# R15 and Vonage...



## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

Not sure if this information is elsewhere ... anytime I do a search I run into R10 and Vonage threads.

Anyway, what is the verdict on the R15 and VOIP? I know the R15 no longer needs to make the periodic Tivo calls (a la R10) but I'm wondering if the R15 can successfully make the PPV/Service Address calls over a Vonage/VOIP line. From what I've read it sounds like the DirecTV call is slower and should work over VOIP without hacking.

My Vonage line is set for maximum data rate: 90+ Kbps.


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## LockMD (Nov 16, 2005)

I have Packet8, I had to use my neighbors phone to get my R10 to make its first call in after that I've been using the null modem cable and it has worked fine. As far as the R15, all I can tell you is I have it plugged in my caller ID works and when I do a system test the phone line passes. Although, I'm pretty sure it just check for a dial tone and did not actually make a call. I'm curious to see if I will see a nag in the near future.


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

I did have mine hooked to the phone line when I first set it up but unhooked it after it was done. If someone can tell me how to force it to make a call I will be glad to hook it back up and see if it will dial over my Vonage.


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

It sounds like it's working (according to LockMD), which is good to hear since for me this was a big selling point for the R15.

I can't think of a way to really test it aside from just trying to purchase PPV.


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## LockMD (Nov 16, 2005)

fancydancy said:


> It sounds like it's working (according to LockMD), which is good to hear since for me this was a big selling point for the R15.
> 
> I can't think of a way to really test it aside from just trying to purchase PPV.


Yeah that should work, but not actually a test. It will let you do that until it realizes no calls are being made (even if you had no phone line plugged in) I did, when I first set it up, ask D* to make it 'force a call' for me since I could find no where to make this happen on my end. I will follow up on that and post back...


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

Kanyon71 said:


> I did have mine hooked to the phone line when I first set it up but unhooked it after it was done. If someone can tell me how to force it to make a call I will be glad to hook it back up and see if it will dial over my Vonage.


There is a TEST screen in setup that checks the transponders and phone line much like there is on the TIVO box. You get to it(as I remember) by using the TAB like you do in Series Link. I didn't see it at first so look close on the setup screens. And, like TIVO, it warns you if it is already recording.


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

ISWIZ said:


> There is a TEST screen in setup that checks the transponders and phone line much like there is on the TIVO box. You get to it(as I remember) by using the TAB like you do in Series Link. I didn't see it at first so look close on the setup screens. And, like TIVO, it warns you if it is already recording.


I thought the test screen only checks the phone line for a dial tone, or does it actually attempt to send data?


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

ISWIZ said:


> There is a TEST screen in setup that checks the transponders and phone line much like there is on the TIVO box. You get to it(as I remember) by using the TAB like you do in Series Link. I didn't see it at first so look close on the setup screens. And, like TIVO, it warns you if it is already recording.


I remember seeing it in there but didn't know if it actually made it call out. I know it didn't make a call at all when I set it up as I checked my Vonage logs and there was nothing in it at all. I guess I could run the phone line back over there and try it out.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

fancydancy said:


> I thought the test screen only checks the phone line for a dial tone, or does it actually attempt to send data?


That I'm not sure of, my understanding is that the only landline use is for PPV.


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## LockMD (Nov 16, 2005)

LockMD said:


> Yeah that should work, but not actually a test. It will let you do that until it realizes no calls are being made (even if you had no phone line plugged in) I did, when I first set it up, ask D* to make it 'force a call' for me since I could find no where to make this happen on my end. I will follow up on that and post back...


Okay just got off the phone with D*, even though my phone line 'passes' in the system test and after requesting them to 'force' a call in. He informed me that my R15 has never called in to date 

So I may have an issue in the near future.


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

ISWIZ said:


> That I'm not sure of, my understanding is that the only landline use is for PPV.


I think D* also uses the landline to make sure that households with multiple TVs have receivers all calling from the same line. I don't know how often this is done.

