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OBi2xx and OBi3xx: same hardware?

Started by Andy_Shiekh, June 25, 2017, 06:22:27 AM

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Andy_Shiekh

Are the OBi2xx and Obi3xx based on the same hardware?

LTN1

What is the true purpose of your question...whether you can use the OBi302 with Google Voice?

Andy_Shiekh

Well, they take the same firmware, so if the OBi3xx had superior hardware maybe one could cross it to run as an OBi2xx for Google Voice

But I suspect they have the same hardware despite the suggestive 3xx naming

LTN1

Go ahead and try it out. You'd be really smart in buying the 302 for less than the 202 in order to use it for Google Voice also--Obihai must have missed that loophole. Let us know how it works for you even though most of us know what you will find...but nothing better than experiencing it for yourself.

Andy_Shiekh

Well, if it isn't going to work, why waste money.

SteveInWA

The devices use the same hardware.  Their firmware is different.  The 20x series support Google Voice.  The 30x series do not.  The 30x series are generally intended for resale by Internet Telephone Service Providers (ITSPs), who will typically pre-program them to use that provider's service.  If you see one for sale on eBay, don't buy it.

No, you are not smarter than Obihai, and no, you can't magically load the 20x firmware onto a 30x device.  Just buy a 20x device, if you want to use Google Voice.

Andy_Shiekh

Thank you for the clarification; at first I thought the 300 series was to replace the 200 series. I have an OBi200 that is doing sterling service.

LTN1

The answer to the OP's subtle question is so clear that I don't know how one could have missed reading it. On Amazon...it is right there in the first bullet point description. That's the reason why I didn't even want to explain it. See https://www.amazon.com/Obihai-Technology-OBI302-Telephone-Adapter/dp/B008MHTVXA

Andy_Shiekh

#8
It wasn't there till recently, but changed after I wrote to them about it a few days back. They also claimed Gigabit Ethernet on the 302 (in the original title), which was also corrected after I wrote. So there was more than one reason to believe the 300 series was superior to the 200 (the other reason being the numbering, given that the 200 series superseded the 100)

They (Amazon) did not let me include the link
  http://www.obihai.com/partner/obi3
which makes the situation on Google Voice clear, and I sent them the link about the Ethernet not being Gigabit
  http://www.obihai.com/docs/OBi302DS.pdf

I genuinely wondered if the 300 was about to supersede the 200; there was no hidden agenda or 'true purpose' other than wanting to know if the hardware was the same. My thoughts were that maybe Obihai were awaiting Google Voice ratification for the 300 series; to me the question made sense but didn't merit the details I now include here.

But I understand how in this world one is always wondering about nefarious intent.

drgeoff

It is a quite common ploy to have the same firmware on almost identical or similar hardware and have it test what it is running on by reading the voltage on some input pin(s) of a chip.  Then certain features are enabled or disabled according to the result.  That is how the same firmware is applicable to the Obi100 and Obi110.  And the OBi200 and OBi202 use the same firmware.  Same method would enable the 302 to have the same firmware yet not support GV.

Sometimes there are obvious jumpers, sometimes wire links, sometimes solder bridges, sometimes zero ohm resistors.

Andy_Shiekh

Good to know I have the latest hardware; thanks for all the help.