Calls dropped, one way calls, and registration issues.

[IT-Engineer]

I have bursts of problems with the service. Calls will go dead or drop. Calls will drop communications outgoing where your customer cannot hear you. Registration will occasionaly have to be reestablished. I have checked my network equipment and verified even during the times of problems that the internet and equipment is working perfectly. I can go for weeks with perfect service and then have ten calls in a row in a day that continue to drop communications. I have verified that some (even calls completed with VOIPo technical people never show up on the call history). This type of service is not tollerable when clients cannot communicate with each other and calls are continuously dropped or one way communications occurs.

The redeeming part about VOIPo service is that the people are all technical and try to work on the problems. Even with good technical people, if the problems remain, the service is not good phone service on a consistent basis. One suggestion by 3rd level technical support is to put the little grandstream in front of high end routers which makes as much sense as putting a Hyundai in front of a Lamborghini. I have repeatedly verified that that the router, cable service, and modem are not the issue especially since the router is using the DMZ with no firewall and all ports open to operated one device (the grandstream).

I wish 3rd level tech support would simply admit they have some very difficult problems and work on the problems while updating the customers. I believe the company has a good structure, but obviously needs to fix some problems.

[IT-Engineer]

In addition to the dropped calls and communications outgoing only, I've also had many phone not ringing after dialing issues and dead air. I have noticed that quite a few other VOIPo customers have experienced the same problems when thier own equipment has been fully tested and elliminated as the source of the problem.

How many other people are seeing these same problems?

Please add to the thread respectfully to help get them resolved quickly.

[redoneusa]

I would try an alternative provider and see if that solves your problems. Run them side by side, sometimes no matter how hard you work at resolving the issues you cannot get to the bottom of it.

[GenM0ntana]

I'm having the exact same issues. Hopefully a Voipo support rep will chime in...

[ymhee_bcex]

I have two accounts (one for me and one for in-laws). We live a mile away, same ISP (time warner); pretty much same everything. My service works for 8 months without any problems (I used supplied adapter for a few months to make sure that the service was good. Once I was comfortable, I switched to BYOD - first old Sipura, and now OBiHai). Never had a need to call support. Wrote a review (http://www.dslreports.com/comment/83503) for DSLR. I was very happy with it and convince my in-laws to switch to VOIPo as well.

My in-laws have constant problems. With BYOD adapter voice quality is just terrible. Once I switched to provided adapter, it is good for a few days, then it's bad. I called support twice; they tweaked something - and the quality improved for a week or two but then it's bad again. I know it's not ISP (even if they weren't able to fix it) - they have another adapter on the network, that they use for international calls (with Call With Us). For troubleshooting, I also set up an IPKall to this adapter. So, whenever voice quality is bad on VOIPo line, first thing I check is to call their other phone - and invariably, it sounds much better there.

Unfortunately, they don't speak English, and in order to troubleshoot with Voipo support I need to be in their house during business hours, which is not always possible. So, often by the time I am ready to call support, the problem goes away. However, the reliability is just not there.

[VOIPoTim]

I have two accounts (one for me and one for in-laws). We live a mile away, same ISP (time warner); pretty much same everything. My service works for 8 months without any problems (I used supplied adapter for a few months to make sure that the service was good. Once I was comfortable, I switched to BYOD - first old Sipura, and now OBiHai). Never had a need to call support. Wrote a review (http://www.dslreports.com/comment/83503) for DSLR. I was very happy with it and convince my in-laws to switch to VOIPo as well.

My in-laws have constant problems. With BYOD adapter voice quality is just terrible. Once I switched to provided adapter, it is good for a few days, then it's bad. I called support twice; they tweaked something - and the quality improved for a week or two but then it's bad again. I know it's not ISP (even if they weren't able to fix it) - they have another adapter on the network, that they use for international calls (with Call With Us). For troubleshooting, I also set up an IPKall to this adapter. So, whenever voice quality is bad on VOIPo line, first thing I check is to call their other phone - and invariably, it sounds much better there.

