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Phone Power just worked

Started by BillRN, May 16, 2014, 08:32:15 PM

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BillRN

Switched to phone power from Google voice XMPP. Execution was flawless, didn't even have to reboot the OBi. Both Google voice and the new number are ringing exactly where they should be. :-)

StormChaser

Really? Signed up for Phone Power on 5/5/14 with my OBi100 and my Google Voice number forwarded to my Phone Power number. Outgoing calls okay except for choppy at times and some echo. Incoming calls a nightmare. My land line does not ring. All incoming calls are missed. Voice mail inconsistent. Neither Phone Power or OBi have been able to resolve this. OBi Support actually had the audacity today to tell me to get a new router. My router is less than 4 months old and cost $100.00 on sale. It worked fine when it was just my Google Voice account. If routers are an issue then either OBi or Phone Power or both should spell this out on their websites. For example: OBi website lists Phone Power as an approved provider using Router A, B, or C. If you have Router X, Y, or Z then OBi should not recommend Phone Power. But why should Obi really care? I already have had my device for over a year. Too late to take it back. As a Google Voice/OBi user signing up for Phone Power was done through OBi portal. I guarantee you there was not one question about what type of router I had. Now they too have my money. 

Now that Phone Power is in the mix nothing works except outgoing calls. I signed up for the Phone Power unlimited plan and paid a one year contract. Betcha a donut Phone Power will not give me my money back.

I am a senior citizen on a fixed income who does not want to give up my land line. That was the beauty of Google Voice. Free and suited to old school ways (keeping a land line). I have a pre-paid cell phone for emergencies (costs less than $7.00/month).

Family emergency last night. All calls went to my cell phone (had to use my pre-paid cell phone number as my fail safe number for Phone Power). I had to answer and tell people I will call you back from my land line. What a pain in the ass. I guess this is what you get with a low cost VoIP plan.

Google Voice was free and did it right. Now I am paying and it is all terribly wrong. I actually do not mind paying but I expect the service to work. Not only that but the number of pre-paid cell phone minutes I have to use to try and deal with all the problems is mind numbing. More in 2 1/2 weeks than in 2 1/2 months. Crazy.

I do not know who is supposed to assume responsibility for this. OBi or Phone Power.

So . . . Really? Phone Power just worked.
   

Taoman

Since you've been working with PhonePower tech support I will assume the following has already been done?

1) Deleted your device from the Obi portal
2) Performed a factory reset on your Obi ATA
3) Added your device back into the Obi portal
4) Ran the PhonePower setup wizard in the Obi portal and configured SP1 with PhonePower and added your SIP credentials

If all the above has already been done in that order then what is the make and model of your router?
Have you tried putting your Obi ATA in your router's DMZ to see if that makes any difference?
Have you installed the PhonePower softphone for your PC to see if that works correctly or not? If the PhonePower softphone doesn't work properly it is unlikely your Obi ATA will work either.

StormChaser

OMG! Please break this down for me. I am more at the novice level. I was so proud of myself a year ago when for financial reasons I had to let my land line go and I figured out Google Voice. Now my eyes are rolling back in my head.

When I called PhonePower the day of sign up for the incoming call issue I have no idea what he did. He did have access to my OBi account and I changed the Obi password after.

When I emailed OBi support the other day they said to disable SIP ALG on my router. I have a Zoom 5352 where I found a NAT ALG Status. When I disabled SIP it does not solve the problem. I cannot even begin to describe what I went through to teach myself how to go into my router settings but hey now I have a new skill.

My OBi dashboard is set up as:
SP1 OBi PhonePower status Registered
SP2 Not Configured

Softphone - - - I think I deleted this from my OBi dashboard as I thought I would never use this. My cell phone is pre-paid for emergencies so I do not travel with any form of internet and I do not do wi-fi in public.

In my GV account I have my GV number which I have used for over a year forwarded to my PhonePower number. I deleted forward to Google Chat based on what PhonePower told me.

The day I talked to PhonePower support he had me unplug my OBi from power source. I was talking to him on my land line so the call was immediately disconnected with the unplug. Of course, he could not call me back because I could not receive incoming calls.

He did not tell me to do a factory reset on my OBi. I do not know anything about the PhonePower setup wizard. Is this something I have access to?

Correct me if I am wrong but I understand that if I enable my PhonePower SIP credentials that I will loose their tech support.

Can I re-install the OBi softphone? How?

I assume that you are talking about the DMZ Host setting in my router. It says to assign a static IP address outside of the DHCP pool to the device you are adding. What???

Perseverance is the name of this game. My gut instinct is that OBi and PhonePower cannot fix this and forum support will be what eventually solves this.

Thanks for all assistance. Much appreciated. 

Taoman

The softphone I am referring to has nothing to do with Obihai. As mentioned, it is PhonePower's softphone. Log into your PP account and click on Softphone tab. Or go to this link and download the appropriate softphone for your computer:
https://secure.phonepower.com/account/softphone/softphone.aspx

You must enable your SIP credentials. No, it will have no effect on support from PhonePower.

I would suggest enabling your SIP credentials, downloading and installing the PP softphone and get that working before proceeding any further.

If you get the softphone working it won't "prove" anything but it will suggest that the problem is not with PhonePower or your SIP credentials or your router.

StormChaser

Thank you. You are so helpful. My PowerPhone softphone is now functional.

From the softphone I called:

My PhonePower number (landline to OBi) - it rings without delay with CID showing my name and GV number. The softphone shows my PowerPhone number so it is confusing that I can dial a number that is the same as the number I am calling from and have it ring and show my GV CID. So, my GV number is calling my PhonePower number? Spoofing? Forwarding? Both? Say what?

My GV number - results in no land line ring. I assume this is because GV recognizes I am actually calling from my own forwarded GV number. Is this correct? I am trying so hard to understand what I am doing and reading on these forums.

My pre-paid cell phone - results same as calling the PhonePower number.

So, now I used my cell phone to test call my PhonePower and then my GV numbers. OMG! Land line, softphone, transmission over cell phone - all are ringing at same time. Everything is ringing properly. Yeah!

I did go back into my Zoom router and again disabled the SIP under NAT ALG status. When I did this 2 days ago it did not work. It is possible that I did not do it correctly or have made other changes since then. Who knows?

Oooooh! Just received a real incoming call. The caller ID said my name and GV number. I answered the phone. A recording said I had a call from xxx (my son) and press 1 to take the call. I did and it was my son. Yeah!

I do not know if there is a way to get the calls direct when answering versus having to press 1 but I will pursue that another day. One battle at a time.

Thank you Taoman for your help.