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Switched from GV to PhonePower - intermittent "not configured"

Started by EdWilliams, April 23, 2014, 10:59:06 AM

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adutchman

4/28/2014 Update:

Checked the phone service this morning.  I had dial tone and could make outgoing calls.

No incoming service at all.  Checked status light on OBi100 and the Phone LED status light was off.

Rebooted device and all was good again.

One of the reasons I went with PhonePower is because they had a local number for my city.  However, I am going to cancel the service if there is no fix for this soon.

CheapSk86

I am reviewing the plans out there now to replace my GV account for my in-home office. I work from home and need a reliable service as I am on the phone between 500-800 minutes a week. The basic plans won't work for me but I like the PhonePower listed plan for unlimited minutes per month. I was really eying that plan but it looks like there is a service issue all of you are having.

Given this thread, and the number of users, are there any out there that aren't having this difficulty? And are all of the issues with a certain Obi model? I notice the mention of the 100 in several posts, while I am using the 202. If this is a common theme with PhonePower, I might have to see if I can find a comparable service and rate, with a better reliability.

IMO, this is a really good thread to keep updated. Thanks to the OP for bringing it up.

Taoman

Quote from: CheapSk86 on April 28, 2014, 10:21:45 AM
Given this thread, and the number of users, are there any out there that aren't having this difficulty?

I have PhonePower and it has been rock solid from day one. It has never lost connection and it's been over 1 month. I did configure my Obi thru the web portal but that configuration didn't work after the signup process was complete and I had my SIP credentials. I had to delete my PhonePower configuration and manually add it back in again. Since that day I have had zero problems.

I am really perplexed at the number of people that seem to be having problems. I just don't get it. I have a very old Linksys wrt54g router with stock firmware and an Obi 110 using Comcast as my ISP. I have tried and configured Google Voice, SipGate, Vestalink, Callcentric, IPComms, PhonePower, Anveo, and CallWithUs with absolutely no issues. Well, I did have major latency issues with Vestalink but that had nothing to do with my Obi, router, or ISP.

Taoman

For those having problems losing their connection with PhonePower have you tried using their softphone?

I would suggest installing PhonePower's softphone on your PC and keep it up and running 24 hours a day if possible. When you lose connection with PP on your Obi are you still connected to PP with your softphone? Also, for those that call in from the outside and their Obi connected phone does not ring, does your PP softphone on your computer ring? Same way for outgoing calls. If you can't call out with your Obi connected phone are you able to call out with the PP softphone?

You should be able to have 4 UAs connected to your PP account at one time. When someone calls me both my Obi connected phone and PP softphone ring simultaneously. Likewise, I can have 2 simultaneous outgoing calls with my PP account: one on my Obi connected phone and one on the PP softphone.

Using the PhonePower softphone may help in troubleshooting and isolating where the problem lies.

kealolo

Lets pay attention to the comment from PeterFales - he doesn't have a router in his system but is still having the same problem. Doesn't this mean that "SIP ALG" is a red herring?

Seems to me that if the router wasn't handling things right, it wouldn't work fine for days and then disconnect. It sounds more like a problem between the Obihai site and the phonepower site.

Time is counting down for me on whether I cancel the year of phonepower or not, and we haven't really seen an answer for this. Is that because some people don't have the problem, or just don't comment on the forum?

One workaround is simply to cycle power off/on the obihai device fairly often, like every morning, but that's extremely halfassed. Shouldn't have to treat a new VOIP service like a $50 used car.

Are there router brands that don't have this problem, or - more likely - is this an obihai problem that they aren't bothering to fix?  GV never did this, nor did VOIP.MS.

Getting right down to it, the PhonePower service seems to just be unreliable with Obi devices, that seems to be the long and the short of it. The SIP ALG advice may just be baffling us with BS while the 30-day refund period runs out. Sorry if I sound cynical, but this is the "preferred provider" Obi directed us to... where are they now?

DJ

TP-Link wired router


adutchman

Update 4/28/2014:

As another user suggested, I had put my OBi100 device in the DMZ of my router, which is almost like plugging it directly into my cable modem's Ethernet port.  This did not resolve the issue either.

It seems that usually after about 1 hour or so, incoming calls go straight to voicemail.  I have noticed when this occurs, the Phone LED status light on the OBi100 is off.

OBIHAI's FAQ page states that when the Phone LED is not on, "The service provider configured in the OBi needs to have a valid credential. Make sure you have entered the correct information in you OBiTALK under your Service Provider configuration.

I started a chat with PhonePower tech support and explained the situation to them.  Since my device was in the DMZ, they were able to access and check my OBi100 configuration.  The support tech said that everything looked okay.  He even made a call to my house which I answered and we talked about the situation.

Then the tech enabled a syslog capture on my device and told me that he would periodically call my number until they were able to duplicate the problem.

I received a message a few hours later and they told me that they were able duplicate the issue and captured the data and are forwarding this to their network team for analysis and will report back to me.

Also, last night I opened a support ticket with OBIHAI tech support explaining what has been happening up to this point.  They sent a reply this evening with the following message...

"We have upgraded your OBi100 to a newer firmware that should have the registration to PhonePower more stable."

I have verified that the firmware is in fact newer that what is available to download from their web site.

So far my device has been up for over 2 hours since the firmware upgrade and incoming calls have been working.

