Question regarding Ooma, and other components.

[Susan Calvin]

Things were starting to disconnect from time to time with my old modem and router, so I replaced it with a Motorola All In one. The phone seems to disconnect less than it did before, and usually turning the Wi-Fi off and on on the phone will fix it, so that is an improvement. The Kindle Paperwhite disconnects sometimes, but usually restarting the modem router fixes it. My real trouble is with my Ooma Telo and or Wi-Fi to ethernet converter that worked fine for years and years and years. It wants to disconnect frequently, and sometimes it seems I have to restart both the phone gear and the modem router. Other times just restarting one thing will fix it. I thought I had it narrowed down to the firewall and turning it up too high, but now it's back to the default and I still have this issue. There are so many things involved I don't know what to do. Like I could buy a new Ooma and or a new Wi-Fi to ethernet converter, but what if that doesn't fix it? And no, I cannot connect it directly to the modem / router, because the place where the phone base unit hangs on the wall is too far to run an ethernet cable.

Heck, it could also be comcast. Thanks in advance.

[sl8]

1. A few questions ...

Is the distance between your router/modem and phone base unit much more than 300 feet?

Do all the wireless devices have issues at the same time? Do any devices connected via copper Ethernet fail at the same time?

[Susan Calvin]

2. Thanks so much for the reply.

Nothing is connected via Ethernet at all. It's all Wi-Fi. All direct, except for the Uma goes through a Wi-Fi to ethernet adapter. They don't all fail at the same time usually. The Uma fails much more than anything else, and is less consistent as to what it takes to fix it. For the cell phone usually disconnecting and reconnecting to Wi-Fi fixes it, and I've Googled it my phone tends to have that issue. For the Paperwhite, restarting the modem router usually fixes it. For the uma, sometimes restarting the modem router fixes it, sometimes restarting the Uma and or the Wi-Fi ethernet adapter fixes it, and sometimes it takes everything. I thought about disconnecting everything but the Uma and adapter from wi-fi, and then running the modem router completely without a firewall. Do you think that would tell me anything? I'd have to leave it like that for quite a while, because sometimes the Uma runs fine for quite a while. The distance between the modem router and the Uma and Wi-Fi to ethernet adapter isn't more than about 15 ft and a wall. The reason it's not connected via ethernet cable is that it would be quite unsightly. it worked fine for over a decade. Neither the paper white nor the Uma had any issue until recently with my former modem and router, and problems have continued with the new modem router combo.

[sl8]

3. Hmm.

Are you comfortable logging into the modem/router and checking the logs? They may give some indications as to what's failing. That's the first thing I'd check. There may be a place in the router setup to change logging levels (how detailed the logs are).

I'd also consider running an ethernet cable just temporarily, to see if it is only a local WiFi issue or not. If you have the same problems with wired, you know it's not a WiFi problem.

Turning off the firewall would be a logical troubleshooting step, but I'd be leery of leaving it off for any length of time. Out of curiosity, is this a separate hardware firewall, a firewall built into the router, or ?

One thing it could be is a DHCP problem. That's the protocol whereby the phone or device asks the router for an IP address. The router than issues an address, with a "lease" (expiration time). When the lease expires it should be automatically renewed, but sometimes s@#t happens. Rebooting the phone would force it to issue a new DHCP request, temporarily "fixing" the problem. That's just one possible problem, though - it could be lots of things. A DHCP problem should show up in the logs, though.

It's possible you're getting radio interference with the WiFi signal, but other than trying it over copper ethernet, I'm not sure how you could tell without test equipment. Are you aware of any new electrical equipment that might be interfering? I've seen one case where a leaky microwave oven caused WiFi problems, but other electrical equipment could cause interference, too.

FYI, I'm not very familar with home networking equipment. Even with the commercial stuff, though, troubleshooting WiFi problems really sucked, and that's with test equipment and very good logs. That's not even considering the security issues with WiFi. I did not care for it and would always go with copper or fiber whenever possible and still do at home. I'm a bit of a fossil in that regard, I think.

I'm probably overlooking a lot, but that's all I've got right now.

Good luck!

[Susan Calvin]

4. Thank you so much.

First thing I'm going to do, per your suggestion, is run a wire to the thing. It will be ugly, but, you're right about that eliminating a lot of possibilities.

The very thought that it worked fine just as is for over a decade is driving me nuts.

[Susan Calvin]

5. Working fine for quite a few hours on ethernet.

If I hadn't talked to you, I'd probably still be stubbornly determined to make it work on wi-fi, since it worked on Wi-Fi for over a decade just fine. Thank you so much for getting me to stop being stubborn and do that. I'd love to just run an Ethernet cable, but there's no sightly way to do it. Right now I'm ducking under it to go into the kitchen, because it's not quite long enough to get it out of the way even in an unsightly manner.

Next thing I'm going to do is hook up a laptop by ethernet to that Wi-Fi to ethernet connector and see if it drops the Wi-Fi, to try to narrow it down to the Wi-Fi to ethernet connector or the modem / router. My money is on the modem/router.

I'm hoping there's some way to put the Ooma on a whitelist of some sort. Might you have any idea how I do that? It's not immediately obvious in the modem/router's menu. I do now know the IP address of the Ooma, and that you can talk to it directly if you hook a computer up to its ethernet connector marked Home.

[sl8]

6. Good so far

Good news on finding how to access the routers console. That will help enormously.

As far as the whitelist, that's normally used add exclusions to the firewall blocked traffic coming from the outside (Internet), not traffic originating from your private network (LAN). Personally, I'd check the router logs first. Assuming logging is turned on, it will show if anything being blocked by the firewall, along with a plethora of other potential problems. I'm assuming your firewall is built in to your router?

What's the make/model model of the router? I probably won't know anything about it, but it will be easy enough to get instructions.

FYI, there is flat Ethernet cable available, made to be easier to hide. I haven't tried it.

Is your user name from Asimov?

[Susan Calvin]

7. Absolutely my username is from Asimov!

It's a Motorola MG7540. It was the cheapest thing that seemed suitable.

As far as the firewall, I wonder if it is something coming from the outside that's bothering the modem/router? I'm not totally clear as to how the Ooma works, never had to worry about it before, but it's got to be communicating with something on the outside. The first thing I noticed when I tried to hook it up with my little adapter was that if I turned the firewall any higher than low It wouldn't connect at all. At that point I was blaming the adapter, but the adapter's been hooked up to a computer for a while and everything's fine, so I think the Ooma is definitely the culprit. From the modem/router's point of view anyway. From my point of view the modem / router is the culprit since the Ooma never gave me any trouble before.

Another interesting thing since I hooked up the Ooma directly is that I think my phone has lost its disconnect problem. The speed is definitely faster. The more complicated computer things get, the harder it is to tell what's affecting what.

You are so nice to help me out. There's no telling how long I would have stubbornly refused to run that ethernet cable because it worked fine as it was for over a decade before you figuratively kicked me in the rear.

[Susan Calvin]

8. I think it's fixed!

By a $50 Wi-Fi extender from Office Depot. Even though the very very old Wi-Fi to ethernet converter seems to stay connected to the computer, I guess there is something finicky about the combination of it and the very very old Ooma Telo.

The old one tested at only 30 MB with the computer, so maybe being that slow had something to do with it. The new one is a lot faster, set up in a snap, and has a web interface.

I still say that if I hadn't talked to you I'd still be stubbornly trying to force the old equipment to work again because it worked before.

[sl8]

9. Great news! Well done. : ) nt

[Susan Calvin]

10. Well done?!

I only did what I should have had enough sense to do in the first place....! Thanks for the figurative kick in the rear.