Calls give busy signal after answering

[gavakie]

I am trying to get incoming calls to work and nothing will it will wring but when i answer i get nothing for a few seconds then a busy tone. I love the support but my experience so far has been frustrating because my service is so off and on.

[fisamo]

Though you've probably been through this with support already...

What internet service do you have? What router model and firmware version are you using?
What ATA did voipo issue to you, RT31P2 or PAP2?
If RT31P2, are you willing to put it 'before your home router', at least for a limited time for troubleshooting purposes?
If 'before the router' is not practical or possible for you, have you forwarded any ports? I don't recall the exact ranges recommended by Voipo, but if call set-up is the problem, forwarding 5060-5061 (UDP) to your ATA should resolve that issue. (If you forward ports 10000 - 50000, you should catch any RTP port that Voipo would want to use, but the range probably doesn't need to be that wide.)
Does your router have a SIP 'ALG' (application level gateway) option in its firewall settings? If so, make sure that it is turned OFF.

Chances are, I've forgotten a few common troubleshooting points (besides the best range of ports to forward), and someone else may chime in with more points. Also, once you answer these questions, some more thoughts may come to mind...

[gavakie]

I really cant because of the services i have running. I use a service called rapid wave for my internet I get 4 down and 4 up and bursts to 10. I used vonage before and never had any problems.

[gavakie]

I think they got the calls working but the quality wasnt great I need to do some more research I guess.

[bwyatt]

Gavakie:

I had this problem bad in the beginning, and it's still not completely gone... happens every once in awhile still. Be sure to submit a ticket on this. There are a number of things that can be done as fisamo suggests.

I'm beginning to believe my problem may be related to a caller/callers from a particular carrier.

[gavakie]

yeah im sure it will get worked out, same thing happened with the last company I was with. Anything is better than vonage though. As long as the morons finally decide to release my number.

[gavakie]

Well its back to doing it again.

[Gene Steinberg]

yeah im sure it will get worked out, same thing happened with the last company I was with. Anything is better than vonage though. As long as the morons finally decide to release my number.

Vonage charges people to disconnect before 1 year. Is that the problem?

I'd love to find a way to persuade a friend to dump them. He's having awful problems and needs an excuse to move.

Peace,
Gene

[usa2k]

Move Vonage to the $4.99 plan where all outgoing is billed per minute, then LNP the number over to VOIPo :)

I did that when I had moved from Vonage to Packet8. I needed 2 months before cancelling. The Vonage rep suggested it.

[fisamo]

I'm not surprised about the 'not putting the ATA before my router' response--it's a pretty common one. :)
Have you tried the port forwarding options? (DMZ is always an option, but I prefer the targeted port forwarding approach.)
Does your internet service require a particular router (ie. supplied by them, such as the U-Verse gateway, or a DSL modem/router combo unit)? If not, what model router and firmware version are you running on it?

Have you submitted a ticket with the problem yet? One thing to consider is to take advantage of Voipo's "call reference number" in your call history when reporting an incoming call that doesn't complete. If it's logged, the reference number should allow support to at least report what error code(s) received on their end when the call failed.

Best of luck with a speedy resolution.

[dteague]

I had a problem today around 4:47 where my wife was calling and both time I picked up the phone to a fast busy. She got home about 45 minutes later and called and it worked fine.

[gavakie]

Its working again. I ran there network test program and the moved me to servers. It was a latency issue. As for vonage I have been with them for years and my brother in law who signed up right after me already has his number ported and I really want to cancel so I don't have to pay for two phone services. I really appreciate these guys' fast response to issues. Sucks when it happens on weekends though. Thanks Voipo.

[bwyatt]

This has been a persistent problem for me that has still not been resolved. Support has been very diligent in helping to resolve it, but just when I think it's going away, it comes back. There is no consistency at all. Below is the support ticket I just submitted:


Everyday I experience one or more incoming calls that do not connect. The caller tells me they dial my number but it never connects on their end. On my end the line rings, but when I answer there is silence for about 3-5 seconds then it goes to a fast-busy sound. The problem is always temporary. It works most of the time and doesn't once in awhile, but often enough to be an issue. I've submitted a ticket on this in the past and support indicated they would "condition" the lines. Whatever was done seemed to improve the performance, but the connection problem is still occurring too frequently for my service to be consistently reliable.

I'm posting here also, because you guys are so good with suggestions and I'm hoping someone reading this has an idea that might work.

I'm using Comcast for my internet service, standard D-Link router with latest firmware. I have both RT31P2 and PAP2 devices with VOIPO and have the same problem on both devices. I have DMZ'd the device temporarily for troubleshooting purposes and experienced the same issue even while it was DMZ'd. I have port forwarding rules set according to support's instructions and the SIP 'ALG' option on the router is turned off.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[chpalmer]

I have not had good luck trying to use two devices on the same number behind the same public IP. Although Ive never had any other issues running an RT31P2 behind my pfSense router.

Try disconnecting and secondary Voipo devices you might have, reset everything including modem and routing device(s) and try it that way for a while.

[fisamo]

Are you able and willing to test for the problem with your RT31P2 placed before your home router? it would be nice if you could take the router completely out of the picture, at least for some troubleshooting time. Granted, I understand if you cannot...

[bwyatt]

My ticket was answered on a SUNDAY! no less... and after "adjusting the devices to make them work better together" I haven't had this issue to occur since.

Not sure what was done, but it appears to have done the trick.

[bwyatt]

Here's an update:

My numbers ported over the weekend. Something about the change apparently reverted some of the conditioning back to the default. All was reworked and everything is again working perfectly. Even with multiple devices behind a router.

I have to say I am very very impressed with the diligence of the voipo support team in resolving a problem. You guys are top-shelf, and first-rate.

I'm proud to be a voipo customer.

[bwyatt]

This off and on problem won't go away. I'm thinking my lines are functional about 3/4ths of the time. As soon as you think it's fixed, the problem returns.

Now, for the first time, the problem has reversed itself. I'm unable to call out. Instead, I get a fast busy on my end trying to dial someone else.

We have a major winter storm approaching and I have no outgoing phone service and marginal incoming.

[bwyatt]

Update:

This is obviously a frustrating problem and working to resolve. I'll post an update tomorrow, but I can't say enough about VOIPO's persistance in helping to resolve.

Thanks for all the help today guys!

[roehrle]

I was having the busy signal problem also but it was only on my 2nd line. Put a ticket in and it appears that removing the security on the ATA "cured" the problem for now. Line 1 worked OK during the problem period.