News:

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

Main Menu

Other person can't hear me.

Started by mjsobi, August 09, 2011, 10:31:41 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

MYOBi

#100
If this helps anyone:

I have Netgear WNDR3700 router. I have been using OBi for about a year, I never had this stuttering problem. Last week, I purchased a backup router that was on sale "Belkin F7D7301 Share Max N300 Wireless N+ Router", and loaded Tomato firmware on it (tomato-K26USB-1.28.7497.1MIPSR2-Toastman-RT-Ext.trx). I started to observe this stuttering problem, immediately only on Google Voice on SP1. When I call my Obi from work or cell phone, there is terrible stuttering, it is impossible to understand the AA prompts. I enabled QoS, did not help. I also have SP2 service from CallCentric, it worked OK but with some degradation in quality.

I immediately removed the Belkin and started using Netgear, then, problem disappeared.
When I have more time, I will try Belkin again, maybe with different firmware.

Edit on 5/21/2012: Enabling Qos with Default settings in Toastman's Firmware caused this problem. I also switched to another version of Toastman 7498.1 release. I do not see this problem any more, QoS disabled.

RonR

FWIW, I've never tried any of the Toastman releases, but I have been using tomato-K26USB-1.28.9054MIPSR2-beta-Ext.trx for the past year with OBi's and haven't experienced any problems.

mnm1130

Having the same problem.. but when i call from my computer on GV its the same problem.. so im hoping its GV and not my obi

sramaswamy

I have the same problem reported in this thread. Here is my email trail with Obihai Support Team. I am sorry that in the end I still do not have a resolution.


Me
==
We have the following two problems

a) Many times we can hear the other party but they cannot hear us. I have tried to restart the Obi100 by pulling the power and putting it back it in.I have tried to restart with ***9 and then 1 to reboot. But the    issue still exists

b) Many times there is lot of crackling in the sound we hear.

I have set up Google Voice on SP1 and Voip.ms on SP2.
   
Thanks in advance but let me know whether you need any other information

Obihai Support Team
===============
Do the remote end not hearing you at all or do they hear you choppy ?
What is your internet link ? DSL / Cable / Satellite ?
What is your upload/download bandwidth ?

Try to set/configure QoS on your router.
Set it to give highest priority for OBi, and give "upload badwidth" to 100Kbps.
Google Voice requires usage of 100Kbps bandwidth, so this amount needs to be "reserved" for OBi.
Typically the QoS setting is for what ip address of the device.

Reboot your router after you change this setting, to make sure that it is remembered.
For QoS configuration, please look at your router's manual. Here is an example for Linksys router model:
http://www.voipmechanic.com/setting-qos-voip-linksys.htm


Me
==
Thank you very much for your prompt answer.

I have a DSL connection with 6MBPS download and 500kbps upload. It has been working ok till around last month. We have started having this problem  recently. When I searched on internet, I saw the following thread and seems lot of people have reported the same issue

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=1316.0

Obihai Support Team
===================
Configure your router to allow outgoing packets on UDP port 19305.

You can also try to put OBi's IP address in your router's DMZ.

Me
==

I have added UDP port 19305 to the list of ports to be forwarded to the Obi100. I had already added 5060, 5061 and 16000 - 16991. I will see how it goes.

Thank you very much for the answer.

Me
==
I added the ports, as shown in the picture below. (192.168.1.2 is the Obi100 device). Still no luck. It is always the other party that is not able to hear us. This is only on some calls, There are calls where both parties can hear well. 
<picture> DD-WRT --> NAT/QOS --> Port Range Forwarding page </picture>
Next I am going to add the Obi100 to the DMZ and see whether that works. Thanks for your answer.

I want to bother you with another issue I have. The line is choppy sometimes. I am guessing that this happens if the internet bandwidth is in use by other applications like NetFlix. I wanted to confirm that this can be resolved either by increasing the bandwidth - a higher MBPS or QOS. My current bandwidth is 6 MBPS down and 500 KBPS up DSL conection.

Obihai Support Team
===================
Our instruction in

http://www.obihai.com/FAQ.html#ports-to-keep-open-on-my-router

is to allow outgoing packets on these ports.

Not port forwarding them to OBi (incoming)

For choppy audio, set QoS for your router.

Give OBi highest priority and bandwidth amount of 100Kbos


Me
==

Well opening the ports and port forwarding aren't they the same? When a request comes from internet to Obi100 on port 19305, the port forwarding allows access to that port on Obi100, which in other words means that that port is open.

I am trying to place the Obi100 on DMZ for few days. I will know whether that works

Thanks for your answer.

Me
==
I have put the Obi100 in DMZ. So no port is blocked. I am still having the problem of other person not able to hear from my phone. I reset the Obi100 to factory defaults and just set up Google Voice. I still have the problem.

