Choppy call quality

[t3chnologiq]

I have a recently purchased Obihai 110 that I received from Amazon.

When I first received it the quality was good.  I have it connected to my google voice account as well as my Callcentric account (primarily for 911)

However, for the last few days the call quality is always choppy.  People can't make out what i'm saying becaues it's cutting off the beginning/end of most words.  I've updated to the latest firmware and moved it from my (gigabit) switch to being directly connected to the router (Airport Extreme Base Station - Gigabit).

My internet connection is 100/5.  If I use Skype or even the Obi clients with other people it's fine - it's just the phones I plug into the Obi that give me lousy quality.

I've also realized that most calls that are going out on the Obi connect but the audio doesn't go through either way.  Both sides have dead air.

[PhilH]

At least I'm not the only one experiencing this same problem. I had a heck of time getting the upgraded firmware to even update to Build 2690 the past couple of days. (I tried both the automatic & manual methods without success. Finally got the firmware to update (this morning) after moving the OBi110 from my Netgear DGN2000 modem/router to my Netgear FS605 switch. (The reverse of what t3chnologiq did.)

My dad is having the same type of problem with the calls dropping or dead air or sometimes not even ringing with the Build 2690 firmware as he did with the 2675 (or whatever previous version he had on it.) He has been experiencing this problem for a few days now. Both of us just use Google Voice on SP1. He has a Cisco Valet M10 Router (and no external switches).

I have noticed the declining call quality for a couple of weeks now with the previous build and the sound is very choppy. Are these problems related to Google Voice or Obi or some combination thereof? Is there a server problem or something? It's really frustrating when my only reliable way now to make and receive calls at home is via my cellphone. Both of us having been using the OBi110's for almost a year now with little complaints except for the annoyances of "this call is being recorded" happening randomly on Google Voice incoming calls--that and the occasional sound of touch tones being heard without either party pushing any buttons. I hope the dropping calls problem gets fixed soon because I've wasted many hours this weekend trying different things to try to get it working back to normal again.

[t3chnologiq]

PhilH,

Who is your ISP and what are your pings to Google's voice servers?

Also, do you get the same choppy audio when you make a call through the Gmail web interface?

[PhilH]

t3chnologiq,

My ISP is Century Link. I have their 12 MB DSL. Almost seems like my audio quality was better with the previous 1.5 MB DSL. Whatever the case, the audio quality had gotten worse over time (especially the last several weeks). With the 2690 build firmware on OBi, I haven't used it enough yet to determine if it is any better than the previous build. Not sure how I determine the "pings to the google voice server"?

I haven't used the Gmail web interface enough to determine the difference in choppy audio quality, although the few times I did use it when the OBi110 wasn't allowing me to make or receive calls, I didn't notice the sound being choppy (on my other google voice line).

Update to my previous post: Both units seem to be working again, but not sure if the audio quality has improved as I haven't made enough calls yet to compare them. Changing the following setting back to default (not sure how it could have changed) made my dad's unit able to make and receive calls (and no dead air when answering).
"Make sure Service Providers -> ITSP Profile A -> RTP -> X_UseSSL is unchecked."

[tachyon]

I'm having this same exact issue but with the latest firmware. Did any of you solve this issue?

[Shale]

I suggest that you turn off each computer or disconnect the Ethernet for testing. See if choppiness remains. If not, turn on/reconnect each computer and test for choppiness. If it does, suspect that something on that computer is consuming excess bandwidth (probably upstream). If you don't see the choppiness, start applications that you had running previously. Servers, such as torrent applications, and viruses that you do not yet know about are possibilities.

Have you made changes in your modem, such as setting up QOS or special SIP settings? Try reversing those changes.

Pinging, particularly over a long period, can be useful. Pinging your OBi, Pinging your SIP server if you know that, and pinging something independent, such as 8.8.4.4, continually can be useful. Check the recent pings whenever you experience choppiness to see if you see a correlation.