I have an Obi202 configured with:
SP1 - Callcentric for inbound calls to support CNAM; also for E911 service
SP2 - Google Voice for outbound calls; My GV inbound number is forwarded to Callcentric
PHONE 1: Panasonic cordless phone base
PHONE 2: FAX (Canon MX870 Multifunction printer w/ FAX)
Sometimes my phone has not been ringing on inbound calls. My Callcentric log shows that the calls were received, though, so GV seems to be forwarding them to that number as expected. So my phone doesn't ring but the FAX machine lights up as if it's detecting an incoming call.
The prime suspect in my mind is my SP2 setting. It's set to ring incoming calls on Phone 2 but not Phone 1. But since I have GV forwarded to my Callcentric number, I didn't think that should make any difference because the GV number is forwarded, not even ringing, right? (I would have set SP2 to ring *neither* phone on incoming calls, but I think the system makes me send it to at least one).
Can someone help me understand what's causing this?
The four Service Provider configurations on the OBi (SP1-SP4) are configured independently of the two physical telephone jacks (Phone 1 and Phone 2).
If you only have one inbound service provider set up (Callcentric), then you would need to tell the OBi to ring Phone 1 on inbound calls, or of course, nothing plugged into Phone 1 is ever going to ring.
The correct way to share a fax with a phone on the same physical phone line, is to plug the fax's inbound line jack into the inbound phone line on the OBi (e.g. Phone 1), and plug the phone into the fax's telephone port. This involves only one physical phone interface on the OBi. You then configure the OBi to use the Phone 1 port, plug the fax into that port, and configure the fax to deal with ringing the attached phone for voice calls.
The better solution is to get a second inbound phone number from Callcentric. You can then either forward that DID directly to Callcentric's fax mailbox, and have Callcentric email you the fax as an image file, or configure it as SP3 on the OBi, and route SP3 to ring Phone 2, and plug THAT line into the fax.
I should have specified SP1 (Callcentric) is configured to ring both Phones 1 and 2.
I don't really want to plug the phone into the FAX machine, which is really just a multifunction printer that I seldom use for faxing. Sometimes I leave that printer/FAX device turned off, and I've never plugged the home phone into it. Even when I had traditional landline service, I used a wall splitter to give each device its own jack.
Are you telling me that I can't have two devices plugged into my OBi202 -- phone and FAX -- and configure both to use the same SP's?
You said:
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The prime suspect in my mind is my SP2 setting. It's set to ring incoming calls on Phone 2 but not Phone 1.
and you said:
Quote
SP2 - Google Voice for outbound calls; My GV inbound number is forwarded to Callcentric
Then you said:
Quote
I should have specified SP1 (Callcentric) is configured to ring both Phones 1 and 2.
This is a mess. You said that you are only using Google Voice for outbound calls, but you contradict yourself by saying it rings on SP2. That doesn't make sense. Furthermore, there is no advantage to configuring both Phone 1 and Phone 2 to ring with the same SP. It accomplishes nothing, and wastes a phone jack.
You can do what you want, but I'm going to describe how it
should be configured:
Goals:
- You want to route inbound calls through Callcentric, on SP1.
- You want to make outbound calls via Google Voice, on SP2.
- You want your telephone to work for inbound and outbound calls using those two SPs
- You have a fax/printer combo that is "seldom used" for faxing. When it is used, it should operate independently from, and not interfere with, your regular telephone.
Solution:
- Log onto your Google Voice account on the web, go to this page, https://www.google.com/voice#phones (https://www.google.com/voice#phones), and ensure that you have a check mark to the left of your Callcentric number, and no checkmark next to Google Chat.
- Log onto your OBiTALK portal page, go to your OBi202 configuration, and edit SP1. Set "Incoming calls will ring on" to Phone 1 only. Do not check-mark "Primary line for outgoing calls"; this SP will be inbound only, except for 911 calls. Check-mark "Use This Service for Emergency 911 Calls".
- Edit SP2's configuration. Check-mark "Primary line for outgoing calls" for both Phone 1 and Phone 2. SP2 is outbound-only, and it will never ring, because there is no check mark next to Google Chat on Google Voice settings.