Unfortunately, they don't speak English, and in order to troubleshoot with Voipo support I need to be in their house during business hours, which is not always possible. So, often by the time I am ready to call support, the problem goes away. However, the reliability is just not there.

Unfortunately that's really just the nature of VoIP in that there are so many variables that one person could have a good experience with a provider and their neighbor could have a bad experience. The variable could be something as simple as the model/firmware of the router the two people use.

Comparing provider to provider doesn't really help in that kind of scenario though since all VoIP networks are completely different and the way they handle things + the carriers on the backend can dramatically affect things. There's not really standardization per say between different providers even if they're both using the SIP protocol.

[ymhee_bcex]

Unfortunately that's really just the nature of VoIP in that there are so many variables that one person could have a good experience with a provider and their neighbor could have a bad experience. The variable could be something as simple as the model/firmware of the router the two people use.

Comparing provider to provider doesn't really help in that kind of scenario though since all VoIP networks are completely different and the way they handle things + the carriers on the backend can dramatically affect things. There's not really standardization per say between different providers even if they're both using the SIP protocol.

Well, your first paragraph contradicts the second one... if it's "as simple as the model/firmware of the router the two people use" then it would be similar experience for both VoIP providers. I agree that today's troubleshooting tools are inadequate; VOIPo tech asked me to run ping; hoping to glean something useful. Several years ago, when troubleshooting with VoicePulse, we were running pingplotter and it gave more useful information.

But from business development perspective saying "nothing can be done" will inevitably push customers to combine ISP and VoIP service from the same provider. This would be the only way to avoid finger-pointing!

[VOIPoTim]

Well, your first paragraph contradicts the second one... if it's "as simple as the model/firmware of the router the two people use" then it would be similar experience for both VoIP providers.

Not sure how this is contradictory? I'm saying the reason one person can have an issue and another not could be as simple as them both having diff router firmwares.

Like I said all VoIP providers have completely different networks so a different router firmware could work well with one VoIP provider and not another. All providers would interact with a different firmware differently since their networks aren't similar.

[ymhee_bcex]

Not sure how this is contradictory? I'm saying the reason one person can have an issue and another not could be as simple as them both having diff router firmwares.


Yes you do. And that would not explain why the same person1 (with the same router1) would have consistent problems with one provider (VSP1), and not have problems with a different provider (VSP2). So, in the second paragraph you are saying that comparing provider to provider doesn't help. In other words, this is unfortunate router1 / ISP / VSP1 combination and - although router2 / VSP1 and router1 / VSP2 combinations work fine - VSP1 (which happens to be VOIPo) has no ability to troubleshoot the problem. It is much more logical to assume that VSP1 has a problem on specific account that is not related to router or ISP. Otherwise, it makes a very difficult sell to less technical users.

Regardless, my bigger concern is that there are no troubleshooting tools that would allow me to pinpoint the problem...

[GreenLantern]

As someone who has numerous voipo accounts, I have some experience with this.

We have setup dozens of new accounts just in the past few months.

The installs are all over the country, from California, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Delaware, Florida, New York, etc.

They all have mostly identical equipment (pbx phones and routers), but a wide variety of local internet providers... Comcast Cable, AT&T DSL, Verizon Fios, etc.

Many of our locations have high call volumes, and at various time have had the problems described by original poster above... mostly outbound calls failing, but also toll free issues, voipo to voipo issues, and some inbound issues.

For example, on failed outbound calls, our equipment logs show "forking errors" coming from IPs (servers) on voipo's network, or voipo's host network, or whatever.

We've purchased new routers and hired an outside consultant to check our network, etc. Everything was solid and setup correctly.

Next, we thought it might be our voip equipment, since it was all the same. But even switching the equipment in a test location did not help.

So then we tested one of our locations with a different voip provider. We set things up so we could dial 9 to use voipo and dial 8 to use the alternate voip provider.

