News:

On Tuesday September 6th the forum will be down for maintenance from 9:30 PM to 11:59 PM PDT

Main Menu

OBi202 as Landline VOIP?

Started by slack1285, June 03, 2017, 06:18:54 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

slack1285

I help a friend with her phone and internet service.  I told AT&T that she would like the traditional, reliable landline, and their 6 Mbps internet.

They got the internet service part right, but gave her their "Landline VOIP" service, which was only figured out 6 months later because:

1.) no phone when the power went off, and

2.) stuttering dial-tone when she picked up the phone, because calls had been transferred to her "in-the-cloud" answering machine, when her phone line was busy (which neither she, nor I, had any idea about how this worked).

So, they didn't give her the phone service reliability that she wants. It looks like she'll finish out the year with this, then go back to the reliable landline . . . but, while not 100% reliable, this service is neat.

When I got the OBi202, I also got the Panasonic KX-TG6513 - Expandable Digital Cordless Phone, which came with 3 handsets for around the house - because that's how I thought you had to do this - wireless phone over the internet . . . this too is neat, but . . .

. . . I see that with AT&T's Landline VOIP, the phone line goes through the modem - - - which then goes to all of the phones "hard-wired" in your house - now that is amazing . . . Can this be done with the OBi202? . . . if not, what makes it so that AT&T can do it?

drgeoff

#1
Quote from: slack1285 on June 03, 2017, 06:18:54 AM
. . . I see that with AT&T's Landline VOIP, the phone line goes through the modem - - - which then goes to all of the phones "hard-wired" in your house - now that is amazing . . . Can this be done with the OBi202? . . . if not, what makes it so that AT&T can do it?
Nothing clever about that.  Any OBi (and most other makes) ATA can do it too.  After you have ensured that any telco line is completely disconnected from your house wiring, just plug a standard phone cable between the OBi's phone jack and a phone jack in the wall.  Use a jack doubler if you need a corded phone or cordless base by the OBi.

Disconnecting the telco's line is not solely to prevent the possibility of you interfering with them.  Just because a phone line pair is not in service does not guarantee that it will never be exposed to 48 volt local office battery or ringing voltage.  Your OBi would not like either of those and could be mortally wounded.

More at http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=12735.0, especially the post from SteveInWA may be helpful.

slack1285

Any idea where it says you can totally disconnect your landline, and plug the device into the wall, and make it available for all your phones?  Is there a web page?

A friend of mine did this with the Magic Jack.  I didn't know the Obi202 could do it.

drgeoff

Quote from: slack1285 on June 28, 2017, 08:23:53 AM
Any idea where it says you can totally disconnect your landline, and plug the device into the wall, and make it available for all your phones?  Is there a web page?
If you are asking if there is a page which says it is possible, then such a page is unnecessary. The phone port(s) on an OBi connect to phones in exactly the same way that a telco line from the telco's local office does.  In the same way that a telco line can drive multiple phones via house wiring, so can an OBi. But the house wiring must be connected to only one of the two.  Otherwise you run the risks of damaging the OBi, angering the telco and, last but not least, no phone service from either telco or OBi.

But If your real question is how to disconnect the landline from the house wiring I cannot tell you. There is no single universal method of connecting the two which has always been used.  When the property was constructed and what country you are in are significant variables.  For anyone who understands basic electrical circuits it should be trivial to know what to do once the joining point has been physically inspected.

LeoKing

Quote from: slack1285 on June 28, 2017, 08:23:53 AM
Any idea where it says you can totally disconnect your landline, and plug the device into the wall, and make it available for all your phones?  Is there a web page?

A friend of mine did this with the Magic Jack.  I didn't know the Obi202 could do it.


