Help! Line Port Status constantly showing as "Ringing"

[goldielocks]

Hello everyone!

I'm having a problem with my new OBi110-UK.

The problem is that on the "PHONE and LINE Status" screen it shows the state of my LINE port to be ringing - and it shows this constantly! When the landline is plugged directly into the phone nobody is actually ringing, I've left it plugged into the box for about half an hour now and it hasn't changed.

The phone I've got plugged into the PHONE port never actually rings though. The OBi does seem to be detecting the on hook and off hook okay for the phone, and I'm getting a dial tone when off hook.

When I try to phone it from outside nothing changes on any of the status screens, the phone still doesn't ring,  and nothing shows in the call history.

This is an OBi110-UK I ordered from Amazon UK a few days ago, and I'm having this same problem with all settings as default, and have tried everything I could find from the forums and nothing has helped... I couldn't seem to find any posts where somebody is having a similar issue.

Anyone able to help me on this?

Thanks in advance 

[mrjoe]

It is very likely a faulty Phone Cable.
Try using a new one and see what happens.

[ianobi]

Check your adaptors! Between the incoming line BT socket and the Obi line port you need  BT plug to RJ11 "crossover" adaptor. Most of them are of the crossover type, but not all. The constant ringing is a often a symptom of crossed A and B wires.

Between the Obi phone port and your telephone you need a US to UK adaptor with capacitor. The capacitor is important as most UK phones are 3-wire devices not 2-wire like most of the world. (We Brits like to be a bit eccentric!). I use Maplin part VD36P.

I have been using an OBi110 in the UK for six months now and am a very happy customer. After sorting out the connections, you may wish to to consider UK style dial plans. That's a whole new subject for future posts!

Good luck and watch out for them pesky bears 

Ian

[goldielocks]

Thanks for the info ianobi - tried another bt socket -> rj11 cable I had sitting in a drawer and it's worked - this one must be a crossover cable!

Now it's time to play

[obi-master]

Check your adaptors! Between the incoming line BT socket and the Obi line port you need  BT plug to RJ11 "crossover" adaptor. Most of them are of the crossover type, but not all. The constant ringing is a often a symptom of crossed A and B wires.

Between the Obi phone port and your telephone you need a US to UK adaptor with capacitor. The capacitor is important as most UK phones are 3-wire devices not 2-wire like most of the world. (We Brits like to be a bit eccentric!). I use Maplin part VD36P.

I have been using an OBi110 in the UK for six months now and am a very happy customer. After sorting out the connections, you may wish to to consider UK style dial plans. That's a whole new subject for future posts!

Good luck and watch out for them pesky bears 

Ian

Hi I am experiencing the same issue. The line port detects ring all the time and the attached phone keeps ringing. Can someone suggest the correct adaptor with a link that I can buy. I found three different variant in tool stations, but nots sure if anyone will be good for the job.

Single 34066 - https://www.toolstation.com/line-adaptor-t568b/p34066
Multiline Secondary 87417 - https://www.toolstation.com/line-adaptor-t568b/p87417 and
Multiline Master 38095 - https://www.toolstation.com/line-adaptor-t568b/p38095

[drgeoff]

Check your adaptors! Between the incoming line BT socket and the Obi line port you need  BT plug to RJ11 "crossover" adaptor. Most of them are of the crossover type, but not all. The constant ringing is a often a symptom of crossed A and B wires.

Between the Obi phone port and your telephone you need a US to UK adaptor with capacitor. The capacitor is important as most UK phones are 3-wire devices not 2-wire like most of the world. (We Brits like to be a bit eccentric!). I use Maplin part VD36P.

I have been using an OBi110 in the UK for six months now and am a very happy customer. After sorting out the connections, you may wish to to consider UK style dial plans. That's a whole new subject for future posts!

Good luck and watch out for them pesky bears 

Ian

Hi I am experiencing the same issue. The line port detects ring all the time and the attached phone keeps ringing. Can someone suggest the correct adaptor with a link that I can buy. I found three different variant in tool stations, but nots sure if anyone will be good for the job.

Single 34066 - https://www.toolstation.com/line-adaptor-t568b/p34066
Multiline Secondary 87417 - https://www.toolstation.com/line-adaptor-t568b/p87417 and
Multiline Master 38095 - https://www.toolstation.com/line-adaptor-t568b/p38095

Most modern phones available in the UK do not require the ringing capacitor.  Try the Toolstation single one.

