Ooma Forums

New user -- Our phones are working well in the office where Ooma is set up -- and in nearby rooms -- but not at all in our bedroom on the other side of the apartment. Any suggestions on how to address this?

How are all the various phones connected to each other and to your Ooma device?

I have one cordless handset/answering machine set up between our modem and router. We have one other cordless handset that never plugged into a phone jack. Before I got the ooma, the answering machine/handset was in a more central location in our apt, plugged into a phone jack. Our modem is at one of the ends of the apt, and the other end doesn't get service. Maybe I need a HomePlug or to use the homedistribution option.

tweissberg wrote:I have one cordless handset/answering machine set up between our modem and router. We have one other cordless handset that never plugged into a phone jack. Before I got the ooma, the answering machine/handset was in a more central location in our apt, plugged into a phone jack. Our modem is at one of the ends of the apt, and the other end doesn't get service. Maybe I need a HomePlug or to use the homedistribution option.

I wouldn't bother with the HomePlug if you have a phone jack near where the modem sits. We can walk you through using your home wiring to distribute dialtone to the location where your cordless phone base used to sit. We'll need a little information to give you the best advice - you have already said that you live in an apartment but do you have DSL or cable as a source of your Internet? Also, what is your level of comfort working with low voltage (telephone) wiring? If you are comfortable doing so, remove the wall plate from the locations involved and see what colors of wires are avaialble. You probably have two pair connected - a blue/white pair and an orange/white pair. See if a green/white pair is wrapped around the cable, unused. If so, that is the pair we will be using to distribute your dialtone.

thanks for the help. we have cable, not dsl.
we do have a phone jack in the office (where the ooma is), as well, of course, in the foyer where we used to have the base of our digital phone and where we'd like to keep it. with both jacks, there are green and red wires in use, and black and yellow wires unused.

I just checked the phone jack in the office -- it's not working.

Sorry I was out for a bit for a function we have on our property 5 times a year - an event at the Glory Barn. It seems like your apartment was wired with the older two pair (quad) wiring. Disconnect the red and green wires and replace them with the yellow and black ones - black replaces red and yellow replaces green. Do this to both jacks then run a modular cord from the jack in the office to the ooma PHONE jack and connect up your cordless base in the foyer. It should work just fine. If not, it means that there needs to be a connection made between the cable runs where the phone distribution panel is for the complex - hopefully we won't have to go there! Let us know.

I tried as you suggested, but didn't get an ooma dial tone. A couple of thoughts as to why not -- as I said, the office jack wasn't working for phone before I did the rewiring; maybe that's the problem? Maybe it's a jack to nowhere? Also -- the jack in the foyer had more than just the four wires. There were at least two red and green wires (only one of each of which went to the phone jack). I only replaced the ones that went to the jack with the yellow and black wires. Should I have replaced all of the red and green wires with the single green and black ones? Or, of course, it could be something else entirely.

The reason why the office jack isn't working may be as simple as the connection in the foyer was never made. If there are more than just one red and green, then I would guess that there are more than one yellow and black. Try connecting the other ones that are there - it may be the ends of the ones that appear in the office. Let us know.

That may be the case. However, the extra black and yellow wires in the foyer don't have clips for attaching to the jack. They look like they were snipped.