Obi202 Calls Cutting Out and Hanging Up

[billydc]

I love the concept of the Obi202. However, I am having problems that are making it less than useful.

I have been on the Obi202 about 3 weeks. Line 1 is GV to Obi. Line 2 is GV to Callcentric to Obi.

My Obi is directly connected to my router via Ethernet cable. On the same router we are streaming a Roku and three wireless notebooks.

Temporarily I have two Internet service providers in the house which has allowed me to test different configurations trying to resolve my issues. One SP is 6 Meg over wireline (CenturyLink). The other is 3 Meg over cable (Comcast). The problems I am experiencing have occurred on both providers utilizing different modems and different routers. The problems do not seem to reduce when on 6 Meg versus 3 Meg. So, it appears that the problem must be at GV or in the Obi or in the connections of the Obi.

My problem: Frequently on line 1 we will get a cut out where conversation is lost. This will occur two or three times and then the line will emit a loud blaring sound and then disconnect the call.

Line 2 does cut outs less frequently and rarely drops.

I have no idea what I should try to resolve this issue. I am considering buying an Obi101 and trying that for Line 1 to see if the issues go away. Please help!

[pc44]

Hi billydc,

With frequent quality loss and call dropping, I'm not sure what to tell you -- especially since you report these symptoms with different routers and different ISPs.  A packet loss test may be in order between you and the IP address of your VoIP provider(s).  Ping plotter is one program that does this well.

You may also consider setting up a syslog server in order to see what types of messages are present during the call drops.  I'm hoping some others on the forum with more knowledge and prowess than I, will have some good suggestions for you.

In the meantime, definitely give this a try.  It's unconventional, but many have noticed marked improvements in call quality and call reliability with this change.  From a QBZappy post:

"Switching your OBi's Ethernet ports to 100 mb/s full duplex:
1. Dial *** 0
2. Enter option 27 and press #
3. Press 1 to set a new value
4. Enter a value of 1 and press #
5. Press 1 to confirm/save
6. Hang up
7. Wait for the OBi to reboot"

Hope it helps,
pc44

[billydc]

pc44,
Thanks for your thoughts. I made the changes to 100meg as you recommended. I will post results over the next few days.

I also downloaded the pingplotter freeware you mentioned. I am using google voice. how can I find the IP address of my SP in order to test using pingplotter?

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

thanks!

[billydc]

Here is another symptom that I forgot to mention. I am not sure if it is a reflection of my cutting out problems...or a reflection of something else...or normal for the Obi202.

I have  a two line wired phone on my nightstand that has red LED indicators that turn on when the phone line is off the hook. These two lines are those delivered by the Obi202. Late at night I have noticed that the LED for one or both of the lines will wink on for just an instant...a fraction of a second. This winking on and off occurs about every 10-15 seconds or so.

Does this reflect anything strange or provide more information about why my phones are cutting out and disconnecting?