 kyler13Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD | Temporary outage? Came home 15 minutes ago to no phone service and saw this on ViaTalk's support page:
quote:
Temporary Service Outage *RESOLVED*
19 Jan 2008 - Michael Musgrave
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Temporary Service Outage *RESOLVED*
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This morning, hardware failure at our Chicago data center caused a short term network outage for a portion of ViaTalk users. Our engineering staff has routed all connections to avoid the point of failure and all service at the end-user level should be restored at this time. Of course, if you are in need of any assistance with your ViaTalk service please contact our support department by phone at 1 866 626 7150 option 2 or via email at support@viatalk.com We apologize for any trouble this interruption may have caused. Thank you for choosing ViaTalk! _ ViaTalk Support
So obviously if my phone was still out, it was not resolved. Checked the PAP2T and I was pointing at chicago-1c.vtnoc.net and unable to connect for registration. First off, not sure why I was pointed at Chicago being in MD, or why my control panel had me as US Central when last I knew I was US East. Anyway, I manually changed the server to richmond-1a.vtnoc.net and just like that, my service returned.
SO, it doesn't appear that the chicago server is being re-routed properly. Just a heads up to everyone. |
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| said by kyler13: Checked the PAP2T and I was pointing at chicago-1c.vtnoc.net and unable to connect for registration. First off, not sure why I was pointed at Chicago being in MD, or why my control panel had me as US Central when last I knew I was US East. Anyway, I manually changed the server to richmond-1a.vtnoc.net and just like that, my service returned. Fwiw, richmond-1a is the same as chicago-2.
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Russell |
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 burrisPremium
join:2000-08-22
Miami, FL
 ·VOIPo
| said by Russell_:said by kyler13: Checked the PAP2T and I was pointing at chicago-1c.vtnoc.net and unable to connect for registration. First off, not sure why I was pointed at Chicago being in MD, or why my control panel had me as US Central when last I knew I was US East. Anyway, I manually changed the server to richmond-1a.vtnoc.net and just like that, my service returned. Fwiw, richmond-1a is the same as chicago-2. Just curious....
Do the users on Vonage or CallVantage have to trace servers...go to a control panel and try to select a server that might work better or for that matter, might work at all?
Not having used either of these aformentioned providers, I wonder how much interaction the user must have in order to have a working phone when something unknown to that user, goes down? |
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| Just curious....
Do the users on Vonage or CallVantage have to trace servers...go to a control panel and try to select a server that might work better or for that matter, might work at all?
Not having used either of these aformentioned providers, I wonder how much interaction the user must have in order to have a working phone when something unknown to that user, goes down?
With 10 months to go before my agreement with ViaTalk runs out, I'm curious about that as well. Since ViaTalk may not be around in 10 months, I might need to know sooner.  |
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kyler13Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD | reply to burris
said by burris:Just curious.... Do the users on Vonage or CallVantage have to trace servers...go to a control panel and try to select a server that might work better or for that matter, might work at all? Not having used either of these aformentioned providers, I wonder how much interaction the user must have in order to have a working phone when something unknown to that user, goes down? That's a good question. I've never looked into whether or not those companies have geographical server locations and/or redundancy. I do like having the level of control that ViaTalk gives me to fix my problem in 3 minutes by pulling up a few windows on my laptop. |
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burrisPremium
join:2000-08-22
Miami, FL Reviews:
·VOIPo
| said by kyler13:said by burris:Just curious.... Do the users on Vonage or CallVantage have to trace servers...go to a control panel and try to select a server that might work better or for that matter, might work at all? Not having used either of these aformentioned providers, I wonder how much interaction the user must have in order to have a working phone when something unknown to that user, goes down? That's a good question. I've never looked into whether or not those companies have geographical server locations and/or redundancy. I do like having the level of control that ViaTalk gives me to fix my problem in 3 minutes by pulling up a few windows on my laptop. As soon as I teach my wife to do this, I'll be comfortable. |
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Reviews:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·ViaTalk
1 edit | If a pap2 you can program it to dial alternate server without using the CP in an emergency.
For example if I dial ** then 10 digit number my pap2 changes to the richmond server instead of chicago.
See: »Using a different VT servers for 10 vs 11 digit dialing. For tips on how to do this.
