Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Need extra help installing your Ooma Hub or Telo system? Let us know.
User avatar
Dennis P
Ooma Moderator
Posts:1858
Joined:Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:09 am
Location:Palo Alto, CA
Contact:
Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by Dennis P » Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:14 pm

cetacea wrote:I'm relatively new to Ooma, having just installed ours last week, but what I'm getting from my readings is that the Ooma hub, regardless of the number of Scouts attached, will provide a maximum of 2 LINES.

You can add up to 9 additional phone NUMBERS, but only 2 LINES can be active with an Ooma Hub. In other words, if both lines are busy, and you have 2 additional phone NUMBERS, they would be sent directly to voice mail.

The only way to have more than 2 LINES is through the addition of yet another Ooma Hub. I believe I came across a few threads discussing the setup of 2 Ooma Hubs, one downstream of the next.

It would be interesting to know if both, the First In or the Last Out, would have to configure the DMZ for the router downstream.
Absolutely correct. Please note the difference between numbers and lines. ooma currently only supports two lines. If you need four, you should get two ooma Hubs.

You cannot have two ooma Hubs using the same phone wiring to connect ooma Scouts. Most newish homes and offices should be pre-wired with two pairs. You can run one ooma system on one pair (line 1) and another ooma system on the second pair (line 2). A simple L1 + L2 splitter from Radio Shack makes it easy to access either pair.

You can daisychain Hubs. I would see if you really need the QoS in the Hub. If you don't, it may be simpler to put the Hubs behind the router. If do end up daisychaining them, you should change the LAN subnet of one of the Hubs. Otherwise the second Hub will have both the WAN and LAN interface on the same subnet and the box will be confused.

oomg
Posts:593
Joined:Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:59 am
Location:SoCal -- L.A.

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by oomg » Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:33 am

Dennis P wrote:Most newish homes and offices should be pre-wired with two pairs. You can run one ooma system on one pair (line 1) and another ooma system on the second pair (line 2). A simple L1 + L2 splitter from Radio Shack makes it easy to access either pair.
Since you have answered the original question, I don't think I am hijacking the thread, but do I have a related follow-up question.

I have a friend who is interested in the ooma service. He currently has high speed broadband service by cable with a separate single line phone service which he wants to retain so that he has landline service for emergency use.

He has also expressed some concern about porting his personal phone number to ooma (due primarily to what I hope are unfounded concerns about ooma's long term viability in the market).

So, as I understand, if he wants all his incoming calls to come in on the ooma system, he has a couple options:
(1) to port his number to ooma, or (2) to maintain basic phone service with his landline carrier (Verizon) and add call forwarding to his ooma line. In either case, the ooma system can use the "second pair" to route calls to the 2-3 Scouts that would be needed to complete the system.

In the event of an interuption in internet service or a power outage (that would not otherwise affect the landline), the landline could still be used. Do I have this right?

oomg
oomg -- Voice Over Internet Person

I've learned a lot here... two months ago I didn't even know how to spell VOIP and now I are one.

WayneDsr
Posts:3790
Joined:Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:28 pm
Location:Northern Indiana

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by WayneDsr » Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:53 am

As soon as ooma goes "red" (network outage or power failure) my dialtone changes from ooma dial tone to landline.
So it's a "yes" to your last question.

Wayne

EDIT: I have a separate landline with call forwarding on landline.

User avatar
Dennis P
Ooma Moderator
Posts:1858
Joined:Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:09 am
Location:Palo Alto, CA
Contact:

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by Dennis P » Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:11 pm

oomg wrote: Since you have answered the original question, I don't think I am hijacking the thread, but do I have a related follow-up question.

I have a friend who is interested in the ooma service. He currently has high speed broadband service by cable with a separate single line phone service which he wants to retain so that he has landline service for emergency use.

He has also expressed some concern about porting his personal phone number to ooma (due primarily to what I hope are unfounded concerns about ooma's long term viability in the market).

