I have only spoken to one that was kind and understanding. THINK TWICE before signing up for Vonage.
On: 2005-04-05
I would love to be able to give a review of my router, but I have yet to receive it. I ordered it, and paid for overnight shipping over 5 days ago. I still have not received my order. Also, I have emailed Vonages CEO, CFO, and Customer Service Vice President and I still have not received my adapter device. The Customer Service Reps are also VERY rude. I have spoken to over 5 of them, and I have only spoken to one that was kind and understanding. THINK TWICE before signing up for Vonage.
On: 2005-03-26
Power cycle the modem a couple of time after signing up for Vonage,thats it, it works and Vonage is crystal with no lag. Highly recommend to those who have a reliable broadband connection.
On: 2005-03-25
Power cycle the modem a couple of time after signing up for Vonage,thats it, it works and Vonage is crystal with no lag. Highly recommend to those who have a reliable broadband connection.
On: 2005-03-13
I had a land line phone before I tried out vonage. as long as you hook up the adapter to the modem first,then your other routers and equip,you are going to have a great clear voice call. my roomate made a call to his mom the other night.had to turn down volume on phone because call was to loud!!Before had to have volume on high to barely hear other caller. Way clearer than prev land line phone.I have the unlimited plan,dont really make that many calls but at 25 dollars.....thats what i was paying for voicemail,cid and basic service,why not go the whole 9 yards.
On: 2005-02-19
Service is great, and I am operating with my adapter pluged into a SCM router, still works great. Getting to talk to Vonage on the phone is still a long wait, I usually call them about midnight, Pacific Coast time and get through. When I added the Fax line, did not work, Called and got someone, lucky I guess, who downloaded a software fix to my adapter and all works great.
Using the business plan, and have been on it for about a month and am very happy with the service. I think I will add another line, but might try Lego for the additionl line.
On: 2005-02-18
Service is great, and I am operating with my adapter pluged into a SCM router, still works great. Getting to talk to Vonage on the phone is still a long wait, I usually call them about midnight, Pacific Coast time and get through. When I added the Fax line, did not work, Called and got someone, lucky I guess, who downloaded a software fix to my adapter and all works great.
Using the business plan, and have been on it for about a month and am very happy with the service. I think I will add another line, but might try Lego for the additionl line.
On: 2005-02-14
I recieved this router through Vonage and not Amazon, but it is the same one.
Just beware that there is a problem with certain versions of this router that cause excessive line noise which sound like a phaser. The problem is a bad resistor causes the noise and to make it go away, you have to short out port 2, if your phone is plugged into port 1. The easiest way to do this is plug in a old phone and leave it off hook. This does work as I have had the noise problem.
Vonage knows of the problem and will send you a new router (if you got it through them), but you have to document the problem first. I contacted them and within a week had a new router and no noise.
Other than that, I have had no problems with this router. I have it in front of Netgear wireless router(with DHCP turned off) and everything works great.
If you have a broadband connection, I would highly recommend Vonage. For the price and features, you cant beat it.
On: 2005-01-23
I had the Motorola ATA (analog telephone adapter). The voice quality was fine unless other people were downloading. Then I would have dropouts. I bought this product specifically because it support Quality of Service, reserving bandwidth when using the phone to maintain voice quality.
In order to take advantage of QoS, all traffic has to go through this router. No problem, I did my homework and ensured that it had all the features I needed; port forwarding, a DMZ setting, and IPSec and PPTP passthrough. I installed this in front of my current firewall, assigned my current firewall to the DMZ address, forwarded all ports, enabled IPSec and PPTP passthrough and I was all set - I thought.
My current firewall is also a VPN device - it establishes an IPSec tunnel to a matching firewall to another location. This works fine, the RT31P2s IPSec passthrough works well. All servers behined the RT31P2 are also functional, Web, mail, ftp, etc. Great!
But for 2 weeks I could not understand why no one could complete a VPN conection PPTP) to our Microsoft remote access server. Turns out the the "PPTP Passthrough" setting on the configuration menu (and in the manual) is for show only - it doesnt work. A search on the Vonage forums and a Vonage tech representative confirmed this. So even though I did my homework, downloaded the manual ahead of time, etc, I still have a paperweight - I have to go back to my Motorola ATA. Worse, Linksys says its a Vonage problem, and Vonage has no plans to fix this issue.
As an aside, I bought the RT31P2 about 5 weeks ago (I cant return it for an RMA). Back then I found a number of sources that sold it. I just did another search and most have taken it off their web sites. Is the word getting around that this is a Mickey Mouse device? (No offense to Micket).
