OBi212 Does not work with Google Voice

[DevDave]

OBi212(the model with 1 phone port and 1 line port) Does not seem to work with Google Voice.  Maybe its my problem rather than the product's problem.  The only reason I suspect the product is that the OBI212 seems to be so uncommonly used compared to the OBi202 and other products that perhaps it's firmware bugs are overlooked. With fresh default settings, I've gone through the setup tutorial several times.  Each time it fails to add Google Voice as a VOIP service provider.  After the setup wizard completes, the OBi dashboard show status "configuring" for SP1.  After some time, the status shows "offline" for SP1 Google Voice.  Please can anyone verify that OBi212 is currently working with Google Voice?  Much Thanks.

[drgeoff]

As I said in my reply to your other post, the OBi212 has only been available for about 1 week so it is not surprising that there are few if any posts about using it with Google Voice.

However I would stake a modest bet that the 212 is very similar to the 202 which has been giving good service for some years with GV and other ITSPs.  I doubt there is much if any difference between the FXS ports of the two, nor between the CPU, memory etc.  I would not be surprised if they also use common firmware.  The 100 and 110 have a common firmware.  The 200 and 202 have a common firmware.

I think it is much more likely that your problem is user error, especially if you have not configured GV on an OBi during the last 3 years.

I suggest you follow SteveInWA's instructions. http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8560.msg56460#msg56460.  You can omit the initial bit about updating the firmware. 

[DevDave]

Thank you for the response. I've gone over several tutorials very carefully. I know user error is likely but I'd still appreciate if anyone could verify that the OBi212 is currently working with GV. 

[Taoman]

The only reason I suspect the product is that the OBI212 seems to be so uncommonly used compared to the OBi202 and other products that perhaps it's firmware bugs are overlooked.

Please post what your current firmware version is.

Status-->System Status-->Product Information-->SoftwareVersion

[SteveInWA]

Thank you for the response. I've gone over several tutorials very carefully. I know user error is likely but I'd still appreciate if anyone could verify that the OBi212 is currently working with GV. 

If you exactly follow my tutorial, as drgeoff linked, it should work.  If it doesn't work after doing those exact steps, then fully describe the point in the process at which it fails.

The 212 is very similar to the 200 and 202; the only difference is the integrated circuit used to control the phone and line ports (the Subscriber Line Interface Circuit, or SLIC).  The ICs in the 210 support the line port.  There is no reason that Google Voice wouldn't work if configured properly on a working Google Voice number.

[DevDave]

This is the same tutorial that I have been using.  Thank you for creating it.  Its very clear and concise. I do understand that the hardware is similar to the 202 but I'm guessing you could take identical hardware, change the model number, and it would break the install scrips on your servers. 

I've tried two different working google voice accounts. This is the step that fails:

Add GV as a service provider.  When you go through the procedure, it will use OAUTH 2.0 to authenticate to your GV account.  This will pop up a window, from your Google account, and it will ask you to approve giving OBiTALK permission for offline access to your account.  Verify that the Google account shown in the pop-up window is the correct account you want to use with your OBi.  After you approve, the OBiTALK provisioning system will go through the authentication process with Google, and it will automatically download the necessary firmware to your device, if it's not already installed.  You will see a spinner icon next to "Configuring" while this is happening.  If the spinner icon doesn't go away after about 5 minutes, refresh the web browser page, and the status should change to "Connected".  You can't make this work properly without using the portal.

Sticks on "Configuring" then after a while it says "offline".

Thanks for the responses. Its really nice to get a same-day reply on a message board. 

[DevDave]

The only reason I suspect the product is that the OBI212 seems to be so uncommonly used compared to the OBi202 and other products that perhaps it's firmware bugs are overlooked.

Please post what your current firmware version is.

