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Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:29 am
by mike8712
I've used the hub/scout system and moved to the Telo last year. I have a really strong internet connection. My problem is that I am now consistently being disconnected and it's going on with the Telo - I can remove it and I'm fine with the straight modem/router hookup (I've had the same service for 5+ years with zero downtime). Lately though I can wake up in the morning and my Telo is blinking red. Or some times it's still blue but I notice my connection is lost if I am connected on a wireless device or my computer that is wired into it. In either case, it's a quick-fix - I simply unplug the Ooma and then wait a few seconds and plug it back in. It all works fine again.

Now, here's the problem. My wife is convinced the service is no good and wants to get rid of it. She's the one who primarily uses the phone and has issues. Or the internet disconnects while she is trying to call. So I need some help. I tried QoS based on my speedtest results and have tried a few other things in the Ooma setup with the MAC address based on what I have seen on this forum. I have it set up the standard way - cable from wall to modem - from modem to ooma - from ooma to router. So I am not set up behind the router. I have a new modem (Motorola SB6120) and a new router (Linksys E3000) - I get strong results from speedtest and a "A" rating from pingtest.

What I need is someone to tell me exactly what I should tweak to set all of this. Behind router, in front of it (how to do that), also what to put in my QoS and my MAC address settings, also giving this higher priority in my router settings. I've done all of this, but now I'm afraid I might not be doing this correct and just want to start fresh and get this done right.

Here are my test results from the VOIP speed test to hopefully help. Thank you for any help you can provide. I want this resolved and want to be a happy Ooma customer and save the service.


VoIP test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 0.2 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 0.6 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 0.0 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.0 %
Packet discards: 0.0 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Estimated MOS score: 4.2

Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 13774040 bps
Upload speed: 2860504 bps
Download quality of service: 96 %
Upload quality of service: 98 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum TCP delay: 58 ms
Average download pause: 2 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 64 ms
Average round trip time to server: 69 ms
Estimated download bandwidth: 69600000bps
Route concurrency: 5.0529838
Download TCP forced idle: 89 %
Maximum route speed: --

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:54 am
by lbmofo
I am not sure why when you lose connection via wifi or hardwire (to router) all you need to do is to power cycle only the ooma device to get up and running again. When this happens with suspect router, the router has to be rebooted.

In any case you mention that your ooma device sometimes turns red. It might be worth while to try a hard reset of the modem (restore factory settting) so your modem would operate within your cable line properties (this changes once in a while when cable company changes things).
lbmofo wrote: If the cable company got your new modem's MAC setup correctly and all and your modem still doesn't want to get online, the answer might be a hard reset (either through a reset button on the modem device or through modem device URL page: http://192.168.100.1 do a "restore factory default" and reboot). This will make your modem relearn your cable line parameters/characteristics.
lbmofo wrote:Connect to the status page of your cable modem and check a few things:

http://192.168.100.1

The downstream signal power should be between -10 and +10 dBmV.

The Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) should be 35 or more.

The upstream power level should be less than 55 dBmV.


Use Built in Modem Port MAC Address instead of Automatic:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8045

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:14 am
by mike8712
Thanks lbmofo. I will tell you that most of the time the service disconnect without it blinking red. I will know because I lose my wireless connection or if I am hardwired it's also obvious. I just noticed every week or so I would wake up with it like that.

Anyway, I went ahead and left it as Modem -> Ooma -> Router which is how I've set it up from the beginning as well. I walked through your post and checked the modem settings - they are all in the ranges you mentioned.

I had just switched the MAC address to use built-in last night (but still had disconnections today). I went ahead and powered down and followed the steps in powering back on the way they are connected: 1)Modem 2) Ooma 3) Router. As usual, everything is back now ok, but I don't know if this has resolved anything as I could power off before and power back on and I was good.

One question on QoS - I ran speedtest just now and was showing:
20.67 Mb/s down
2.82 Mb/s up

Sometimes at night the up dips to around 1.0 Mb/s. I don't know if powering down and back up in the proper order will affect any of this. Anyway, what would you suggest I put in on the QoS area on the ooma setup on upstream internet stream (kpbs)? Maybe I have had this wrong?

Lastly, since my current setup has the Ooma in front of the router, there is no need for me to give the Ooma priority in the router setup, correct?

Let me know if you think I should put the Ooma behind the router and if so what steps to take to do so. Thanks again for your help - I just don't want any more down time because of a connection issue that can be resolved. It seems like I have really strong internet speeds which is why this process has been frustrating to deal with.

