Landline Caller ID not working properly anymore

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Eule

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#59599 7-Apr-2010 20:55

Hi
I have had caller id for several years via a Dynalink Modem V1456VQE. I wrote a program that monitors the modem via the serial port and notifies me of incoming calls. The setup of the modem is as simple as ATZ and then AT&F#CID=1 to enable caller id.

Since the last 2 to 3 weeks I had problems with the caller id. It mostlty doesn't receive any caller information. Maybe one in 20 calls still have the caller id info.

I am with orcon as my ISP (broadband) and homeline.

Here is what I have tried so far:
- Unplugged all other phone devices.
- Got a second modem (same make and model) and tried that.
- Tried it on the first socket where the line comes into the house (I haven't tried detaching the rest of the wiring yet).
- I got an old standard Telecom Caller ID unit (thats the wierd thing, it always works).

Using a terminal program (putty) on the serial prot to the modem I can see the individual rings, the caller infromation should be between the first and the second ring, but the modem does not seem to register them.

Has anything changed in the way that the caller id is being send out?

Could some line fault cause that problem?

The telecom caller id unit seems to have no problem, are there any modem settings that could be at fault?

Cheers

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#315898 7-Apr-2010 21:03

Are you on an Orcon+ line or Telecom line?

Eule

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#315910 7-Apr-2010 21:21

I am only dealing with Orcon. I have Broadband and homeline through Orcon, but as far as I am aware they are renting the line of Telecom (I am not quite sure how that works). I only get a bill from Orcon.

Does that answer your question?

I am in Christchurch, South Brighton.

Regards

kingjj

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#315911 7-Apr-2010 21:22

Probably completely unrelated but our caller ID disappeared last year for several months, when I finally got nagged into fixing it it turned out to be a failing filter that was causing the problem, swapped out the filter and no problems since.

Eule

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#315918 7-Apr-2010 21:28

kingjj: Probably completely unrelated but our caller ID disappeared last year for several months, when I finally got nagged into fixing it it turned out to be a failing filter that was causing the problem, swapped out the filter and no problems since.

I just tried a different filter and still no luck.

richms

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#316002 8-Apr-2010 00:14

Line polarity seemed to matter when I was trying to use a modem to get caller ID in the dark ages when I had an analog line and a modem.

Try swapping the 2 wires that matter over in the jack and see if it comes right.

Richard rich.ms

sbiddle

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#316032 8-Apr-2010 08:10

I'd also be included to try swapping the pair over, some devices including fax machines are very fussy.

Can you try an ats0=1 to set the modem to auto answer and see if it actually answers an incoming call?

Eule

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#316036 8-Apr-2010 08:38

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try them tonight.

I also noticed that there are components in the phone sockets, some of which look reasonable old. Are they filters or balances?
Could they fail and be at fault?

One more thing I noticed. The modem sends a RING string to the pc for evey ring it detects. For some reason it detects the first ring but seems to be missing some after that.

Regards

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Bung

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#316050 8-Apr-2010 09:21

Eule:
I also noticed that there are components in the phone sockets, some of which look reasonable old. Are they filters or balances?
Could they fail and be at fault?

Polarity should be a red herring. Apart from PABXs terminal equipment was required to be independant of polarity.

The significant component in sockets is the capacitor required for the ringing in 3 wire equipment. Older master (M) and secondary (S) sockets are very likely to have corrosion problems that usually show up as premature ring trip after the 1st ring.

sbiddle

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#316066 8-Apr-2010 09:54

Bung:
Eule:
I also noticed that there are components in the phone sockets, some of which look reasonable old. Are they filters or balances?
Could they fail and be at fault?

Polarity should be a red herring. Apart from PABXs terminal equipment was required to be independant of polarity.

I'll have to disagree with you on this. I've come across plenty of modems and fax machines over the years that refuse to work unless wired correctly - these were even devices with PTC type approval. DSE even used to sell a BT to RJ12 crossover cable for devices like these if you couldn't crimp your own cables.

Bung

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#316082 8-Apr-2010 10:31

sbiddle:
Bung:
Eule:
I also noticed that there are components in the phone sockets, some of which look reasonable old. Are they filters or balances?
Could they fail and be at fault?

Polarity should be a red herring. Apart from PABXs terminal equipment was required to be independant of polarity.