Status-->System Status-->Product Information-->SoftwareVersion

HardwareVersion 1.4      
SoftwareVersion 3.1.1 (Build: 5585LI)

[SteveInWA]

Sure, my pleasure.  The reason I am highly confident that it should work is:

• It says so on the Amazon listing, which was written by Obihai.
• I know the folks in charge at Obihai, and they confirmed to me that it supports GV.
• The OBi devices use a modular architecture, with an ARM processor on a SOC, which communicates high-level commands to peripherals, including RAM, flash, the I/O ports, and the SLIC.  The routines that authenticate with and control Google Voice are unaware of the difference in hardware, as they aren't concerned with controlling the line port.
• The only thing that would be different in the firmware would be the module supporting the FXO (line) port on the SLIC.
• From Google's end, they don't care what sort of hardware you're using.  All they care is that you, the user, give OBiTALK permission to access the XMPP/Chat service on your Google account.  At that point, Google and OBiTALK complete the OAUTH token exchange procedure.

I can offer you a fast way to eliminate your Google account as a possible cause of the problem.  If you wish, I can private message you with login credentials for one of my Google test accounts, which does work with GV.  Just let me know.

[Taoman]

HardwareVersion 1.4      
SoftwareVersion 3.1.1 (Build: 5585LI)

Can't find a direct URL (yet) for that firmware version.

My guess is the firmware for the 20x line of ATAs won't work on the OBi212.

How are you connecting your 212? Directly to your modem or your router? Do you have bridge mode enabled or do you have a double NAT configuration by any chance?

[DevDave]

HardwareVersion 1.4      
SoftwareVersion 3.1.1 (Build: 5585LI)

Can't find a direct URL (yet) for that firmware version.

My guess is the firmware for the 20x line of ATAs won't work on the OBi212.

How are you connecting your 212? Directly to your modem or your router? Do you have bridge mode enabled or do you have a double NAT configuration by any chance?

I have my 212 connected to a secondary router that is in bridge mode.  I will try connecting directly to the modem.

[drgeoff]

The Obi212 contains a router which defaults to being enabled.  Unless you put it into bridge mode you MUST use its INTERNET (WAN) port (not the LAN one) for its onward connection to the internet.

[KlaMa]

Hello DevDave,
I ran into a similar problem as you, when connecting the OBihai device to a bridged router. The problem is the IP address assignment using the router's DHCP. It seems that the device is constantly requesting a new IP addresses from the router until there are none left. I don't exactly know why this happens, and neither do I know why this appears to be a problem on a bridged setup, only. But it was reproducible for me and lead to a complete loss of functionality within 1 to 3 days, requiring me to reset both my router and the OBihai device every day.

The solution is to assign the Obihai device a static ip address. The description below is for my OBihai 100 device, so the steps may be slightly different on another model.

If you are using the Obihai online configuration utility:
1. use a web browser to log on to your Obitalk account, open the Obihai dashboard;
2. click on "OBihai expert configuration";
3. select "Enter OBi Expert",
4. Click on "System Management";
5. under Network settings set Address Type to "static" and fill in values compatible with your local network. For the latter you could use values that were shown previously. Just one advice regarding the static IP address you choose: You should choose one that is outside of the range assigned by the DHCP service of your router.
6. Don't forget to save your modified settings by clicking submit on the bottom of the page.

If you are configuring the OBihai device on a local network and have not registered it to an OBitalk online account:
1. Use a webbrower to access and log on to the device's configuration utility and proceed with step 4.

Since I have switched to a static IP address, my OBihai has been working reliably for months connected to my router to router wireless bridge.

HardwareVersion 1.4      
SoftwareVersion 3.1.1 (Build: 5585LI)

Can't find a direct URL (yet) for that firmware version.

My guess is the firmware for the 20x line of ATAs won't work on the OBi212.

How are you connecting your 212? Directly to your modem or your router? Do you have bridge mode enabled or do you have a double NAT configuration by any chance?

I have my 212 connected to a secondary router that is in bridge mode.  I will try connecting directly to the modem.