Thanks!!

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:46 am
by lbmofo
mike8712 wrote:I had just switched the MAC address to use built-in last night (but still had disconnections today). I went ahead and powered down and followed the steps in powering back on the way they are connected: 1)Modem 2) Ooma 3) Router. As usual, everything is back now ok, but I don't know if this has resolved anything as I could power off before and power back on and I was good.
Powering down and powering up the Modem doesn't force the modem to re-learn your cable line characteristics. I'd suggest doing a modem reset. After a reset, the modem takes a while to come online again. Here is how:
lbmofo wrote:If the cable company got your new modem's MAC setup correctly and all and your modem still doesn't want to get online, the answer might be a hard reset (either through a reset button on the modem device or through modem device URL page: http://192.168.100.1 do a "restore factory default" and reboot). This will make your modem relearn your cable line parameters/characteristics.
mike8712 wrote:One question on QoS - I ran speedtest just now and was showing:
20.67 Mb/s down
2.82 Mb/s up
If you consistently test 2.82Mb/s then the QoS upstream setting in your ooma should be 2250 (Kbps) which is 80% of your measured upstream speed.
mike8712 wrote:Sometimes at night the up dips to around 1.0 Mb/s. I don't know if powering down and back up in the proper order will affect any of this. Anyway, what would you suggest I put in on the QoS area on the ooma setup on upstream internet stream (kpbs)? Maybe I have had this wrong?
Try resetting your modem like above and see if this improves any. I think maybe you'll see 2Mb/s at the least. In this case, you might want to set the QoS at 1600 (Kbps) to be on the safe side.
mike8712 wrote:Lastly, since my current setup has the Ooma in front of the router, there is no need for me to give the Ooma priority in the router setup, correct?
Correct.

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:04 am
by mike8712
lbmofo wrote: Powering down and powering up the Modem doesn't force the modem to re-learn your cable line characteristics. I'd suggest doing a modem reset. After a reset, the modem takes a while to come online again.
Ok, I will do this now. I pulled up the modem config and see "restart cable modem" - here is my question - when should I disconnect Ooma and router during this process? I want this to come back on in the correct order, right?

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:05 am
by lbmofo
Need everything off, wait until modem comes online, then power up the ooma, wait til blue, then the router.

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:15 am
by lbmofo
Not sure for your model, whether "restart" is same as "restore factory setting" but take a look around in your modem URL, restore factory setting is what you need. I see one person on the net saying "restore to defaults" is in the diagnostics screen.

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:22 am
by mike8712
lbmofo wrote:Need everything off, wait until modem comes online, then power up the ooma, wait til blue, then the router.
Ok, sorry for all the questions. If I disconnect Ooma, I can't access the modem configuration page or any pages - I just tried. Are you saying leave everything connected, restart modem, then disconnect others and re-connect in proper order?

As far as my modem settings, here is what it looks like. Let me know which button - "reset all defaults" or "restart cable modem"
Image

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:27 am
by lbmofo
"Reset All Defaults" is correct. Pressing that alone doesn't do anything as I remember it. You'd need to press that and then press the restart cable modem button. While modem is doing the light show, you can turn off ooma and your router. Not sure if it is 100% necessary but I would do it. Wait until modem comes online (they say may take up to 30 minutes but should be faster than that) then, power up ooma, wait til blue, then turn on the router. After this please report back if you still experience the disconnects.

Re: Help please - Long-time user - consistently disconnected

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 2:06 pm
by mike8712
lbmofo wrote:"Reset All Defaults" is correct. Pressing that alone doesn't do anything as I remember it. You'd need to press that and then press the restart cable modem button. While modem is doing the light show, you can turn off ooma and your router. Not sure if it is 100% necessary but I would do it. Wait until modem comes online (they say may take up to 30 minutes but should be faster than that) then, power up ooma, wait til blue, then turn on the router. After this please report back if you still experience the disconnects.
I pressed the "reset all defaults" and it happened right away, there was no waiting so I was really surprised. Nothing really happened though. I pressed the restart button, then unplugged the other two when it actually powered off and on. Then plugged back into the right order.

I'm getting the similar speeds, but I'll test it tonight. I left my QoS at 1000 because at night my speedtest results would show that. If it ends up being stronger tonight I will bump it up.

I'm still not sure this is going to correct anything, but I certainly hope so. If it still disconnects, I guess the next thing to try is to put the Ooma behind the router? Thanks again for your help.