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Intermittent call drops on Voip.ms

Started by Shplad, April 13, 2019, 11:41:17 AM

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Shplad

Hi everyone:

I used to be an IT tech. many years ago, but I'm not very familiar with VoIP technology.

I have intermittent drops on Voip.ms using my OBi202 (3.1.0 Build 5264). Voip.ms technical support insists that the problem is not related to their network. I have not been able to discern any pattern to the drops. They happen when there is someone talking or when there is silence, on both received and sent calls, etc.

For security and other reasons I won't get into, I'm not using the Obitalk.com portal, I just configured my device directly. It's been great that way, except for these drops.

- Connection: cable 15 Mb down/1 Mb up
- SIP ALG is off in my router
- Ping test results:

Ping statistics for 1.1.1.1:
   Packets: Sent = 20719, Received = 20701, Lost = 18 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
   Minimum = 5ms, Maximum = 797ms, Average = 17ms

Where do I start troubleshooting?


SteveInWA

Quote
For security and other reasons I won't get into, I'm not using the Obitalk.com portal, I just configured my device directly. It's been great that way, except for these drops.

<eyeroll>  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

Your device is years behind in firmware level.  The current level is    3.2.2 (Build: 5921EX) or higher.

Intermittent call drops are usually caused by the quality of your LAN and WAN connections.  Raw ping time is meaningless for VoIP, and basic Internet speed test websites are useless as a diagnostic tool.  15/1 ISP service is actually not even considered "broadband" any more, and it makes me wonder about the age and quality of your ISP's cable infrastructure.  VoIP is sensitive to not just speed, but latency and jitter.

Testing the ability of your equipment and network for suitability for VoIP requires a simulation of true end-to-end traffic, using one the voice CODEC used by your ITSP (G.711 in most cases).

There are a few sites that can perform this test.  The best use Visualware's BCS software to simulate actual VoIP traffic.

This site doesn't use BCS, so it is less accurate, but still worth trying:  https://www.megapath.com/speedtestplus/

This site uses BCS, which you need to download and install first, from Visualware:  https://www.ringcentral.com/support/qos.html

Below are screenshots of tests I just ran from both sites.

You also need to update the firmware on your device.  If you refuse to use the OBiTALK web portal, then download and install it manually:  http://fw.obihai.com/OBi202-3-2-2-5921EX-332148940.fw

Lavarock7

I recently found a problem with registrations dropping on my 1062. It turned out that the LAN cable from the phone to the router was a flat cable (probably with no shielding) that caused the problem.
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

Shplad

#3
Thanks for your replies.

Here are my test results. I'm not sure why certain items couldn't be tested. I will try again shortly and post back with those results.

RingCentral Summary Tab



RingCentral VoIP Tab




MegaPath Test





Does a firmware upgrade change any settings I should know about? I will make a backup of my settings just in case, but I'd still like to know before I do the update. What firmware version do you recommend for stability. I don't use any fancy features, I just need stability.


Thanks

SteveInWA

Download the version I linked.  It's been out for long enough to prove that it's stable.  You won't lose any settings, although, given that your device is sooooo far behind in firmware, I'd recommend performing a factory restore to defaults and then set it up again, to clear out any now-incompatible configuration data that might exist.

The VoIP test not being able to perform two of the tests is not a good sign, but I don't know what's causing it.  If you have the ability to physically take the device (and its phone) to some other location (work, friend, relative's house) and test it there, that might be informative.

drgeoff

Be aware that passwords are NOT stored in the backup file.  After a reset to defaults you will need to manually enter them.

Shplad

#6
Wow, this site is a pain in the behind. It keeps logging me off. And the interface is so disjointed and confusing.

Anyways, printed out and backed up to disk my config. and settings. I then upgraded the firmware and reset to defaults. So far, it's up and running, but too early to tell if I will get call drops.

For now, here are my latest line tests from RingCentral:


















Does anyone have any idea idea why it can't perform certain tests? I don't have any connectivity or latency issues that I'm aware of on this cable connection. Or do I?

SteveInWA

Take your device to some other network and test it there.

Shplad

Thanks, but that's not practical. The problem is intermittent and so I'd have to bring all my supplies with me and stay at someone else's place for a days or longer to be able to run that kind of testing.

What else can you suggest?

SteveInWA

When you restored your device to default, if you uploaded the saved configuration data mentioned in an earlier post, then perhaps you uploaded the same bad data that previously existed.

I would factory-restore the device, add it to the OBiTALK portal, and then set up voip.ms from there.  The portal has pre-built, known-good configurations for ITSPs, including voip.ms.  Do not restore your config file.

To do this, after successfully adding the device to the portal, click on the desired SPx slot, which will then take you to the SP configuration page.  Scroll down past the Google Voice banner to the bottom, click "OBiTALK compatible service providers", and then click "voip.ms" on the next page, fill in the simple form, and submit.  Wait.  Test again.  There is no legitimate reason to avoid using the portal.