I hate to say it, but sure enough, the various calling problems literally vanished by using the other provider... and no other changes required.

As a result of the positive results, we've begun switching accounts over to the alternate voip provider.

In each case, the problems went away simply by switching to the alternate provider. It didn't matter what type of equipment, internet, city or state, etc.

Honestly, there are still features about voipo that we prefer over the other provider, and we do like voipo's people.

But as the original poster said, ultimately, the features and service simply have to work correctly, or what's the point?

Hopefully voipo can identify the deficiencies in their setup, carrier, whatever, and resolve them soon.

[djrobx]

I'm having a lot of these troubles lately too. I created a trouble ticket and they supposedly switched the network that I'm on, but it didn't make any difference.

It comes and goes. I've made calls all morning today without a single hitch, but sometimes it gets so bad I give up and use my cell phone. The connection itself is always crystal clear with no garbling once established, it just has fits of problems where I either don't receive or can't make calls.

I never once had this problem with either CallVantage or PhonePower. With PhonePower I had the same Grandstream HT502 ATA. I also didn't have this problem with VOIPo during the first year or so. I also changed ISPs (U-verse to TW Cable) which also meant changing my router, and it didn't make a difference. It acts like some sort of capacity issue of some sort on VOIPo's end.

[redoneusa]

I have been using VoIP in many different flavors since starting with the very earliest Packet8 equipment. Having used PhonePower for many years I am interested to see what my VoiPO experiences will be. I will have the two services side by side for a while.

In addition I currently work in the industry and have gained quite a bit of experience from the many different vendors out there. The nature of voip and its variances means that for every one poor user who cannot get it working right I bet you will find 50-100 that have no issue.

Whatever provider or technology you use those those calls have to work well.

[phonezone]

I've been having the same problem while evaluating VOIPO at (4) different sites all with different ISPs and all log the VOIPO failures at the same time while trunks from other VOIP vendors stay up. I was really hoping this wasn't going to be a VOIPO wide problem.

[christcorp]

If it was a VoipO wide problem, you'd hear a lot of people complaining. But the overwhelming majority of VoipO users don't have any significant problems. A couple times a year, I have an issue with incoming or outgoing calls. I have a pretty complicated network. Everything is static IP addresses; QOS; port forwarding (For various devices). If I start to have any voip problems, I usually notice memory leaks either in my modem or router also. I usually reboot my entire network and everything works perfectly again. Basically; I've never had any significant issues with VoipO or ANY voip service I've had. And I've had no less than 3 different internet providers over the years.

Voip is still not as mainstream as many would like to believe it is. It is still dependent on the network it is connected to and the internet connection and ISP. Some day, if we can ever get QOS type service at the ISP/WAN/Internet level, voip will be able to become universally accepted and function better. "Same with video conferencing". But for now, those who know a lot about networking and the internet will have very few problems with voip. Those who don't know as much, or think they do, will still have some problems. If one provider appears to work flawlessly for an individual, that doesn't mean that provider is better. Simply means that service is more compatible with that individual's network, their ISP, and that ISP's routing.

What is going to change this for everyone; for the GOOD; is 4G cellular technology. "Why, pray tell?" Because currently, cellular voice calls are not processed on the same portion of cellular networks as data is. GSM/CDMA, 2G/1Xrtt, 3G, and now 4g/LTE are all different parts of the cellular system. Within the next few years, the cell companies will actually be processing their phone calls over the 4g/LTE data network. Basically, voip calls. Now that they have the bandwidth with 4g/LTE, they will be able to do this. Once they start doing this, the internet will need to be able to handle the CBR type of traffic like voice/video that is required for data that needs to remain constant and packets aligned. Once this is done for the big boys like Verizon and AT&T, other voice traffic like current voip providers, will have their packets processed much smoother.

