dropping and fading in and out calls

[angela]

My phone keeps on dropping calls and fading in and out.  Any idea what is going on?  I did the update that was requested last week.  I cannot talk on the phone.  Is it my personal phone or something else?

[livefortechnology]

For the first time ever with Google Voice and the Obi today our phone was almost unusable.  Calls establish both in and out but with no other activity on our 30mb/5mb internet line the call quality was choppy especially for the other end which througout the day stated we were breaking up and they could not always hear us.

[prospero]

I am also having this issue, with calls starting out OK, but quickly deteriorating in quality, becoming intermittent, and finally being dropped altogether. This is insupportable.

[livefortechnology]

I hope it's addressed either by obihai or google - they should be working together on this as both products promote usage of the other.  After almost a year of very high quality GV and Obi these sudden issues are exactly why we've held of recently purchasing one of the new series 2 obi's.  Even if it's a GV problem unfortunately many purchase the obi specifically with no intention of using another SIP provider - and let's face it I have 2 old sipura's sitting in my home there are many other ATA solutions if I wanted to use another provider - Obi's popularity has come largely from it pioneering the market for a GV ATA solution and if for whatever reason that solution is no longer viable it will really hurt Obihai in the long run.

[RonR]

Have you run any tests to determine whether the problem is with Google Voice or is elsewhere?

Does the call quality deteriorate with the echo test at **9 222 222 222?

You can have any OBi device echo your audio packets back to you by dialing *04 + **9 + OBiTALK number.

[livefortechnology]

We had two dropped GV calls today which has never happened to us.  Between the new silence issues we seem to be having, poor call quality on GV all only since they made the last change and Obi had to release the firmware fix, we're really starting to wonder if this is going to be a reliable solution in the future.  We also have a nettalk line which we've plugged into the line port on the Obi and have had no issues when using it - no call quality issues, no dropped calls, etc. but obviously we don't need the Obi to use Nettalk if we have to go that route - we only kept it for the e911.

[MichiganTelephone]

I hope it's addressed either by obihai or google - they should be working together on this as both products promote usage of the other.

I don't think you will ever see that happen because Google doesn't want to be considered a telephone company —  that would subject them to a bunch of regulations and would almost certainly mean the service would no longer be free.

[livefortechnology]

Well let me rephrase, if the Obi stops being reliable for any reason, mine's going in the trash and I won't risk investing in any of their products in the furture and I probably won't be alone - so it's in their best interest to help address what's going on and not simply ignore it.

[RFord]

What would happen come 2013 if Google Start charging for using GV, would you throw the OBI in the trash?  I get the distinct impression that you think that OBiHAI and/or Google owes you something.  Guess what, they don't and this entitlement attitude of yours is outrageous...don't you think?  There are a lot of OBi users who are using the device as with paid SIP providers or extensions on their Asterisks System.  Most of us would careless what you do with your device and are not experiencing the issues you are mentioning.  Maybe, just maybe, you need to ascertain if the problems are at your end, instead of making unsupported claims and pointing the finger elsewhere...no one owes you anything!

Well let me rephrase, if the Obi stops being reliable for any reason, mine's going in the trash and I won't risk investing in any of their products in the furture and I probably won't be alone - so it's in their best interest to help address what's going on and not simply ignore it.

[prospero]

Interesting attitude, RFord.

I've already decided to ditch OBi, but fortunately for me, I bought it from Amazon and am returning it for a refund to them today. But I do consider the service I've gotten from Google Voice as worthless, and as I've already said, would indeed trash it if GV were to start charging for their substandard service.

Because, guess what, OBi DOES owe me something. I bought their device and I expect reliable telephone service from it to the standard that has been set by AT&T and the Baby Bells in past decades, however that service is delivered.  If OBi can't do it, then they can expect to be run over by the market and left for dead.

If GV isn't the answer then OBi needs to find something that is, and the attitude that they don't really need to deliver reliable service, or can just blame everything on Google and excuse it on grounds that it's free, is completely unacceptable. 

GV may have its problems, but Google isn't providing the service out of the goodness of their hearts, any more than they do their free search engine. Google didn't get to be as huge and profitable as it is by being a charitable institution.

Regardless, OBi needs to be ready to provide an alternative to inadequate GV service, even a paid alternative, rather than expect me to go find it and figure out how to configure my box (which doesn't even come with a manual) to conform to it.  Most other home VOIP services supply their own hardware anyway, rendering the OBi box useless.

I'm sure it's great that there are "lots of satisfied users", but you know what? I don't really care. Just about every company that has been publicly criticized makes the same claim -- even if, c.f. Bernard-Haldane,  they can't actually produce any of those "satisfied customers". 

*I* am not satisfied at all. The OBi is too unreliable for *me*. GV has too many drawbacks for *me*. OBi does owe me, they failed to deliver, and their box is going back to Amazon for a refund. Meantime I've switched to a competitor that thinks they DO owe their customers good service, and actually delivers it instead of excuses.