- Get another inbound phone number (DID) from Callcentric. You can get one of their free NY State numbers.
- Configure your OBi's SP3 to use that CC DID.
- Configure SP3 to ring on Phone 2 only. This will also be an inbound-only SP.
- Plug a phone cord from the OBi Phone 1 jack into your Panasonic phone base.
- Plug a different phone cord from the OBi Phone 2 jack into the fax/printer.
- Grab a beer and congratulate yourself on a technically-elegant solution.
It took me a couple of days to get back to this project but thank you for the clear step-by-step instructions, they were very helpful.
I didn't realize we could get more than one free DID number from Callcentric on the same account, and I'd been sharing my phone and fax line for so long with my old landline service that I hadn't even thought about doing it differently with 2 free DID numbers on the OBi, so thanks again for the direction.
It's set up as you recommended and seems to be working correctly now. The only bug I've encountered is one call that just kept ringing and did not go to voicemail, but I haven't been able to reproduce that problem so I'm going to hope it was just a one-time glitch with GV.
Anyway, thanks again.
.
Quote from: StudioD on June 16, 2016, 08:45:23 AM
It took me a couple of days to get back to this project but thank you for the clear step-by-step instructions, they were very helpful.
I didn't realize we could get more than one free DID number from Callcentric on the same account, and I'd been sharing my phone and fax line for so long with my old landline service that I hadn't even thought about doing it differently with 2 free DID numbers on the OBi, so thanks again for the direction.
It's set up as you recommended and seems to be working correctly now. The only bug I've encountered is one call that just kept ringing and did not go to voicemail, but I haven't been able to reproduce that problem so I'm going to hope it was just a one-time glitch with GV.
Anyway, thanks again.
.
Great! Thanks for the feedback, and for being willing to try a different approach. This forum is littered with people who are too stubborn to consider any alternative to whatever way they think things should work.
I thought I had resolved this but it turns out my phone still fails to ring on some calls.
This is frustrating because I've missed important calls and never knew the person tried to call until I got a notification for new Google voicemail.
Any further things I can try to solve this?
Quote from: StudioD on July 15, 2016, 11:32:12 AM
I thought I had resolved this but it turns out my phone still fails to ring on some calls.
When did this happen? Callcentric had a couple outages yesterday.
https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30868118-CallCentric-Callcentric-down (https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30868118-CallCentric-Callcentric-down)
This is why I always have a backup route configured on my OBi(s). That way if my primary route goes down the secondary route automatically takes over and I don't even know there's been an outage unless I look at my call logs. One of my (3) backup routes is a free IPComms DID forwarded to a free Anveo account via SIP URI. Very reliable.
Edit: Yesterday, I actually did realize Callcentric was down because my incoming calls no longer had CNAM.
It happened today. I checked my Callcentric call log which showed the incoming calls marked as "Medium Probability" as being spam (they're not).
I don't think I have a call treatment set up to block spam calls. Instead, I have simultaneous ringing set up in Callcentric to ring both my phone and NoMoRobo. I wonder if that 's somehow causing the problem.
Quote from: StudioD on July 15, 2016, 02:38:49 PM
It happened today. I checked my Callcentric call log which showed the incoming calls marked as "Medium Probability" as being spam (they're not).
I don't think I have a call treatment set up to block spam calls. Instead, I have simultaneous ringing set up in Callcentric to ring both my phone and NoMoRobo. I wonder if that 's somehow causing the problem.
Should be easy enough to figure out just by looking at your call logs.
On the line where Spam Probability is Medium, what is listed under the Extension column? Was the call routed to your extension or not?
If you are using Simulring for Nomorobo then every incoming call should have two entries (depending on how you prioritized your call treatments). If the call was blocked by Nomorobo you should see "1 min" under the Duration Total column for the call to your Nomorobo number. Otherwise it would say 0 min.
IMHO, your Nomorobo call treatment should be your very last call treatment and only gets triggered if your incoming call drops thru all other call treatments above it.
I assume you have friends, family, and known good numbers in your CC phone book? And I'll make the further assumption that they are all in the group called General? If so, I would recommend your first call treatment route all calls from anyone in the General group directly to your desired extension.
