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Can't make or receive calls using GVoice since this morning

Started by ubergoober, May 05, 2018, 02:11:37 PM

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SteveInWA

DNS service supplied by ISPs is notorious for either not getting promptly updated, or redirecting bad DNS queries to some advertisement or other bogus destination.

Use a DNS other than your ISP's DNS.

These should be promptly updated, and they are spam/malware free:

Google's DNS:  8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
Quad9 DNS: 9.9.9.9 (this DNS is run by a consortium of Internet security companies, including IBM, and hosted by IBM).

wsalopek

#161
EDIT...

I figured it out...I had changed the firewall security settings on my router from "low" to "medium" a few days ago...AND FORGOT!  Yeesh.  Sorry about that.

But OK...I read the Obitalk FAQ about which ports to have open...it's Greek to me (and I only know a little Greek)...could someone point me to a page that helps explain how to open ports?

I have a Motorola SBG-6782-AC if that helps at all, and here is a screenshot of my "port forwarding" page on the router:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FCge1nVXMA7NbvhR9

Steve,

I'm having this same issue...except that my problem just cropped up in the last few days...early December 2018...is it possible that your explantion of the issues from May 2018 would just now be affecting me in December?  Or would the problem most likely be something else?

Again, my problem is when I try to make an outbound call, I get the message:

The number you dialed...XXXXXXX...has not received a response from the service provider.

Also, the Obi200 falls offline very quickly...within minutes of bootup, and/or immediately after I try to make a call....which may or not be related.

Thanks...



Quote from: SteveInWA on May 05, 2018, 04:32:31 PM
Google has shut down its old "Google Chat/Talk" (XMPP) service, so OBiTALK devices will no longer work with that old method of connecting to Google Voice.

Polycom has pushed out updates to current model OBi devices to support the new Google Voiced platform.  If you have done anything to disable OBiTALK provisioning or other attempts to block communications with the OBiTALK network, your device will fail.

3.2.2 (Build: 5898EX) is the current version, as of July 22nd, of the 200/202 firmware that supports Google Voice.  Some units may have a newer firmware build number.

If you still see "Google Chat" on the "Legacy" settings page of Google Voice, then your device has not been properly provisioned using the new firmware.  After the conversion, there is no longer a "Chat" entry.  Instead, you'll see an "OBiTALK device" entry for each device you have authenticated to your Google account(s).

A few possible issues:  it could be that you are looking at two different Google accounts, or you have blocked/disabled remote provisioning and didn't let the system take care of upgrading your device, or that you have made configuration modifications that are incompatible with the new platform, or that your device was partially upgraded, but it is now in some sort of limbo state.

Since there are multiple factors involved, and we do not have a symptom/fix knowledge base, I recommend completely clearing everything out and starting over.

Note:  do not make any changes from the device's own, local web configuration page.  Do everything from the OBiTALK portal.



  • Go to your OBiTALK dashboard, https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/obhdev. Click the OBiTALK device you want to use.  On the next page, click the blue "Delete Device" icon to remove it completely off of the dashboard.  Wait a few minutes while it resets and removes the device, and the LEDs have stopped blinking (except for the middle LED flickering).
  • Then, unplug the Ethernet and power cables from the device, leaving just the phone cable.  Plug back in only the power cable, and wait for it to boot up.
  • Pick up the phone and key in ***8 then 1 to confirm restore to factory defaults.  Wait for it to go through the blinking lights thing for several minutes.
  • On your browser, go here:  https://myaccount.google.com/.  In the "Apps with account access section", click the "MANAGE APPS" link, and then delete any telephony apps that have permission to use your account, including Simonics GVGW and/or Asterisk.
  • Now, plug in the Ethernet cable and go to the OBiTALK dashboard, and click the button to add a device.  Follow the instructions to press **5 xxxx to add your device.
  • After the device is successfully added back, follow the instructions to add Google Voice again.
  • When you get to the step where it will ask your permission to access your Google account, look closely at the gmail address it displays.  This address must be the same one that displays your Google Voice phone number, here:  https://voice.google.com/settings, and you must see "Google Voice number" at the top of the Google Voice settings page, with your inbound Google Voice number next to it.  If you not see a Google Voice number, then you are either looking at the wrong Google account, or you don't have a number.