On: 2005-01-06
Vonage has set me free from the domination of landline phone companies! Ive only had Vonage for about a week, but Im so pleased that Im already considering adding a line and a fax line in the very near future.
I really didnt experience any of the problems that the negative reviewers are writing about. The router was delivered in 7 days, out of the box it was up and running with dial tone and all literally within 10 mins. The instructions encourage using the installation disk, but I just plugged the adapter in, waited the 5 minutes for any possible firmware downloads, and everything worked.
One thing that is critical however. If you already have a router, you need to install the phone adapter/router first in line after your cable modem. In other words, plug your cable modem into the phone adapter, then if you have a wireless router, as I do, plug the wireless router into the phone adapter. In my case all of my computers and laptop have wireless connections. If you are using ethernet, just plug your computers back into your original router. In order to give bandwith priority to your phone calls the signal must go through the phone adapter first. My dial tone comes up instantly, and conversations are clear and crisp. There is no difference in sound from a landline phone. As a matter of fact, the 5.8ghz phone that I am using as my test phone, has no static as compared to when it was connected to my landline. The static may have been generated by the landline.
The other thing that I think is great, is that you can add or change products, services, payment options, all online...you are in total control. Yes there are charges for changing and activating second lines, etc, but when one considers what youve been paying to the regular phone company, Vonage is such a savings! All of the features, such as caller ID, 3-way calling, forwarding, etc, etc, are ALL FREE. I have two lines, and one line shares a fax line (for a small business) in my house and Im paying over $150.00 p/month with only caller ID and voicemail.
The next thing Ill be doing is disconnecting the phone line from the street to my house so that I can plug the adapter directly into my house phone wiring. All thats required is the simple unplugging of wires from the jacks in the network interface box that is located on the side of the house. This way Ill be able to use any jack in my house through the Vonage phone adapter...bye bye landline!!
All I can say, is give it a try, I started with the $14.99, just to experiment, now Ill be looking more seriously at how to configure my home/office needs.
On: 2004-12-31
Ive been using this product with Vonage for over 3 months now. It is fantastic and extremely cost effective. Free three way calling alone is worth Vonages $24.99 monthly fee for unlimited service. (3-way calling is also available on the $14.99 500 minute monthly service) Call two friends/relatives in different states, confrence them together, and talk for hours for free!
When using VOIP, traffic prioritization on your internet connection is very important. When properly installed, the RT31P2 provides the required prioritization of voice traffic to insure high voice quality. This router must be directly attached to your broadband connection. Use this routers switch ports or USB port to attach computers and other devices to your broadband connection.
If all of your internet traffic does not travel through this router, than voice traffic can not be properly prioritized yielding sporadically poor results. The reviewers indicating voice quality problems with Vonage and this product are probably not installing the router correctly in their networks.
I prefer this product over the Linksys PAP2 voice adapter, because it is easier to prioritize voice traffic with this router. If you select the PAP2 be sure to prioritize the switch/router port the adapter is connnected to. Not all switches/routers permit prioritization of a port, but Linksys routers/switches do.
Your broadband connection should support at least 128K in each direction to successfully use this product with Vonage.
On: 2004-12-30
Ive been using this product with Vonage for over 3 months now. It is fantastic and extremely cost effective. Free three way calling alone is worth Vonages $24.99 monthly fee for unlimited service. (3-way calling is also available on the $14.99 500 minute monthly service) Call two friends/relatives in different states, confrence them together, and talk for hours for free!
When using VOIP, traffic prioritization on your internet connection is very important. When properly installed, the RT31P2 provides the required prioritization of voice traffic to insure high voice quality. This router must be directly attached to your broadband connection. Use this routers switch ports or USB port to attach computers and other devices to your broadband connection.
If all of your internet traffic does not travel through this router, than voice traffic can not be properly prioritized yielding sporadically poor results. The reviewers indicating voice quality problems with Vonage and this product are probably not installing the router correctly in their networks.
I prefer this product over the Linksys PAP2 voice adapter, because it is easier to prioritize voice traffic with this router. If you select the PAP2 be sure to prioritize the switch/router port the adapter is connnected to. Not all switches/routers permit prioritization of a port, but Linksys routers/switches do.
Your broadband connection should support at least 128K in each direction to successfully use this product with Vonage.
On: 2004-12-22
Voice quality is very poor, hear continuous background noise. Called Vonage customer service, the rep picked up after 30 min and told me to connect the phone to port 2 on the router and hung up stating that he will call back. Nobody called, I called back and was agian on the the phone waiting ... waiting .. waiting...
