Thanks SteveInWa and drgeoff for your help,
When I do the ***1, I hear the network stats, but there is still static in the background. But as I say, the noise goes away if I touch and hold the back of the OBI200 unit. I put my thumb over the USB port and the noise pretty much is gone. Very strange. Everything else functions normally the best I can tell.
I did borrow one of those new fangled cordless phones (w/built in answering system) from a relative and noise was gone. So maybe its an incompatibility with my old basic GE phones.
Also, if I disconnect the Ethernet cable, the noise is still there. You can still hear the dial tone, but as soon as you dial the first number, (when the phone should be dead quiet), you hear all the static. Much like an old TV when you went to a channel that was not transmitting anything.
The GE phones work fine on my Verizon FIOS network. No static. But I am trying to get off their system. I might have to spring for some new phones.