Click (every half second) when call is on Hold

[Drac144]

I have an OBI 202.  I had a phone connected for a year and NO problems.  I just got a new phone (AT&T ML17929) and I get a clicking noise through speaker and handset ONLY when either line is put on HOLD. If I have just the second line (standard AT&T landline)  connected to the phone - NO CLICKING.  If I have OBI connected (with or without the landline) the clicking occurs when either line is put on hold.

Any thoughts about what settings in the OBI could be causing this or can be adjusted to eliminate this?

[drgeoff]

I don't know if the following is the cause of the clicking but is something you need to be aware of.

The PHONE1 jack of an Obi202 has both the phone1 and phone2 circuits wired to it.  The phone1 circuit is on the two centre pins (3 and 4) and the phone2 circuit is on the two adjacent pins (2 and 5).  This makes it convenient to connect the Obi's two phone ports to a 2-line phone using a single 4-conductor cable. (Similar to Option 1 in your phone manual. https://manuals.plus/at-t/ml17929-two-line-corded-telephone-with-caller-idcall-waiting-manual)

However if one line of the phone is wired to another "phone line" such as in your case a landline there is the possibility that the landline is also inadvertently wired to one of the OBi's phone circuits.  Not only will that cause "strange things", it can also permanently damage the OBi to the extent that its phone circuits no longer work and thus effectively the Obi is no longer a useful device.

The problem can be avoided by either:

1.  Using only a 2-conductor cable to connect to the OBi's PHONE1 jack.

or

2.  Using only the PHONE2 jack of the OBi.  (Either a 2-conductor or a 4-conductor cable is OK as only the centre two pins of that jack are wired to the OBi's internals.)

[Drac144]

Thanks for your reply. I AM aware of the issue with the 2 lines - I found out the hard way when I first got the OBI.  I now have my phone on port 2 of the OBI202 and my fax machine (which does not use the line 2 connections) using port 1.  I originally had it the other way.  So that is not the problem. As an aside, the FAX is very unreliable via VOIP.  It is not the OBI because that happens even when I have the fax line sent to my VOIP service's default fax system.  Sometimes the FAX call works - and sometimes it doesn't.  Good thing that FAX's are not much of a thing now and most places are fine with attaching a PDF to an email.

Back to the clicking.  I got a replacement for my new phone.  The clicking is still there but it is intermittent. With the original phone it started immediately when a line was put on hold and continued as long as a line is on hold. The replacement phone has gaps of several seconds between groups of clicks.  A group can be one to maybe 4 clicks (half second apart).  The problem could be in the OBI - the new phone may just have more tolerance to a signal or voltage being out of range.  I was hoping to get some ideas about what OBI phone interface parameters I could experiment with to see if I can stop the clicking completely in this replacement unit.

[drgeoff]

1. If a phone puts a line (landline or OBi phone port) on hold properly then the telco's switch or OBi should not even be aware that has happened.

2.. If I understand correctly, your experiences include the following situation.  PHONE2 jack of the OBi202 is connected to one line of the 2-line phone.  The other line of that phone is not connected to anything.  You use the hold function of the phone to put that other line on hold. You hear clicking on the line connected to the OBi.