My only concern is the evolution of cellular providers. With 4g service offering a lot more bandwidth and throughput, and cell providers like Verizon now offering the "Share Everything" plan where they offer unlimited voice and texting, the need for home fixed internet access like DSL and Cable as well as home Voice service will almost become obsolete. The only thing holding the cellular providers like verizon back from putting all home internet companies out of business is the bandwidth need at home for such things like netflix streaming, online gaming, and other high bandwidth. But for the average internet user, an unlimited voice, text, and reasonable data allowance can make the need for home internet and voip/POTS a thing of the past.

[GreenLantern]

It would be interesting to find the pattern... is it certain devices? Time of day? Call volume?

We've got several dozen ata's, ip phones and pbx systems using a combined total of over a hundred thousand minutes per month.

So if there are problems, we're going to hit them. Whereas other users may never notice.

It is mostly our pbx locations that have the problems, but those locations also have our highest call volumes too.

@christcorp - What kind of voip devices are you using? How many calls (minutes) per month do you make?

Same questions to everyone else.

Maybe we can find a pattern.

[ymhee_bcex]

Voip is still not as mainstream as many would like to believe it is. It is still dependent on the network it is connected to and the internet connection and ISP. Some day, if we can ever get QOS type service at the ISP/WAN/Internet level, voip will be able to become universally accepted and function better. "Same with video conferencing". But for now, those who know a lot about networking and the internet will have very few problems with voip. Those who don't know as much, or think they do, will still have some problems. If one provider appears to work flawlessly for an individual, that doesn't mean that provider is better. Simply means that service is more compatible with that individual's network, their ISP, and that ISP's routing.


You may be right; however, if another company gets a reputation for better quality (either because it is more compatible with people's network, their ISP, and that ISP's routing, or just by sheer luck) then VOIPo will start bleeding customers. Since it's VOIPo forum, I am not going to do comparisons; you can see plenty of opinions by people who know or think they do on DSL Reports. So, in the end it's a business decision whether to increase compatibility with that people's network, their ISP, and that ISP's routing - or to stay complacent and explain that Voip is still not as mainstream.

Technical problems are more often than not management incompetency masquerading as technical problems.

[christcorp]

ymhee. Things to consider. Actual customers who also spend time on forums are quite low. Any forum; whether it's voip, PC's, cars, sports, guns, etc... usually make up less than 5% of users. I.e. The voipo forum has 27,006 members. How many of them are somewhat regular members? Very few. Also; there's probably a considerable amount more voipo customers than 27,006. Next; when it comes to forums, the majority of posts are either by regulars who are hobbiests and are really into the subject, (Geeks); or it's an individual looking for the answer to a specific question or problem. Once found, they go generally go away again until the next problem. Same with any type of forum. Bottom line, forums are a poor source to determine good/bad of a subject. Rarely do users search out a forum to say what a wonderful product or service it is.

Also, the majority of voip users, whether it's voipo, vonage, or whomever, have the most basic of home network setups, and experience little to no problems. Most have a combo dsl/cable modem/router/wireless. Some have a separate wireless router. They have maybe 1 hardwired PC and possibly a wireless laptop. The average user isn't streaming heavy data, aren't worried about QOS, don't have a need for static IP's, aren't downloading torrents, etc...

The best management tool VoipO can use to determine their product/service is to look at their trouble logs. Compare total number of users with total number of trouble tickets. I.e. If Tim or another VoipO member tells us they have 100,000 voipo customers, and that their call center receives approximately 100 trouble tickets per day (Not related to HOW DO I type questions); then they can judge the quality of their availability and reliability. They can also determine if certain problems are consistent with all technologies or ISP's or if it's random. I know you think that a company like voipo should strive to increase their product/service compatibility with individual's networks, ISP, etc..., but too many things affect that. When I run into people with problems with their voip, the first thing I have them do is to run only their voip. No computers, no netflix, no printers, no wifi, etc... Just their internet, modem, and voip. Then, they can at least narrow the problem to Voip/WAN/ISP or Voip/Network/Lan. There are too many different manufacturers of routers, modems, PC's, operating systems, ISP, etc... to try and make a product like Voip work with every single one of them. Now, if we could ever get rid of "Net Neutrality" or find other ways to sector off and channel real time traffic like voip and video conferencing, then we'd probably no longer have most of these problems.

