Anyone else having trouble with Caller ID?

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Jul 02, 2005 Posts: 7

I'd pick up a Linksys PAP2 to replace my Motorola MTA, if it would help.... Anyone have any idea?

Speaking of which....I've heard conflicting reports about the PAP2, actually... is it a piece of crap?

Also, if I bought a PAP2, is it "activated" at the store or anything (would want to return it if it didn't work)?

Can I simply call Vonage and tell them I want to try a different MTA and will they do that for me?

I already have a router I'm happy with, and I don't want to spend money and time replacing that and setting up my home network all over again. If the PAP2 is an unreliable piece of junk, what other MTA-only options do I have? Any?

I'm ticked I'm still, STILL left grasping at straws on my own with this...with no help from Vonage at all. Really, really crappy. Sad

I'm still open to ideas about resetting/reflashing firmware or altering any settings myself on the MTA myself. I know some of it only Vonage can do, but I'm not getting anywhere calling them, still, and feel like I need to take this into my own hands, clueless though I may be about it. Ugh.

Posts: 49 · Full Forum Member Joined: Nov 15, 2005 Posts: 49

kpdillon wrote:

I ended up solving the callerid issue myself by downgrading my firmware to 1.00.47 and not allowing any updates to my RTP300. Unfortunately the ON_HOOK_VOLTAGE adjustment from 48 to 45 with the new firmware does not seem to fix the CID issue (at least for me).

How did you manage to "not allow any updates"? I think I would like to take control of this process myself as well.

Posts: 86 · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:06 am Post subject:

staaver wrote:

How did you manage to "not allow any updates"? I think I would like to take control of this process myself as well.

I would like to know that too, especially after today when customer service said they are not anticipating a firmware update any time soon.

Now this, from my personal "vlog"...

11/17/2005 Called CS - Incoming Caller ID not working over inside wiring since 1.55 firmware update except once after each reboot. Incoming Caller ID had worked with this same inside wiring since I got the service in late August. CS upped ring voltage from 90 to 95. That, like rebooting the modem, only worked once.

Called back, we determined that Incoming Caller ID does work every time when the phone with the caller ID display is directly connected to the RTP-300. Incoming Caller ID stops working when the house wall jack with house wiring is connected

After getting off the phone with CS, I made the following additional observations:

1. I was able to connect several devices together directly from the RTP-300, the Caller ID phone, a voice mail message light, an old modem I use as an autodialer from the computer. Caller ID worked with those devices connected with only a few feet of cable.

2. Beckman 330 digital volt meter measures open circuit on house wiring > 20 Meg ohms across line

3. Also measured open circuit on house wiring > 20 Meg ohms to ground from either side of the line,

4. Same open circuits were found with or without all phones connected (and hung up of course).

5. No AC or DC voltage appeared on the lines except the residual noise in millivolts associated with open unloaded circuits.

6. When Vonage line is connected to house wiring, line measures 48.8 VDC / 49 VAC (true RMS), and all phones in the house work loud and clear. Ringing is activated on only one phone in the house.

7. Incoming Caller ID stops working when house wiring is added, even when all remote phones are disconnected from their wall jacks.

8. Caller ID worked fine in exactly this configuration, with 6 phones, 2 modems, and a voice mail message light connected, for 2 months before 1.00.5x firmware updates

Perhaps the capacitance of the house wiring is a factor loading on the RTP-300 output now? House wiring is less than 200 feet of 3 unshielded twisted pairs run from jack to jack. House is 18 years old, before the days of home runs to a single point, unfortunately.

I wonder what has changed in the RTP-300 that would cause Caller ID to stop working now under exactly the same environment under which it worked fine since I got Vonage?

Anyone have a reference to Caller ID specifications? Vonage told me they are escalating this to their advanced team. There has to be a variance in some voltage or AC signal level that is occurring. I would like to measure these with or without the house wiring attached so I could let Vonage know the results.