SteveInWA


SailingMagnus

I hopped on this thread back in May 2018 reporting the same problems when GV switched from XMPP to SIP.   At that time I tried all the suggested steps and still could not get RTP to flow reliably and occasionally would get the number your trying to call has not registered with SP message.  I switched my Wife's phone to Callcentric and she has had flawless service since.  I stayed on my old GV number and left the country till September.   When I was home in September I still had RTP problems so I reset the OBI202 and problem still there, tried moving my GV number to a new account and later back, problem still there.   Here we are in 2019 and I have not seen any new firmware releases from Polycomm and it seems like this GV problem is still present for some, so I am wondering what are the latest recommendations to resolve?   I don't have Google Chat settings in the legacy settings of GV configuration.

My current situation: Reboot my Cisco E4200 router and then I can make phone calls on my GV # on SP1 and RTP flows fine.   In general I can make calls for about 10 minutes before RTP stops flowing.  I have made a call last for an hour after a reboot, but then the very next call I make no audio.   Something blocks RTP after about 10 minutes but yet calls can be made outbound with no audio and I receive calls inbound with no audio.   Mean while my wife's Callcentric # on SP2 works fine.   My OBI202 is configured to be in my router's DMZ so it's outside the firewall.  My service provider has my cable modem in bridged mode so nothing should be blocked.  SIP ALG is not enabled on my router.

I'd like to get my GV working consistently again any suggestions on how to proceed?   Hate to buy another router (thinking that might be the problem) as this one has worked fine for GV XMPP for 2 years and Vonage for 8 years  before that.

spinedoc777

Quote from: SteveInWA on May 05, 2018, 04:32:31 PM
Google has shut down its old "Google Chat/Talk" (XMPP) service, so OBiTALK devices will no longer work with that old method of connecting to Google Voice.

Polycom has pushed out updates to current model OBi devices to support the new Google Voiced platform.  If you have done anything to disable OBiTALK provisioning or other attempts to block communications with the OBiTALK network, your device will fail.

3.2.2 (Build: 5921EX) is the current version, as of December 22nd, of the 200/202 firmware that supports Google Voice.  Some units may have a newer firmware build number.

If you still see "Google Chat" on the "Legacy" settings page of Google Voice, then your device has not been properly provisioned using the new firmware.  After the conversion, there is no longer a "Chat" entry.  Instead, you'll see an "OBiTALK device" entry for each device you have authenticated to your Google account(s).

A few possible issues:  it could be that you are looking at two different Google accounts, or you have blocked/disabled remote provisioning and didn't let the system take care of upgrading your device, or that you have made configuration modifications that are incompatible with the new platform, or that your device was partially upgraded, but it is now in some sort of limbo state.

Since there are multiple factors involved, and we do not have a symptom/fix knowledge base, I recommend completely clearing everything out and starting over.

Note:  do not make any changes from the device's own, local web configuration page.  Do everything from the OBiTALK portal.



  • Go to your OBiTALK dashboard, https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/obhdev. Click the OBiTALK device you want to use.  On the next page, click the blue "Delete Device" icon to remove it completely off of the dashboard.  Wait a few minutes while it resets and removes the device, and the LEDs have stopped blinking (except for the middle LED flickering).
  • Then, unplug the Ethernet and power cables from the device, leaving just the phone cable.  Plug back in only the power cable, and wait for it to boot up.
  • Pick up the phone and key in ***8 then 1 to confirm restore to factory defaults.  Wait for it to go through the blinking lights thing for several minutes.
  • On your browser, go here:  https://myaccount.google.com/.  In the "Apps with account access section", click the "MANAGE APPS" link, and then delete any telephony apps that have permission to use your account, including Simonics GVGW and/or Asterisk.
  • Now, plug in the Ethernet cable and go to the OBiTALK dashboard, and click the button to add a device.  Follow the instructions to press **5 xxxx to add your device.
  • After the device is successfully added back, follow the instructions to add Google Voice again.
  • When you get to the step where it will ask your permission to access your Google account, look closely at the gmail address it displays.  This address must be the same one that displays your Google Voice phone number, here:  https://voice.google.com/settings, and you must see "Google Voice number" at the top of the Google Voice settings page, with your inbound Google Voice number next to it.  If you not see a Google Voice number, then you are either looking at the wrong Google account, or you don't have a number.