Meantime, livefortechnology and I will be happy to share our opinions about OBi with anyone, whenever the subject comes up.

[MichiganTelephone]

livefortechnology:  If you ever get to that point, please consider donating your OBi to someone that would appreciate it.  For example, I know of a homeless shelter in Detroit that could make good use of one.  I'm sure you could find someone locally that would love to have it, if you don't want it.

prospero: I would simply say that in my opinion, your expectations are too high.  OBi devices will work with several commercial VoIP services, but apparently you seem to want something that is entirely "plug and play", where you have to do absolutely zero configuration.  Obihai devices make configuration easy, but they are not "plug and play" like certain other devices out there.  They are meant to replace devices like a Linksys PAP-2, which are even more difficult to configure, and do not have any Gioogle Voice support at all.

Those of us who have an Obihai device, and have been willing to put in the five to fifteen minutes necessary to get it working with Google Voice, and who understand that Google Voice is not 100% reliable (and that Google Voice and Obihai are not connected in any manner - the Obihai device just makes it easy to use their service IF you prefer to go the "free" route, but Obihai has no control over what Google Voice does) are VERY happy with our devices.  There are hundreds of favorable reviews on Amazon and other sites.  You are, of course, free to post your opinion, but don't be surprised if others call you out for wanting free service without having to put in even the small effort necessary to achieve it, and without understanding that you do have the option to use a paid VoIP provider with your Obihai device, if Google Voice doesn't live up to your expectations.

I would suggest that for the level of service you seem to want, there is very likely a local wireline telephone company near you that will be happy to provide it to you.  You will have to pay through the nose for it, but it will almost certainly be more reliable than Google Voice.  Just sayin'...

[Ostracus]

Because, guess what, OBi DOES owe me something. I bought their device and I expect reliable telephone service from it to the standard that has been set by AT&T and the Baby Bells in past decades, however that service is delivered.  If OBi can't do it, then they can expect to be run over by the market and left for dead.

That's really an apples and oranges comparison. We could have a level above what it is currently, but you're going to have the same cloud of regulations and most likely the price will be little different than the present incumbents.

[livefortechnology]

I agree, they do owe me something, $49.99 if their device doesn't work as advertised with Google Voice, the reason I'd bet 90%+ purchase this adapter - I DO have paid voip.ms running on a sipura ATA - that my point I don't need the friggin obi for every other voip provider - I purchased it for GV.  Whether it's the last firmware (NONE of my issues occured prior to the last required firmware and rollback is no longer an option because of GV changes), or GV itself, if it's not reliable it's not reliable.  And no, if GV begins charging in 2013 I'd keep the damn adapter IF and only IF it's a useable service.

When loyal customers who have referred others to Obi and had a successful full YEAR using their device and GV start complaining it's not working and Obi doesn't investigate you know what that becomes?  MAGIC JACK, that was the last one of these that I used with and without their adapter and when the service became unreliable crap it went in the garbage.

And to recommend as a beta tester with that tag that I spend $49 of my hard earned money and the solution Obihai sold me on after a year or working great is suddenly unreliable to simply "donate" my adapter to a homeless shelter?  I've been a technology consultant for 23 years and I can't imagine what my customers would say if a solution I sold them on suddenly stopped working and I told them to give it away as the answer.

I LIKE this product and the way it's worked until now, that's why I'm investing MY TIME trying to get someone at Obi to look into it, as have OTHERS here - I'm not the only one having the EXACT same issues since the last firmware and GV changed something - even if Obi definitively determined it's a GV change issue we'd have an answer and since it's THEIR product powering our primary 2 GV lines it actually is reasonable to expect.

[carl]

I had a few suddenly dropped calls on GV lately- without fading out, more like a dropped cell on a cell phone. But i do not believe that this is an Obi issue because I do not have a problem with my SIP provider on the same Obi.
The other issue, namely that GV suddenly does not ' hear' the DTMF from my cell phones is certainly not obi related. It unfortunately renders the whole call screening useless.
I do not think that charging for GV is a good idea unless Google intends to become a regular VOIP provider. So, it will be a question of reliability and customer service. If they start charging without improving, they will loose most of the customers.
Obi is very easy to configure with GV but it can become much more complicated with some SIP providers. An expert help is often needed.

[S--F]

It must be difficult for OBI reps to see such comments made against them. It's not their fault if GV isn't as robust as POTS. There is only so much weight they can lean on Google. All they're trying to do is leverage a FREE product with their hardware. If there is evidence that their hardware is at fault and not Google Voice I would like to see it and I'm sure Obihai would also.

[jimates]

So if you bought a fancy telephone to use with a land line service, and it worked great for a year, then they made some changes and the phone did not work the same as before, you would want a refund for the telephone?

This is exactly why Google doesn't charge for the service, it isn't reliable enough and there is no support worthy of a paid subscription.

[mvg1]

I am having the same issue of fading calls and do not think GV is an issue as calls forwarding to cell phones are clear and fine.

Calls through Obi alone have this issue.