Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

This forum includes tips for maintaining the best audio quality possible with the Ooma System. If your Ooma system is having issues with dropped calls, static audio or echo, look here for assistance.
bohicaIL
Posts:37
Joined:Fri Jan 08, 2010 3:08 pm
Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by bohicaIL » Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:38 am

bohicaIL wrote:
thunderbird wrote:
bohicaIL wrote:When called by a neighbor who is also an Ooma subscriber, the call quality is great for a while and then suddenly I can't hear his voice for around 10 seconds or so... sometimes more. He tells me he never loses my voice, and if I hang on long enough his voice usually comes back.

We both use Mediacom (cable) as our HSI provider, and both have Ooma Telo's configured behind Dlink DIR 655 routers. Neither has the IP configured in the DMZ of the router.

I've not had this issue with any other callers... he claims he has not either... I'm baffled!

Suggestions? Anyone else experience this?
To help stabilize your Ooma Internet connection, both you and your neighbor should do the following :
If your connection is Modem-Router-Ooma, temporarily connect a network cable from your Ooma device home port, to the wired LAN port of a computer. Temporarily turn off Wi-Fi in the computer, if turned on. Reboot the computer. Access your Ooma Setup pages by typing http://172.27.35.1 in your computer browser window. The Ooma Setup pages open. Click on Internet, go down to INTERNET Port MAC Address: and change setting from Automatic to Use Built In. Click on Update device. Reboot your Modem, when the Modem is done booting reboot your Router, when the Router is done booting, reboot your Ooma device. Next test this configuration.

Note: Reboot means remove power, then plug power back in for the device in the order listed above.

Next: if the problem continues reserve a static IP address for the Ooma device in your router(s) and test.

Next: if the problem continues place the static IP address for the Ooma device in your router(s)'s DMZ and test.

Please report back as to what works or don't work because we don't see this problem with Ooma to Ooma calls very much. Thanks in advance.
After I posted the above, I found your posting on setting up Ooma with the D-link DIR-655, so I followed it on my setup, including the QOS settings within the router and disabled within Ooma. I still need to do this on my neighbor's setup, but hope to get to it this week. After that, if the problem persists, I'll try DMZ for both IPs. Will post back when I've seen some results. Thanks.
I finally got to make the same changes on my neighbors Ooma/DIR-655 setup, and so far so good. We've not had any voice dropouts in calls to each other.

thunderbird
Posts:6388
Joined:Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:41 pm

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by thunderbird » Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:52 am

bohicaIL:
Great!

trigger1937
Posts:20
Joined:Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:08 am

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by trigger1937 » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:25 am

T'bird,..and others,... It's been weeks working to get things fixed but I think I have finally succeeded. In the hope of saving others the wasted time I used I will briefly list what failed and what worked. First off working with AT&T Broadband is like calling up someone in Washington DC and asking "Who is in charge". I think for my DSL questions I was re-connected at least 10 times over three days and got nowhere.

I finally got a ATT Tech to come to the house. He had stopped and ran a two hour check on my line at some substation. Test met all of their criteria. Because the UP and DWN performance always looked better when the speeds where lower, he and I suggested we have them drop the service level from 3.0 Mbs to 1.5Mbs and test it for a week. He called someone at service office and they cut the speed. Tested for a week and no improvement, maybe worse. Called ATT and requested the service be put back. The repair department saw it was at 1.5Mbs but had no authority to change anything,...switched to central,...not them,... switched,..not them,...switched,... oh you need to go back to sale and get an "Upgrade Service Order". Got to sales and they looked at the account and said the account was alread at 3.0Mbs and they could not issue any change order,...on an on and on. I hung up and someone and waited a day. Then it got really bad,..the entire dSL was down,,..or up and down. Then magically the next day it was back to 3.0Mbs,..but the quality was terrible.

This is where I decided to switch over to a new modem as my old Speedstream 5100 is 10 years old. The first modem I tried was an older Motorola 3347-02 which is a wireless ADSL Modem-Router,..All in One. I had considerable problems in setup becuase I did not know the "Network Password" for my account and I wasted a full day trying everything. During all of this I of course did not have any internet and therefore no Ooma or telephone,..so I had to resort to my Cell phone that only works in the back yard. Got connected to ATT and asked for my Network Password and after checking my ID they gave it too me. Once loaded to the new Modem I was connected to the internet and got my phone back. However, performance was terrible and the ATT operator check the line and notices excessive errors.

