Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone? (fixed)

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oomame
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Joined:Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:10 am
Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone? (fixed)

Post by oomame » Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:17 pm

Thanks for your time in advance.

I cannot receive phone calls when i have my 5.8Ghz GE phone plugged in to the Ooma. The caller just hears a pause, some very faint high-pitch beeps, and then into the busy signal... the line button on the Hub doesn't even light up. Ironically, i can plug my old 900Mhz phone into the Ooma hub and everything works fine. Outgoing phone calls seem to work fine for both phones.

Are some phones not compatible with the Ooma Hub? If so, how can i tell which ones?


my setup:
I have my Ooma hub connected between my DSL modem and router. My DSL line comes into my house and is split between a landline phone and into my DSL modem. I then connect the 'phone' port from the Hub into my other phone.

Thanks for any help!
Last edited by oomame on Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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southsound
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Joined:Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:31 am
Location:Harstine Island, WA

Re: Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone?

Post by southsound » Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:51 pm

I am going to venture a couple of guesses here.

(1) If you are using landline integration with your system - in other words, if you are using your old number, then the cause is probably that you forgot to install a microfilter between your wall jack and the wall jack on the ooma. You mention hub but just to clarify, is your ooma white or black? Routing on the black Telo uses VOIP for all outgoing right now - I believe the white hub still decides routing based on local (landline) and long distance (VOIP).

(2) Some 5.8 ghz phones use a 2.4 ghz signal channel - and if you have a wireless combo DLS router/modem, the two can really play some nasty games with either other's signal. Sometimes the systems will work fine until the cordless base changes to a new channel - then the problems begin.

Most of us have had good fortune using the new Uniden or Panasonic DECT 6.0 phones. They use a 1.9 ghz band, have many great features like multiple handsets, intercom, speakerphones in each handset and more. I bought my Uniden from Staples for about $80 on a sale.
ooma customer since February 2009
VoIP hardware: 2 Telo w/3 handsets & Linx / ooma core
Total Lines: 8 / Numbers: 11 / Handsets: 20
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oomame
Posts:8
Joined:Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:10 am

Re: Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone?

Post by oomame » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:30 am

Thanks for the quick reply!

(My Ooma is the older white one). That's a good point about the outgoing calls, but i'm not exactly sure how that might affect this situation (still new to this).

I have all the equipment in front of me (minus the Scout) for trouble-shooting purposes. Just phone A directly connected (no filter) to my landline on one side, and then phone B connected to the Phone port on my Hub on the other side. (No DSL filters anywhere except on the line going to my DSL modem, where one has been for years).

I tried calling locally (Ooma number to my landline, and visa-versa), as well as calling long distance with both phones. Everything worked except when phone B was plugged into the Ooma - it could not receive a call from my landline (in hind-sight, i did not try to call my Ooma number from another landline or cell phone, but I figured this would not matter since phone A received calls like this OK).

I think i'll involve the Scout and see if that helps the situation.

Thanks again,

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southsound
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Re: Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone?

Post by southsound » Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:10 am

oomame wrote:Thanks for the quick reply!

(My Ooma is the older white one). That's a good point about the outgoing calls, but i'm not exactly sure how that might affect this situation (still new to this).
I don't think we have clarified - do you have your landline integrated with your ooma or are they totally separate? If separate, there should be NOTHING plugged into the WALL port of the hub.

I have all the equipment in front of me (minus the Scout) for trouble-shooting purposes. Just phone A directly connected (no filter) to my landline on one side, and then phone B connected to the Phone port on my Hub on the other side. (No DSL filters anywhere except on the line going to my DSL modem, where one has been for years).
Your configuration makes no sense to an old telephone guy (me). The DSL (micro)filters normally go betwen the wall jacks and the phones. Using a microfilter before the modem would filter out the DSL signal before it got the modem - unless that "filter" is actually a "splitter" that has a wall port, a modem port, and a phone port. The purpose of the microfilter is to REMOVE the DSL signal from the connected device. Could you also identify if your router has wireless enabled and what type of phone (A) and (B) are - wired, 900mhz, 5.8ghz?

