Unable to place calls, and phone rings but can't answer ...

[mlaposta]

Having trouble getting my line to work.
Tried with softphone and it works perfect, but with ATA I can't seem to get it working.

I'm using a Linksys PAP2T, and followed tony_qc's steps (http://forum.freephoneline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=298) as well as the settings from mindabsense for the PAP2T (http://forum.freephoneline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=310).

If I call my number the phones in the house ring, but when I pick up a phone there's no sound, and on the calling phone it keeps ringing as if no one answered.
And if I try to place a call nothing happens. I have dial tone, but after dialing there's just dead air until finally I get a busy tone.

I've enabled all the UDP ports as per tony_qc's post, and like I said the softphone works, but the ATA still won't.
I even went as far to set up a DMZ for the ATA but same thing.

Anyone have any ideas what might be causing this?
I've tried everything I could think of ... out of ideas

Thanks,
Mike.

[mlaposta]

Still no answers?

Well as an update, I've tried a bunch of stuff...
Update my pap2t firmware to 5.1.6 (was on 3.x before), tried port triggering on my router, even removed the router and hooked up the pap2t directly to my modem and same thing, phones ring but I can't answer, and still can't dial out.

Wth is going on?? Anyone have any ideas at all pleeeease???
My modem is a speedtouch 516, modem firewall is off.

Really don't understand what's the deal.

[FONGO_steve]

I'll be honest, this one has me really puzzled.

The modem isn't the issue - we use the same ones here for our DSL. The fact it didn't work when connected directly into the modem is what gets me. That rules out anything relating to port forwarding on a router. If the ATA was configured as per my guide with Tony_QCs tweaks, then it theoretically should be fine.

Out on a limb - have you tried a different phone?

If you have a chance to take screenshots of all your ATA configuration pages, you could email them to me and I will look over them. My email is simply steve AT freephoneline (.) ca (piece it together like a normal email - don't want it picked up by spam bots by typing it in full on here)

[mlaposta]

Hey Steve, thanks for the reply.

Yeah I know what you mean about how puzzling this is.

I actually decided to swap out the modem with another one I have (Speedstream 6520) just to see if that changes anything.
The speedstream has 4 LAN ports as opposed to the 1 LAN port on my Speedtouch, so I connected the PAP2T to one LAN port and my router on another. I then went into the speedstream config and opened up UDP ports 5060, 5061, and TCP port range 16384 - 16482 (for the RTP traffic) and forwarded it to the PAP. Same deal.

So I guess I really can rule out the modem, or the router.
Makes me wonder if I have a dud PAP2T? I mean it seems to be working, I have dialtone and it detects the VM I left on my FPL VM (gives the broken dialtone sound when off-hook). So I know it's connecting to my account, and like I said the PAP rings my phones when I call the number, I just can't get the calls.

I ran a factory reset on the PAP2T and went through the config again to be on the safe side but same deal.

I'll take you up on the screenshots, just gimme a bit to grab them and I'll send them your way.
Thanks again.

p.s. I have 4 phones connected and tested with all of them, so don't think it's the phones either

[FONGO_steve]

Hey Steve, thanks for the reply.

Yeah I know what you mean about how puzzling this is.

I actually decided to swap out the modem with another one I have (Speedstream 6520) just to see if that changes anything.
The speedstream has 4 LAN ports as opposed to the 1 LAN port on my Speedtouch, so I connected the PAP2T to one LAN port and my router on another. I then went into the speedstream config and opened up UDP ports 5060, 5061, and TCP port range 16384 - 16482 (for the RTP traffic) and forwarded it to the PAP. Same deal.

So I guess I really can rule out the modem, or the router.
Makes me wonder if I have a dud PAP2T? I mean it seems to be working, I have dialtone and it detects the VM I left on my FPL VM (gives the broken dialtone sound when off-hook). So I know it's connecting to my account, and like I said the PAP rings my phones when I call the number, I just can't get the calls.

I ran a factory reset on the PAP2T and went through the config again to be on the safe side but same deal.

I'll take you up on the screenshots, just gimme a bit to grab them and I'll send them your way.
Thanks again.

p.s. I have 4 phones connected and tested with all of them, so don't think it's the phones either

Sounds good about the screenshots. I'm out of town this weekend and will have really limited work email access, but you can expect to hear back from me ASAP Monday morning around 8am. If your settings look perfect, then I'll try and setup a device in our office to duplicate your configuration and see what happens.

[mlaposta]

Ok, so I'm laughing and crying at the same time here ....

Just figured out what the issue was and now everything works perfect .... ready for this?? .... it was the "Display Name" in the "Line 1" settings
I had set it as "Michael & Joelle", and I guess the PAP2T didn't like the ampersand, cause as soon as I removed it I could dial out right away!

I'm no newb to computers and electronics, so you'd think I would have known the ampersand would be trouble!!
Anyhoo, it's all working now and had nothing to do with the hardware in the end.

Hopefully if anyone else is having any similar issues they will see this post and check their settings

[FONGO_steve]

Ok, so I'm laughing and crying at the same time here ....

Just figured out what the issue was and now everything works perfect .... ready for this?? .... it was the "Display Name" in the "Line 1" settings
I had set it as "Michael & Joelle", and I guess the PAP2T didn't like the ampersand, cause as soon as I removed it I could dial out right away!

I'm no newb to computers and electronics, so you'd think I would have known the ampersand would be trouble!!
Anyhoo, it's all working now and had nothing to do with the hardware in the end.

Hopefully if anyone else is having any similar issues they will see this post and check their settings

Hard to believe that little ampersand can cause so many problems!

Glad to hear things are working good now!

[gsr519]

Ok, so I'm laughing and crying at the same time here ....

Just figured out what the issue was and now everything works perfect .... ready for this?? .... it was the "Display Name" in the "Line 1" settings
I had set it as "Michael & Joelle", and I guess the PAP2T didn't like the ampersand, cause as soon as I removed it I could dial out right away!

I'm no newb to computers and electronics, so you'd think I would have known the ampersand would be trouble!!
Anyhoo, it's all working now and had nothing to do with the hardware in the end.

Hopefully if anyone else is having any similar issues they will see this post and check their settings

I am at work and your symptoms you're describing above is EXACTLY my problem too!

I am going to be so pissed and relieved at the same time if the & fixes everything!

[gsr519]

It worked, I am in awe!

what a simple stupid solution

[tomrichrd2411]

Do u mind sharing What did u do to make it work. Thanks in advace.

[mlaposta]

Do u mind sharing What did u do to make it work. Thanks in advace.

Well, you could read the post, all the info is there for you

In a nutshell, an ampersand (&) causes an issue if it's in the display name of the pap2t, and possibly other ATA's.
See above posts for more details.

[ignoreme]

Unbelievable.....
I face the same situation as above, 100% the same. I think this issue should be highlighted by admin at FAQ.
I use a SPA1001 (old but still reliable, and convenient). I use "cao&mao" display name, as this is my homeline number. Failed....but it works when the provider is vbuzzer....this could be a bug of FPL, I think. After getting rid of "&", everything's done.
I can use G711u, no problem. My internet's Rogers Express.

Thanks so much.