If you have a spare XDSL splitter filter you can use that to convert between a BT type phone socket and an RJ11 socket into which you can plug the lead supplied with the OBi110. Note that using this does NOT remove the need for any existing filter.  Plug the second filter into the phone socket of the existing one.

[obi-master]

Check your adaptors! Between the incoming line BT socket and the Obi line port you need  BT plug to RJ11 "crossover" adaptor. Most of them are of the crossover type, but not all. The constant ringing is a often a symptom of crossed A and B wires.

Most modern phones available in the UK do not require the ringing capacitor.  Try the Toolstation single one.

If you have a spare XDSL splitter filter you can use that to convert between a BT type phone socket and an RJ11 socket into which you can plug the lead supplied with the OBi110. Note that using this does NOT remove the need for any existing filter.  Plug the second filter into the phone socket of the existing one.

Thanks for your response, i bought one from ebay with capacitor but you are right my phone doesn't need ringing capacitor.

My issue is that the OBI110 works fine at home for months. But as soon as I move it to my business premises, it will work fine for a day or two or even a week. But then one day it will start ringing on PSTN and then will keep ringing intermittently (sometime one after other).

So I took the suggestion from Ian above and swapped the A and B port on the BT socket and now while it does not do false ring on PSTN as frequently as it used to do ( max 2 to 3 times a day) but now my called id doesn't work at all. So i think i will need to swap A and B again so the called id works.

Is there any parameters in OBI that I can try so that it doesn't detect false ring. There is a phone connected directly to the PSTN line (in parallel to OBI) and no false ring is detected on this phone, so somehow OBI detects ring that is not there

[drgeoff]

Sounds like your business line may have a fault. Is it a DEL (Direct Exchange Line) or a PBX extension?

There are several settings for Ring Detection at the bottom of the Physical Interfaces, Line Port page.

[obi-master]

Sounds like your business line may have a fault. Is it a DEL (Direct Exchange Line) or a PBX extension?

There are several settings for Ring Detection at the bottom of the Physical Interfaces, Line Port page.

Thanks for a super quick response. The question is why the connected phone doesn't detect any false ring and the OBI110 does sometimes. What settings do I play with on OBI110 to ensure that this false ring is not detected by OBI. In other words OBI behave much same like a normal phone when detecting ring on OBI line port

[obi-master]

So I need some further investigation

1) First I wanted to make sure the A and B port of B Socket is correct, so I opened it. Solid Orange was connected to Port A and Solid Blue was connected to Port B ( note I had earlier swapped it and after the swap the constant ringing was kind of stopped - point made by Ian that constant ringing is a sign of Port A and B reversed). Just to ensure that the Port A and B are correctly connected I used the multiple meter and tested the DC voltage between A and B . I connected A to Black wire of multi meter and B to red wire and the voltage was measured to -53.2. So meaning the port A is 0V and Port B is -53.2V. According to various forum this is the correct BT line connection for Port A and B. - So all good here.

2) I also tested the BT to RJ11 cable between the BT telephone socket and OBI line port and I can confirm its a 2 pin cross over cable. i.e. pin 2 of BT socket connected to pin 3 of RJ11 and pin5 of BT connected to pin 4 of RJ11.

3) Now my caller id is not working anymore and It was definitely working before when this phone was constantly ringing and I don't think i have changed any settings on OBI apart from swapping the A and B wire (which fixed the constant ringing issue and also the voltage suggest A and B are now correctly connected) Does the caller id has any impact on the order in whoch A and B connected or what settings shall I try to get the caller if working

My Current Caller ID configs are (taken from OBI110 UK XML settings)
PHONE Port -> Port Settings -> CallerIDMethod = FSK (V.23)
PHONE Port -> Port Settings -> CallerIDTrigger = After Polarity Reversal
PHONE Port -> Port Settings -> Calling Features = checked
Line Port -> Line Port -> RingDelay = 400
Line Port -> Port Settings -> CallerIDDetectMethod = FSK (V.23)



Note-1: Pin 2 of the BT socket is the 2nd pin when you hold the connector with the connector at the top and wire at the bottom and you read the pins from right to left on the metal connector side - see in this photo https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leadsdirect.co.uk%2Ftechnical-library%2Fpinouts-wiring-diagrams%2Ftelecoms-wiring%2F&psig=AOvVaw2nfs0NHBI642oODeW3PwLr&ust=1625053177875000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAoQjRxqFwoTCLDv9Y7hvPECFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Note-2: Similarly pin 3 of the RJ11 is the 3rd pin when you see the connector from the front and the locking notch is down and you read the pins from left to right - see in this photo https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Felectronics.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F18009%2Fhow-do-i-do-the-6-pin-rj11-to-rs232-female-serial-adapter-wiring&psig=AOvVaw1uPAk3QxPEft_rbWw7K8mp&ust=1625053215819000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAoQjRxqFwoTCMCE2Z7hvPECFQAAAAAdAAAAABAa

[drgeoff]

1. Not clear which of these is the CallerID problem:

- the OBi110 is not getting the CallerID from the line.  Check by looking in the OBi's Call History.  (Local GUI only.)

