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Setup Issues

Started by meadowlark55, April 16, 2018, 05:36:20 PM

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meadowlark55

My device will not add to my dashboard on the OBiTalk website in my account.

The power light is solid green.
The Ethernet light goes from solid green for a second, then to flickering for the next second, so it is neither a constant solid or a constant flickering.
The phone light constantly flashes each second.

I go to register my phone on the OBiTalk website. There is no dial tone on my connected phone. I dial **5 7090 as directed and wait for the system to count down. By the end of all that, the phone is - unsurprisingly since I never had a dial tone - still dead.

The system then asks if I can dial 9-222-222-222. There's still no dial tone, so I can't, but I go through the motions anyway just in case this system doesn't require a dial tone. Because that was unsuccessful, the system has me check to see if the router's firewall is blocking traffic. I am researching about how to do that. My router is a TP-link Archer C8. I cannot immediately see a way to check the firewall settings. I have downloaded and installed the Port Forward Network Utilities File, but I haven't figured out how to make use of that yet, particularly for the purpose of modifying the firewall settings. I have gone to http://tplinkwifi.net, where I receive the following error message that confuses me, "Oops! It looks like you aren't connected to your TP-Link network. Please check your network connection and try again." That's confusing because I am online. I am receiving emails and this website is live. There is an ethernet connecting my modem and the TP-Link Archer C8.

Help would be greatly appreciated. :)

SteveInWA

I don't know about your router's potential problem, but I can tell you that the advice from Obihai regarding firewalls and ports is unnecessary.

If the phone LED is blinking on and off, it means that the OBi device detects that your phone is off-hook.  You either have a defective telephone or telephone cord, or your OBi is defective.  Which model is it?  Where did you buy it?

meadowlark55

Thanks for your quick response, Steve, I bought it from Amazon. My landline phone worked fine until I hooked it up to the OBi200.

meadowlark55

A curious thing is that because I thought it might be a firewall issue, I started to experiment with some of the web-based router settings even though I'm a complete novice with this stuff and I didn't know much what I was doing. I changed the setting shown below from the default Deny to Allow. When I did that, it didn't fix the flashing phone light, but I did get a dial signal at one point. Changing that setting knocked me off the internet, but all the same there was a small window of time that I got a dial tone and was able to initiate a call out. I think I got a dead-end recording, if I remember correctly, since I was kicked off the internet, I presume. It's hard for me to remember for certain where that led, but in the end it didn't get me to anything actually useful other than the clue that it changed something.

Access Control Rule Management
Enable Internet Access Control

Default Filter Policy
o Allow the packets specified by any enabled access control policy to pass through the Router
o Deny the packets specified by any enabled access control policy to pass through the Router

SteveInWA

#4
Forget the router settings, especially if you are a novice -- they are unnecessary at this point.

Unplug the OBi from all three cables:  power, Ethernet and phone.  Turn the OBi upside-down on a flat surface.  Straighten a paper clip.  Find the small dimple with a hole in it, on the now-facing-up bottom of the device.  This the reset switch.  Gently insert the wire and depress the switch until you feel a click.  Keep the switch depressed, while you use your other hand to plug in just the power cord.  Continue to hold the switch down, and wait at least 10 seconds (or more - it won't hurt).  Then release the paper clip, turn the OBi over, and watch while it restores to factory defaults, and then reboots.  When the power LED is solid green, and doesn't change back to flashing, it's done.  What is the Phone LED doing now?  Plug in the phone.  Does the LED change?  If so, what's it doing now?  If it is blinking on and off, while the phone is on-hook, then try another telephone.  If it still blinks, and you do not get a dial tone when you pick up the phone, then the OBi is defective.

meadowlark55

#5
Steve from previous post: Then release the paper clip, turn the OBi over, and watch while it restores to factory defaults, and then reboots.  When the power LED is solid green, and doesn't change back to flashing, it's done.  What is the Phone LED doing now?  

Barbara: While the power LED is still flashing, the phone LED had a short stretch of solid green, then went completely off. But the power LED flashing never stops even after 20 min. So I started the process over again thinking I might have done something wrong. How long does it usually take to factory reset and for the power LED to stabilize into a solid green? After the second try, I've waited 40 min so far and the power LED is still flashing. It may need longer, but I need to go out and get a new phone, because somehow in this process my regular phone stopped working even though it has worked perfectly until now.

Steve from previous post: Plug in the phone.  Does the LED change?  

Barbara: Haven't gotten that far because I never got a solid green on the power LED. I think I'll conclude this device is defective. Is that a fair assumption at this point?

Steve from previous post: If so, what's it doing now?  If it is blinking on and off, while the phone is on-hook, then try another telephone.  If it still blinks, and you do not get a dial tone when you pick up the phone, then the OBi is defective.

