Other person can't hear me.

[Frank]

Up until now I thought the person calling me heard the ring but just didn't hear my voice after I answered. Today, the person calling me couldn't hear me after I answered (happens more and more frequently these days). I then hung up and re-dialed the person who had just called me. The outgoing call was successful. I learned that on the first attempt the person calling me not only didn't hear my voice but didn't hear a ring. However, my cellphone and the phone I have plugged into the OBi110 both definitely rang.

[RonR]

Also, is call waiting disabled by default?  It does not work either, just goes to voicemail if I am on the phone.  Or does GV not support it? 

Call Waiting works with Google Voice here.  For it to work you would have to have:

Voice Services -> SPx Service -> MaxSessions : 2

and only have one of those 2 sessions in use (i.e. just one Google Voice call in progress).

[jmsnyc]

and only have one of those 2 sessions in use (i.e. just one Google Voice call in progress).

Just to clarify what you are saying.  If I am talking to someone using Google Voice and someone calls my Google Voice number, it would not work because 2 calls would be in progress?

[RonR]

The incoming call would be the second session and should arrive at the OBi and signal call waiting.

I just made an outgoing call on Google Voice and then called my Google Voice number from my cell phone.  I heard the call waiting signal and could use the Flash button to switch calls.

[jmsnyc]

Ok.  Thanks.  Seems to work for me too.

[KenH]

I'm having the same problem. Half of my calls this morning were uni-directional -- either they couldn't hear me or I couldn't hear them.

Software Version: 1.3.0 (Build: 2575)

[neilio]

Glad someone passed this thread on to me or I wouldn't have known this was a more widespread issue. Same problems here with my audio cutting out about 2-3 minutes into the call. I switched back to my SPA3102 until there's a fix - hopefully OBI is aware and working on one?

[facaletz]

<<I'm having the same problem. Half of my calls this morning were uni-directional -- either they couldn't hear me or I couldn't hear them.>>
We have the same problem for some time now,after a little while in the talking is getting uni-directional or one of the party hear a very slow and modified voice,and for the last days is getting worst. All of us having this sort of problems have to switch to other devices or the vendor is going to fix them????That is the basic function not fussy setting just PSTN-OBI110-0BI110-PSTN call.

[guyinsb]

The problem has been very consistent:  when I call out from my OBi110 (hardware version 2.8, software version 1.3.0 (Build: 2575)) to another party, I hear them fine, but they report bad or non-existent audio.
I need to do some more testing before reporting on the characteristics of the party I am calling,
but I can note the following:
- when a specific called party is using an OBi100, the problem occurs on almost every call; but not always immediately
- when I call that specific party using the OBiTalk network (i.e. **9NNNNNNNNN), the problem does not occur

This suggests the problem has something to do with Google Voice. 

[obeeonecanoebee]

Darn. I see my problem is widely shared, and no answer yet. I've been thinking it was a problem of slow upload speed (my DSL, as usual, has fast download but slow upload speeds) because I can usually hear the other person, but they can't hear me, or they hear me badly broken.

Is it possible that's the problem?

My wife is so frustrated with OBi (after also being frustrated by MagicJack for intermittent poor voice quality) that I've promised to call AT&T tomorrow and renew the old land line. Reluctantly, I'll put the OBi in my box of unused computer gear, and hope for a solution in future.

Gotta do what you gotta do...

[neilio]

I've been thinking it was a problem of slow upload speed (my DSL, as usual, has fast download but slow upload speeds) because I can usually hear the other person, but they can't hear me, or they hear me badly broken.

Is it possible that's the problem?

Doubtful - I have a 7mb upload link plus I have QOS set up and I still see the problem. Also, I can't reproduce this issue using another VoIP adapter (a linksys SPA3102) or via soft phone.

I gave up on the OBI for now as we need to have a working line, but I'll open a ticket with support to see if this can be escalated.  I recommend anyone else here with this issue do the same.

[waldo2384]

I too have intermittent problems with the other party not hearing me. Also, when someone calls me, much of the time I cannot hear them say hello, but can hear subsequent speech. I'm using the Obi100 with GV.

[Stewart]

I can't believe this thread.  There are more than 50 posts, yet not a single person has taken even a modest effort to troubleshoot the problem!

It's clear that many thousands of OBi customers, the vast majority, enjoy clear phone calls.  However, there is also compelling evidence that in some circumstances, the OBi is less robust than other ATAs or software, resulting in no or poor quality outgoing audio.

If we can accurately report what goes wrong, then Obihai can find the bug or weakness and fix it.  In the meantime, the details will likely suggest a workaround to mitigate the problem.