Greenlatern: My home phone system is VoipO and I use a PAP2 with about 10 analog phones in the house. At work, I have my own telephone network with a few thousand lines. It is made up of approximately 15 PBX/gateways scattered around the state. It's a combination of digital, analog, and voip phones. It combines DID's from Ma'Bell, PRI T1 lines, local CO trunk lines, Interconnectivity between them all using DSL, Point to Point T1 lines, Metro Ethernet, and my own Statewide Microwave network. It is the ultimate hybrid. But even with it being my own network with just DID/CO Trunk to go off-net, I still have issues occasionally. Sometimes the voip calls sound choppy to customers. Sometimes digitized. It is not uncommon for one of my phone calls to go digital/analog/VOIP, converted to voip, over a T1, back to a gateway, over my own microwave network, to my main-brain PBX, routed over a DSL or Metro-Ethernet, to another gateway, converted back to non-voip/digital, off load to a PRI or CO trunk to Ma-Bell, to a private phone. Overall, my work phone system is very reliable and most customers are happy with it. We have a lot of backup routing if something goes down. But there are still customers who complain. Some have old monitoring equipment and must have an analog line so they can still use a dialup modem. Some prefer using digial pbx style phones. Believe it or not, very few actually like using the VOIP phones.

[ymhee_bcex]

Mike,
Very long post; I agree with about 80%. But what is your point?

One thing where you are mistaken:

I know you think that a company like voipo should strive to increase their product/service compatibility with individual's networks, ISP, etc...,
No, I don't; I question the premise that the root cause of the problem is generic compatibility with individual's networks, ISP, etc (and since I by definition know better what I think, I am comfortable saying that you are mistaken; as opposed to I disagree).

Anyway, I think we are both saying that it is a business decision for VOIPo to assess whether there is a problem or not. You are going into details how to make this decision... I trust that the management and the investors should make this decision themselves. Market (profits and losses) will show whether the decision is correct.

[christcorp]

Note: The reason the post was long, was because you weren't the only person I was replying too. Greenlatern also asked me a question.

Well; considering the majority of customers don't have problems, and the voipo equipment and network is basically the same for each customer, I have to stand by the belief that "most" voice quality issues are rooted with the customer's network, their ISP, or their ISP's routing. Not all problems, just most. Now there were times when I had call issues that only happened when I called a particular city. That showed that the issue pointed towards the handoff gateway at the distant city I was calling. But many times, it is on the customer's end.

My point was that you were mentioning reviews, comparisons, issues, etc... mentioned on forums. Including DSLreports. My point was that forums are such a small sampling of active customers, and "most" people who visit forums are looking for a solution to a problem, that by it's very nature, you will see more complaints and issues brought up in a forum than what accurately reflects true customer experiences.

[N6ATF]

Also been having problems (random dropped calls, garbled calls, dial a number and dead air) for the past few weeks. Thought it might be due to the new features being put in. Grandstream HT502, ~5mb/2mb Cox on Motorola SB5101, WRT54GL with ports forwarded and on the Exempt QOS mode... and just made the Grandstream the DMZ host for the hell of it. Resetting the cable modem fixes everything temporarily... nothing feels like it's overheating... WTH

[ymhee_bcex]

My point was that you were mentioning reviews, comparisons, issues, etc... mentioned on forums. Including DSLreports. My point was that forums are such a small sampling of active customers, and "most" people who visit forums are looking for a solution to a problem, that by it's very nature, you will see more complaints and issues brought up in a forum than what accurately reflects true customer experiences.
DSL Reports has 174 reviews of VOIPo - 136 good; 17 bad. Doesn't look like more complaints and issues :p

By the way, similar stats for PhonePower, CallCentric, and several others. So, I would say that regulars on DSLR are experienced folks that are discussing how to make VoIP services better, and comparing different providers (something that is inappropriate on vendor-sponsored forums).

