Okay, I need help. I currently have DSL at my house but now my boss is sending home a router and a Cisco IP phone and I am not sure how to hook it up. They tried to explain but I do better with graphs or detailed explanations as to what specific wire goes to what jack. Can anyone help me? Here is my current configuration, with just my DSL modem:

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Curlyben

Basically your router should replace the modem as the better ones have a router and modem in one box.
If not its just a case of connect the router to the modem and then the router to your pc and IP phone.

The wireing whould be quite straight forward as the connections tend to only go in one way

The router basically allows you to share the DSL connection between multiple devices.

Cgirl

Ok, well I will try. I just hope I can figure it out, there is too many cords, it all confuses me. I wish I could find a graph to show exactly what goes to where?

Curlyben

Cgirl don't panic, the only cables that can get mistaken are the ethernet and phone as they have similar ends to them.
Just remember the phone one is smaller then the etherent one.

Cgirl

Thanks! I can do this >hehe

cajalat

Curlyben, that's incorrect. The cables are identical.

EDIT: Unless of course you were referring to the regular phone (not the Cisco IP Phone).

cajalat

Cgirl,

Cisco IP phones need what's called a "Call Manager" in order for them to function. The Call manager is either a dedicated server or it could be part of a router with a feature otherwise known as Call Manager Express.

So what you need to do is plug your Cisco IP Phone into the Cisco router at the very least and then possibly plug your Cisco router into your DSL or depending on the type of router it is, replace your DSL router all together (much like Curlyben indicated). I suspect that your Cisco router that was sent with your Cisco IP Phone is preconfigured to run a VPN back to your home office via your existing DSL connection.

So your Cisco IP Phone when plugged into your router will request a DHCP address which your Cisco router will provide. Along with the DHCP address the router also sends a DHCP Option 51 which tells the Phone where to get its configuration from as well as it also tell it who to contact for call routing setup which in this case is the Cisco router (the Call manager Express feature). After that, your router will know where the actual IP-to-PBX gateway is located in order to establish the call. So if your employer has the voice gateway accessible from the internet then your router will just route the voice traffic through your DSL router and on to your employers gateway. If your employers voice gateway is internal to your enterprise then your Cisco Router should establish a VPN connection back to your Enterprise.

Depending on the Cisco IP Phone you have you may have one or two jacks in the back of the phone. If you only have one jack then think of that jack like any other PC with an ethernet jack. If you have a 7960 phone then you'll have two jacks in the back. One goes to the router/switch and the other you plug a PC in. The ports on the back of the Cisco IP Phone should be clearly labeled.

Good luck.

Curlyben

LOL, Cajalat, I did mean the regular phone line, not the IP phone

cajalat

Yeah I kinda thought so but I wasn't sure which is why I ended up re-editing my post.

Cgirl

Thank you Cajalat, you really helped me. Yes, I have a 7960 series which has two jacks, I know that one you do not use and one you do. I think I can figure it out now, without screwing anything up Thanks for both of your help!