Unable to dial on land line when Internet connectivity was down
bheiser:
Hi OBi users ... I've been using my OBi 110 for a few weeks, and have been generally happy with it. I have it connected to the Internet via my cable provider, and also have a landline connected to the line port.
Today I had a situation where I lost connectivity to the Internet due to a router/cablemodem issue. During this outage, I was unable to dial out on the landline using **8nnnnnnn as I normally can. Dialing **8 was very slow to break the dialtone, and the call never went through.
I guess I should have tested an inbound call, too, but didn't think of that at the time.
Is this a known issue, or is there a configuration option I can set to ensure I can always maintain landline voice connectivity regardless of the status of my Internet connection? Sure, I can unplug the phone line from the OBi and connect directly to the telephone in these situations, but that doesn't seem like an optimal solution :).
Thanks!
RonR:
I don't experience that here. With the Ethernet cable unplugged and the power LED blinking to indicate a loss of Internet connectivity, I can still dial **8 + number with nothing abnormal noted and the call goes out to the PSTN line.
If you remove power from the OBi, the PHONE Port will be directly connected to the LINE Port without making any wiring changes.
Stewart:
The OBi resets if it loses and regains its local network connection. In your case, this could happen if your cable modem is also a router (and the OBi is directly connected to it), or if your router is somehow rebooting in response to lost Internet connectivity. What make/model modem do you have? Separate router, if any?
If you can't avoid the trouble, it may be easier to regain access to the phone line, by removing power to the OBi. There is a relay that automatically connects the PHONE and LINE ports when power fails.
To simulate the problem for troubleshooting purposes, try disconnecting the coaxial cable from your modem.
bheiser:
Thank you both for your quick responses. I actually have the Obi device connected to a dumb switch, which then connects to an Asus RT-N16 (acting as a router) running Tomato firmware. The RT-N16 connects to the cable modem.
BTW, as one quick test, I just did the following:
- dialed **8<cellphone-number>
- answered the cell phone and let it sit
- unplugged the power from the Obi
- the call dropped
Is there a configuration parameter that controls the relay to maintain the phone/line port connection when power fails?
I did a second test which proved more promising:
- dialed **8<cellphone-number>
- answered the cell phone & let it sit
- unplugged the network uplink from the router (thereby severing Internet connectivity)
- the voice call remained active
- reconnected the network cable, restoring normal connectivity (and the call stayed active).
and another test:
- unplugged network uplink from router
- dialed **8<cellphone-number>
- this call went thru just fine
The symptoms I encountered earlier may well have been a corner case because it turned out both the cable modem AND the router had to be rebooted to regain Internet connectivity, the first time I've hit that particular scenario in this configuration.
Thanks again!
RonR:
Quote from: bheiser on January 04, 2012, 08:55:09 pm
BTW, as one quick test, I just did the following:
- dialed **8<cellphone-number>
- answered the cell phone and let it sit
- unplugged the power from the Obi
- the call dropped
Is there a configuration parameter that controls the relay to maintain the phone/line port connection when power fails?
It doesn't work that way. The relay is normally engaged when the OBi is powered up, connecting the PHONE Port and LINE Port jacks to the appropriate interfaces in the OBi. When the OBi loses power, the relay de-energizes, disconnecting the OBi and making a direct connection between the PHONE Port and the LINE Port jacks. There's probably enough break time in the changeover that the CO sees a hangup.
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