OBI-202 - Intermittently Loses GV Dial Tone - Solved!.... Hopefully.....

[Marc4866]

1-3 Time per month now, We find we have No Dial Tone on our Google Voice (GV) connected "landline" Home phones connect to our OBI-202... We will though get calls to our Mobile Devices through GV successfully. Rebooting the 202 will get us back and running. No other indicators as to why this is occurring.  Just performed a Full OBI Factory Reset as a Test. I also wondered about the Firmware. I discovered the AUTO FIRMWARE UPDATE was set all to "OBITALK SETTINGS", which appear to not allow for Auto Update. Finding a thread about this, I changed the METHOD to PERIODICALLY and the INTERVAL to 86400. The FIRMWARE URL appears to have a default addresses, but I changed it to the recommended URL of http://www.obihai.com/firmware/OBi2-latest.fw Is this correct?  Attached is the Screen Grabs of what is there now, and though I saved all the settings, I see Exclamation marks next to these changes. I am using only one of the two Line ports and have been using OBI & GV for 3 years. This is a new issue so any advice on the corrects settings will be appreciated to hopefully pinpoint the reason(s) for the loss of Dial tone.

[drgeoff]

There is no such thing as "GV dial tone". Dial tone is generated by the OBi and it is generated even when the OBi has no network connection.

Lack of dial tone is almost always a hardware fault. If intermittent check especially the phone cord, its plugs and sockets. Is the phone plugged directly into the OBi or is it via house wiring?

[Marc4866]

Thank you for your response and clarification on what device creates the Dial Tone...

My OBI is connected via the Home Phone Wiring.....  I realize if there is any issues with it, this could cause the dead line...

Next time it occurs, I will plug a known good phone into the OBI port directly to determine if that works.

Would there be any advantage to trying to utilize Phone Port 2 of the OBI? I don't use that 2nd port otherwise.

And could you confirm if I correctly modified the Auto Update Page? 

[SteveInWA]

• You already have the latest firmware.  You do not need any further changes to the firmware settings.
• This isn't a firmware issue at all
• Unplug the OBi device from the house wiring.  Plug in a cordless phone base station directly to the Phone 1 jack, and use that instead of the house wiring.
• If no more failures, then that was the problem.  If it still fails, it was probably damaged by the house wiring, and it needs to be replaced (not under warranty).

[Marc4866]

Thank you, I will do as you suggested...

May I ask again about how I changed the Firmware Update Settings?

Is how I changed it correct and what are the Exclamation Marks indicating?

Should I change it back to the Default settings?

[drgeoff]

BTW It was pointless obliterating the MAC address of your OBi.  Nobody can do much with that.  However you made a major mistake by exposing the 9 digit number of your OBi.  Anyone with an OBi or who knows how to use the "Call OBi" link can ring your phone.  I suggest you edit your post.

[Marc4866]

OOOps!  I missed that... its been removed..... Thank you for the heads up!  Would you suggest I do a new post just for my questions regarding the Firmware as I still would like to understand the correct info to input in there if it is needed....

Here is the questions: I also wondered about the Firmware. I discovered the AUTO FIRMWARE UPDATE was set all to "OBITALK SETTINGS", which appear to not allow for Auto Update. Finding a thread about this, I changed the METHOD to PERIODICALLY and the INTERVAL to 86400. The FIRMWARE URL appears to have a default addresses, but I changed it to the recommended URL of http://www.obihai.com/firmware/OBi2-latest.fw Is this correct?  Attached is the Screen Grabs of what is there now, and though I saved all the settings, I see Exclamation marks next to these changes.

Thanks to whoever can address this .....

[SteveInWA]

Just leave the firmware settings as you've now set them.  They're fine.

The red exclamation mark appears next to a parameter when its value has been edited (even if you change it back to defaut).  I suppose you could think of it like a food or medicine bottle with a "tamper evident seal".  It is not indicating a problem.

[Marc4866]

Thank you Steve for the confirmation of the Auto Update Settings! 

[Marc4866]

After eliminating all possible reasons within my ability, I attempted to contact OBI/Polycom by Email & Phone to request if my device could be repaired. They Failed to respond to repeated requests..... I asked Amazon whom I purchased it from for help, and they were amazing. They kept me on the line while they has no success in getting a response either. Amazon then surprised me by offering to ship me a new replacement 202 at no charge, and they simply would charge OBI Back for their unacceptably poor customer service.

The replacement 202  has been installed now for 3 weeks without an issue thus far....

So it appears it was a Hardware issue all along where the 202 would fail arbitrarily.... Hopefully it continues to work.

If there was another alternative product, I would have purchased it.