Obi202 - Line 1 works; not Line 2... ideas?

[RunsWithPixels]

I just bought a two line cordless phone; Uniden DECT4066A. Line one dials out just fine.  Line two, even when hung up, flashes green on the Obi202 even when not in use.  When I disconnect line 2's phone cord from the Obi202, I get a solid green.  When the phone line is re-connected, again the LED light flashes green and I do not get a dial tone. If it helps, I'm using Google Voice for both lines and they both show as connected: see image...

Any help is massively appreciated.

[JohnBowler]

Post an image of "Phone Port Configuration Summary" immediately below the one you posted.

[RunsWithPixels]

Hi there... here is the port configuration.


One other thing I can add is when I removed the telephone cord from line two and tried to dial out, I got a dial tone.  This is VERY strange.

[Ostracus]

Try a different cord.

[JohnBowler]

Yes, that *is* very strange.

The dial tone comes from that cord, if you disconnect it from line 2 of the phone then connect to line 2 you must get *nothing*, unless the telephone is broken.

Double check; disconnect line 1 too and see if you still get a dial tone.  If you don't your algorithm for selecting line 2 doesn't match that assumed by the telephone (this is hardly your fault; the telephone UI was invented by Edison, the Jobs of his time, and it really is the most enormous PoC.)  If you do take the telephone back to the place where you bought it and start shouting.

I have other suggestions, but factoring the telephone out of the loop is the first step.  I always have a couple of dumb analog handsets to hand; they both work and fail reliably and they were dirt cheap when I bought them.

John Bowler <jbowler@acm.org>

[Stewart]

Some telephone line cords have two wires (what's needed for one line) and some have four (the other pair is used for a second line or a special purpose).  If you look at either plug end, you can tell how many wires are there.

The OBi202 supports both lines connected through the Phone 1 port, using a four-wire cord.  This requires that the phone also support this.  If so, the jack on the phone is usually labeled "L1/L2" or similar.

The OP should try using a four-wire cord connecting OBi Phone 1 to the phone's L1 jack, with nothing plugged in to the Phone 2 port.  It's possible that both lines will work this way, with just the one cord.

If not, the OP should use two cords, with the Phone 1 port cord having only two wires, and then both lines should work fine.

[JohnBowler]

There's another important point; always test with the phone plugged directly into the OBi.  US house telephone wiring is frequently wrong and most US houses aren't wired with both lines (red-green and yellow-black) connected to the sockets.

It's easy to fix this with a telephone wiring tester, and I always do that on rental properties if the tenants want to use landline, but unless a particular socket has been tested right back to the telecom point of connection there is absolutely no guarantee it does anything sane.

John Bowler <jbowler@acm.org>