SteveInWA

Thanks for the update.  Please unplug the OBi, plug in the Ethernet and telephone cables, and then plug the power cable in again.  Let it boot up.  Does the power LED stop flashing and stay lit?

meadowlark55

Ah yes. The power LED is now solid. the Ethernet LED is solid but flickery as it always has been. The phone is solidly off, so I followed the directions to dial **and 4 numbers following, etc. The online system says it has been set up correctly, but I have not associated it with a google number yet, that I know of - unless the system picks up my google voice number on its own. Now the phone LED is finally solid. That's a joy. :-) Thanks. Now I just need to associate my present  google voice number and then I'd like to associate my landline number with this device before the month is over. Definitely progress. Thanks so much. I just made an outgoing call. I don't know how that worked without it being connected yet with google voice, but the outgoing calling definitely works. I'm happy as a clam.

SteveInWA

Ha.  I guess the "wave the rubber chicken at it" fix worked.

I dunno how you could make calls, if you haven't yet set up Google Voice.  If you need help with that, let me know.

meadowlark55

Thanks Steve.
The OBi system automatically picked up my long time google voice number and ran with it apparently. The problem is, the google voice number no longer rings on my cell phone, so I'm no longer getting calls from business clients on my cell...I only get them in the evening when I get home.

I'll be receiving my T-Mobile Sim Kit in a couple days. Then I hope to be able to port my landline number to google voice. I hope it's possible to remove my present google voice number from OBi and replace it with my current landline number once the port is complete. Am I on the right track?

drgeoff

Quote from: meadowlark55 on April 22, 2018, 10:21:55 AMThe problem is, the google voice number no longer rings on my cell phone
Is the cell phone number present as a linked number at https://voice.google.com/settings ?

meadowlark55

#11
I wouldn't say so since the google voice number that OBi200 co-opted for use is the primary google voice number. Other numbers, such as my native cell number link to it. But I'll study this page. I can't seem to find a setting there that will enable me to receive voicemails left with this number from calls to the OBi200 in my gmail like I used to.

SteveInWA

You need to understand the fundamental way Google Voice works.

You get (or already have) an inbound Google Voice phone number.  Google Voice is a telephone call forwarding service.  You then use Google Voice settings to tell it what to do when someone calls your Google Voice phone number.  You can "link" up to six 10-digit US telephone numbers to your Google Voice number.  When you link a number, and you check-mark that number in the Calls section of Settings, then Google Voice will forward calls to that number.  It sounds like you have not done that.

Google Voice can also forward calls to OBi devices.  An OBi device is a forwarding destination, just like a 10-digit telephone number.  The difference is that the calls are being forwarded to the OBi via VoIP.

meadowlark55

#13
I went ahead and unlinked that google voice number by hitting the trash icon under the Settings column where that google number is listed on the dashboard. So simple!  I'll be receiving my T-Mobile sim in the mail in a couple days to port my landline number.

meadowlark55

I mistakenly purchased a new Zoom 1570 16x4  modem that had no phone jack. Is there a device I could buy that would enable compatibility with Obi200 or will I need to return the modem? I also have a TP-Link AC1750 router, fyi. Thanks so much.

SteveInWA

Quote from: meadowlark55 on April 29, 2018, 01:35:46 PM
I mistakenly purchased a new Zoom 1570 16x4  modem that had no phone jack. Is there a device I could buy that would enable compatibility with Obi200 or will I need to return the modem? I also have a TP-Link AC1750 router, fyi. Thanks so much.

What is that?  Is it a DSL modem, or a cable modem, or what?  Why did you buy it?  What does it have to do with the rest of this discussion?  Why can't you simply use whatever internet service you have, plus your router and your OBi device?

meadowlark55

#16
I'm sorry to not be clear. To my understanding it relates to the discussion because, it's a setup issue. It's a cable modem I purchased so I could stop paying the extra $10/month for my ISP's modem rental. But I was surprised to see it had no phone jack which seems to be required to hook up with the OBI200. I assume a modem is required for general internet access as well as OBi200 use, is it not?

SteveInWA

The phone jack on cable modems is only used when the cable company supplies telephone service.  It's unrelated to using your OBi device, which plugs into an Ethernet jack on your router or switch.

meadowlark55

#18
Oh, duh. I confused the Ethernet with the phone jack.  :-\ Oh that's great. Thanks.

meadowlark55

My landline completed the port into Google Voice successfully today. I am trying to configure the Obi200 with google voice. When I go to call out on the originally landline phone number now assumed connected to Obi200, I hear a message requesting my pin. I don't remember setting up a pin with OBi200. I tried entering the pin I created when using a carrier as an intermediary while porting the landline. That pin didn't work.