Obi 200 spontaneous random disconnects
SteveInWA:
Well, I guess you can chalk up the delete/re-do exercise as a learning experience. ;D
My SWAGs still remain either a network issue or a hardware failure. The OBi devices use a rather common adapter voltage and plug shape, so you might find one in your collection. If you want to buy a replacement power adapter, jameco.com is a great place to find one, or you could just get one from Obihai.
Silence on the line shouldn't cause disconnects. That said, VoIP does support a feature that detects silence, and, instead of wasting bandwidth sending background noise, it will suppress sending audio over RTP. This function is disabled by default (meaning, silence is not detected and suppressed).
My bet is that your ISP connection is unreliable. VoIP is much more sensitive to this than web browsing and video streaming, since streaming, for example, generally buffers data to mitigate dropouts.
Marty.ba.calif.usa:
Quote from: SteveInWA on August 20, 2015, 01:21:26 pm
My bet is that your ISP connection is unreliable. VoIP is much more sensitive to this than web browsing and video streaming, since streaming, for example, generally buffers data to mitigate dropouts.
That's interesting. And probably hard to pin down.
So, is there no buffering at all? Oh, I guess it would be annoying to buffer a real-time conversation. :-( My connection is fairly fast (55 mb/s), but I really don't know if there might be quality problems. I can monitor the download speed while downloading a large file, although I haven't done that lately. Used to be steady, but maybe something's changed.
I suppose I should eliminate as many variables as i can, though, before digging deeper into that hole. :-(
SteveInWA:
RE: buffering, your point about it being unacceptable to the callers is correct. VoIP endpoints do have small (and adjustable) buffers, called jitter buffers, but they're only designed to mitigate very short signal dropouts. Buffering any more than about a quarter-second becomes noticeable and disconcerting to the callers, since it creates a delay that that messes with the brain's ability to follow the conversation.
This is a tricky problem to isolate. You can't tell anything by looking at download speed, since the speed measurements are averaged over time. As for the power supply, you can't tell much with a voltmeter, other than it being completely dead or not. You'd need to connect an oscilloscope to the power line to watch for distortion or brief dropouts in the voltage, and/or harmonics, caused by some component or electrical connection in the switching power supply starting to fail.
You've already eliminated the service provider (Anveo or voip.ms) as the cause (because it happens with both of them), and you've eliminated the configuration as the cause, because you re-did it.
You could now further isolate this with these two tests:
Use the SIP VoIP quality test at this website, which uses a Java applet to simulate an end-to-end VoIP "conversation", and measures multiple parameters to come up with a MOS (telco industry term for "Mean Opinion Score").
http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php
Repeat the test multiple times, to a few different endpoints, and if you score less than 4.0, you have an internet service issue. It's really common for cable internet to exhibit these issues, caused by some sort of corrosion or water incursion on the coax cables or connectors. Occasionally, the cable modems go bad, too.
If you consistently score 4.0 or better (4.2 is the max), then, an easy way to isolate the OBi hardware as the culprit would be to unplug it, and install a SIP VoIP softphone on your computer. Counterpath X-Lite is free and very easy to set up, but there are others out there. If calls never disconnect while using the service via the softphone, then you've got a hardware issue (Ethernet cable, power supply and/or OBi box).
Marty.ba.calif.usa:
Quote from: SteveInWA on August 21, 2015, 02:26:00 pm
...
This is a tricky problem to isolate. You can't tell anything by looking at download speed, since the speed measurements are averaged over time. As for the power supply, you can't tell much with a voltmeter, other than it being completely dead or not. You'd need to connect an oscilloscope to the power line to watch for distortion or brief dropouts in the voltage, and/or harmonics, caused by some component or electrical connection in the switching power supply starting to fail....
Thanks for all the input. I've run some tests, including a 24 hour smokePing test from http://www.dslreports.com/smokeping, which looked pretty good most of the time. The one you recommended says I should be good, and the MOS was 4.19 the last time. I ran it yesterday, and it was OK, but I forgot the exact score.
I tested using a softphone (SFLphone - I'm on Linux, and it was easy to install). Using the softphone, I did not get a disconnect. But I didn't disconnect the Obi, fwiw. I also did a test where I did a continuous ping to the obi while making a test call and constantly refreshing the call status. There was nothing unusual on the status page a second before it disconnected, and the ping never lost any packets at all.
I don't have a 'scope, but the DC voltage was steady. I should measure the AC component, perhaps, but I don't really know if my meter would filter high frequency components or not. I used to have a collection of 12 volt adapters, but I'm not sure where they are now. So far, they are disappeared (a new verb).
I'm leaning toward just ordering a new ata from Amazon for $45, and if it doesn't fix the problem, I can always return it and only lose a few dollars shipping.
Marty.ba.calif.usa:
Quote from: SteveInWA on August 21, 2015, 02:26:00 pm
Use the SIP VoIP quality test at this website, which uses a Java applet to simulate an end-to-end VoIP "conversation", and measures multiple parameters to come up with a MOS (telco industry term for "Mean Opinion Score").
http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php
Repeat the test multiple times, to a few different endpoints, and if you score less than 4.0, you have an internet service issue. It's really common for cable internet to exhibit these issues, caused by some sort of corrosion or water incursion on the coax cables or connectors. Occasionally, the cable modems go bad, too.
If you consistently score 4.0 or better (4.2 is the max), then, an easy way to isolate the OBi hardware as the culprit would be to unplug it, and install a SIP VoIP softphone on your computer. Counterpath X-Lite is free and very easy to set up, but there are others out there. If calls never disconnect while using the service via the softphone, then you've got a hardware issue (Ethernet cable, power supply and/or OBi box).
Did you know that the MOS score is listed at the end of the call status during the call? I just noticed that.
As an update to my problem, I ordered an OBI 202 on sale at Amazon, and it didn't help. After replacing everything, including the network cable again, I also connected the phone directly to the ata output, all with no improvement. So, I put the old OBI 200 back, as I like it better - it's simpler, and does everything I need. I'll have to decide on whether to return it or just keep it in case me or someone else needs it in the future.
So, it occurred to me that it could very well be the phone itself, a Panasonic set I got at Costco a few years ago. I tested with the base station, which has a dialpad, and it also disconnected, so I invested $10 on a little wired AT&T phone at Fry's today. My test call has been going for 45 minutes so far, breaking all recent records for anything going through the ata. I've never had a phone actually go bad, I don't think. Usually, they just outlive their usefullness in some way or another. This one never had any noise or anything to indicate it was going bad. Guess it could be the power supply.
My call status window had two new buttons appear on one refresh - "Remove" and "Record". I'm pretty sure they weren't there when I started. Anyone else ever see them?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page