Just wanted to say thank you, as I was pulling my hair out but this eventually worked.  I was getting the backing off error and nothing worked.  My 202 refused to update to the newest firmware, but this solution worked perfectly.  Of course Obi customer service was useless, I wonder if they will see a class action lawsuit or some kind of fraud issues on how they are handling customer service.  I paid the $10 but they never ever reply to my emails for tech support and I see others complain about not getting responses as well.

Anyway thanks again!!

SteveInWA

Quote from: SailingMagnus on January 02, 2019, 08:02:10 AM
I hopped on this thread back in May 2018 reporting the same problems when GV switched from XMPP to SIP.   At that time I tried all the suggested steps and still could not get RTP to flow reliably and occasionally would get the number your trying to call has not registered with SP message.  I switched my Wife's phone to Callcentric and she has had flawless service since.  I stayed on my old GV number and left the country till September.   When I was home in September I still had RTP problems so I reset the OBI202 and problem still there, tried moving my GV number to a new account and later back, problem still there.   Here we are in 2019 and I have not seen any new firmware releases from Polycomm and it seems like this GV problem is still present for some, so I am wondering what are the latest recommendations to resolve?   I don't have Google Chat settings in the legacy settings of GV configuration.

My current situation: Reboot my Cisco E4200 router and then I can make phone calls on my GV # on SP1 and RTP flows fine.   In general I can make calls for about 10 minutes before RTP stops flowing.  I have made a call last for an hour after a reboot, but then the very next call I make no audio.   Something blocks RTP after about 10 minutes but yet calls can be made outbound with no audio and I receive calls inbound with no audio.   Mean while my wife's Callcentric # on SP2 works fine.   My OBI202 is configured to be in my router's DMZ so it's outside the firewall.  My service provider has my cable modem in bridged mode so nothing should be blocked.  SIP ALG is not enabled on my router.

I'd like to get my GV working consistently again any suggestions on how to proceed?   Hate to buy another router (thinking that might be the problem) as this one has worked fine for GV XMPP for 2 years and Vonage for 8 years  before that.

Google Voice uses SRTP.  Whatever you experienced during the XMPP days is irrelevant; the entire Google Voice infrastructure has been replaced.  You don't need to use the DMZ.  You have some non-OBi problem with your home network.

See today's post below your original post, and follow my instructions to the letter.

SailingMagnus

To close out my problem and hopefully help someone else I did finally resolve my problem last month and SteveInWA was spot on "it was something else in my network".  My Obi202 would not consistently pass GV RTP streams but Callcentric on the same adapter worked fine.   I had my Obi202 directly connected to my ISP's cable modem eliminating my WiFi router and still had the same problems. 

To eliminate my network connection as the source of the problem, I took my Obi202 to two other homes in the neighborhood who use different ISP's and GV worked flawlessly for up to 2 hours.   Then trying on my next door neighbors house with the same ISP (TW/Brighthouse/Spectrum) as me, same result worked flawless.   Had my ISP come out a few days later to replace their Motorola SURFboard SBG6580 cable modem and boom problem solved.  When I asked the tech why that cable modem would be blocking RTP occasionally for GV but not callcentric, he said he did not know why but that it was older technology and that they no longer use those SBG's. 

I'm 3+ weeks on my GV number no problem, a little over a week for my wife's number who is reporting screeching white noise several times daily on inbound calls.  We are monitoring to determine a common theme, so far always same inbound caller that problem occurs.

Thanks to SteveInWA and DrGeoff you guys are doing a thankless job of answering tons of idiot and not so idiot questions trying to help us all.....

SteveInWA

Wow, that was strange.  I'm glad you finally found the source of the problem.  Thanks for circling back.

RFC3261

Quote from: SailingMagnus on February 28, 2019, 12:16:44 PM
When I asked the tech why that cable modem would be blocking RTP occasionally for GV but not callcentric, he said he did not know why but that it was older technology and that they no longer use those SBG's. 
Wow, SBG6580 brings up (bad) memories.  It has been a long long time since I dealt with a SBG6580, but they had some very interesting (i.e. complex and confusing) configuration and firewall settings.  And some releases of the firmware were even less helpful than others.

And while I do understand the initial appeal to some, the general agreement from experts is that friends don't let friends purchase or use combo devices (you end up with one or more compromises).

SteveInWA

Quote from: RFC3261 on March 03, 2019, 11:43:39 AM
And while I do understand the initial appeal to some, the general agreement from experts is that friends don't let friends purchase or use combo devices (you end up with one or more compromises).