[christcorp]

Didn't say reviews would be good or bad. Simply that forums are not an accurate account of a company's product or service. The sampling size is much too small. And forums tend to be made up of a "Few" enthusiasts and individuals seeking answers to a problem. Can you get a ball park idea on a company by their forum reviews? Sure. You can also go to a company's forum, like this one, and compare the type of questions being asked. I.e. If most of the questions are "HOW" type questions with people trying to learn or better use a product/service, that's one thing. If many of the questions are "Why" in nature; like "Why can't I, or Why won't it, or Why does it keep, etc..." then it's usually problem oriented. But back to more original reply; I'm simply saying that most issues with voip are usually associated with the customer's equipment, network, ISP, etc...

[ymhee_bcex]

But back to more original reply; I'm simply saying that most issues with voip are usually associated with the customer's equipment, network, ISP, etc...
If that were the case, my Aunt Millie would never buy telephone service from Vonage, VOIPo or any other independent voice service provider. Only full-service package from cable or DSL provider. So that if anything goes wrong she can call support and avoid finger-pointing. So, I guess, we can agree to disagree on it (and my Aunt Millie agrees with me! She was unhappy BroadVoice customer 7 years ago; and happily switched to another VSP afterwards. She switched from DSL to cable and back to dry-loop DSL; bought a new router twice, without thinking to check voip compatibility in any of those situations).

That said, I am very curious to hear Tim's opinion on this topic! Do you agree with this statement? Are you comfortable building up such perception?

[VOIPoTim]

That said, I am very curious to hear Tim's opinion on this topic! Do you agree with this statement? Are you comfortable building up such perception?

Yeah I definitely agree. 99.9999% of the time the issues are related to the router, ISP or home network.

There are just so many variables (ISP, routers, home network setup etc) that the goal for any provider is to achieve the highest compatibility rate possible (high 90%s).

Since it's not 100% though, unfortunately that means there will always be a small % with issues. Each provider has a different segment of customers in the small % because each provider has a different network. Someone could be in our problem % and have great service with Vonage. Another person could be in the Vonage problem % and have great service with us. This is because our networks are different and one network may work better with the customer's unique variables than another.

[holmes4]

Another person could be in the Vonage problem % and have great service with us.

Raises hand.... I spent the better part of a year fighting Vonage over abysmal call quality. Switched to VOIPo and problem solved.

[ymhee_bcex]

Yeah I definitely agree. 99.9999% of the time the issues are related to the router, ISP or home network.
OK, the Boss has spoken!

I maybe in a tiny minority here; but for me this is a huge turn-off statement. Similar to a programmer who says that 99.9999% of the time the issues are related to the users, hardware, or browser. Sorry...

[VOIPoTim]

OK, the Boss has spoken!

I maybe in a tiny minority here; but for me this is a huge turn-off statement. Similar to a programmer who says that 99.9999% of the time the issues are related to the users, hardware, or browser. Sorry...

Just being honest. The vast majority of the time, the issues are related to routers, ISPs or home networks. We see it every day.

Not sure how we could spin that any differently...it's just really the nature of the business since all of those elements are outside of our control since provided by the customer.

I understand you might feel we could approach it differently which I can respect as your opinion, but I don't agree with it.

Not possible for a provider to have 100% compatibility when they don't control so many variables in my opinion.

So we can agree to disagree, but I stand by the statement that most issues are related to those things.

[christcorp]

I love Canon printers. But when I changed operating systems to Linux, the canon printer wasn't completely compatible. Is that Linux/Ubuntu's problem and something they need to fix, or is it something that Canon needs to fix with new drivers? HP works flawlessly. I worked many years for ma'bell. I had a customer that kept hearing voices on the phone that wasn't the person she was speaking with. She lived next to an AM-Radio station tower. Her neighbors with a different phone didn't have the same problem. Only her particular phone. Is that a problem Ma'Bell needs to try and fix? Levi makes great jeans but not everyone likes them. Some like the fit of Wrangler. Should Levi try and make their jeans loved by ALL customers?