I've also read that the landline is used to "mirror" subscriptions to additional TVs, but that confuses me because I thought when you activate you do it for each Access Card and thus D* controls the subscription to each receiver because they know the Access Code.


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

LockMD said:


> Okay just got off the phone with D*, even though my phone line 'passes' in the system test and after requesting them to 'force' a call in. He informed me that my R15 has never called in to date
> 
> So I may have an issue in the near future.


So you know for sure that the box attempted to call, and was unsuccessful, or has it just not tried yet?

I don't think it's a huge problem, isn't the worst thing that happens is D* charges you more per month? Weird that your caller ID is working, but the D* call isn't.


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

Well I know that I have 3 other DirecTV receivers in my house and none of them have made a call in 7-8 years (oldest one is just over 8 years I got a new system when I moved and left my old receivers). None of them have any issues nor have they ever complained, for that matter DirecTV has never said anything to me. Though I don't buy PPV so I don't know what effect that would have on them complaining.


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## LockMD (Nov 16, 2005)

fancydancy said:


> So you know for sure that the box attempted to call, and was unsuccessful, or has it just not tried yet?
> 
> I don't think it's a huge problem, isn't the worst thing that happens is D* charges you more per month? Weird that your caller ID is working, but the D* call isn't.


When I first set it up (almost 2 weeks ago) I had asked them to force a call and forgot to follow up. They have never rcvd a call from the R15. I'm going to reset the R15 tonight test the caller ID and call D* back to see if we can get it to call in and post back my results tomorrow.

Thanks for reminding me though. I forgot I had done that.


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

Kanyon71 said:


> Well I know that I have 3 other DirecTV receivers in my house and none of them have made a call in 7-8 years (oldest one is just over 8 years I got a new system when I moved and left my old receivers). None of them have any issues nor have they ever complained, for that matter DirecTV has never said anything to me. Though I don't buy PPV so I don't know what effect that would have on them complaining.


I'm not sure how much D* really cares about the landline. They claim it must be connected, that they'll charge you extra, that football games will be blacked out ... but it doesn't sound like D* is all that strict about it.


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

fancydancy said:


> I'm not sure how much D* really cares about the landline. They claim it must be connected, that they'll charge you extra, that football games will be blacked out ... but it doesn't sound like D* is all that strict about it.


I don't think i've ever been charged anymore for themnot being calling in. I wonder if they only charge more if you say it's not connected when you activate?


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

LockMD said:


> When I first set it up (almost 2 weeks ago) I had asked them to force a call and forgot to follow up. They have never rcvd a call from the R15. I'm going to reset the R15 tonight test the caller ID and call D* back to see if we can get it to call in and post back my results tomorrow.
> 
> Thanks for reminding me though. I forgot I had done that.


You sure that purchasing PPV doesn't force a call? It seems like it would.

I'm not sure how frequent the D* landline calls are, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was once a month so your R15 hasn't attempted it yet.

I would think if it attempts to make a call and fails, you would have seen some kind of error message.


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## LockMD (Nov 16, 2005)

Okay I reset the R15, tested caller ID in live tv and watching a recording it worked fine. Did the system test, phone passed.

I called D* (several times) to the point I got so frustrated listening to all their different answers about a multitude of issues. Anywhosit, the one person that did sound like he knew something told me the R15 doesn't need the phone line for anything other than caller ID and will NEVER make a call.  

He said, even PPV will be reported via satellite. Just repeating what he told me, time will tell if it is true or not.


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

LockMD said:


> Okay I reset the R15, tested caller ID in live tv and watching a recording it worked fine. Did the system test, phone passed.
> 
> I called D* (several times) to the point I got so frustrated listening to all their different answers about a multitude of issues. Anywhosit, the one person that did sound like he knew something told me the R15 doesn't need the phone line for anything other than caller ID and will NEVER make a call.
> 
> He said, even PPV will be reported via satellite. Just repeating what he told me, time will tell if it is true or not.


