Pubic/Open Wifi Not working with Telo Air 2

[jt25741]

Hi All,

I have a new Telo Air 2, I have verified it is functioning correctly on my wifi network, once I realized it hard-codes DNS inquires to a server not specified by DHCP. I have a firewall requiring OpenDNS only be used, and Telo doesn't allow this. This is a shame, since my Ooma Hub is functioning just fine with OpenDNS only. This is a common security practice, and not good that Ooma requires any DNS server to be open. This can circumvent controls and security.

My main problem, however, is relating to another network which I do not manage. I purchased the Telo 2 for my Mothers apartment. Her building provides reasonably fast Wifi for all the residents as part of the cost of rent. I can connect any number of phones, FireTVs, and PCs to the wifi without issues. It is open (no encryption) 2.4Ghz 802.11n...nothing fancy or weird. I have ran a firewall port check, and everything shows open (no firewall or ports blocked or stealthed) The only device I cannot connect is the Ooma Telo Air 2 . It fails to initialize and just blinks red forever. It could be that this is the same DNS issue, but since I am not the admin of this network I dont really know. It is not a signal strength problem, as devices all around it are connected . FireTV is streaming HD fine. I really want to get the Telo working but am afraid I may have to give up on it and return it to Amazon . I hope somebody can help with some suggestions. Seen this before?

Thanks

Jim

[tantalo]

Jim-

Did you find out any resolution to your problem? I am experiencing the same issue for my mother-in-law's senior living center which is using spectrum-community wifi access.

This is my issue. I need to get past the firewall by specifying a device mac address. I specify the teleo 2 MAC address, but I can't get past the red blinking light during activation. I called both ooma and spectrum. Ooma said it is a firewall issue, and spectrum said everything "looks" good from their end. Spectrum did say that the mac address requesting access through the firewall was not the one I specified in the manage device page. (Though it was the same address on the teleo device.) I changed the MAC address of the telo to on the permission page of the device requesting access, but still not luck.

Thanks.

Frank

[murphy]

If you are using the WiFi adapter you need to specify the MAC address of the WiFi adapter.

[jt25741]

Hi Frank,

We are in a very similar situation. I have had nothing but trouble getting the Telo Air 2 to work reliably with Wifi. For my installation at my Mothers place (which happens to be a senior living home too), I couldn't get it to work. I used a very reliable (in other scenarios) TP-Link Wifi Bridge and used that for connecting to the Telo over Ethernet. Even that didnt work, suggesting very strongly that during the initialization sequence those hard DNS calls are getting blocked by some firewall. Since that init sequence Telo uses is unconfigurable... I had no choice but to ditch the wifi network and install my own Cable Internet service (pay for it). Far less than ideal. Incidentally, even with my private Internet service I still couldnt get the Telo air to connect reliably over wifi. It would initialize and connect but would disconnect all the time... And this is using the wired connection! I was only able to get it to work reliably when the telo was sitting between the Cable Modem and the Asus Router (all hardwired) and completely not using the extra $$ Air feature and Wifi. Then Finally it is reliable. Ooma telos are much much much more picky than the old reliable Hubs ...one of which I still have in service at my home, behind my router and working very solidly.

Jim