obi 202 setup
MattLS:
Hi
Just bought an Obi 202 box. Signed up for obitalk and got and email from obi what I thought was a set by set up instructions.
I have connected up ok and got a dial tone, updated the firmware, tried to register the devices, tried to setup google voice. All seemed to be going ok until it started telling me to buy a new SIM card?? and started talking about my cell phone and such. I am now very confused and after a second try with another useless set of instructions I think I my need to wipeout whatever I have done out and somehow start over.
My particulars are as follows:
I have 2 land line numbers (1 home & 1 business, currently ported through Comcast cable) that I need to port to the obi device. I have a Bluetooth dongle thing that plugs into the back of the obi, but not sure now what this is for. I normally have incoming business line forwarded to my cell. so would like to just have one or both lines ring on my cell as well as the regular phones. Calling out I usually just use the regular phone and not my cell.
I consider myself fairly technical but all the instructions for this seem to be directed at people who are very familiar with VOIP and the lingo- I am not-
Does anyone know of a easy, good, detailed set of set up instructions? Am I in too far over my head or am I missing something that makes setup easier?
Thankful for any insight you could provide,
Matt
drgeoff:
Obitalk service, not to be confused with the Obitalk web portal, can only make calls between OBi devices. If you want to communicate with people who have 'normal phones' you need an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP). There are many to choose from including Google Voice (GV) . Your 202 can work with up to 4 accounts from 1 to 4 different ITSPs. Most can port-in existing landline numbers. But I believe GV will only port cellphone numbers which is why you may encounter instructions to port a landline number to a mobile and then to GV.
Not sure why you have a Bluetooth dongle. It does not normally come bundled with a 202. It lets your Obi connect to a BT enabled phone such that the analogue phone plugged in to the OBi can make or answer calls over your cellphone's carrier. I suggest you ignore that option while getting your feet wet.
MattLS:
Thanks for the reply
I got it to work with the GV provided number and now I think I understand the process of converting my land line numbers to a cell number and then porting to GV. The thing that I am still not sure about is if I can port 2 numbers to my GV account? I suppose if a have to I could open a GV account using my wife's account and set her GV account as another obi service provider.
It is slooowly starting to makes sense to me- I think. Is there any negative to converting a number to a cellular number? could I change this in the future if needed?
I am going to keep plunging forward. I hate my service with Comcast (and it isn't cheap). So really hoping I can get this device and GV to do everything I need. Do you know if any of the other obi SPs are easier to set up with a 2 number system such as mine?
The Bluetooth dongle I bought (apparently not fully understanding the function) I believe I am seeing that this is so you can make and receive calls using an app through GV. To start with I believe I can set up GV to ring on my mobile number and on one or both landlines. So since I don't really care too much about outgoing calls or about cell phone minutes I don't think I care about this for now.
Thanks again
SteveInWA:
Quote from: MattLS on June 10, 2015, 07:59:15 pm
Thanks for the reply
I got it to work with the GV provided number and now I think I understand the process of converting my land line numbers to a cell number and then porting to GV. The thing that I am still not sure about is if I can port 2 numbers to my GV account? I suppose if a have to I could open a GV account using my wife's account and set her GV account as another obi service provider.
Porting:
Google Voice only supports porting in numbers from mobile carriers, so that's why people first port the numbers from land line to mobile. A Google Voice account can hold two ported-in numbers, but inbound calls to either number will be handled the same way -- there's no way to route the calls to different OBi devices or other forwarding destinations based on which number is being called. If you don't care about this, then you can port in one number, and after it's fully completed, port in another one. The other approach is to create another, separate GV account, and port the second number into that account. That way, you can set up the two inbound numbers as two separate service provider slots on your 202, and have one ring phone(s) plugged into the Line 1 jack, and the other number ring phone(s) plugged into the Line 2 jack.
Quote
It is slooowly starting to makes sense to me- I think. Is there any negative to converting a number to a cellular number? could I change this in the future if needed?
There is no significant downside to porting the land line first to a mobile carrier, aside from the time and effort it takes, and the small additional cost for porting. US FCC regulations require that carriers permit you to port out a number that they currently hold. However, there is no corresponding rule requiring carriers to accept a given number for porting into their service (there are technical limitations that would make this impractical). After you port a number to GV, or to any carrier, for that matter, they will let you port it back out if you wish.
Be sure to read through all the information, including the FAQs, on this page, before attempting to port into GV:
https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667
You can test whether or not your number can be ported into GV here:
https://www.google.com/voice/porting
There are two possible "oops" messages: either your carrier isn't supported for porting (this is the normal error message displayed when the number is not with a mobile carrier), or that your location isn't supported for porting. Ignore the first error if you haven't yet ported to mobile. Don't bother porting to mobile if you get the second error; you cannot port the number to GV in that case.
I recommend porting to either AT&T GoPhone or T-Mobile prepaid, as things will go smoother than with a small MVNO (reseller) carrier.
azrobert:
Quote from: MattLS on June 10, 2015, 07:59:15 pm
The Bluetooth dongle I bought (apparently not fully understanding the function)
You can use the Bluetooth Dongle to link your OBi2xx to a cell phone then use the cell phone as an OBi trunk to make and receive calls.
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