Edit: This only works for outbound calls. Inbound still need to adjust in CP. |
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Reviews:
 ·AT&T Southeast
1 edit | reply to burris
Having had Vonage prior to VT, I can tell you that Vonage customers do not have control over which server they are assigned, and it doesn't really make any difference, as I never experienced a single outage caused by their equipment or their backbone provider's.
I never had to worry about servers being up/down and if I was going to be properly routed if something did go down - it just worked. |
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burrisPremium
join:2000-08-22
Miami, FL Reviews:
·VOIPo
| reply to dcurrey
said by dcurrey:If a pap2 you can program it to dial alternate server without using the CP in an emergency. For example if I dial ** then 10 digit number my pap2 changes to the richmond server instead of chicago. See: » Using a different VT servers for 10 vs 11 digit dialing. For tips on how to do this. Edit: This only works for outbound calls. Inbound still need to adjust in CP. Thank you...I'll get my wife cracking on it right away.  |
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pl1
join:2004-12-09
Boston, MA
1 edit | reply to jmelcher
said by jmelcher:Having had Vonage prior to VT, I can tell you that Vonage customers do not have control over which server they are assigned, and it doesn't really make any difference, as I never experienced a single outage caused by their equipment or their backbone provider's. I never had to worry about servers being up/down and if I was going to be properly routed if something did go down - it just worked. That's what I remember as well. I don't remember having any control over this, and I don't remember ever being down because of them.
EDIT: But, they totally control their ATA. No PW given out and no BYOD. Period. |
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 NY TelPremium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
kudos:3
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to burris
said by burris:said by Russell_:said by kyler13: Checked the PAP2T and I was pointing at chicago-1c.vtnoc.net and unable to connect for registration. First off, not sure why I was pointed at Chicago being in MD, or why my control panel had me as US Central when last I knew I was US East. Anyway, I manually changed the server to richmond-1a.vtnoc.net and just like that, my service returned. Fwiw, richmond-1a is the same as chicago-2. Just curious.... Do the users on Vonage or CallVantage have to trace servers...go to a control panel and try to select a server that might work better or for that matter, might work at all? Not having used either of these aformentioned providers, I wonder how much interaction the user must have in order to have a working phone when something unknown to that user, goes down? With CallVantage you never have to search for servers, never have to "Wait For Dialtone", and you never get emails that portions of their network are down or that they are even being nice and planning to take portions of their network down as preventive maintenance.
All for a low, low price of 24.99 (19.99 for cell customers of AT&T) - this is a very small difference between them and ALL other Voip providers. For a few dollars more a month, I'll skip Starbucks twice and it is paid for.....lol  |
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| They were my first choice during the SR melt down, but they do not have numbers in my area (then or now) and did not support porting of numbers from this area. So I ended up with P8.....its OK but not great. |
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| reply to jmelcher
said by jmelcher:Having had Vonage prior to VT, I can tell you that Vonage customers do not have control over which server they are assigned, and it doesn't really make any difference, as I never experienced a single outage caused by their equipment or their backbone provider's. I never had to worry about servers being up/down and if I was going to be properly routed if something did go down - it just worked. Same here for the most part. I remember maybe one or two outages over the two years I had Vonage. I switched to Viatalk because of the price and feature set. Had I known then, the shenanigans and the unreliability AND the lack of promised features (I specifically signed up for the Call Record feature that never has worked as promised) I would have stayed with Vonage.
I have been looking around and need to do some more investigation as my contract ends in about 3 months and I'll need to find a new service. Now I just have to figure out which of the other VOIP are being run by Viatalk, so I can steer clear... |
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kyler13Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD | reply to NY Tel
said by NY Tel:With CallVantage you never have to search for servers, never have to "Wait For Dialtone", and you never get emails that portions of their network are down or that they are even being nice and planning to take portions of their network down as preventive maintenance. All for a low, low price of 24.99 (19.99 for cell customers of AT&T) - this is a very small difference between them and ALL other Voip providers. For a few dollars more a month, I'll skip Starbucks twice and it is paid for.....lol I looked into CallVantage and was disappointed in the feature set for the price. Seemed to be the least features of alot of the VoIP providers. Another problem I saw was that they used a pass-thru style ATA which would not work behind many routers (including FIOS' Actiontec). Problem is that the ATA was 10baseT hardware so if you have something like FIOS 15Mbps, you're throwing 5Mbps out. Just not worth $25/month IMO. |
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Cogdis
join:2007-03-26
Floral Park, NY | said by kyler13:Another problem I saw was that they used a pass-thru style ATA which would not work behind many routers (including FIOS' Actiontec). What makes you say that? I have a "pass-through" ata/router from lingo that works fine behind a router. I don't see why Callvantage would be any different as long as your router doesn't block ports (which would affect ANY voip).