I am using a Panasonic DECT 6.0 cordless phone system with 6 handsets with the OBi200. Any cordless phone will work great with the OBi's. Some AT&T/VTech and Uniden cordless phones support up to 12 handsets.

drgeoff

Quote from: LeoKing on June 28, 2017, 09:28:56 AM
Quote from: slack1285 on June 28, 2017, 08:23:53 AM
Any idea where it says you can totally disconnect your landline, and plug the device into the wall, and make it available for all your phones?  Is there a web page?

A friend of mine did this with the Magic Jack.  I didn't know the Obi202 could do it.


I am using a Panasonic DECT 6.0 cordless phone system with 6 handsets with the OBi200. Any cordless phone will work great with the OBi's. Some AT&T/VTech and Uniden cordless phones support up to 12 handsets.
As far as the OBi is concerned the DECT base station is a single phone.  The OBi has no way of knowing how many handsets are registered to the base.

LeoKing

#6
Quote from: drgeoff on June 28, 2017, 09:46:07 AM
Quote from: LeoKing on June 28, 2017, 09:28:56 AM
Quote from: slack1285 on June 28, 2017, 08:23:53 AM
Any idea where it says you can totally disconnect your landline, and plug the device into the wall, and make it available for all your phones?  Is there a web page?

A friend of mine did this with the Magic Jack.  I didn't know the Obi202 could do it.


I am using a Panasonic DECT 6.0 cordless phone system with 6 handsets with the OBi200. Any cordless phone will work great with the OBi's. Some AT&T/VTech and Uniden cordless phones support up to 12 handsets.
As far as the OBi is concerned the DECT base station is a single phone.  The OBi has no way of knowing how many handsets are registered to the base.

Yup, I knew that and that's the way I set up my OBi phones without going through the wall wiring. I do not bother to care if the OBi knows how many extensions the cordless phone has . The OBi device does not care either as long as the total REN is within the limit it supports. With more handsets, we can use the phone in more locations in the house, though.

Edit: Amazon has excellent DECT 6.0 phones made by Panasonic & Vtech at very good prices.

SteveInWA

There are two different concepts/issues getting muddled in this discussion:

First, "traditional" telephone service vs. what AT&T gave you:  In many parts of the country, telephone service providers are now using some form of VoIP, instead of classic, analog copper-wire-based connections, to provide service.  In some cases, the copper wires are actually abandoned/disconnected, and in other cases, the wires are there, and could be used, but the telco offers VoIP instead.  This is nothing out of the ordinary in today's telco industry.  The telco is simply providing and connecting your house to their own, digital connection to their central office.  In most cases, it's VoIP.  In the case of fiber optic service, it may be a different type of digital service (POTS over fiber).  In all cases, the utility is simply providing you with a modular jack connected to telephone service.

Using an OBi for your telephone calling is no different than, and possibly less reliable than, using a telco or cable company's VoIP service.  If your neighborhood is connected to the utility via coaxial cable or fiber optic cable, then that's what the utility will use for phone service.  Keep a cell phone handy if you are concerned about long-duration power outages.  Otherwise, connect the in-house equipment to a UPS.  Some utilities actually provide their own battery backup unit, attached near their connection to your house, and plugged into your AC power.

Second, there are two ways to have multiple telephones in multiple rooms:  do as AT&T did, (if, and only if, you completely discontinue service with AT&T, AND disconnect their wiring), and connect your ATA to the house wiring.  Every house phone jack can then be used to connect a standard corded or cordless telephone device.  OR, abandon (do not use) the house wiring at all, and do what Leo mentioned:  connect a multi-handset, cordless phone system's base station directly to the ATA.  The house then uses the cordless phone handsets over DECT wireless radio.

robartsd

In my area, AT&T analog service comes in to a "network interface box" mounted on an outside wall. Inside the "network interface box" the line from AT&T terminates in a modular jack. A cable within the box plugs into the modular jack and connects to the home's phone wiring. Disconnecting from the telco's line is a simple as unpluging the cable from the modular jack in the network interface box.

I have not looked at AT&T's ditital U-Verse installations in details, but I do know that they install a UPS for the phone service (customer responsible for battery maintenance).