Call Quality Slidder

[ram104]

It seems like this issue came to a stand still. I would really like an answer from ooma. Like anyone else I tried calling ooma 4 times with hold times up over 30 minutes. The one and only time I did get through it was like talking to a cocky highschool kid. I went through the common sense trouble shooting like adjusting QoS and resetting my modem and ooma device with no luck. The final answer was to call Comcast and I guess ask them what they had for lunch because they desgined the ooma device and have vast knowledge of how it works.
Don't get me wrong I really love the device and free phone service, after the intinal $250, but without help its useless. Its like selling my grandmother a computer and tell her goodluck grandma....

[Timothy]

RAM102, My exact feelings as you expressed. I have also made various emails to support along with phone calls. Ooma either knows of this and is not willing to take blame or assist in a fix. I have been told the QOS is the issue when in fact it's not. Niether is it Comcast to blame. The Ooma device is connected directly to the modem. I have had Vonage and Comcast VOIP for years with perfect service. Knowing my experience with Vonage and the ablity to adjust the bandwidth on the fly creates the exact same experience. When adjusting the bandwidth to a very low bandwidth rate the sound is identical to what we are experiencing on the callers end (simular to the quality of cell phone) I have also asked Ooma to exchange my device and no response back. I know Ooma has put a lot of thought and expense to this device and is a great product. I truely believe if they don't step up the service level they will not exceed in the future. Many people are reading these reviews prior to purchasing as many people are not willing to take on problems to deal with. I'm willing to work with support to beta test or work a fix with them in the mean time but instead I feel as if were being ignored. I think next approach is to find somebody high up in Ooma to discuss our concerns...

[mthomtech]

I'm having the same issue. The sound quality on my side is great, but the one listening gets crackles and static when the ooma side is talking. I also had Vonage for years with no issue, so I'm not sure why ooma has an issue. The pipe is definitely big enough, 20 down and 5 up. By the way, I have Verizon FiOS, so it's probably not Comcast.

Do you get the same results from the hub or scout?

[Timothy]

I just called from work on our land line to home with Ooma. The Scout is the same way.. Crackling when the person talks and the sound quality not that great. In fact, the quality deteriated on the 1st call where I had to hang up since I couldn't hear the other end, but Ooma side could hear me.. I had to call back to do the test. Ooma ?? you seeing the responses here from others with same problem??

[mthomtech]

I can't tell if mine is worse from the scout or not, but the scout is what I mainly use (as it's hooked to my cordless system). My hub is hooked to the fax machine, which seems to work ok.

It's definitely strange. The crackling is noticeable, and as you mentioned can get very bad.

Do the QoS settings help ... I doubt my ooma settings would help as it is downstream of the router, but maybe some changes on the router. My vonage was hooked up the same way and never a problem, with no adjustments on my part.

There's got to be a reason for this phenomenon ... and a fix ...

[Timothy]

As I'm sure you know Fios is the cream of the crop connection. QOS makes no difference what so ever for me. I'm connected from the Modem to the Ooma device.

[ram104]

I'm using Comcast with great downloads and upload speeds. I have my cordless phone hooked up directly to the hub with nothing else connected to it.
Like were all saying on the oomas side everything sounds great, but on the other persons side there's crackle in there voice with cell like quality. Forget the QoS settings I tried everything with no change. I'm at a stand still.

[Timothy]

Since I'm at work I have two phone lines on Land Line to test. I called my Ooma number while my son picked up the phone on the hub. I used my second line to call again which ran the phone off the Scout. It is apparent the Scout on the receipant end is getting the scratchy sound when the person speaking from the Ooma phone. I am not noticing the scratchy sound from the hub. This is a problem with Ooma that many many not be aware. 2nd problem is that the reciepant sound quality is also much less than on the receiver (ooma) side from both hub and scout. So hopefully Ooma can resolve both these pending problems.

[mthomtech]

That's good info. My hub is hooked to my fax, but when my wife added a phone from the fax, I didn't notice the crackle, which made me think it may be the scout.

How do you have your phone wiring to the scout. I'd read that if you have the whole house wired to get a phone signal to the hub, you should have the "wall" port wired to a different pair (to carry signal to the scout). However, I'd seen a few posts where a splitter was used to wire the "wall" and "phone" port of the hub to the house wiring. That's what I did ... although my "house" wiring is just one jack in the office and one in the bedroom.

This allows me to use the bedroom port with or without the scout. If I don't put the scout on, I just get the ooma hub dialtone (same as the fax in the office). However, I like having the scout with the answering machine (my favorite feature) and the second line features in the bedroom. I remember when I made initial test calls, I had not added the scout in the bedroom (the bedroom port runs my cordless system). All calls at that time (which would have been the hub signal) were reported to be great. The problem was noticed after I added the scout.

I suppose I could get around the issue (if the hub really is OK) and hook my cordless system through the fax in the office (so it's all coming off the hub) and use the scout by itself, or with a separate single phone in the bedroom. That would give me the scout functions (and second line - with bad sound, if I ever REALLY needed it). But that's just working around the issue.

I was seriously thinking about another scout to make a fully dedicated office in another room, but if the scout's quality is that bad, that's not going to be an option.

[Timothy]

mthomtech, you gave me some things to think about. When I get home I'm going to try some wiring configurations. When I had my house build I wired cat5e to a wiring closet. Right now its the office and bedroom only. I will try wiring to a different pair and bring the scout to the office and wiring direct to the hub. If all else fails, I'll put a Y adapter in the bedroom where the scout is and plug my phone in that way and use the scout to use as a monitoring tool and voicemail screening for the 1st line and just loose the 2nd line all together. But regardless, the hub quality still is at cell phone quality (without the scratchness) and wish for additional bandwidth or codec fix for a clearer call on the receiver end. But sounds like Ooma is not setup to allow this for now like Vonage is.