HELLO & WELCOME

[PaulRB]

I just won an auction for a used obi110 from a UK seller, so will be back soon for more advice, if that's OK.

Plugging the obi110 into my network will be a little inconvenient. I was thinking: I have a Pi model B and a compatible usb wifi dongle. Could I use the Pi's ethernet port to connect to the obi110, and the wifi to connect to the rest of my home network? I guess this would involve getting the Pi to act as a network bridge, as well as running RasPBX. I've done network bridging before, years ago, on Win XP with usb 3G dongles. I will have to do some research on whether I can do something similar with the Pi to bridge from the wifi to the ethernet.

[WelshPaul]

I just won an auction for a used obi110 from a UK seller, so will be back soon for more advice, if that's OK.

Congratulations! Once you receive the device, hard reset the OBi110 and confirm that it's running the latest 1.3.0 (Build: 2886) firmware .

Plugging the obi110 into my network will be a little inconvenient. I was thinking: I have a Pi model B and a compatible usb wifi dongle. Could I use the Pi's ethernet port to connect to the obi110, and the wifi to connect to the rest of my home network? I guess this would involve getting the Pi to act as a network bridge, as well as running RasPBX. I've done network bridging before, years ago, on Win XP with usb 3G dongles. I will have to do some research on whether I can do something similar with the Pi to bridge from the wifi to the ethernet.

I haven't tried using a PI running RasPBX as an Ethernet bridge but it should be doable. For what it's worth, running the whole setup over your WiFi is not the best approach and I strongly recommend using Ethernet to connect both devices to your network - Easier said than done sometimes I know!

Also, the Pi model B is going to result in a very poor user experience so I would seriously consider using a Raspberry Pi 3. Give the Pi model B a try if you want but don't let the sluggishness of navigating the GUI put you off the whole idea. The difference between the Pi model B and the Pi 3 is night and day.

[PaulRB]

Slight hick-up. The obi110 arrived but without a suitable phone cable. Exactly what do I need? Obviously rj11 plug on one end and bt style plug on t'other. But should it be what's described as "crossover", like this one?

[WelshPaul]

Just got round to testing this with a 2-wire cable and yes, I can confirm that is the cable you require.

[PaulRB]

So you are comparing to a cable that you know works with the obi110? How can you tell if your cable is crossover or straight wired?

[WelshPaul]

Ah man, sorry. Had a long day yesterday!

I just put a test meter on the 2-wire BT to RJ11 cable that I used to preform the test, here are the results:

OBi110 BT to RJ11 cable
OBi110_BT_RJ11.jpg (143.5 KiB) Viewed 1715 times

So a 2-wire BT to RJ11 straight-through cable is required.

FYI, The cable that comes with the OBi110 is actually a 4-wire RJ11 to RJ11 so had you purchased a new OBi110, you would of had to purchase an additional RJ11 to BT adapter too.

[PaulRB]

confirm that it's running the latest 1.3.0 (Build: 2886) firmware

Note quite that build. How much does that matter?

Code: Select all

HardwareVersion	3.4	
SoftwareVersion	1.3.0 (Build: 2824)	

I have the obi plugged into the BT line, got a steady green light. Steady green light on the phone port also, although I can't plug a phone into the other port today - don't have a suitable rj11 cable.

On a sticker on the front of the obi, it says "No Emergency Calls". Why is that?

[WelshPaul]

confirm that it's running the latest 1.3.0 (Build: 2886) firmware

Note quite that build. How much does that matter?

I strongly recommend that you update the OBi110's firmware version to 1.3.0 (Build: 2886). It's the final release for OBi1xx series so you will only need to do this the once.

I have the obi plugged into the BT line, got a steady green light. Steady green light on the phone port also, although I can't plug a phone into the other port today - don't have a suitable rj11 cable.

You should be using one of these to connect a telephone to the OBi110's phone port.

Using an RJ11 to RJ11 from the OBi's phone port to your corded/DECT telephone isn't recommend, even if you get a dial tone there is a possibility that your telephone might not ring when receiving incoming calls. If you insist on going down the RJ11 to RJ11 route, try using a 2 wire straight through cable. What I have found in the past is that some telephones require a crossover cable, others straight through. Not sure why, it might be down to where they were manufactured and what region they were originally designed to be used in. As such, there is no one RJ11 to RJ11 suits all solution for UK users.

Hopefully that explains why.

