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

Post by bohicaIL » Sun May 29, 2011 10:27 am

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?

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 May 29, 2011 11:55 am

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.

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 » Mon May 30, 2011 10:44 am

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.

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 » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:21 am

I've had my Ooma Telo for about 2 months. From the very first day I have had problems with call where the audio to our phone drops out totally for 10-20 seconds. This confuses people and they think the connection is lost and hang up. This has continued on a daily basis for 2 months and I can't find anyone in Ooma to give help. I have posted dozens of emails on the support site and have NEVER received any response. I once was able to talk to a support person in some foreign country and he had me reset some number in the Ooma via direct eithernet connection to the Ooma. I have searched everywhere on Ooma web site and I can not find any information on the correct settings for the internal controls for uplink or downlink of the Ooma Telo device.

I've look through this forum and while your modarators say that "there are very vew problems with the audio" I see many people posting the same problems with audio drop out. So you have to know what the problem is.

Here is a list of the other problems I have had;

1. People that live in the same neighborhood (all are AT&T customers) can not call my number. There are told "No circuits available" after they dial my number.
2. People that try to call me are told,.."You must first dial #84 before dialing that number"
3. I have audio drop out on 2-3 phone calls per day. Some are long distance from Bay area, some are from cell phones, most are local calls from inside our gated community.

Please help

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 02, 2011 7:38 am

trigger1937:
First:
How is your Ooma setup? Is it connected Modem-Ooma-Router or Modem-Router-Ooma?

Second:
For dropped calls, do the following steps.
To help stabilize your Ooma Internet connection:
If your Ooma device is connected Modem-Ooma-Router, 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 Ooma device.

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.

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

Third:
Access the Ooma Setup Advanced page. Under Quality of Service set both the Upstream Internet speed and Down Stream Internet speed to Zero. Click on Update. Then test making and receiving calls.

Fourth:
After testing above, and you still have problems, conintue below.
Use the next two steps ONLY for Modem-Router-Ooma connection.
Next: if the problem continues reserve a static IP address for the Ooma device in your router and test.
Next: if the problem continues place the static IP address for the Ooma device in your router DMZ and test.

If you continue to have problems:
You could run http://speedtest.phonepower.com/ to see how your modem and Internet connection is doing, and post the following here:
Download Speed: ________________
Upload Seed: ________________
Download Consistency of Service ________
Upload Consistency of Service _________
Maximum TCP Delay _____________
Jitter you server __________
Jitter server you _________
Packet loss: you server_______
Packet loss: server you ______
Packet discards _________
Packets out of order _________
Estimated MOS score ________

When you do the above steps it may or may not help with your step 1 & 2 problems below. Post back after you see if your step 1 & 2 problems have improved or not. Be sure and post how your Ooma is setup.
trigger1937 wrote: 1. People that live in the same neighborhood (all are AT&T customers) can not call my number. There are told "No circuits available" after they dial my number.
2. People that try to call me are told,.."You must first dial #84 before dialing that number"
3. I have audio drop out on 2-3 phone calls per day. Some are long distance from Bay area, some are from cell phones, most are local calls from inside our gated community.
Last edited by thunderbird on Thu Jun 02, 2011 9:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 » Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:31 am

Thank you "T-bird" for your quick response. Here is my setup;
1. Original att dsl modem model 5100 (Speedstream),...about 5-6 years old
2. Ooma Telo,
3. D-Link Router+ Main Computer+ Backup Computer+ Wireless Access Point+(---:) wireless Laptop

All of this gear is on the floor within 1 foot, and 2 feet to main cpu.
I had run the speedtest and all the data looked good,... 1.25mbs down, 400kbs up, However I will repeat the test and copy down the data.

The speed test shows that at first connection there is 67% loss of packets and the test continues,... then there are three consequtive tests that show 100% packet loss and the download speed drops to 200kbs and no loss and gradually improves back up to 2.250mbs with very little loss. Here is the summarized data.

This report refers to a connection test carried out by IP address 75.45.9.121 on 02 Jun 2011 9:28:09 GMT-07:00.