Here is the important note that everyone over looked when the first tech came out. Their full examination of the line test showed that there was a Bridge TAP someplace on my line,..but they concluded that this would cause no problems to any phone functions,...as they have bridge taps all over their network for dozens of years. Imentioned this to the Phone ATT person and since he saw so much noise agreed to send out a tech to the house and check the noise, and at the same time issue an order to remove the Bridge Tap. This was all set up for the next day. At least now I had phone service, so I went to bed.

Woke up the next morning and checked Ooma and say the entire DSL was down,.. no green light for DSL or Internet on the modem,... so I'm back to Cell phone only and waiting for the new ATT tech. On top of all of this I had come down with an infection the day before and now my Temp was up over 100 and I felt like crap,...Bladder infection?

After waiting 1/2 a day I felt the modem and it was rather warm and since It had been working fine yesterday and not now I suspected it may have over heated. I got a 2nd Mototrola 3347-02,...swapped the cables, power, installed the password,.. and BAM,... I'm back on the air just as I was the day before. So the modem is defective.

That afternoon the new ATT tech showed up. This guy NEW what he was doing and had a portable laptop he took to my outside phone connected and tested the line. He saw the bandwidth was back to 3.0mbs but the S/N ratio was low and there was considerable noise. None of this would affect everyday Internet browsing but would kill VOIP. He also told me what a Bride Tap was,..basically it is a connection at the top of the pole to pass my "Un Used lines down the road to be used by other customer" This is done everywhere to save on the number of lines that have to be run and still provide to all customers the ability to have multible lines to there house. When I first built my home 12 years ago I had a 2nd line which I used for FAX but I disconnected that about 7 years ago but the wires were still connected to my house. I ordered the new dry loop DSL connection while I keep my current phone service so I could test Ooma for a month before I ported my phone number to them. To make this connection, ATT saw they still had the 2nd line to my house that was not being used so the put the DSL on that line and did not have to send anyone out.

When I finally ported my old phone number to Ooma and stopped all land line phone service from ATT we unplugged the first phone line and now I was Ooma only and DSL only on the 2nd line. However the old Bridge Tap was still there. The ATT tech had to climb to the top the Three poles down my street to find and remove the tap. The he re-tested my line and the Signal to Noise ration improved by 8db,... which is a major change.

I would not say that everything is OK, but is 80% better. The main problem now is that my ISP connection is in Plano, Texas, and I'm in Northern California, and there are 13 HOPS to get to my ISP. One of the HOPs has a very bad delay time, but I think I know how to change this.

Hoepfully this will help other that try to figure out what can go wrong with VOIP and DSL connections. Ask any questions and I will respond.

thunderbird
Posts:6388
Joined:Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:41 pm

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by thunderbird » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:37 am

trigger1937:
Glad to hear you got things (mostly) under control. Your Ooma, AT&T DSL story has been very interesting.

Post back sometime later to let ups know if things remain under control and to give an update.

trigger1937
Posts:20
Joined:Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:08 am

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by trigger1937 » Sun Jun 19, 2011 8:25 am

T'bird,,... I guess I am as happy as anyone could expect. It has been a struggle but I believe I really have it fixed now. I will paste some images of the VOIP test results to show others what it can do. I am still having some problem with echo on some calls but I think this is because I use Ooma with the ATT Wireless DECT 6.0 phone system with is very loud to begin with. The audio out and back is so loud and clear that it is very easy to hear my voice echo off the walls and all the way back to my receiver. It happens most of the time to my daughter who has the exact same DECT 6.0 phones.

Because my new Modem-Wireless-Router is an all in one unit my DSL is directly connected to the modem and the Oom and my PC's are connected to the router. In other words, I am not directly connected to Ooma and the home port on Ooma is not connected to anything. Therefore I cannot access the Ooma to get at and change the settings. I will try to attach my laptop to Ooma home port and get access that way.

I know my previous note was very long so I hope you extract the important items and pass it on to others. I think you can see just how important it is to get any bridge taps removed from and DSL line. As mine was connected 3 or 4 houses down the street it was the same as having an unterminated antenna hanging directly under the main power lines,.. or just like an open mic.

Here are the new test results.
Final test-2.JPG
Summary of test
Final test-2.JPG (67.98KiB)Viewed 7206 times
Final test-1.JPG
Details of test
Final test-1.JPG (57.09KiB)Viewed 7206 times

thunderbird
Posts:6388
Joined:Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:41 pm

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by thunderbird » Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:19 am

trigger1937:
I saved this thread under "DSL Bridge Tap".