If you have any "undesirables" in your phone book that you don't want to ring directly to your extension then just put them into a different group. And then perhaps make a call treatment that sends anyone from that group to purgatory.
I find the Callcentric site unnecessarily difficult to figure out.
On my Dashboard, where it shows Calls Received, each incoming call is shown twice but it doesn't show whether it was sent to an extension. So when I click on View Complete Report, each incoming call is shown 3 times. One shows the Spam Probability, another one shows it was forwarded to EXT 100, and the third one shows it was forwarded to the NoMoRobo number.
To answer your question, yes each call shows it was forwarded to EXT 100 but the phone never rang.
As for my call treatments, I only have one set up...
REDIRECT CALL TO: Simultaneous Ringing
1. Send to my extension; 100 - default extension; Ring for 25 seconds
Send to this number; [NoMoRobo number]; Ring for 25 seconds
2. Calling Card
I have no idea why there is a mandatory Step 2 entry above where I have to select from Calling Card, Fax or Busy Tone. All I want to do is simultaneously ring my 'extension' and NoMoRoBo, but the only way to do that is to use this call treatment that requires that other entry about the calling card, etc. I have no idea how to answer that dropdown.
To your final point, I don't have any entries in my CC phone book and it wouldn't have mattered in this case anyway because the callers were an insurance company and a bank, from numbers I would not have known in advance.
Change the "Ring for" value from 25 seconds to 30 seconds. Google Voice rings forwarding numbers for approximately 25 seconds (give or take a couple of seconds depending on network varibility). Your rule could send valid callers to the "Calling card" entry at the 25 second mark.
Also, set up Callcentric voicmail if you haven't already done so. It's free. Change the #2 destination from "Calling card" to "Voicemail".
See my screenshot for an example.
OK, I changed it to 30 seconds but that probably won't help if it's not ringing at all in the first place, right?
I don't want to set up CC voicemail because my cordless phone base already has a physical answering machine that I enabled to pick up after 5 rings as a fallback if GV doesn't kick in for some reason. I don't want to juggle 3 possible locations for VM so I just changed #2 to Busy Tone.
Finally, under Additional Options the Called Number was set to Any instead of my CC DID. I changed it as your screenshot suggested, but would that be the cause of my phone not ringing? I assume 'Any' would include my CC DID and should still ring.
Why don't you just try it and let us know? The busy signal choice for #2 should be fine.
Well it's inconsistent, it seems to ring most of the time but not every time.
I just called from my wife's cell. The phone rang but despite the fact she's in my CC phonebook and caller ID normally shows her name as it's saved in that phonebook, this time the caller ID showed the name as 'Dir Assist Ny'.
Then I tried a test call from the NoMoRobo website and it did not ring, even though NoMoRobo showed it should have.
Quote from: StudioD on July 15, 2016, 05:05:19 PM
So when I click on View Complete Report, each incoming call is shown 3 times. One shows the Spam Probability, another one shows it was forwarded to EXT 100, and the third one shows it was forwarded to the NoMoRobo number.
But you didn't answer the most important question. Which of those 3 entries (when the phone didn't ring) had "1 min" listed under Total? Whichever entry shows 1 min is where the call was routed.
As Steve said, change your ring group default extension to 30 seconds ring time.
However, change your Nomorobo ring time to
10 seconds. (this is per Nomorobo instructions. Any action NMR might take will happen within 10 seconds so having a longer ring time accomplishes nothing and can actually cause problems.)
Edit: Some people report having false positives when using Nomorobo. This does not happen if you set your ring time to 10 seconds.
Try making calls directly to your CC phone number, not to your Google Voice number.
Call from various other numbers. Document what happens. If the calls don't ring on your OBi, consistently, and / or don't show the correct caller ID or caller ID name, then something is hosed up with your CC number, and you will have to open a ticket with them.
If every call works properly, then call your Google Voice number from the same phone numbers used in the test above, and document what happens.
I called my CC number directly and it was hit-and-miss. Sometimes it rang, other times I got no ringing at either end, just some open line noise on the calling phone like the connection was in progress but never completed.