This isn't rocket science.  The OBi might be improperly coding the audio, sending corrupted or improperly timed RTP, having intermittent networking issues, or triggering a problem at the provider.  Or, maybe it's some other issue I haven't thought of.

As a start, do you have the problem with multiple providers, e.g. Callcentric as well as GV?  On both incoming and outgoing calls?  When you are reasonably certain that the problem is not on the other end, e.g. calling a corded phone connected to a landline?  Does it affect bridged calls, as well as calls from the Phone port?  During a bad call, can you make a concurrent good call (using a softphone or other VoIP device)?  Via the same provider and server?  To the same destination?

Next, take a look at what the OBi is sending.  Using a dumb hub or a PC with two NICs, set up your PC so it can "see" the OBi's traffic.  Capture the packets with Wireshark.  When you have a bad call, save the RTP in a file and listen to it.  If bad, look at the payloads for clues.  If good, check the stream for timing or other technical problems.  If there are none, check whether e.g. a concurrent ping to the provider's server shows severe jitter or packet loss.

Of course, I have no idea what may be going wrong here; my specific suggestions may be inappropriate for the problem at hand.  However, keep your eyes open and think about what may be happening.  Pretend you're a doctor and determine what's wrong with the patient.  Don't just report that he's sick.

[neilio]

FYI - for me, it's been difficult to track down as I have zero problems using any other adapter (SPA2102 and 3102) as well as the soft phone. It's just the OBI100 hardware itself that has this issue, and for me it happens on all channels (SIP1/2 and GV). I haven't tried Obitalk yet, but as I can't reproduce this issue with any other configuration it's pretty obvious at least something relating to OBI is at fault here, though for why I don't know.

You couldn't know this as you probably haven't seen my earlier posts, but I've posted a number of times with troubleshooting info and attempts to fix this issue. I'm sure at least some others have done so, too. So please don't go assuming that people are just bitching without actually trying to troubleshoot.

[Stewart]

Neilio, assuming that the trouble occurs on a reasonably large percentage of your calls, i.e. it would only take a few tests to reproduce the problem, would you be willing to connect the OBi via your PC, so you could take a capture that you or someone else could analyze?

[Everton]

FYI - for me, it's been difficult to track down as I have zero problems using any other adapter (SPA2102 and 3102) as well as the soft phone. It's just the OBI100 hardware itself that has this issue, and for me it happens on all channels (SIP1/2 and GV). I haven't tried Obitalk yet, but as I can't reproduce this issue with any other configuration it's pretty obvious at least something relating to OBI is at fault here, though for why I don't know.

You couldn't know this as you probably haven't seen my earlier posts, but I've posted a number of times with troubleshooting info and attempts to fix this issue. I'm sure at least some others have done so, too. So please don't go assuming that people are just bitching without actually trying to troubleshoot.

It is interesting that the problem you are having is NOT one-way audio, but the fact that your audio decreases after about 2 to 3 minutes into a call.  You are the only one, to my knowledge, that have this specific issue.  If this was a systemic issue (Firmware, hardware), I would expect a significant amount of OBi users to have the same problem.  I have read a number of your posts and you keep harping back to the fact that you have no problem with your SPA3102, nor your PAP2.  It is interesting that you identify a potential issue that could be giving rise to this issue.  See below (you are also using a specific brand of DDWRT-Milkfish, also you have tested without) the router:

Just tried running the OBI "directly" connected to the modem and still had the sound drop out. The only thing I can think of is that I'm connecting the OBI to the mode via power line ethernet — I wonder if that could be what's causing the sound drop issue.

I've moved the OBI to be directly connected via ethernet to the router and will see if that helps.

[lhm.]

I am considering reverting back to firmware Maintenance Release 1.2.1(2289). Anyone know if this has the same audio problem? I don't recall any issues during it's use, but I am not a volume user.

[bitstopjoe]

 I have had the same problem since I got my OBi in March of this year with every firmware, from orig to current...

Joe Sica

[guyinsb]

ModelName   OBi110
MACAddress   9cadef00073d
SerialNumber   88B01NA00YHS
OBiNumber   200 494 NNN
HardwareVersion   2.8
SoftwareVersion   1.3.0 (Build: 2586)   (I wish the software version was available from the ObiTalk portal)

The "other person can't hear me" problem is gone (or perhaps in remission), possibly as a result
of a recent software update.  I will continue to monitor and post (my wife is being very tolerant, but
I am pressing my luck).

[bbarker]

I often have calls where the other person can't hear me and occasionally I can't hear them.  I hang up and call back and everything is OK.  I don't think it's ever happened twice in a row.  I've noticed it often happens on my first call of the day.

I've tried the port forwarding as suggested and my net connection isn't busy when this happens.  Any other suggestions?  Is there any diagnostic info I can provide that might help track down this problem?