- the OBi is getting the CallerID but not sending it properly or at all to the phone.

- the OBi is sending correct CallerID to the phone but the phone is not showing it.

2.  You can try increasing the RingFrequencyMin and/or decreasing the RingFrequencyMax.  You can increase the RingThreshold.

3.  I'm still somewhat suspicious that your line has an issue but that is not simple to diagnose. :-(  CallerID should not be be sensitive to line polarity and, in spite of what the normally reliable Ianobi wrote, should a reversed line should not cause false ringing.

4.  You didn't answer my DEL question.  And is it just a phone line or does it also have xDSL on it?

[obi-master]

1. Not clear which of these is the CallerID problem:
- the OBi110 is not getting the CallerID from the line.  Check by looking in the OBi's Call History.  (Local GUI only.)
- the OBi is getting the CallerID but not sending it properly or at all to the phone.
- the OBi is sending correct CallerID to the phone but the phone is not showing it.

Just called Plusnet business and guess what, the caller id was switched off. I wasn't aware there was a feature to switch off called ID. Plusnet had no answer as to how it was switched off. They said it will be on 24 hours will test tomorrow and report back.

3.  I'm still somewhat suspicious that your line has an issue but that is not simple to diagnose. :-(  CallerID should not be be sensitive to line polarity and, in spite of what the normally reliable Ianobi wrote, should a reversed line should not cause false ringing.

I agree something is weird with the line there. OBI110 works perfectly at home but when connect to the the business premises's phone line it behaves intermittently. Yes as I reported above the caller ID issue was related to being turned off at the exchange - so yes you are correct polarity reversal does not cause called id issue. In regards to the connection between polarity reversal and constant ringing, before the A and B port were incorrectly connected, I used to get this false ring all the time, now it is zero on most days two or three times on some days. So even if the polarity reversal does not imapct ringing somehow it is looking better now.

4.  You didn't answer my DEL question.  And is it just a phone line or does it also have xDSL on it?

I just called Plusnet technical support and the lady said it was a coper wire coming into the premises. So she said no PBX or DEL. Not sure how much I can trust her. All I know is that the business premises is on the ground floor of a block of flats (more than 15 flats there) . I will call the landlord to find out but I doubt even if he would know anything about this.

Many thanks for your response

[obi-master]

Just tested and Yes caller id is working now and hoping that this false ring don't happen more than once or twice a day

[jainpankaj]

Okay, I did a little bit of thinking and now I am convinced that the issues with my OBI110 are resolved . To summarise, so others facing the same issue can be benefited.

1) To start with, I only had one issue - The OBI would work fine for few days and then suddenly the it will send false rings to the phone. When it used to start happening, it would be almost nonstop until you completely unplug the OBI.

2) I stumbled across this thread and found the suggest to reverse the polarity of the BT socket. So I swapped wire on the port A of the BT socket with port B and Wire on B with A.

3) I was still be scary of the OBI misbehaving after sometime, so I updated the inbound call route in line1 so that it would forward all anonymous call to just my mobile, all other calls to three devices; a)phone port of OBI, b) my wife cell mobile and c) my mobile after an 8 second. This is so that the false ring soes not create havoc at business and once I receive the calls I can try and check the call status etc on OBI.

4) I think it worked great for few weeks and then suddenly the phone stopped ringing at all for few days. This is ow can be explained by sudden switch off of caller id by Plusnet.

5) So as the called id was turned off at Plusnet end, all calls were diverted to my mobile and al the while I was thinking  that the OBI110 had started sending false ring again. Now I think they were only few phone calls a day, which would have been actual calls but because there was no caller id they were just getting forwarded to my mobile and hence no calls were received at the business premises.

So I think the OBI110 was working fine since I changed the polarity of the BT line (also testing voltage today to ensure the A (to 0V) and B (to -52v) ports are connected to the correct wire). It was the  the called id that got turned off at Plusnet end made me think that the OBI wasn't behaving correctly.

Finger crossed, the OBI110 shall be working now.

A big thanks to drgeoff and Ian for pointing me in right direction.