Calls to my GV number sometimes ring my home number with correct caller ID, other times just ring on the calling end until they go to VM. I'm assuming that on those latter calls, the connection to CC doesn't get completed as was the case when I called the number directly.
I guess I'll open a ticket with CC. It doesn't seem like the problem is with the way I have call treatments set up or anything like that since the number never rings in the first place.
Thanks for the help guys.
Glad I found this to know I'm not alone. Have my GV forwarding to CC. tried both the free number and a paid number from CC and both are hit or miss. Calling CC direct seems to ring the 202 ok. If I call my GV number the first attempt the 202 doesn't ring my phone but if I call right back within a few minutes the follow up calls do ring the phone. All attempted calls show in the CC log so they are getting the forward from GV.
So for some reason the initial call to my GV number does forward to CC but then CC doesn't ring the 202. Any ideas? Is it possible even the paid CC numbers are hit or miss when being called from GV?
If every inbound call to your CC number shows up in your CC call log, then this is neither a GV nor CC issue. More likely, you've got an internet service or local network problem causing your OBi to drop its registration to Callcentric.
The symptom of "If I call my GV number the first attempt the 202 doesn't ring my phone but if I call right back within a few minutes the follow up calls do ring the phone." suggests that your own network is the culprit.
Did you manually configure Callcentric on your OBi? If so, log into the OBiTALK web portal, not the local web page interface. Click on your OBi device, then click the trash can icon to delete the Callcentric SP configuration off of the device. Wait a few minutes and watch your OBi to confirm that it reboots.
Then, click the desired SP again, and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the web page. Select the link for OBiTALK compatible service providers. On the next page, select the link for Callcentric. On the next page, enter your Callcentric 1777xxxxxxx user name and SIP password. The portal will configure your OBi with the correct parameters for Callcentric.
I haven't solved it either. CC gave me a new number, I disabled all my call treatments and it's still happening. It seems like I've ruled out all the configuration issues.
I'm beginning to wonder if it's a defective Obi failing to send a ring signal to the phone. I'm using Panasonic cordless phones that have worked for years without an issue on both copper and fiber from Verizon.
Quote from: StudioD on September 13, 2016, 03:00:19 PM
I haven't solved it either. CC gave me a new number, I disabled all my call treatments and it's still happening. It seems like I've ruled out all the configuration issues.
I'm beginning to wonder if it's a defective Obi failing to send a ring signal to the phone. I'm using Panasonic cordless phones that have worked for years without an issue on both copper and fiber from Verizon.
I have a ticket open with CC right now and hoping they can shed some light on this. I would think if Obi is defective then GV would not be 100% ring consistency and mine seems to be if I only use GV. I'm using ATT phone on mine but it has a ringing base station so I don't think it is our phones.
I think it must be one of the following:
1) CC is not ringing the Obi for some reason TBD
2) The obi is receiving a signal from CC but is not seeing that as a call to ring action 100% of the time. In my case the 2nd call placed from same number rings all the time. It's as if you have to "prime the pump" for it to work. I wonder if the first call it does a cname or SIP lookup but doesn't complete it in time for call initiation. Once it is done though it is cached so that is why the 2nd call always works from the same calling number in short periods. Cache expires after X period and then that call is a "fresh" phone and once again fails on initial call. Calls made shortly after though work ok.
Now when I call direct it always seems to work so I wonder if there is some failing or slow handoff of the caller id number from google's call to CC which causes initial fail. When calling CC direct no failures so the telco's are handing off the number faster perhaps.
Just a guess. I hope CC has some advice. I dumped my xfinity for GV then realized no name callerID so did the CC thing. if they can't fix I may go back to xfinity where I started. Oddly enough xfinity charges me less for having phone service than if I remove it. Triple play is cheaper than double play. Go figure. I also found that out after porting to ATT so I could then port to GV. Now I'm in $10 at CC. $20 ATT port. $20 GV port and $5.95/month for the CC number (tried that as I heard the "free" ones could be the issue...nope). Now might be in for charge to port it all back to xfinity! LOL. Too funny
Quote from: voipmvtalk on September 13, 2016, 03:35:23 PM
Quote from: StudioD on September 13, 2016, 03:00:19 PM
I haven't solved it either. CC gave me a new number, I disabled all my call treatments and it's still happening. It seems like I've ruled out all the configuration issues.