As many customers mention, including holmes4 who posted 3 posts ago, he had a miserable time with Vonage, but Voipo works perfectly. For some, Vonage might be the right answer and voipo isn't it. There are satisfied and dissatisfied customers with broadvoice, ITP, cable digital voice, magic-jack, 8X8, etc... When you combine personal phones, cordless phones, routers, PC's, ports, QOS, microwave ovens, WIFI, home security, ISP, routing, local electromagnetic radiation, and all the other local influences, things are affected. What one service can't do, another possibly can. When I bought my house 14 years ago, it came with a wireless intercom system. It worked great. Within about 4 years of adding home theater, computers, wireless, etc... It no longer worked. Works fine at my daughter's house. I gave it to her. I bought a new wireless system that works fine.

[burris]

OK, the Boss has spoken!

I maybe in a tiny minority here; but for me this is a huge turn-off statement. Similar to a programmer who says that 99.9999% of the time the issues are related to the users, hardware, or browser. Sorry...

No one could say it better than Tim said and yet the beat goes on..

In every aspect of life, nothing works the same for everyone. I don't see what's so difficult to understand.
If it works for you, go with it....if not keep searching till you find something that works the way you envision..

For those of us who have been around this technology most of our lives, we understand these limits.

I totally agree with Tim and admit I couldn't have said it better..

[Karlof]

I upgraded my older Linksys WRT300n (stock firmware) to a Netgear 3700 and could never get the Netgear to properly work with the HT502 (static IP). After spending a week pull my hair out setting up port forwards, testing out alternative firmwares and the like I returned it and plugged in my linksys that worked flawlessly without having to worry about setting up special ports.

The Linksys finally stopped being reliable and needed replacement. Again fearing incompatibility I stuck with Linksys got a e2400 but the problems still persisted like the 3700. Returned and picked up a Asus rt56u.... Still wasn't good (Again I messed with ports), I could only make outbound calls, until I found an alternative firmware and now all is right with the world.

I am no expert on networks but it appears (to me) that a lot of the newer routers have issues. But I can say that the Asus rt56u with the Russian 1.1.2.0-002 firmware works.

Also I have U-verse iNID 2wire i3812V setup with DMZ to the rt56u. not using the supplied i38HG router.

my .02

[GreenLantern]

Karlof, great info and much appreciated.

I think we should all focus on trying to identify some reliable combinations of network hardware rather than getting sidetracked.

[christcorp]

I know VoipO issues the HT502, but I can honestly say that I don't have any experience with that adapter. I've been with VoipO since the beginning. Actually, before that as a Beta and before that an Alpha tester. I believe I may have had the HT502 for a brief period of time in the early days, but then VoipO started issuing the Linksys PAP2 voip adapter. I've been using that for numerous years now without any issues. I've used it with a Trendnet router and for the last couple years a Linksys E3000. Again; no issues at all. I do give my voipo adapter a static IP address from my router. I do port forwarding. (UDP Only). And most times I do QOS. However; with 30mb down and 5mb up broadband, I've never had a bandwidth issue and haven't found QOS on or off to show a difference. As someone who works on a lot of electronics, including computers and networks, I have found that as part of my PMI (Preventative Maintenance Inspection), I routinely reboot my entire network. Meaning, about once a month or two. Late at night, I'll power everything down and after a minute I'll power up again in a sequence. Then again, I open my computers, TV's, BluRay, and other tech toys periodically and clean them out. Anyway; I don't have any voip issues at all.

[djrobx]

I've been going back and forth with support on this. I think they finally figured it out. They changed something on their end and had me reboot the HT502. I haven't closed the ticket yet but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Their first attempt to fix it resulted in awful call quality. The second attempt seems good though. I haven't had any incidents of 1 way calls in 48 hours. The weird delay when answering the phone ("Hello? ... HELLO?") is gone now, too!

