Using a U.S. cordless phone set in Germany

Hi all, I plan to bring a US cordless phone with me to Munich that communicates at 5.8 GHz (digital). It appears here: http://www.aaronia.de/Frequenzplan-Funktelefone.htm that 5.8 is on the okie-dokie list. Incidentally, I've read elsewhere that CT1, CT2 are now reserved for other purposes, like police and fire. Why bring one with instead of buying one in Munich you ask? It's getting hooked up to a US Vonage adapter (and therefore a US phone #), and I have no idea if German phones will be compatible (physically or electronically) with it. Anyone have ideas or recommendations?

YorkshireLad6 will give you the full scoop, but for VOIP lines you can buy all this stuff cheap and working in Germany. I have some Siemens Gigaset C47H VOIP phones and have numbers in Italy, France, Sweden, UK etc.

So for VOIP there is no reason to bring any dodgy US tat with wrong voltage transformers etc.

You're right about the voltage adapters needing replacing...but I knew that going in.

No legal or technical reason why you shouldn't bring it, but if you are buying new better to buy one here (no power issues, guarantee and service locally supplied) - worst case you'd need a different phone connecting cable or adapter which costs a few €€. I'd query the logic in bringing over Vonage however - as you have to use their hardware you are somewhat locked in, it's an expensive service compared to the competition, and it's not compatible with every German ISP or modem/router hardware. There are plenty of services providing FREE US numbers (their choice of area code) and many much cheaper where you have a choice of area code or permit number porting.

Good information; thanks. I already have the equipment, Vonage contract, Cincinnati phone number (which is kind of important). I'm paying $US 15/month for 500 minutes, which is sufficient for my needs (for now, at least). And once I start earning Euros, that 15 bucks will be peanuts.

Are German ISPs obsessive and block ports willy-nilly, or is there something more complicated going on with the Vonage compatibility issue?

wow...what a good tarrif. Germans still pay way too much for mobile phone services, however, roaming and signal strenght is less of an issue (depending on which service provider you have...like shitty Eplus)...in the US, there are still many dark spots.

she's not talking about a mobile tarif, numpty.

I'm not a chick, fartknocker.

Sorry about that - we just assumed 'cos of the dumb question.

To avoid confusion I would like to suggest that Editor Bob adds a field for GENDER in the profile section for each user. That would solve the problem.

It's nothing to do with port blocking. Vonage use their own bastardised VoIP protocol (hence the requirement to use their hardware), and some ISPs reject or delay their IP packets (or the modem/router does). This means sometimes the phone works, sometimes not, and sometimes calls are one-way.

When Owain met me at Curry Night and the Hirschgarten, I thought my goatee would have been a dead giveaway. He must think I'm one UGLY chick.


To quote a British friend of mine, "Brilliant!" I don't suppose there's a list of "don't use this ISP/Hardware with Vonage" floating about?

You are probably better to ask (here, for example) who is successfully using Vonage in Germany and what they actually have (Vonage deal, Vonage hardware, DSL provider, ISP and modem/router - the mix of these is also probably relevant)

sorry, didn't recongise the log-in. I bet you'd look hot in a mini-skirt, though

You know it, baby.

I have the same Vonage setup and will be trying to set this up next week after T-Online turns on my DSL. TCOM DSL speed is 3000 for my new house.

Does anyone know if T-Online blocks Vonage?

I heard that Vonage WRT54G wifi router does work with T-Online after a firmware update to allow long user name for PPPoe login...so my guess is other than the Speedport modem/router I shouldn't have a problem.

I bought their Speedport W 502V but I may return it and use my Dlink 514 to log in to the PPPoe account. I am undecided but if the Speedport works with my vonage router then I will keep the speedport one since is is Wifi G and my Dlink is only B speed.

But the Speedport includes a DSL modem, the 514 does not.

You're right...I meant use the Vonage Linksys Router model RT31P2 for the PPPoe connection, then use the 514 for Wifi B. Then I would not need the Speedport W 502V at all unless I really wanted the Wifi G.

I think I am confused. If the router setup has PPPoe for a login choice does that mean it is a DSL Modem/Router? Both my Dlink DI-514 and the Linksys RT31P2 have a choice for PPPoe and I used Verizon Fios which used a PPPoe login on them before, but my T-online will not login.

I tried my numbers both of this website said:

http://www.boughton.de/tcomuserpass/

http://www.netzwerkrouter.de/portal/readar...p?article_id=15

My Speedport will login but I get dropped connection a lot and basically the speedport sucks.

Good news it that Vonage works pretty good when the Speedport is not dropping connections.

No - it simply means you log in using PPPoE over a connected modem.