On a sticker on the front of the obi, it says "No Emergency Calls". Why is that?

Because the OBiTALK network (and Google Voice) do not support emergency calls. OBIHAI are covering their butts basically! Connect the OBi110 to your PSTN line and upload the UK configuration file and all 999 calls made via the telephone connected to the phone port on the OBi110 will successfully dial out over your PSTN line.

[PaulRB]

OK, that was easy enough, and it retained the admin password & time zone I set previously, although the date & time don't seem to be updating now:

Code: Select all

HardwareVersion	3.4	
SoftwareVersion	1.3.0 (Build: 2886)	
SystemTime	00:01:40 01/02/2010, Saturday	
UpTime	0 Days 0:01:40 (9)

I'll buy one of those adaptors, then. I take it it's the ringing cap that's important? That's going to cost me more than the obi110 did! (excluding P&P)

[PaulRB]

Changing the NTP time server to uk.pool.ntp.org seems to have fixed the date/time issue.

[WelshPaul]

Factory reset your OBi after updating it's firmware. Then change the admin password and upload the OBi1xx UK XML file - It will set it all up for you! Including the time zone settings.

Regarding that adapter, yea you're correct, it's the ring capacitor that's important. Not all phones require it, some do, some don't. You might get away with using a broadband micro filter if you have one of those laying around? People have reported previously that they have used those in the past with a bit of tweaking.

Things people do to save a pound or two lol

[PaulRB]

OK. The Obi110 is on firmware 1.3.0 (Build: 2886), I have loaded the UK configuration file from this thread. The Obi is connected to the BT master socket, my DECT phone is connected to the Obi using the adaptor with ringing cap you recommended. If I pick the DECT phone up, I get a dial tone. So far so good.

What should I do/read-up on next?

[PaulRB]

Testing the setup, if I attempt to dial out on the DECT phone to my mobile, after a couple of seconds I get a constant tone (number unobtainable?).

If I dial the landline number from my mobile, I hear a ringing tone, but the DECT phone does not ring.

If I disconnect the Obi and connect the DECT phone directly to the BT master socket, I can make calls in both directions to and from my mobile. So there's nothing wrong with the DECT phone, the landline or my mobile.

I must need to do more configuration on the Obi...

[WelshPaul]

Incoming calls should ring your DECT phone without any additional changes required...

Reconnect your DECT phone(s) to your OBi110 and take the phone off hook, press ## on your DECT phone, your dial tone should change as you should now hear the BT dial tone? If you're with BT, try dialling 17070 (it's a free call) while listening to the BT dial tone via your DECT/OBi. Does the call complete?

UPDATE: Just setup an identical test unit running 1.3.0 (Build: 2886). Factory reset the device first and once it rebooted, I successfully uploaded the UK XML file you linked to here. Both inbound and outbound calls via the PSTN line work fine for me.

Inbound test call route: Mobile > PSTN Line > OBi110 > DECT Phone ***Call successful***

Outbound test call route: DECT Phone > OBi110 > PSTN Line > Mobile ***Call successful***

So no additional configuration should be required on your part.

[PaulRB]

Incoming calls should ring your DECT phone without any additional changes required...

I just re-tested that. I hear the ringing tone on my mobile. Nothing from the DECT phone. If I connect the DECT phone to the master socket instead of the Obi and make the call, the DECT phone rings. Strangely, if I then re-connect the Obi to the master socket and the DECT phone to the Obi, the DECT phone rings immediately. If I answer, I hear silence, then a click after a couple of seconds.

Reconnect your DECT phone(s) to your OBi110 and take the phone off hook, press ## on your DECT phone, your dial tone should change as you should now hear the BT dial tone?

No, just silence. After a couple of secs, a click, then a constant tone.

I can call the ObiTalk test number **9 222222222. I hear the announcement and I hear my voice echoed back after the tone.

I have been trying to register my Obi device on ObiTalk. I've tried 3 times. I dial the *5 xxxx number shown on the web page, and I hear an announcement telling me that the number has been sent to the server. I hang up. After the 100s timeout, the web page tells me it has failed to connect to my device. I am worried that Obitalk's attempts to contact my obi110 are being blocked by my 4G service provider, EE (but apparently none of them allow incoming IP connections).

I could try another factory reset and re-load the UK configuration again. I don't think it will make any difference. The only thing I changed after that was the device's admin password.