So, as I understand, if he wants all his incoming calls to come in on the ooma system, he has a couple options:
(1) to port his number to ooma, or (2) to maintain basic phone service with his landline carrier (Verizon) and add call forwarding to his ooma line. In either case, the ooma system can use the "second pair" to route calls to the 2-3 Scouts that would be needed to complete the system.

In the event of an interuption in internet service or a power outage (that would not otherwise affect the landline), the landline could still be used. Do I have this right?

oomg
Yep you got it. Your friend can keep his landline carrier and use his ooma box in "landline" mode. Incoming calls will come in through the landline since Verizon still owns the number. All long-distance calls and international calls will go out his broadband connection over the ooma network. He can run his Scouts on the same telephone pair as his landline (doesn't need to use the second pair) because we use a separate frequency spectrum so as not to interfere with the baseband phone service. The advantage of this is that if his Internet or power goes out, a relay will automatically trip in the ooma boxes and connects his phones directly to the landline so he can still make and receive calls including 911 calls, even if ooma isn't in service.

The main disadvantage of keeping the landline is obviously the cost (but could be viewed as "insurance" for some folks) and they also need to pay Verizon for caller-ID if they want it. ooma provides caller-ID for free on numbers we own, but in landline mode, we rely on the landline to provide caller-ID.

User avatar
jmassimilla
Posts:525
Joined:Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:38 am
Location:Burlington County, South Jersey

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by jmassimilla » Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:05 pm

If you wanted 4 independent phone numbers,requiring a second hub and scout, would you have to institute new service on the second hub and pay for a second premier service or would the second hub and scout be treated as an extension of the first, only paying an additional $4.99 each for the additional 2 lines?
Customer since Feb 2009
2 Hub/Scout
1 Telo/Handset
Lifetime Premier Subscriber

trim81
Posts:262
Joined:Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:14 pm

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by trim81 » Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:12 pm

new hub = new service

oomg
Posts:593
Joined:Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:59 am
Location:SoCal -- L.A.

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by oomg » Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:32 pm

Yep you got it. Your friend can keep his landline carrier and use his ooma box in "landline" mode. Incoming calls will come in through the landline since Verizon still owns the number. All long-distance calls and international calls will go out his broadband connection over the ooma network. He can run his Scouts on the same telephone pair as his landline (doesn't need to use the second pair) because we use a separate frequency spectrum so as not to interfere with the baseband phone service. The advantage of this is that if his Internet or power goes out, a relay will automatically trip in the ooma boxes and connects his phones directly to the landline so he can still make and receive calls including 911 calls, even if ooma isn't in service.[/quote]

"Incoming calls will come in through the landline since Verizon still owns the number. All long-distance calls and international calls will go out his broadband connection over the ooma network. ???

If he activates call forwarding to his ooma line, wouldn't all incoming calls be routed through ooma thus gaining all of ooma's features. And wouldn't all outbound calls made on a phone attached to ooma (hub or scout) go through ooma's system?

oomg
oomg -- Voice Over Internet Person

I've learned a lot here... two months ago I didn't even know how to spell VOIP and now I are one.

murphy
Posts:7554
Joined:Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:49 pm
Location:Pennsylvania

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by murphy » Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:38 pm

The recommendation for this configuration is to provision the land line with busy call forwarding, not call forwarding.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

oomg
Posts:593
Joined:Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:59 am
Location:SoCal -- L.A.

Re: Structure for 4 phone lines, 2 ooma Hubs, Cable Internet?

Post by oomg » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:14 pm

murphy wrote:The recommendation for this configuration is to provision the land line with busy call forwarding, not call forwarding.
Appreciate the comment, but as I understand, he wants to have all incoming calls routed to his ooma line(s) in order to fully utilize the voice mail service. Thus it would seem to make sense for him to forward all inbound calls to his ooma number so long as the system is up (i.e. no internet or power outage). If the system is down he can simply cancel call forwarding (by pressing *73) and thereafter making and receiving all calls on his landline.

oomg
oomg -- Voice Over Internet Person

I've learned a lot here... two months ago I didn't even know how to spell VOIP and now I are one.

Post Reply