I'm beginning to wonder if it's a defective Obi failing to send a ring signal to the phone. I'm using Panasonic cordless phones that have worked for years without an issue on both copper and fiber from Verizon.
I have a ticket open with CC right now and hoping they can shed some light on this. I would think if Obi is defective then GV would not be 100% ring consistency and mine seems to be if I only use GV. I'm using ATT phone on mine but it has a ringing base station so I don't think it is our phones.
I think it must be one of the following:
1) CC is not ringing the Obi for some reason TBD
2) The obi is receiving a signal from CC but is not seeing that as a call to ring action 100% of the time. In my case the 2nd call placed from same number rings all the time. It's as if you have to "prime the pump" for it to work. I wonder if the first call it does a cname or SIP lookup but doesn't complete it in time for call initiation. Once it is done though it is cached so that is why the 2nd call always works from the same calling number in short periods. Cache expires after X period and then that call is a "fresh" phone and once again fails on initial call. Calls made shortly after though work ok.
Now when I call direct it always seems to work so I wonder if there is some failing or slow handoff of the caller id number from google's call to CC which causes initial fail. When calling CC direct no failures so the telco's are handing off the number faster perhaps.
Just a guess. I hope CC has some advice. I dumped my xfinity for GV then realized no name callerID so did the CC thing. if they can't fix I may go back to xfinity where I started. Oddly enough xfinity charges me less for having phone service than if I remove it. Triple play is cheaper than double play. Go figure. I also found that out after porting to ATT so I could then port to GV. Now I'm in $10 at CC. $20 ATT port. $20 GV port and $5.95/month for the CC number (tried that as I heard the "free" ones could be the issue...nope). Now might be in for charge to port it all back to xfinity! LOL. Too funny
voipmvtalk: I should have suggested that you create your own discussion thread, instead of adding on to a possibly unrelated discussion. Disregard the original poster's issue and comments. Your OBi isn't defective. Follow my instructions above to delete the configuration and re-add it
from the OBiTALK web portal, not the local web page.
Hi. I was hesitant to follow the instructions as I think my setup was just slightly different. Also I did set all this up via the web portal. I did none of the setup locally.
I think my problem was generally same problem as thread title but could start new thread if you think better to do so.
In my circumstance, I have the following:
Obi 202
Port 1 - Fax line with separate GV number on SP1 for incoming and outgoing on Telephone Port 1. Working fine
Port 2 - SP2 with another GV number set for outgoing calls on Phone 2 port. Incoming calls are GV/SP2 and also CC/SP3. Google chat unchecked.
I think if I read your instructions for my setup this is correct? Again all done via web portal. If I'm not translating one of these parts correctly though please lmk. As I said initial "fresh" call doesn't ring the obi but immediate follow up calls do.
thank you.
Quote
Port 2 - SP2 with another GV number set for outgoing calls on Phone 2 port. Incoming calls are GV/SP2 and also CC/SP3. Google chat unchecked.
This is behaving as if you may have Google Chat actually check-marked/enabled, as well as forwarding the calls to your Callcentric number, causing contention to ring that phone port.
Try deleting the SP2 configuration completely off of your OBiTALK dashboard. Then, try some test calls to your GV number, to see if they reliably ring SP3-->Phone 2 via Callcentric every time. If that's the case, then it suggests a problem with your Google Voice configuration for that particular GV phone number.
Quote from: SteveInWA on September 13, 2016, 05:07:36 PM
Quote
Port 2 - SP2 with another GV number set for outgoing calls on Phone 2 port. Incoming calls are GV/SP2 and also CC/SP3. Google chat unchecked.
This is behaving as if you may have Google Chat actually check-marked/enabled, as well as forwarding the calls to your Callcentric number, causing contention to ring that phone port.