I have been using Obi100 since early last year from the time Obi100 came out and I have been using the same router since then. I have not had this problem till sometime last month. And when I visited Obihai facebook page, I find that an update was pushed out. Is it possible for me to roll back to the firmware prior to that? I never had this issue at that time.

Thanks

Obihai Support Team
====================
You need to allow outgoing packets on udp port 19305.

When you do "Port Forwarding", that is incoming packets.

You can leave OBi in the DMZ.

The current firmware that you have, 2711, is good. There is no reason to downgrade.

Me
==
Thanks for your mail. I have done the things you suggested. I am still having the same problem of other party not able to hear anything at all. Is there anything else that I can try? I am afraid right now I have hit a wall and it seems like I have try some other product. It has been working well till last month. Thanks for your time.

QBZappy

sramaswamy,

You didn't mention, however I assume you are having problems with both the GV & voipms. Just a few things to see if there is anything unusual:
1) While in an active call look at the call status and note the codec being used and the other info. Test using both SPs.
2) As a last resort set up the OBi at a friends house and see if it can be reproduced there. (This is a pain, I know)
3) If you could get your hands on another brand of ATA you could compare and conclude if it is a router or ATA related problem.

Disconnect the OBi and check the following (OBi not involved in anything):
4) Does making a call using a soft phone client work properly when connected directly to voipms?
5) Does calling the GV number using a cell phone, making the call directly to the computer work properly?

Good luck.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

sramaswamy

Thanks for your answer.

I do not use the voip.ms much. So I am not sure whether I have the problem with that as well. I did not have these problems all these time - that is about 10 months. It just started last month and that too only on some calls.

I will try to follow up on what you have written. But again the problem is that the google voice through Obi100 does work sometimes. So not entirely sure if it works from another place it is certain that it always works.

QBZappy

#106
sramaswamy,

Just so you know even real voip pros sometimes with all their expertise sometimes are baffled by some problems and must live with connections which are not stable/reliable. I was on another site (DSL Reports) recently, and I read a reply from one of the senior voip gurus there which made me laugh because I thought I was the only one doing this. I assumed that the real pros could resolve these things. He was checking daily if the connection to his commercial voip service provider was active. For some reason it was not reliable. The reason it made me laugh is because I had a similar problem with voipms. I had to figure out a way to reboot my PBX automatically everyday, yet this still did not work. For some reason it now seems to be stable again, and don't ask me what I changed.

Every family seems to have a designated technical guy. It seems that it might be you in this case. One way or another you will be resolving this issue. Keep us posted.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

sramaswamy

QBZappy

Before I write anything else, I am sorry if I came of as dismissive in my reply. That was not the intent in my answer. I appreciate someone devoting the time to read through post and being helpful. I also understand that there is lot of interconnected technologies - internet connection, the router, other devices, modem and not to speak of software updates. Any of it could have changed in the last month. Considering my knowledge is limited, any input is most welcome.

Now following up on your suggestion, I did the following:

Since GrooveIP does almost the same thing as Obi100, I decided to try that out. I got a new google voice number on a different gmail account, installed GrooveIP on an android phone. I connected through the Wi-fi connection on the same router. Guess what, I have the same issue. I can hear the other party and they can't hear me.

So the above almost rules out any issue with the Obi100 and its settings. The next candidate to investigate is the router. Is it blocking the outgoing data? But I have placed the Obi100 in DMZ - to the best of my knowledge I think. Still investigating. Any pointers from anybody most welcome

sramaswamy

I think the most likely reason for the other person not able to hear is the upload bandwidth saturation. It looks if there is no upload bandwidth available, then the other person cannot hear. I thought the audio will be choppy and not total silence. Since I have DSL the upload bandwidth is somewhere between 400 - 500 KBPS. The home uses online service like Netflix. Does service like Netflix take up so much upload bandwidth? I guess I will try to upgrade my internet connection and see whether that resolves the issue.

Ostracus

Upgrading your service and applying QoS to the upstream will help.

Expose VoIP Problems Using Wireshark

sfisher

I have the exact same problem.. NO ONE can hear me when I call them or even if they call me on GV. Bandwidth is not an issue with me as I have 30Mb down and 4Mb up. I have also done everything in this long forum too.One thing I did notice is that Comcast did a firmware update on my modem and the next day everything started going south. I am without a phone and can not call comcrap now so I will maybe see about a online chat tomorrow. I used the phone Wednesday evening before I went to be an all was fine...then on Thursday I called my friend and from that pointe no one could hear me....