Before anyone concludes something has to change in my house wiring, why does the RTP-300 with 1.00.55 work perfectly on Incoming Caller ID after an RTP-300 reboot, with house wiring and all phones connected if there is something wrong with the house wiring?

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Sep 22, 2005 Posts: 10

Quote:

6. When Vonage line is connected to house wiring, line measures 48.8 VDC / 49 VAC (true RMS), and all phones in the house work loud and clear. Ringing is activated on only one phone in the house.

csnet,

You might try calling CS and have them reduce your line voltage from 48 to 45. This is the current fix for no or inconsistent CID. This change will return to a default of 48 if your router is hard reset and sometimes if CS resets it. If this happens, you will need to call CS again to make the change. The new default of 45 will be added into the next fw upgrade.

Posts: 86 · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:22 am Post subject:

Thank-you, I will give them a call tomorrow.

Posts: 159 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 05, 2005 Posts: 159

Changing this setting from 48 to 45 didn't fix my callerid unfortunately. But ever since I downgraded my own firmware to 1.00.47 and blocked outbound TFTP and HTTP from my RTP300, callerID has been working perfectly. If the ON_HOOK_VOLTAGE change doesn't work for you, you might consider giving this a try.

Just my .02 worth.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 18, 2005 Posts: 3

After reading a number of the posts on this issue, here's a somewhat tedious description of what I did to test and "fix" my caller id problem.

First, I connected a caller id phone directly to the RTP300(fw 1.55.00). Called my Vonage number using my cell phone and caller ID worked (first time since 11/13). Next I had an old caller id standalone display (ringer eq 0.0 Cool

. I removed the caller id phone, plugged the caller ID display directly into RTP300 and then plugged the caller id phone into the display. Called with my cellphone and both displayed caller id correctly. I removed the caller id phone from the display and plugged my inside wiring line cord into the caller id display. Had a friend call me on his SBC wireline and caller id worked on the display (located next to the RTP300) and my vtech 2.4g wireless system (both phones on this system and the caller id display, showed the correct caller name, number and time/date). The vtech system is located about 60 "cable" feet from the RTP300.

The interesting aspect of this caller id anomaly is that on my system, caller id-call waiting appeared to work perfectly all the while I was having problems with basic caller id.

BTW, I've had Vonage service since September and never had a caller id problem until recently. Also, I've rebooted the RTP300 a few times since 11/13 and caller id still failed until today.

Hope this helps.

Don

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

So after all is said and done, you're now working with your full house-wired system? And the fix was to put a CID unit between your RTP300 and the house wiring?

Posts: 159 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 05, 2005 Posts: 159

Don 1905 said:

Quote:

After reading a number of the posts on this issue, here's a somewhat tedious description of what I did to test and "fix" my caller id problem.

Quote:

BTW, I've had Vonage service since September and never had a caller id problem until recently. Also, I've rebooted the RTP300 a few times since 11/13 and caller id still failed until today.

So then your callerid issues are fixed or are not?

The 1.00.47 firmware rollback fixed callerid completely with my standard household wiring config, multiple phones various brands, computer modem, anwering machine etc...

Posts: 86 · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:23 pm Post subject:

kpdillon, thanks for the tip on what to block to prevent updates

I wonder if there is a way to block firmware updates without having to move the RTP300 after my WRT54G?

I have the RTP300 first so QOS for the phone is easily handled. I upload large files to servers and Murphy's law dictates that "the phone shall always ring during large file uploads".

If blocking updates with the RTP300 first is not possible, will the Vonage phone work if I connect the WRT54G's WAN port to the cable modem and NOT use the WAN port on the RTP300, connnecting LAN port to LAN port using the RTP300 as a switch, as I am using the WRT54G now?

It simplifies the network the way it is now with one router as 192.168.15.1 and the other as 192.168.15.2. Best of all, the remaining 6 LAN ports and the wireless devices see each other's resources on the same subnet 192.168.15.*

Of course I would have to reconfigure both routers, enabling the firewall and DHCP only on the WRT instead of the RTP as it is now.