Be sure to report the Call Reference ID for bad calls when you create a trouble ticket.

[djrobx]

It's been a long time but I wanted to update this incase anyone else runs into the same issue.

I continued to have problems with incoming calls. Most commonly, the phone would ring. When I'd pick up, all I'd hear is dead air. The caller was usually sent to voicemail. I'd then be unable to place a call or get a dial tone for about 30 seconds. Support just kept telling me to check my port forwarding settings and making mysterious config changes on their end.

The odd delay got me to thinking - what if the ATA was crashing and rebooting? Sure enough, the next time this happened, I logged into the HT502, and it showed an uptime of just a minute. Confirmed that the uptime was always reset after one of these events. I reported this to support. They tried updating the HT502 to the latest firmware, but it didn't change the behavior. I found a post from someone else using the same ATA on PhonePower that had the same symptoms (he actually had two HT502s, one exhibited this issue the other didn't).

VOIPo sent me a new ATA. Bingo - uptime is over a week, and I've actually been able to speak with each incoming caller. Finally!

[christcorp]

I slight twist to what you found. "Many" people wire their ATA into their home wiring. This way they can plug their phone into any jack in the house and they don't have to deal with buying multi-handset cordless phones. Nothing wrong with this. I've worked for Ma'Bell as well as running a voip/digital/analog phone system for the government. I've definitely wired a few houses with jacks; and therefor had no problem wiring my house up tot he voipo adapter so I could use phones in all the existing jacks.

Here's the kicker..... Phones have a characteristic known as a REN. (Ringer Equivalence Number). What that means in english is: How much CURRENT the phone draws when the ringer starts ringing. In the old days with REAL BELLS, it draws much more than with modern day phones. And a cordless phone draws it's power from the batter in the handset and NOT from the receiver. Although, it does draw some current when it senses the incoming call.

So what does this mean. Unlike a regular Ma'Bell phone line on your jack, which has pretty much more current than you'll ever use, a VOIP Adapter doesn't have that much capabilities. If you have TOO MANY phones ringing on the voip adapter, it can draw too much current and either cause damage to the Voip Adapter, or it may give you half rings (Known as a Ring-Trip) and it disconnects the call before you can answer it. (Outgoing is almost always fine).

I have 11 phones hooked up in my house. One in EVERY JACK. I despise cordless phones; although I do keep one for the garage. (The quality just isn't as good). Anyway; if I turned on ALL the ringers to ALL the phones, there is no way the adapter could handle it. Especially when 3 of the phones have real bells in it. Just too much current. I've tried it and the voip adapter gets really pi$$ed off. So; even though I have 11 phones connected. I have 4 phones with the ringers turned on. The other 7 have the ringers turned off. But the 4 with ringers on, are strategically placed throughout the house, so you'll always hear one of the phones ringing when being called. Depending on the voip adapter; depending on the quality of the components; will depend on how many REN it can handle. Most times, the voip adapter won't have a problem. Most people don't have tons of phones and most use cordless. Plus, most modern phones use little tweet type ringers and they don't draw a lot of current. But if you start hooking up 3-4 heavier duty phones; a fax machine; etc... and draw too much current, there's a lot of times the phone could ring and when you answer it, it's dead air. It couldn't handle the amount of current, and basically hung up on the caller before you could answer it.

Anyway; just a little side note in case anyone had a similar issue.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringer_equivalence_number)

[djrobx]

Yep - You bring up a good point. I understand REN value and the potential for issues if you say - attached a bunch of mechanically-ringing phones to a poor little ATA that was never intended to handle it all.

In my case, the ATA was directly connected to single cordless base with 4 handsets with a 6 foot phone cord (no house wiring). Perhaps I got a used ATA that had been damaged this way before I started using it (or it was simply bad ... "it" happens). Everything is working beautifully on the new ATA. It's so refrehsing to be able to just speak to callers when I pick up the phone!

-- Rob