The problem is, the large majority of consumers are not "experts", nor do all "experts" actually know what they're talking about ("male answer syndrome"), present company excluded  ;).

In this particular case, the OP is simply using a very old (by tech standards) product, which ought to have been replaced already. If a consumer is renting their cable gateway, they can simply call the cable company, tell them that it's broken, and ask for a replacement, which should be a current model device.

I'm not arguing that a combo device becomes problematic if only one of its functions breaks or becomes outdated, but that, in the real world, most people's brains start hearing "yada yada yada blah blah blah" when we techies start suggesting a complex (to them) solution of two or three different devices, each with its own configurations to understand, cabling that adds more points of failure, etc.  I also acknowledge that cable ISP customers may save money by buying their own equipment, as long as they understand that it will become obsolete in a few years.

I don't know about other cable ISPs, but Comcast has been very good about maintaining a list of the various DOCSIS 3.0 products they permit on their network, and they are now leasing a mesh router solution.  Their non-mesh xFi gateway is a fine product, with excellent WiFi performance, and it is required for their own VoIP service.  I'm not a Comcast customer, but several of my neighbors are, and I was surprised at how well their gateways work in two-story houses, and they work just fine with OBi devices.

See:  https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/broadband-gateways-userguides

LTN1

An input for the SBG6580--I have been using it for the past 6 years with Comcast. Originally had issues with QOS (WMM) issues of signal dropping but once I turned off power save support, there were no issues with my SBG6580 (not that this information is related to the previous answers). The point is that I have never had any issues with my OBi devices from day one--after 4+ years of using the OBi with my SBG6580 and Comcast. I'm surprised my SBG6580 has lasted this long.

SteveInWA

Quote from: LTN1 on March 03, 2019, 09:40:11 PM
An input for the SBG6580--I have been using it for the past 6 years with Comcast. Originally had issues with QOS (WMM) issues of signal dropping but once I turned off power save support, there were no issues with my SBG6580 (not that this information is related to the previous answers). The point is that I have never had any issues with my OBi devices from day one--after 4+ years of using the OBi with my SBG6580 and Comcast. I'm surprised my SBG6580 has lasted this long.

Did you buy the gateway, or are you renting it?  It's pretty outdated, especially its built-in WiFi, which only supports 802.11n at 300Mbps.

See:  https://www.arris.com/globalassets/surfboard-new/allassets/arris-comparison-chart-wi-fi.pdf

It may be time to consider an upgrade.

LTN1

I bought it, Steve--for $80 six years ago--so I won't have to pay a monthly rental fee to Comcast. I don't have a need to upgrade yet as my internet speed plan is only 150 Mbps down and 6 Mbps up.

VegasTech

#173
Quote from: SteveInWA on July 08, 2018, 01:17:53 PMAs RFC3261 has pointed out, the Mobley was not designed for your use case.  Casual web browsing or similar activity should work, but anything that requires a low-latency, low-jitter, stable connection (as does VoIP) won't work reliably or at all.  You would need a strong, reliable 4G connection for stable VoIP use.

Aside from that, it was also mentioned that AT&T stopped selling these things, after people started using them as their overall ISP, and it's likely that they may block or throttle VoIP, but it's just not worth any further examination.

It's been over a year since I posted about the Obihai device dropping Google Voice connection, but I may have some useful information for the community.

For the past year I've been forwarding Google Voice calls to a cell phone with no data service.  That was inexpensive and worked satisfactorily, and Internet from the AT&T Mobley device was otherwise pretty good.  Then a month or so back the Mobley started getting flaky, requiring reboots a few times a day.

I posted my Mobley problems in an AT&T support forum and was advised that the Mobley wasn't substantial enough for 24/7 use.  The Explore AC815s device was suggested as an alternative.  I've known that the Explore device existed for some time now, but it was priced at over $200.  I wasn't ready to invest $200 into a device that I saw little chance of solving my Obihai problem.  But now used models have reached eBay and I was able to get one for $60, delivered.

The Explore AC815s has cured both the stability problem, and also the Obihai/Google Voice problem.  I think we can chalk this one up to a modem problem.

I have observed this kind of problem before.  At one time I tried Cox for Internet and the Obihai/Google Voice couldn't stay connected, so I immediately switched back to DSL service from my phoneco.  For Cox I was using a "Motorola Surfboard" cable modem.  I'm now thinking that the problem could have been with the modem, not with Cox.  