Anyway, Lingo keeps full control of their adapter, which is just fine with me since theres no reason to change any settings, the service just works. |
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NY TelPremium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
kudos:3 Reviews:
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to kyler13
I have FiOS, CallVantage and the CallVantage TA behind the Actiontec so it is at the "end" of the chain - nothing passes through it although you could do that if you were so inclined.
Everyone needs something different and for me, their feature set works just fine.
I want reliable dial tone and don't necessarily need some of the other things that other voip providers offer.
Good luck with your search. |
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kyler13Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD | No search. I settled on ViaTalk a year ago and it's been up and crystal clear 99% of the time. I do worry about the future of the service, though.
As for CallVantage, maybe you have the 2nd gen Actiontec, or a newer ATA? My friend I work with has had CallVantage for a couple years (and FIOS too). The actually had CallVantage on Comcast before they switched so they had an older ATA, though a year ago it appeared as though it was the same one AT&T was still providing. Anyway, they got dead air behind the Actiontec. I checked the forums here at that time and noone was able to get the CallVantage ATA to work behind the Actiontec. That was a big sticking point for me. Guess things changed, or the hardware changed, or the firmware. I don't know. All I know is that the PAP2T behind the Actiontec worked great for me from day one without the need for port forwarding or any kind of prioritization. |
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 brian188Keep your Liberalism off my paycheckPremium
join:2006-03-23
Loveland, CO
·Comcast
1 edit | reply to burris
said by burris:said by Russell_:said by kyler13: Checked the PAP2T and I was pointing at chicago-1c.vtnoc.net and unable to connect for registration. First off, not sure why I was pointed at Chicago being in MD, or why my control panel had me as US Central when last I knew I was US East. Anyway, I manually changed the server to richmond-1a.vtnoc.net and just like that, my service returned. Fwiw, richmond-1a is the same as chicago-2. Just curious.... Do the users on Vonage or CallVantage have to trace servers...go to a control panel and try to select a server that might work better or for that matter, might work at all? Not having used either of these aformentioned providers, I wonder how much interaction the user must have in order to have a working phone when something unknown to that user, goes down? NO we (with Vonage) DON'T. And Not with quantumvoice either. This is the reason I left VT. |
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NY TelPremium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
kudos:3 Reviews:
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to kyler13
said by kyler13: I checked the forums here at that time and noone was able to get the CallVantage ATA to work behind the Actiontec. That was a big sticking point for me. Guess things changed, or the hardware changed, or the firmware. I don't know. All I know is that the PAP2T behind the Actiontec worked great for me from day one without the need for port forwarding or any kind of prioritization. You are/were correct. With FiOS, thee was an issue with the Actiontec firmware last year but that has since been corrected with a firmware update and now it works. |
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FisamoPremium
join:2004-02-20
Apex, NC | reply to burris
AFAIK, with CallVantage, there is one domain name that all CPE equipment points to. The settings are, of course, locked down and invisible to the home user (unless you're on the phone with tech support and getting the 'advanced' password, which changes every 12 or 24 hours). However, it's extremely rare that it's ever down. On the few occasions I can't get a dialtone (and I confirm that my 2-year old hasn't left a phone off the hook), the issue is with my router, and a network reboot resolves it.
That is, by the way, using ATT's original ATA equipment behind my TrendNET Pre-N router (TEW-631BRP). Originally ATT did not support having their ATA behind a home router, and it was during 2005 that they resolved (most of) those issues with firmware updates. I say 'most of' because of the later incompatibility with the FIOS routers, which, IIRC, involved a firmware update of the Actiontec. |
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