Download speed 2515 Kbps
Upload speed 409 Kbps
D/load COS 93 %
U/load COS 66 %
RTT 27 ms
RTT Consistency 96 %
Max Delay 141 ms
Avg Delay 5 ms
Max Bandwidth 2560 Kbps
Route Speed 19417 Kbps
Forced Idle 0 %
Route Conc 1.0
Download test s
Upload test s
Test All Plugins

I will try checking the settings of the Ooma late tonight as I can't afford any dissruption in phone service till then. If you have any suggestion I will follow them tonight and get back tomorrow.

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 02, 2011 9:06 am

trigger1937:
Make the changes, Built In MAC address, and Quality of Service settings, as called out in my previous post, before doing this procedure.

The high packet loss is very bad. Either your modem is defective or your Internet connection is defective. A lot of times it's the DSL Internet Connection.

I had packet loss, high jitter, and slow upload speeds when I was in China, along with our Ooma Telo, This spring.

What I did was the following to get a satisfactory Internet connection:
Run http://www.speedtest.net/. After running http://www.speedtest.net/ you will see in the lower left hand corner a box that says "Rate You IPS". In that box you will see an IP address that you Internet provider issued to your Modem. Record the IP number.

Reboot your Modem and Ooma device.

Run http://www.speedtest.net/. After running http://www.speedtest.net/ you will see a box that says "Rate You IPS" in the lower left hand corner. In that box you will see an IP address that you Internet provider issued to your Modem. Check and make sure that the Internet provider issued IP address has changed.

Run http://speedtest.phonepower.com/ and see if your jitter (should be 5ms or less two places), lost packets (should be zero three places), and Upload and Download speeds improved.

If satisfactory improvements have not occurred, repeat the above procedure again.

When I was in China I had to repeat the above procedure up to twenty times before I obtained a satisfactory Internet provider connection.

If you never get a better connection, either your modem is defective or the Internet connection is defective.

If you do obtain a much better connection, try it for a while and test your problems.

In either case, you will probably have to do something about your modem or Internet provider.

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 » Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:58 pm

T'bird,...I followed your instruction and changed the setting and then reset the modem and Ooma. Then I re-ran the test. Here are the results from the 2nd test.

Connection Analysis


Test Type: Voice over IP
Downstream Jitter: 24ms
Downstream Loss: 3.0 %
Downstream Packet Order: 94.1 %
Upstream Jitter: 0.2ms
Upstream Loss: 0 %
Upstream Packet Order: 100.0 %
Packet Discards: 0 %
MOS Score: 1.0
Glossary of Results
Need help with these results? Contact us.

2 connection problems found, click the to learn more.

MVLS01: Packet loss has been detected.

Delivering quality voice over the network requires all packets sent to arrive. If packets are lost then this will cause the speech to lose voice content, the extent of this loss will depend on how many packets are lost and the distribution of that loss over the time line. Review the graph from the test. The height red bars indicate the amount lost while the spacing between the bars document the distribution of the loss. Learn More

MVLS03: VoIP packets are arriving out of order.

Delivering quality voice over the network requires all packets sent to arrive in a timely fashion. If packets are delivered out of order for any reason then this can cause the speech quality to decline. For example if a packet for the beginning of a sentence arrives in the middle sentence then it is likely that the packet will be too late for acceptable usage and will be discarded. The extent of the quality loss will depend on how many packets are out of order, early or late, and as a results become unusable in the context of uniform speech. Learn More



It seems the packet loss and the packet order are the main problems. Would this point to the modem or the router?

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 02, 2011 9:49 pm

trigger1937 wrote:It seems the packet loss and the packet order are the main problems. Would this point to the modem or the router?
Modem. Some times it's the wiring coming in from the street. If the wiring is old and has splices, etc., but most likely it's the Modem.

murphy
Posts:7554
Joined:Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:49 pm
Location:Pennsylvania

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

Post by murphy » Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:33 am

Point your browser at

http://192.168.100.1

which is a web page inside of your modem. Find the Signal page and report the downstream signal level and signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the upstream power level.
Customer since January 2009
Telo with 2 Handsets, a Linx, and a Safety Phone
Telo2 with 2 Handsets and a Linx

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