On: 2004-12-19
I was attracted by the price and the features of the Vonage service. The features are useless if I cannot successfully log in to the Web site. About half the time I try (throughout the morning, day, and night), I get: Error -- Sorry, an error has occurred. Please try again later.
The price is not worth the hassle of spending days trying to access the features.
On: 2004-12-18
I was attracted by the price and the features of the Vonage service. The features are useless if I cannot successfully log in to the Web site. About half the time I try (throughout the morning, day, and night), I get: Error -- Sorry, an error has occurred. Please try again later.
The price is not worth the hassle of spending days trying to access the features.
On: 2004-11-17
I just deleted a prior, favorable review I wrote for this device and the Vonage service.
The device worked perfectly, was easy to install, the price was right and the voice quality was excellent.
The reason I am rewriting my review and revising my rating is that Vonage appears to be suffering from too much success ... their customer service is absoutely awful.
They never (never) respond to online requests; you wait interminably on the phone for a representative and then they can neither help you nor can they connect you to someone who can ... they suggest you call back later; when you do call back later you get someone who rudely denies your claim about the fact that you called before, claiming that if their computer system doesnt show it, it didnt happen.
After two months of this, I demanded to have the service terminated.
I really do believe that VoIP is the way of the future. But as in all things, customer service is at least as important as technology and until that aspect is corrected I have to advise against the service.
On: 2004-11-16
I just deleted a prior, favorable review I wrote for this device and the Vonage service.
The device worked perfectly, was easy to install, the price was right and the voice quality was excellent.
The reason I am rewriting my review and revising my rating is that Vonage appears to be suffering from too much success ... their customer service is absoutely awful.
They never (never) respond to online requests; you wait interminably on the phone for a representative and then they can neither help you nor can they connect you to someone who can ... they suggest you call back later; when you do call back later you get someone who rudely denies your claim about the fact that you called before, claiming that if their computer system doesnt show it, it didnt happen.
After two months of this, I demanded to have the service terminated.
I really do believe that VoIP is the way of the future. But as in all things, customer service is at least as important as technology and until that aspect is corrected I have to advise against the service.
On: 2004-11-14
I got this modem to replace the motorola one that I was having problems with,and I must say that it is much better. The motorolla would always have to be rebooted and reconfigured and I had problems getting it to work with my linksys wireless router. I was able to daisy chaim this box to my wireless router, and it worked without any problem. I would definately recommend this bix.
On: 2004-11-13
I got this modem to replace the motorola one that I was having problems with,and I must say that it is much better. The motorolla would always have to be rebooted and reconfigured and I had problems getting it to work with my linksys wireless router. I was able to daisy chaim this box to my wireless router, and it worked without any problem. I would definately recommend this bix.
On: 2004-11-10
Please, I beg of you, do not get involved with Vonage. I must have spent 4 hours waiting on hold to reach customer service, billing, and number transfer. The only person I was able to speak to after 2 months was someone in the cancelation department! Get this, there is a $40 chage for canceling the service hidden in the contract!! While the device itself works, everything about Vonage is underhanded. All I can say is dont do it....
On: 2004-11-09
I had the Motorola adaptor and then got this Linksys Vonage adaptor. This model Linksys unit has a terrible background noise that is always present, which sounds like a fax coming on on another telephone line that is bleeding through to the voice line. Ive tried two, both with the same result, using multiple telephones. I dont have the problem at all with the Motorola device.
Ive not tried the newer Linksys device (which doesnt include a router).
On: 2004-11-09
Please, I beg of you, do not get involved with Vonage. I must have spent 4 hours waiting on hold to reach customer service, billing, and number transfer. The only person I was able to speak to after 2 months was someone in the cancelation department! Get this, there is a $40 chage for canceling the service hidden in the contract!! While the device itself works, everything about Vonage is underhanded. All I can say is dont do it....
On: 2004-11-03
I upgraded from the Motorola MTU to the Linksys RT31P2. The voice quality is significantly better -- especially the incoming voice quality. The new device also allows placement of a small server as part of the network with appropriate port-forwarding. I believe the port prioritization within the Linksys device, and its ability to prioritize voice traffic over other traffic makes the improvement. The router is missing some features like a listing of attached devices, but makes up for it with other enhancements.
On: 2004-11-02
I upgraded from the Motorola MTU to the Linksys RT31P2. The voice quality is significantly better -- especially the incoming voice quality. The new device also allows placement of a small server as part of the network with appropriate port-forwarding. I believe the port prioritization within the Linksys device, and its ability to prioritize voice traffic over other traffic makes the improvement. The router is missing some features like a listing of attached devices, but makes up for it with other enhancements.
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