If you won't test the device elsewhere, and you refuse to use the portal, then there's nothing left to advise you to do.  It appears to me that your internet service is inconsistent, based on the results of the tests you posted showing wide swings in the values.  That's why I wanted you to try it elsewhere.

Shplad

Steve:

What "bad data" do you speak of? ARe you talking about a possibly inappropriate settings for my VoIP provider, or something corrupted?

And there are good reasons for not using the OBitalk network-security. Based on how they've treated me as a customer, I have little to no faith in their concerns for security. In fact, since a hacking/breach seemingly happens about every 15 mins. lately, I think it's a great reason. Also, Obitalk will override any custom settings I've (painstakingly) chosen. And yes, the drops were happening before I added custom settings, so it's not likely my custom settings that are causing them.

SteveInWA

Quote from: Shplad on April 16, 2019, 04:50:04 PM

What "bad data" do you speak of? ARe you talking about a possibly inappropriate settings for my VoIP provider, or something corrupted?


Yes.  There's no way to guess what might be in your saved configuration, nor is there any valid reason to restore it.  It takes 5 minutes to configure a ITSP from scratch.

Quote
And there are good reasons for not using the OBitalk network-security. Based on how they've treated me as a customer, I have little to no faith in their concerns for security. In fact, since a hacking/breach seemingly happens about every 15 mins. lately, I think it's a great reason. Also, Obitalk will override any custom settings I've (painstakingly) chosen. And yes, the drops were happening before I added custom settings, so it's not likely my custom settings that are causing them.

Emotion-based decisions are impairing your ability to solve the problem.  I'm not going to provide any further assistance unless you perform the recommended actions.  You're wasting more time experimenting and debating this than the very short time it would take to set up the device as I described.

Shplad

I take it I can override any OBitalk settings with my own and at no point will it override them?

Maybe it takes you a minute or two to configure an OBi. IT could take me over an hour, but I won't go into the reasons why.

SteveInWA

Quote from: Shplad on April 16, 2019, 05:05:09 PM
I take it I can override any OBitalk settings with my own and at no point will it override them?

No.  Local web GUI modifications will be overwritten by the portal.  Look:  think of this as a test.  If it works, it proves that there was something wrong with your configuration.  Then you know.  If calls still drop, then you know the problem is external to the OBi, and very likely with your sub-standard ISP connection.

Speaking of cable Internet service:  if you have an old cable modem, it is possible that it is the source of the problem.  There were a lot of modems out in the wild some years ago that just sucked, and were prone to failure.  If you are renting your cable modem from your ISP, I'd tell them that it's failing and you want a new one, of the current generation.  This is especially true if your modem doesn't support DOCSIS 3.0.

Shplad

#14
Okay, it's several hours later. I called my ISP. They put me through a whole bunch of nonsense for about 2 hours, and then relinquished all responsibility for anything whatsoever. I forwarded the RingCentral BCS test results above, but they "didn't see any problem". I then forwarded my next test results which were done at their insistence without the router, and the results were worse. See attached.



Here is my latest test, without the router:













Would a historical ping test over days/weeks be a worthwhile thing to do? Of course, I don't know for sure how updating my OBi firmware will change things yet. I'd wait at least a few days before making more changes.


As I said earlier, the problem was happening before I did any custom configuration. However, that being said, I do like the idea of testing it with OBi's portal and then if that works, comparing that with my custom settings and testing those later. Mostly my custom settings were recommended to me by Voip.ms, which is why I trust them to be decent. Anyways, I'd be willing to make those changes you mentioned, but I want to wait to do that because I've already cleared settings once and updated firmware, so I'd like to see how those variables play out first.

My cablemodem is a Thomson/Technicolor DCM476. My ISP tells me it's an extremely reliable modem and has good build quality. Do you agree or disagree?


Shplad



Is anybody still following? Where did everybody go?

Would someone please comment on my last post and try to answer some of the questions?

Shplad

Upadte: I updated the BOi firmware a while back to the version recommended in this thread. I also switched to OBitalk's config. No difference. I'm still getting hangups.

Oh, and I did reset the OBi to hardware defaults.

What should I try next (is anyone listening)?

Lavarock7

I have not followed this for content, but maybe one of these suggestion will help.

If you have websites dropping, it is not the Obi (unless you have a model with router in it and are using it).

Does you router log show anything. There are some sites that offer long term pings to see if you have connection problems.

My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

Shplad

I don't have any problems browsing the web or streaming video content.

As for long-term pings, does that even prove anything? I mean, the server could still be up but drop the call, no?

Shplad

#19
For anyone still following, at least for now, I appear to have resolved the problems. On my own, I thought to port forward the VoIP ports in use at my VoIP carrier. So far, after that, I have not had any dropped calls.

Fingers crossed!