I tried calling locally (Ooma number to my landline, and visa-versa), as well as calling long distance with both phones. Everything worked except when phone B was plugged into the Ooma - it could not receive a call from my landline (in hind-sight, i did not try to call my Ooma number from another landline or cell phone, but I figured this would not matter since phone A received calls like this OK).
You said all worked well calling from your oooma number to the landline except when phone B was plugged into the ooma. How did you make the call when it was NOT plugged into the ooma - were you using a different phone? If the problem only happens when you are using a specific phone (the 5.8ghz one?) then the solution is to replace that phone.

I think i'll involve the Scout and see if that helps the situation.
Involving the scout when things are not working will make troubleshooting even more difficult.

Thanks again,
ooma customer since February 2009
VoIP hardware: 2 Telo w/3 handsets & Linx / ooma core
Total Lines: 8 / Numbers: 11 / Handsets: 20
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Friends don't remember what Landline Integration was or why we did it.

oomame
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Joined:Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:10 am

Re: Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone?

Post by oomame » Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:38 am

thanks for the quick response - sorry for the confusion earlier.

Hopefully this will un-muddy the waters:

Phones & modem:
I was trying to get away from the referring to the frequencies of the phones because i do not have interference with my wireless router (router and modem are separate). Phone A = the bare bones 900Mhz vtech, Phone B = the 5.8Ghz GE fancy phone. I received my Ooma a couple weeks ago, and have been using an old phone (the Vtech) plugged into the Hub's Phone Port to make and receive calls from my Ooma phone number (I opted to keep my landline number and get a new phone number for my Ooma while I'm evaluating it). Currently, I am in the process of porting my number over though. Nothing is plugged into the Ooma's Hub port.

In anticipation of the number port (i'm going to dry-loop DSL soon) I wanted to make sure my phones will still work:
My phone that i use all the time is the GE, which as a base station with the answering machine, caller ID and other bells and whistles. I unplugged the base station from my kitchen and plopped it next to the Ooma and had it directly plugged into the Phone Port (the Vtech phone is connected to my landline, which happens to be nearby)

DSL:
you are correct - the DSL filter is a splitter, with the unfiltered split going to the Modem.

Ooma:
I do not have the integrated phones setup: The Ooma Wall Port is not being used - just the Ooma Phone Port. I was planning on not using the Scout and just having the Hub connected to the GE phone.

Issue:
Since I had been using the Vtech phone for the last couple weeks with the Ooma, i knew it worked with sending and receiving calls. However, while i was testing the GE phone the other night, i noticed that it oddly would not accept the calls made from the Vtech (landline), and go to the busy signal after around 4 seconds. The GE could make phone calls just fine.

:?:

Thanks for any help or insight!

oomame
Posts:8
Joined:Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:10 am

Re: Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone? (fixed)

Post by oomame » Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:50 pm

Thanks for the comments about the DSL filters. I relooked at my setup and realized that i had used the splitter provided instead of using the one that had the DSL filter for my landline. For some reason this was messing up the one phone.

Filter is re-installed and everything is working great - thanks!

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southsound
Posts:3519
Joined:Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:31 am
Location:Harstine Island, WA

Re: Incoming Busy signals - incompatible phone? (fixed)

Post by southsound » Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:50 pm

oomame wrote:Thanks for the comments about the DSL filters. I relooked at my setup and realized that i had used the splitter provided instead of using the one that had the DSL filter for my landline. For some reason this was messing up the one phone.

Filter is re-installed and everything is working great - thanks!
Awesome! Sorry I didn't get a chance to check back before this, but I'm glad you got things working. :cool:
ooma customer since February 2009
VoIP hardware: 2 Telo w/3 handsets & Linx / ooma core
Total Lines: 8 / Numbers: 11 / Handsets: 20
Lifetime Premier Member
Friends don't remember what Landline Integration was or why we did it.

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