ForumJohn

Just had my service go out (no inbound or outbound calls) yesterday.  Glad I found the thread about deleting device and adding it back.  I have no idea why it suddenly changed this week when this advice was posted a long time ago.

blueman2

Well, this issue just popped up on my parent's device in Savannah.  Tried everything, but no joy.  Then changed the DNS1 and DNS2 server to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 that that solved it!

Bummer

Steve,

Had same problem today 10 October 2019 with OBI 200.

Logged in to OBI DASHBOARD.  Confirmed green connected button was green.  That's all that was required to fix the problem!  Have firmware 3.2.2.5898 thru phone reset ***option 1.
Thanks.


MarcD

Quote from: SteveInWA on May 05, 2018, 04:32:31 PM
Google has shut down its old "Google Chat/Talk" (XMPP) service, so OBiTALK devices will no longer work with that old method of connecting to Google Voice.

Polycom has pushed out updates to current model OBi devices to support the new Google Voice SIP-based platform.  If you have done anything to disable OBiTALK provisioning or other attempts to block communications with the OBiTALK network, your device will fail.

3.2.2 (Build: 5921EX) is the current version, as of December 22nd, of the 200/202 firmware that supports Google Voice.  Some units may have a newer firmware build number.

A few possible issues:  it could be that you are looking at two different Google accounts, or you have blocked/disabled remote provisioning and didn't let the system take care of upgrading your device, or that you have made configuration modifications that are incompatible with the new platform, or that your device was partially upgraded, but it is now in some sort of limbo state.

Since there are multiple factors involved, and we do not have a symptom/fix knowledge base, I recommend completely clearing everything out and starting over.

Note:  do not make any changes from the device's own, local web configuration page.  Do everything from the OBiTALK portal.



  • Go to your OBiTALK dashboard, https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/pg/obhdev. Click the OBiTALK device you want to use.  On the next page, click the blue "Delete Device" icon to remove it completely off of the dashboard.  Wait a few minutes while it resets and removes the device, and the LEDs have stopped blinking (except for the middle LED flickering).
  • Then, unplug the Ethernet and power cables from the device, leaving just the phone cable.  Plug back in only the power cable, and wait for it to boot up.
  • Pick up the phone and key in ***8 then 1 to confirm restore to factory defaults.  Wait for it to go through the blinking lights thing for several minutes.
  • On your browser, go here:  https://myaccount.google.com/security.  In the "Third-party apps with account access" section, click the "Manage third party-access" link, and then delete all telephony apps that have permission to use your account, including OBiTALK, Simonics GVGW and/or Asterisk.
  • Now, plug in the Ethernet cable and go to the OBiTALK dashboard, and click the button to add a device.  Follow the instructions to press **5 xxxx to add your device.
  • After the device is successfully added back, follow the instructions to add Google Voice again.
  • When you get to the step where it will ask your permission to access your Google account, look closely at the Gmail address it displays.  This Gmail address must be the same one that displays your Google Voice phone number, here:  https://voice.google.com/settings, and you must see "Google Voice number" at the top of the Google Voice settings page, with your inbound Google Voice number next to it.  If you not see a Google Voice number, then you are either looking at the wrong Google account, or you don't have a number.


I followed this Howto with success !
My obi200 got his upgrade from 3.2.1 (Build: 5757EX) to 3.2.2 (Build: 5921EX).  yeah !!!

Then I first set up voip.ms on SP1 followed by Google voice on SP2.
*97 for voip.ms worked out of the box.
**2 to use Google Voice either.

Thank
-MarcD

ManishObiForum


I have had an ObiTalk 200 for over a year and a half that worked perfectly until about a week ago. Since then, I have not been able to make International calls via Google Voice. The message I get (only when making Int'l calls is "could not complete your call".

FYI:

Domestic calls via Obi work fine (but international calls do not)
I'm able to receive calls (domestic and international)
I'm able to make Int'l calls via Google Voice on my computer and on my mobile phone (ie., there is no issue with Google voice credit)

I followed your steps to delete the Obi device from the Obi logged-in page, reset it, remove the 3rd part apps from Google Voice, and finally added the Obi 200 back as a fresh device.

I still get "could not complete your call" just for Int'l calls - any thoughts/advice?

Thanks again