I wonder how many customers Ooma has lost due to a "DSL Bridge Tap"?

Maybe if you turn down your phone's audio slighly, and have your daughter do the same, the echo will come under control?

trigger1937
Posts:20
Joined:Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:08 am

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by trigger1937 » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:15 pm

T'Bird,...sorry for not getting back sooner but I've been busy working on getting my DSL-Wireless-Modem-Router functioning at 100%. In the initial setup I of course had to all of the devices in my home network and I had it wrong for many days. Again,..no one anywhere could give me the answer and I wasted a lot of hours online with AT&T, Motorola, and the web searching for the answer. No one had it. I finally dug in and fixed it myself by going back into the Router setup and making changes that I had found on the web. This worked and now that is all 100%. My Ooma is still funtioning at 99% including the quality of service. I still have some echo but I agree with you that it may be just too much volume end to end. My daugher has called 4 times from various locations in Italy and all but once the Voice quality was terrific. One time her entire call was chopped up like a Helicoper blade and I finally concluded this was because I had started a 75MB picture upload over the internet and forgot about it and then she called.

Now that I know my DSL problems have been resolved,...I would like to get back the setting up the Ooma in the proper way. When I was having trouble with all kinds of issues I had changed just about everything in the setup of Ooma at many peoples suggestion. What I would like to do is setup the unit in the correct many and fix all the settings. Can you point me to the correct default settings, and a list of data that can be changed for improvement and the rational for the change.

With the current configuration, Ooma is directly connected to one of the ethernet ports at the rear of the Wireless DSL-Modem-Router and therefore I sould be able to directly address the Ooma since it is on my Home network. The AT&T Support and Service Tool shows an "Unknow Device" on my network, which has to be the Ooma unit.

Since there is no PC connected to the HOME port of Ooma I have no way to access the Setup.Ooma.com. I will plug an extra PC into the Home port and see if that will give me access.

trigger1937
Posts:20
Joined:Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:08 am

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by trigger1937 » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:48 pm

T'Bird,....Just finished the connection of a 2nd PC directly to the home port of Ooma and gained access to the SETUP the normal way. I check all the settings but the only thing I changed was the upload and download speeds as I have meansured them. I can find the other setting that an Ooma telo rep told me to set to 0.0 a long time ago. Don't have a clue what it was. Anyway, I would really appreciate a list of the correct default settings.

thunderbird
Posts:6388
Joined:Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:41 pm

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by thunderbird » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:45 pm

trigger1937:
Below is a list of the defaults for the Ooma Telo Ooma Setup pages that can be changed.

Ooma Telo Ooma Setup default Settings.

Internet Page:

Internet Settings:

Connection Type: Automatic (Default)
PPPoE Options: All Spaces Blank (Default)
Static IP Address Options: All Spaces Blank (Default)
INTERNET Port MAC Address: Automatic (Default) - Recommend: Use Built in:

Home Network Settings: Page

Home Port:
IP address: 172.27.35.1 (Default)
Netmask: 255.255.255.0 (Defualt)

DHCP Configuration:
Start Address: 172.27.35.10 (Default)
End Address: 172.27.35.160 (Default)

DMZ:
DMZ Address: Blank (Default)

Advanced Page

Advanced Settings:

Qaulity of Service:

Upstream Internet Speed (kbps): 348 (Default) - Recommend 0 (Zero)
Downstream Internet Speed (kbps): 0 (Default) - Recommend 0 (Zero)

Port Forwarding: All settings: None (Default)

Bluetooth: Page
No boxes checked and nothing in Bluetooth Service Name: box. (Default)

trigger1937
Posts:20
Joined:Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:08 am

Re: Can't hear caller's voice on ooma to ooma call

Post by trigger1937 » Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:11 pm

T'bird,... OK,...Thanks for the info.... but I can you explain why the upload should be 384 rather than the 420 that my system is measured at. Also, the recommendation is Zero and WHY? What is affected in the controls if we set the download to "0" which is the recommendation, when my actural is about 2500.

What also seems clear is that I really can't use my system or any of the 4 systems I have in my house for anything while I'm on the phone. If the recommendation for upload is ZERO,...why set it at 384. Why can't they just tell us how much bandwidth in needed for voice up, and for voice down and then reserve that much bandwidth all the time. Since my system now has "No packet loss either way", I should be perfectly safe with a reserved bandwidth of 50kbs up and down???????? The rest should be allocated to my systems. I understand that 50kbs is totally sufficient bandwidth for VOIP audio so long as there is minimal packet loss.

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