Call disconnects after 1 minute. Why? Please help

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 28, 2009 Posts: 4

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Hello,

I am using Vonage for over a year now. Was fine with very clear until a week ago. My internet connection is via cable. Connection is Timewarner Cable to CableModem to Router to VonageModem. When I dial/receive a call , thecall drops after exactly 1minute. I am fed up with Vonage since some kind of new issues comes once every quarter. And it is really painful to talk to customer service and solve the issue. My internet, ethernet and wireless LAN work perfectly fine.

Please help.

Posts: 293 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 293

babusuresh wrote:

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My internet, ethernet and wireless LAN work perfectly fine.

Then that's a good place to start.

Start with the info from the sticky at the top of the forum. network configuration. ATA model

And the calls drop? as in disconnect or as in lost audio or other problem.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 28, 2009 Posts: 4

Yes. Calls disconnect. Not sure where is that sticky on top of forum. Can you help me to locate that? Thanks for your help.

Posts: 355 · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:46 pm Post subject:

At the top of the page of the forum, where you see the posts for the Vonage forum

Vonage Forum

The second "sticky". Post that information.

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:47 pm Post subject:

If your call disconnects at exactly 60 seconds, that is an indication that there is a problem with the SIP signaling between your device and the Vonage proxy server. Any SIP 200 OK message that is not ACK'd in 60 seconds will be disconnected as that is what the ACK timeout value is on the Gateways.

Have you tried to connect the Vonage adapter directly to the modem so that your router is bypassed. This would only have to be temporary for testing but in 99.9% of these types of issues, it is the router that is blocking this specific message. And it could just happen out of anywhere. You could also try a factory reset on your router, not the Vonage adapter to see if this corrects the problem.

If you can place or receive a call now and hold each end active even after you believe it disconnects(for about 30 - 60 seconds), PM me your number and the number you called or called you and I will analyze the SIP logs to determine if this is the cause of your issue.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 28, 2009 Posts: 4

Sent PM with the details. Please respond accordingly.

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:18 pm Post subject:

The issue is exactly what I described to you in my initial response. On outbound phone calls, when the call is connected at the far end, a SIP 200 OK message is sent to your telephone adapter and this is where the audio stream starts. However, in the SIP protocol this 200 OK requires an ACK to let the far end know you received the 200 OK. Vonage is not receiving this ACK from you but we know your getting the 200 OK since you have 2 way audio when the call starts. Vonage continues to send a 200 OK for 3 retries and is not successful. At the 60 second mark, when the Gateway has not received an ACK from you, the call is disconnected.

As for the inbound calls, I am not seeing an issue however it may still be the same. On an inbound call, the signaling is the opposite. So when you pick up, you send a 200 OK which starts the audio stream and the Gateway send back an ACK which I can see. But, it is possible your device is not getting the ACK which I can't see from the proxy logs. It might not retry the 200 OK messages like the Gateways do.

In either case, the root cause is your router doing something very odd only with the ACK to the 200 OK. All other signaling is fine.

Now since you told me that you do not want to put the Vonage device first because of internet problems you had, the only other method you can try to use to correct this problem is to back up your router's settings and perform a factory reset of your router. Then reconfigure it for your wireless security and so on. If you can configure it manually, it would be preferred since using the backup file to restore it's settings might put it back into the same state it is in now.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 28, 2009 Posts: 4

Appreciate the response. However I did not change anything recently. Why would suddenly things fail? I am too suspecious. And not comfortable at all. Not sure how much effort I need to do reset and re-configure all of my stuffs in order to do what I am in my internet. Will update once I reset

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:22 pm Post subject:

These types of things happen all the time to simple store bought routers. D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, Belkin, Trendnet, and such are all pieces of garbage. No offense to anyone using them. It may not be the same for every person. Sometime the router just starts to block outbound audio or inbound audio or both. Sometimes it causes the audio to become choppy.

Their NAT implementations flake out for no reason whatsoever. The firewalls start doing things they shouldn't. The QOS doesn't actually work as it should. That is why the 3rd party firmware can actually make a difference to the total performance of the router.

But overall, sometimes these simple routers need to be factory reset from time to time to get them back into a clean working state.

This is why Vonage customers get so irate. People do not realize how complicated it is to properly run a Voip connection. While it seems simple and fairly easy, each piece of hardware in your house from the cable modem to the phones and all the wires involved have an effect on your service. Then to add the internet on top of it makes it even more difficult. That is why over 90% of all technical issues customers complain to Vonage about are caused by the hardware in their own homes or the internet.

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 16, 2007 Posts: 9

VonTechMgr wrote:

These types of things happen all the time to simple store bought routers. D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, Belkin, Trendnet, and such are all pieces of garbage. No offense to anyone using them. It may not be the same for every person. Sometime the router just starts to block outbound audio or inbound audio or both. Sometimes it causes the audio to become choppy.

Their NAT implementations flake out for no reason whatsoever. The firewalls start doing things they shouldn't. The QOS doesn't actually work as it should. That is why the 3rd party firmware can actually make a difference to the total performance of the router.

But overall, sometimes these simple routers need to be factory reset from time to time to get them back into a clean working state.

This is why Vonage customers get so irate. People do not realize how complicated it is to properly run a Voip connection. While it seems simple and fairly easy, each piece of hardware in your house from the cable modem to the phones and all the wires involved have an effect on your service. Then to add the internet on top of it makes it even more difficult. That is why over 90% of all technical issues customers complain to Vonage about are caused by the hardware in their own homes or the internet.

Your reply should be a sticky that every poster be required to read! Of probably 500 calls a year - i replace 1-2 devices - and usually cause they were blown out by the EU plugging into and leaving plugged into a live IW jack. Vonage support service was never designed support in infrastructure of people activation IW. Every state has different standards - every land line LEC different equipment etc etc. end rant .
Ray