Taoman

Quote from: adutchman on April 28, 2014, 06:20:10 PM

"We have upgraded your OBi100 to a newer firmware that should have the registration to PhonePower more stable."

I have verified that the firmware is in fact newer that what is available to download from their web site.


Wow. Could you please post what your firmware version is now?

kealolo

I too opened a support ticket with Obihai and they replied that they had updated my firmware, we'll see how that goes. I'm glad they are trying stuff. Hasn't dropped connection yet but it hasn't been long.

Not sure if this is the firmware #, but at the Obi config page my device now says SoftwareVersion   1.3.0 (Build: 2858)

I have an Obi100.

fingers crossed...

zorlac

I'm at Software Version   1.3.0 (Build: 2824)
Anybody got a link to build 2858?
Thanks

Taoman

Quote from: zorlac on April 29, 2014, 03:50:52 AM
I'm at Software Version   1.3.0 (Build: 2824)
Anybody got a link to build 2858?

I'm at the same build you are. There is no link as of yet. This appears to only be available from Obihai support.

fugley4651

I talked to a rep at PhonePower and he sent me this info. After I set this up according to the instructions, I did a FACTORY reset on the Obi100 and reinstalled the Obi100 plus the PhonePower . It's been over 36 hours and so far all is good. Incoming and outgoing calls are working fine. No having to keep resetting the Obi100. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This link is for a Netgear router but the PhonePowers sight lists many others to work from. Hope this helps anyone. http://www.phonepower.com/wiki/NetGear_WNR2000v3

By the way, this has been working with the old firmware #2824, not the new firmware #2858.

CheapSk86

If you guys could keep us updated with the latest given that some now have new firmware, and others seem to be receiving a positive response from PP, I, as I'm sure others, would appreciate the additional information.

I really like the look of the PP unlimited plan, especially given my monthly usage, but the service reliability has to be there for me.

Piggy backing on that, are any of you using the unlimited plan with them? And do you know if their unlimited plan is truly unlimited, or is it an advertising bait-and-switch like some of the others with maximum of 3000 or 4000 minutes?

Thanks again for all this info you guys are posting.

notconfident

After countless hours trying to get this to Phone Power to work, I have given up. I simply don't have that much time to spend on it. I cancelled (now less than 24 hours after I signed up). Good luck to the rest of you!


fugley4651

Just one more thing I realized that might have been causing the problem with PhonePower..The IP address of my router was DIFFERENT than what was being stored on the Obi100 by 1 number. It had it listed as 192.168.0.1. in the Obi100, whereas it should have been 192.168.1.1. I found this out by mistake by trying to log in on my web browser with the 192.168.0.1. number and it wouldn't connect to my Netgear router. After digging around on the web I found that my router was ACTUALLY the 192.168.1.1. number. After changing this on my router and in the Obi100, and doing what I posted earlier, I've had no problems with having to reset the Obi100 all the time. Just wanted to share this 1 more thing that might be causing people their problem with PhonePower.

Harvey

About one week ago, whenever I was dialing out I heard the "No Service Configured error, Please login to configure your device."  But, when I logged into my  Obitalk account I find that the PhonePower at SP1 is "registered", which means it does not need to be configured.  I was able to speak to a tech from PhonePower who used a remote service to take over operation of my computer and accessed my router and made some changes, the main one being that he disabled the SIP ALG in my router and, since that time, I have not had any problems with the PhonePower through my Obihai.  If problems develop, I will update this comment.  

I suggest that users, before cancelling, contact PhonePower and let them try to work out a solution to your problems.  I am glad that I signed up with a service that allows me to actually speak to a tech agent who can even use remote to access my router.

Bob_in_MA

I also have encountered this problem. I asked Obi to update the firmware on my OBI100 and they have.

But also, I found this page for setting up the Obi with your router.  It involves selecting protocols for various ports.
http://www.phonepower.com/wiki/Obihai_set_up

My router (switch really) is a TP-Link, but they have a page that lists all sorts of brands:
http://www.phonepower.com/wiki/Customer_Provided_Routers

Re disabling SIP ALG. I contacted TP-Link and they told me it doesn't support the SIP ALG anyway. In other words, this could not have been the cause of the problem in my case.

We'll see if the firmware and configuring the router helps.

I still have GV as SP1 but told my OBi to use SP2 (Phone Power) for outgoing calls.

I was wondering if others who've encountered the problem also still have GV on SP1?

Thanks,

Bob

Drewsa

Same problems... Just signed up this weekend for PhonePower in anticipation of loss of google.  I have never gotten past "service not configured" on the obi dashboard.  I will try some of these fixes and report back as well.

fugley4651

I completely eleminated GV from my Obi100 and have PhonePower as my SP1. I just forward my number from GV to my new phone number from PP.

adutchman

Quote from: Taoman on April 28, 2014, 07:01:07 PM
Quote from: adutchman on April 28, 2014, 06:20:10 PM

"We have upgraded your OBi100 to a newer firmware that should have the registration to PhonePower more stable."

I have verified that the firmware is in fact newer that what is available to download from their web site.


Wow. Could you please post what your firmware version is now?

This is what I have:
     ModelName OBi100 help
     HardwareVersion 3.4 help
     SoftwareVersion 1.3.0 (Build: 2858)