My little OBi100 has been up for about two years and sits there, flashing occasionally, day after day, and I sometimes wonder what the life expectancy of this device might be. Any comments?
If it has worked for two years and you keep it ventilated and dry, probably until you are ready to retire it.
Although components can age or fail, there are two things which can prolong the life of a device such as this:
1) Surge protectors on external phone lines (POTS). I have to believe that Obi's have surge protection built in but protecting the external POTS line will keep any lightning surges from taking out the unit.
2) If you have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) a constant source of power can work wonders to eliminate electronic problems
Obi 100 seems to be very stable and resilient. IMO less so obi 202.