Try deleting the SP2 configuration completely off of your OBiTALK dashboard. Then, try some test calls to your GV number, to see if they reliably ring SP3-->Phone 2 via Callcentric every time. If that's the case, then it suggests a problem with your Google Voice configuration for that particular GV phone number.
Ok so I deleted the SP2 config which was google voice completely off Obitalk dashboard. made first test call all my cellphones rang but the obi attached phone did not. I hung up. Immediately called the number again and it rang the obi attached phone like I described before. So again just the 2nd call rings the phone and initial call after long wait period does not. 3rd call rang it fine too. Now if I wait until morning and call the number the first time again it won't ring and all immediate follow up calls will. Strange!
Double checked Chat is unchecked. Callcentric log does show the initial and follow up calls made
I have not received a reply from CC support ticket to see if they have any idea why the initial call placed won't ring the phone.
OK, so we eliminated the SP2 configuration as a possible cause, and you can add it back. The next step would be to delete the SP3 configuration, and add it back again, as I explained earlier, using the OBiTALK dashboard's custom settings for Callcentric.
If it still fails after that, then I'd go back to my first guess, that you have some sort of issue with your OBi not being able to register to the Callcentric server.
One other clue maybe. I waited just a couple minutes since my last test and post above. Called again and no ring. Called right back and got a ring. Noticed one thing on the first attempt. My fax line on port 1 let out a small little ring (not enough to pickup). I didn't hear that on the 2nd call right after that did ring port 2. I do occasionally hear little short ring on the fax machine "randomly". Not somebody calling but just what I would call a brief "micro ring" sound.
Maybe I should delete port 1 and test to rule that out too even though that shouldn't really affect port 2. Testing now and will report back in a moment
Ok deleting fax line SP1 didn't make a difference. I just deleted and re-registered CC on SP3. Did a test call and it went through but have to wait a bit for proper test as it may already be "primed" for the follow on calls.
The chirp ring could be caused by electrical induction between the conductors of the phone cord. To eliminate the fax machine from the puzzle, it would be helpful to completely unplug the modular phone jack of the cord running to the fax machine. Unplug it from the back of the OBi.
You should make absolutely sure that you are only using a two-wire/two-pin modular phone cord between the OBi and the fax machine. Phone port 1 on the back of the OBi is electrically wired as a RJ-14, four-conductor jack. It has Phone line #1 on the center two pins, and phone line #2 on the outer two pins. Using a 4-conductor phone cord on that port, connected to a fax machine, can cause all sorts of problems.
So: use one two-conductor/two-pin (RJ-11) phone cord between the OBi and the fax machine, and a completely different two-conductor/two-pin phone cord between the OBi and your telephone.
Ok. So I deleted CC on SP3 and re-registered it. Tested it and call rang ok. Good sign maybe but need to wait more time to be 100%.
Checked the phone jack's per your advice. The one to the fax was a proper two wire/pin going into Port 1. Going into port 2 however was a split of a 2 line phone wire. The side going into obi had just two pins on center. That side was part of a Y configuration (since my base station was designed as a 2 line phone with a single jack on base station). The other half of the Y was not plugged into anything but also a 2 pin. I replaced that with a standard phone jack wire just in case.
A couple test calls and I'm hopeful now as I had a decent wait and it rang on 1st shot. So if this works won't be sure if re-registering was the fix or the wires (or both). I will test first thing in the morning.
If this works I wonder if it is ok to switch back to a free DID instead of the $5.95 one I'm using now with CC. Only did that paid one because one thread a couple years ago here said the GV CLEC may have issues connecting with CC's free DID's CLEC.
I'd suggest taking "baby steps" and testing your current setup for a week, before changing the Callcentric DID you are using as your forwarding target.
There have been no significant/reported issues with Google Voice forwarding to Callcentric's free DIDs for a long time. There was a transit carrier issue between the two that was resolved, so there should be no difference forwarding to a free Telengy (Callcentric's own CLEC) number vs. any other number supplied by Callcentric.
I waited 30 minutes and same thing. First call no ring. Second call ring ok. CC just responded to my ticket and said they will attempt to troubleshoot as well now.
Quote from: voipmvtalk on September 13, 2016, 09:36:15 PM
I waited 30 minutes and same thing. First call no ring. Second call ring ok. CC just responded to my ticket and said they will attempt to troubleshoot as well now.
