HomePhone - Not Working after porting

[woodcell]

Hopefully someone can help me with my problem. I signed up for Fongo, received my adapter (Grandstream HT-701) and tested the system and everything worked fine. I then requested my Bell Canada home phone to be ported by Fongo which happened in the afternoon on February 11, 2013. Once Bell switched the number, I lost by Bell DSL internet and phone. They showed up on Tuesday, February 12th and installed a new modem (2Wire 2701HG-G) and got the internet working. However, I am still unable to use my phone, sending or receiving. I have a dial tone.

When I make an outbound call, I get the message "this account number is not valid" and when I make an inbound call I get the message "The person you are trying to reach is not available" and the voice message signal beeps.

I have tried the following to resolve this problem (and still not working)
1. I checked my Grandstream HT-701 ATA and confirmed the settings match the ones on the Fongo Support website
2. I setup port forwarding for the following ports as recommended in one of the Forums (UDP 5060-5061, 6060-6061,13000-130001) and set them up to bypass my firewall
3. I changed the ATA setting on the Grandstream HT-701 for the NAT Traversal (STUN) from "No" to "No, but send keep-alive"
4. I rebooted both the modem and HT-701 adapter.

Any ideas ?

[woodcell]

I also checked my messages and it appears people calling can leave a message as I had around a dozen messages since Feb.12th that I checked on the Fongo website. Still no inbound/outbound phone calls working.

[Jake]

Did you change your username inside the ATA?

When you set up the account initially your username would have been the free phone number they gave you. When you port in a number that now becomes your username so you will have to go into your ATA and change it in there. Then just save the settings and it should be working.

[woodcell]

I checked under the FSX Port tab and my SIP UserID is my Fongo phone number. That appears to be setup correctly. This is annoying. Spent 5 hours today trying to resolve this problem caused by something with Fongo or Bell, or both. Switching services should not be this cumbersome. I'll have to wait and see if anyone from Fongo gets back to me and can resolve.

[Fongo Support]

I checked under the FSX Port tab and my SIP UserID is my Fongo phone number. That appears to be setup correctly. This is annoying. Spent 5 hours today trying to resolve this problem caused by something with Fongo or Bell, or both. Switching services should not be this cumbersome. I'll have to wait and see if anyone from Fongo gets back to me and can resolve.

Hello there,

Please send me PM with the phone number associated with the account and I will have a look.

Thanks,

[Jake]

I checked under the FSX Port tab and my SIP UserID is my Fongo phone number. That appears to be setup correctly. This is annoying. Spent 5 hours today trying to resolve this problem caused by something with Fongo or Bell, or both. Switching services should not be this cumbersome. I'll have to wait and see if anyone from Fongo gets back to me and can resolve.

If the username you see is the Fongo number you were given when you set up the account initially, this is now wrong. You need to enter the number you ported, WITH the initial 1.

If you have not changed that since you ported your number, this is probably where your problem lies.

[woodcell]

Hi Jake,

You are the man! You nailed it. Once I changed the Fongo phone number to my home phone number in the SIP UserID, it is now working. THANK YOU very much for your assistance.

Fongo should give you some free stuff for helping out. Their website is VERY short on help. Thank goodness the User Forum is alive and well. You would think all of the required setup would be done automatically by Fongo.

Regards, Gord

[Jake]

Glad it's working.

This has come up quite a few times recently. One of the Fongo staff did actually post that instructions would have been sent out (I think with the email to let you know the port had been done).

Did you ever get any instructions like this? It could be in an email that you might have skipped over.

I'm wondering if that email is not being sent out for some reason, OR that the information is not made predominant enough. As you found out, if don't complete this step your set up is totally useless so I am thinking something might have to be changed.

[woodcell]

The email is a bit short on troubleshooting. Just plug it in and away you go!


Dear Fongo Customer,

Your number porting is now complete. Please call your previous service provider to cancel your telephone service with them as we cannot do this on your behalf.

Please follow the instructions below to set up your Fongo Home Phone.

1. Turn off your computer and unplug your Broadband Router or DSL / Cable Modem.
2. Connect the Ethernet Cable to the Grandstream HT701 Analog Telephone Adapter (Phone Adapter). Then connect the other end of the Ethernet Cable to your router or modem.
3. Unplug the phone cable from your telephone wall jack and plug it into the phone port on the Phone Adapter.
4. Plug in your router or modem to power it back up. After a few moments, check that all the correct status indicators are lit.
5. You may now turn your computer back on and use it if you would like to (your computer does not need to be turned on in order to make or receive calls).
6. Connect the Power Adapter to the Phone Adapter. Then, plug the Power Adapter into a power outlet.
7. Wait for the PHONE light on the Phone Adapter to turn green (this can take up to 3 minutes). Pick up the phone receiver and ensure you hear a dial tone.
8. Remember to place the e911 Sticker on or near your phone to notify people of the limitations of e911 service in case of emergency.

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Thank you
The Fongo Team

[Jake]

Thanks WoodCell. I have never gone through the porting process so I don't know what is sent to you.

If that is the only information you were given, it is no wonder people end up here asking for help. It clearly does not instruct you to change anything inside the ATA which HAS to be done otherwise thee is no way it will work.

To me that email looks like the email they would send out if your ATA was sent out configured for your ported number. I can only imagine this situation would come up only if you signed up for home phone and port at the same time. This clearly isn't going to be the case for everyone, so either the wrong 'your number has been ported" email was sent to you or, Fongo Staff, I would suggest another email is needed for people who already have the ATA up and running then port in their number.

Thanks again for replying back.