Central Home Network & Security System set up problems

[davenk]

Setup:

New home with central wiring hub in master bedroom closet; internet/wireless router are also connected here.

One cordless telephone system connected in master bedroom.

Problem:

I have hooked up the Ooma hub to the router in the closet, blue light is on and call forwarding to my cell phone works fine. So my connection to the internet and router are correct.

Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to connect correctly to the central network hub so that the home phone works through the bedroom jack AND security system is live.

I thought I could connect the Ooma hub out to the central network hub and then it would be routed out to all of phone lines in the house (almost like a splitter; has worked for my cable and internet setups to each room).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Kumar

[Soundjudgment]

Certainly you can try that to see if it will work. As long as it is a DRY connection (no electronics in the way). But the telephone wiring-connection to the ooma hub should be made to the WALL jack of the ooma hub with an RJ11 cable. That is what should interface to the in-home wall-plate(s), any Scouts, and/or central hub.

[av8rdude]

I had this problem and the ooma instructions are confusing...

All you need to realize is the "phone" connection on the hub is dial tone. If you want the entire house wiring to have dial tone then connect the "phone" connection to your home wiring and you are done.

But if you want to use the nifty scout box at another location...it needs to be connected via the "wall" connection. Realize that the "wall" connection is really a proprietary data connection to scout units. It does not provide dial tone to anything except another scout unit. So if you connect the "wall" connection to the whole house nothing will work except another scout unit.

Once I had this concept down I really messed up my home wiring where no one will ever figure it out except me....but my alarm and scout units work now

Enjoy

[AngelaKendig]

....but my alarm and scout units work now

Enjoy

Did you have to configure the alarm with any prefix for it to be able to dial out successfully or have you tested it yet?

[davenk]

Thanks for the tips.

I actually ran the "phone" connection to the "in" on one of my home network jacks, then ran the "wall" plug to an "out" jack and I was up and running with both phone and security without using a scout.

I haven't checked to see if all of the phone jacks in the house work, but I assume that they do since I did not connect to the specific outlet that currently has my phone (or security).

Security system is running fine, but I am double checking with security monitoring company that we are online, and I will re-post if I find issues.

Thanks again

[davenk]

I did not configure security with any prefix -- hoping I don't have to, but I'll find out today when I run the check.

[davenk]

I ran the security test today, and it works fine -- no prefixes needed because I have Verizion FIOS (fiber optic) internet service.

Security company mentioned that there would be a problem if you have digital internet though.


Still one potential issue -- when the alarm is going off and dialing out to notify the security company, my phones read "Line In Use" which would mean that when security calls the house to verify the alarm it will likely ring busy. Not a huge deal because they have our cell #'s to call as well, but something to consider.

Installing the scout directly to the phone (while leaving the hub where it is, hooked up to the central system) should eliminate that problem, I think...

[av8rdude]

Still one potential issue -- when the alarm is going off and dialing out to notify the security company, my phones read "Line In Use" which would mean that when security calls the house to verify the alarm it will likely ring busy. Not a huge deal because they have our cell #'s to call as well, but something to consider.

Installing the scout directly to the phone (while leaving the hub where it is, hooked up to the central system) should eliminate that problem, I think...

My alarm system works great with no special codes. I've tested it 3 times now.

If you have the premium service adding a scout will allow you to have the virtual second line. So the alarm can use line 1 on the hub to dial out and if someone calls in it will ring on line 2.

But alarms always dial out and tie up your phone line for a few seconds. The security company will not call until the alarm is done sending it's data. Unless you have previously had two phone lines it has always done this before ooma.

I accidently have "Phone" hooked to my alarm and "wall" to my whole house. The alarm passes the dial tone to the whole house. So I have effectively hooked both the "phone" and "wall" connections to the whole house with no negative effects yet....