Good luck. Let us know what they have to say about it.
Ok so I heard back from them and they said they sent an INVITE to my obi but it did not receive a response on the first call. Follow up calls they did see the response.
I thought maybe my router or some setting so put obi directly onto xfinity modem port and initial tests all worked ok. CC got back to me and said to disable SIP Passthrough under my WAN setting so I tried that, put the obi back on the router and initial tests appear to indicate it is now working properly.
I will do a few more tests over the day with a couple different numbers and also allow the router to "time out" like before but I suspect the SIP Passthrough setting was the culprit here.
Why the initial call failed and follow up calls immediately after were successful I do not know unless the initial call opens up the SIP or closes it so it is set favorably for the follow up calls.
Anyway so far so good with this setting change!
Ok premature celebration. Same issue. Inconsistent ringing even with their change or hanging directly on the comcast modem and bypassing router altogether.
I don't think it is a lookup issue with caller id. I had one friend call in and no ring. next friend one minute later it rang. so the first call seems to be opening up a port or "waking up" the device which the follow on calls take advantage of and ring. after some time period it seems to reset and require a wake up call to get another call to ring. So bizzare.
Well, regarding your router, if it has a "SIP ALG" setting, that setting should be DISABLED. I don't know how that translates to "SIP Passthrough". I am just guessing here, that SIP Passthrough ENabled = SIP ALG DISabled. The goal is for your router to NOT act on the SIP packets, so that sounds right.
I'm sticking with my original hunch that you have some sort of network (router) configuration problem. What model router is this? Did you replace it or update it when the problem started?
Quote from: SteveInWA on September 14, 2016, 12:56:13 PM
Well, regarding your router, if it has a "SIP ALG" setting, that setting should be DISABLED. I don't know how that translates to "SIP Passthrough". I am just guessing here, that SIP Passthrough ENabled = SIP ALG DISabled. The goal is for your router to NOT act on the SIP packets, so that sounds right.
I'm sticking with my original hunch that you have some sort of network (router) configuration problem. What model router is this? Did you replace it or update it when the problem started?
Here is latest update and you are probably right regarding network/router. Callcentric also said same and wanted me to hook up to DMZ on my comcast modem. A little digging and my comcast modem was still in router mode and not bridge mode so it was doing its own routing before my router.
What I did was put the comcast modem into bridge mode (no router - straight shot to my router) and am now testing. My router is Asus.
So far all test calls in the last hour have been successful in ringing the phone. I will wait a couple hours and test calling again after no calls have hit the number for awhile in order to duplicate most closely what I was seeing before.
If this fixes it that means the comcast/xfinity modem's router was clogging up the SIP packets but not in a consistent way. Possibly acting as a port trigger with the first call to open it up and then the second call has the pathway through. Then the port trigger closes after some time and I was back to the same again. At least I'm hoping this is what was occuring here.
Will update after a few more tests throughout the afternoon and evening.
thanks
Ok so good news. all the phone call tests so far have been successful and the phone is now ringing on first and follow up attempts even after longer intervals in between.
I'd say it is now safe to say the Comcast/Xfinity cable modem was the root cause. Being that it was in router mode (instead of Bridge mode) it was indeed acting as a router and must have been filtering SIP packets before they could ever hit the obitalk. The reason only follow on calls would ring the phone I suspect is that the initital call triggered a port which then opened it up for follow on calls afterwards. However once the port closed after after keepalive was over the next "first" call failed and so on.
So the fix was indeed to put comcast into Bridge mode and forward to my Asus router and let that do all the routing. Also they suggested my SIP passthrough be disabled.
Glad this is finally resolved. Big thanks to Callcentric Support and SteveInWa right here for providing the guidance, tips and assistance to track this one down and get it fixed up. One more day and I was going to lose it!
Glad to hear it. Yes, cascading through multiple NAT routers does cause problems with VoIP. Setting your Xfinity modem to bridge mode is the solution.
Confirmed. The comcast router was indeed the problem. all call tests today successful.
Thanks SteveInWA!