I'll have to disagree with you on this. I've come across plenty of modems and fax machines over the years that refuse to work unless wired correctly - these were even devices with PTC type approval. DSE even used to sell a BT to RJ12 crossover cable for devices like these if you couldn't crimp your own cables.

There are 2 issues, polarity and the wiring of BT - RJ12 cables.

Modems and Fax machines would probably all use a cable where the centre pair of the RJ12 went to the 2&5 pair on the BT. Some phones also used RJ plugs at the phone end but had the BT 2&5 +4 connected so 2&5 may not be on the centre pair of the RJ. Phone cords and modems didn't mix.

Eule

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#316337 8-Apr-2010 20:39

Ok, here is what I tried:

First of all I measured all my phone cables:

I numbered all the pins from left to right (1,2,3,4,5,6)
Most cables had pins RJ12 (thats the one on the left) 3 and 4 connected to the pins 5 and 2 respectively.
I had one cable that had the connections RJ12 (2 3 4 5) to BT (4 5 2 3), still 3 4 are connected to 5 2.
The I had two cables with the connections RJ12 (2 3 4 5) to BT (3 2 5 4), the 3 and 4 connections are swapped with regard to the other cables.

Since this was the easiest to try I plugged one of these cables in and reset the modem and it worked. I thought I had fixed the problem. The odd thing is it only worked the first time and then not again. This was true for both modems and both phone sockets.

Frustrated I had a look at the two sockets that I am working with (mind you there are more in the house).
The whole setup is reasonable complicated. There once was a business run from this place. There are three phone lines (through two physical lines). Only one of them is connected to the orcon (or telecom).

This is the first socket where the phone cable reaches the house:

One cable comes in it seems to carry two different phone connections. The one that is connected is split into two or three lines (too house internal sockets) and attached to this first socket. The blue connection is attached to one of the internal lines (not sure why).

This is the socket in the office:

The lower one is the one I am using (as you can see from the plug in it). The first odd thing that I didn't understand is that the cables are connected to the top connectors and not the middle one as the other one showed. Second there is quite some oxidation.

I had a socket of the similartype of the one shown in the second picture still in its original packaging

therefore I replaced the one above with that one and this time using the middle contacts. The phone still worked but the caller id did not. I swapped the cables and the phone still worked but the caller ID did not.

Sorry for the long write up, but I am stuck again. Not sure what to test now. Maybe connect everything from the first socket and just try that. What is the best way to connect the cables again? They used some odd round crimping connectors and I don't think they can be reused.

Any advice appreciated.

Regards

sbiddle

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#316340 8-Apr-2010 20:46

Have you ruled out the modem?

On modern 2 wire sockets the terminal blocks on each side are all connected together so it doesn't matter what pair you use.

Eule

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#316348 8-Apr-2010 20:59

I just tried your test
ATS0=1
The modem answered the call correctly.

I don't think the modem is faulty as such, I have two of the same type and both are behaving in the same way and one of them was working correctly for years. The odd thing though is that an official telecom caller id still works.
And this one arrived today:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12729
which works great too, it can display the outgoing calls.

Which external serial modems work with NZ caller ID?

Cheers

Bung

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#316379 8-Apr-2010 22:25

Eule:
This is the first socket where the phone cable reaches the house:

One cable comes in it seems to carry two different phone connections. The one that is connected is split into two or three lines (too house internal sockets) and attached to this first socket. The blue connection is attached to one of the internal lines (not sure why).

This is the socket in the office:

The lower one is the one I am using (as you can see from the plug in it). The first odd thing that I didn't understand is that the cables are connected to the top connectors and not the middle one as the other one showed. Second there is quite some oxidation.

The 1st jackpoint is a 3 wire master the blue wire is the 3rd wire that may or may not be connected at a secondary. The Krone strip slots are not commoned as in the 2 wire sockets shown in the next pic.

The double plate is a pair of 2 wire jacks. Note that the polarity is reversed compared with the 1st jack. One reason that consumer equipment was supposed to ignore polarity.

richms

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#316388 8-Apr-2010 23:42

Sounds like you have tried everything prettymuch, I would be looking at a different modem since I recall having numerous problems with them on NZs slightly not standard caller ID.

Richard rich.ms

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