I am thinking the new cable modem firmware and the defauly "NATP" is enabled also there new "firewall" could be part of the issue too. I have a Netgear WNDR3700 and the OpenWrt Backfire 10.03.1 firmware which has been fine until Thursday when I went to make my first call of the day.

I think comcrap updated my modem Wednesday/Thursday overnight, because I check the modem status almost every 2-3 days.

Anyone got any other ideas???   ??? ???

Stewart

If your cable modem has more than one Ethernet port, it's probably now set up as a router and causing your trouble.  Assuming that you are using only one of the Ethernet ports, it should be possible for you to turn off the router function and get back to the functionality you had before the "upgrade".

Check the WAN IP address of your Netgear router.  If it is a private address (192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, or 172.[16-31].x.x), the modem is doing NAT and is likely the problem.  Try turning off any firewall or NAT functions.  You may need to reboot modem and router to regain Internet access.  Once that's working, confirm that the router WAN IP is now a public address, then reboot your OBi and retest.  However, before trying the above, find out how to restore the modem to factory settings, in case the changes you make somehow prevent you from accessing the Net.

Studly

I can report that with my Obi202 I'm having the same problem, where maybe 20% of calls, everything works fine and then after several minutes of talking, the other person can't hear me any more but I can hear them.

Today we had one call where they called and couldn't hear us at all once we answered.

We're got to different GV lines on the 202 and it happens on both.

It seems worse since I moved the Obi behind/downstream from the router. I'm going to try it in front of the router and see if that makes a difference.

caguerra

Add me to the list where receiving party does not hear, but I am able to hear them after calling them.

Setup is dialing from an Obi202 as a router connected directly to Comcast Cable Modem with sufficient b/w, the LAN port connected to wireless Cisco Valet Router; call is connected via the Obi network (i.e. to another Obi110 endpoint).

For me calls placed via GV (actually Simonics) works fine in both directions.  I would figure no ports needed to be messed with since, Obi202 is first device on network before my wireless router.  Not sure if I should change the Obi202 into Bridge mode, if that would help out - something to try.

Just recently changed devices to Obi202 from an Obi 100, which worked flawlessly before and I know recently a new f/w was released for the Obi 1x0 series.  I am going to return to original setup with the Obi100 to see if I see the issue again.

caguerra

Well it has to be some kind of setting on my Obi202 because it is definitely device specific, in my case, since after changing back to my Obi110, calls via the Obi network audio was bidirectional and worked perfectly.

Can't think of what it can be as of yet, very strange that it works with GV but not Obi network.
Any ideas??

Obi202:
HardwareVersion
1.3

SoftwareVersion
3.0.0 (Build: 3397)

caguerra


obe_don_kenobe

Same issue for me. I will be having a conversation and the other person will say "Your breaking up" which only a few seconds later is followed by "I can't hear you", "are you there", followed by them hanging up. I can hear them as clear as a bell with no choppiness or interruption, but they can't hear me. I had the cable company come out and look over my configuration, check the cable modem, everything looked good. I use Skype occasionally for overseas calls and do not experience outages. I'd sure like to fix this since I am using the phone partially for business in a home office, and this don't make me look good. I may be forced to go back to a standard old, reliable land line, but I hope not.

Configuration:
Ambit cable modem model: U10C018
Apple Airport Extreme direct wired to the Obi.
Average d/l speed: 27Mb/s
Average u/l speed: 5Mb/s

mikebo

Hello. I have been searching the internet for this very problem. I call someone and we talk for about 3-5 minutes and they cannot hear me anymore so I hang up and call them back. The same thing that all of you are reporting. However, I am not an OBI customer. I use Teltub, GV, RCN (internet Provider) and a Linksys PAP2T-NA ATA device. I have changed routers 3 times and same problem. I temporarily discontinued GV; no different. I tried many different settings in Teltub and my adapter; same crap.

I'm posting here to let you know that this problem is not confined to OBI. Maybe it has something to do with the Linksys PAP2T-NA ATA device. Maybe Linksys is OBI's vendor for the Obi adapters and they use the PAP2T in an Obi box. I'm stumped like the rest of you. Thanks.

WilliamCavazos

Quote from: dhfobi on April 14, 2012, 09:37:54 AM
Thanks for your dissertation as it is insightful and helpful.

You are welcome. If you and your friends need dissertation assistance, do not hesitate but contact us at theessayservice.

Star255

It seems that you have been persistent in trying to find what is causing this. As a final test, you might consider signing up with a SP like voipms (or any other reliable/reputable high quality SP) on a pay as you go rate. For less than $5 for one month you will be able to know if GV is the culprit. You should be able to have an answer in the first day of use. I think there are even some SPs which provide a small credit to try them. I think that might be the only way that you will know for sure. Then you can decide what you need to do.  I hope you report your findings here if you decide to go that route.