Our Dishes suddenly gained the ability to send a Sat Signal out? Wow those crazy DirectWay people and their high prices are gonna be mad


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## LockMD (Nov 16, 2005)

Kanyon71 said:


> Our Dishes suddenly gained the ability to send a Sat Signal out? Wow those crazy DirectWay people and their high prices are gonna be mad


:lol: :lol: :lol:

Thought ya'll might enjoy that too, I almost had to slap the mrs and kick the dog. I'm going to try to avoid calling about anything unless I REALLY NEED to. Like trying to get my 5 LNB dish installed and wont bring up any other issues.


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

Thanks LockMD ... you learn something new everyday from these CSRs and technical support people


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

OK, just activated my R15 an hour ago. After the software update I didn't have to go through Guided Setup, after the reboot it went straight to downloading guide information.

Also, it seemed to fire straight into a call. I can see from my Vonage log that it was a 13-minute call (until I picked up the phone trying to test the Caller ID). Not sure if the length of the call is a good sign or a bad sign...


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

UPDATE: R15 activated at noon. Dialed (866)709-2073 at 1:02PM for 1 minute, (800)531-5602 at 1:03PM for 1 minute, and (800)531-5602 again at 2:34PM for 1 minute. No calls in the last 2.5 hours.

Anyone know the purpose of these calls? Is the R15 getting a dial tone but still failing with Vonage, and thus re-trying to call later?


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## themew (Nov 2, 2006)

fancydancy said:


> UPDATE: R15 activated at noon. Dialed (866)709-2073 at 1:02PM for 1 minute, (800)531-5602 at 1:03PM for 1 minute, and (800)531-5602 again at 2:34PM for 1 minute. No calls in the last 2.5 hours.
> 
> Anyone know the purpose of these calls? Is the R15 getting a dial tone but still failing with Vonage, and thus re-trying to call later?


Same deal here... My brand new R15-100 has been attached to my Vonage line, which according to the logs has more than 20 1-800 number dialed calls, each at 1min in length.

Is there a way to slow the modem down, like I've read you can do on the TIVO units.

Looks like the R15-100 doesn't like Vonage too much...


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

fancydancy said:


> UPDATE: R15 activated at noon. Dialed (866)709-2073 at 1:02PM for 1 minute, (800)531-5602 at 1:03PM for 1 minute, and (800)531-5602 again at 2:34PM for 1 minute. No calls in the last 2.5 hours.
> 
> Anyone know the purpose of these calls? Is the R15 getting a dial tone but still failing with Vonage, and thus re-trying to call later?


When I had Vonage I saw this same type of behavior on my H20 (the R15 worked). Shortly before your billing date D* has your STB's call home to download any PPV charges. So if you see a whole bunch of calls around that time chances are that you're box is retrying the call because it failed.


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## Rhoq (Apr 27, 2006)

Clint Lamor said:


> I don't think i've ever been charged anymore for themnot being calling in. I wonder if they only charge more if you say it's not connected when you activate?


I don't have a land line at home and neither of my R15s (500 and 300) have ever been connected to one. When I first had DirecTV installed, while speaking with a CSR to have the account activated told me that the only thing the phone line is used for is for order PPV and receiving special offer notices from DirecTV. She went on to say that PPV can be ordered either by phone or through their website and that most people opt to turn the notices off because they find them to be annoying.

I have never been charged any additional fees for not having my R15s connected to a phone line. When the installer set-up my R15-300 he tried to tell me that the R15s won't work without being connected to a phone line. After a few minutes I called him a liar and told him that R15-500 worked just fine and been working flawlessly for 6 months. He first told me that I had an R10 and those work without phone lines, but not the R15s.

When I showed him my R15-500 he then said, "Oh, well they're supposed to stop working after 15 days if it's not connected to a phone line". When I asked him why he was continuing to lie to me, he flat-out told me that he was just feeding me the B.S. that DirecTV tells their installers to try and force the customers into connecting the receivers to phone lines. He then went on to tell me that he had 4 R15s at his house and he doesn't have them connected to a landline, either (because he doesn't have one).


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