No caller id- again!

[iniltous]

That’s unfortunate, as stated previously I’d struggle to see how it can be a SIP network issue , your equipment (telephone) has been proved conclusively not to be the issue , so arguably the next item to replace as far as using a process of elimination is the SH2 router ….you should  try and persuade BT to send a replacement router …obviously this isn’t necessarily the issue but would be one less item that’s under suspicion , the ‘puzzle’ is why it’s fine 50% of the time .

A different issue to the one you have , but something possibly worth trying , some older  phones  don’t ‘ring’ on DV , that issue can be fixed by including a block type ADSL/VDSL filter between the phone  and the router telephone port , if you have an old filter handy , connect the phone to it and the filter to the router and give it a try , it can’t hurt.

[pandaman]

Thanks, seems a bit long winded to find a solution. Router is upstairs, phone connected in lounge, a bit of a hassle to move adapter and phone, will have to think about that. Will try BT again tomorrow.

[pandaman]

Update. Not been able to have another go at this problem for a while for various reasons but today I unplugged the phone, took it to the router which is upstairs next to my pc. Called the home phone from my mobile, my name came up, my wife did it with hers and her name came up. Took phone back to the lounge and reconnected it to adaptor and mains. Tried calling again from mobiles, both our names came up. My wife's brother phoned and his name came up. This was all in the morning. My daughter phoned in afternoon, no name, just 'incoming call' again. We tried calling again with mobiles, no names, back to 'incoming call' again. If I google the problem the Ai reply indicates it could be a software or hardware problem with BT. I am going to call them again tomorrow.

[iniltous]

The phone connected by a DV adapter seems to me to be completely new information, something that would have been better mentioned sooner , as it obviously adds an extra layer of connectivity between the hub and your phone, and so all your equipment hasn’t yet been eliminated as the potential problem (  because it wasn’t mentioned previously ).

The assumption was that your phone was connected directly into the SH2 , so using a different phone and getting the same results seemed conclusive, but this new info renders that assumption totally irrelevant…to be sure the issue isn’t with your equipment including the adapter (even if the DV adapter was supplied by BT ) you need to  keep your phone connected directly to the SH2 for some time , or at least until you confirm the same behaviour of your phone when directly connected to the hub….unfortunately you  testing with a different phone has been made irrelevant if both that ‘test’ phone and your own phone were connected to the hub using a DV adapter, ( that is  unless I have misunderstood this and you have had the same issue without the DV adapter being used ) in very basic terms the IP network may be performing correctly passing the CLI info before ringing is started  , the SH2 also probably OK  , your phone almost certainly OK  , but the DV adapter has not been proven good or bad ,  and it (obviously) is involved in the forwarding of the calling line info to your phone , and that really needs to be confirmed as OK or faulty  before the IP network can be suspected as the problem.

[pandaman]

Why would the bt adaptor cause this problem? They are designed for people like us who use their phone that is situated away from the hub. We got a basic wall mounted phone in the kitchen to replace a wired extension before dv came in. This has an adaptor as well. We even tried swapping them over prior to plugging the phone into the hub but it made no difference. Even tried turning off the kitchen one to eliminate a possible problem. You suggest leaving the phone connected to the hub for some time. Do you mean the base unit and phone together or just the base unit with the phone downstairs? How do we prove that the adaptor(s) are the problem. Surely you would think other people using adaptors are not experiencing this problem? We appreciate your input to my problem, just wish we could get it working. DV is not all it is cracked up to be.

[iniltous]

The BTDV adapter working correctly should forward the CLI information to your own phone , but any like anything else can have faults, some obvious some not so obvious….the adapter is intended to convert a basic wired phone into a defacto ‘cordless’ (DECT) phone , but people often do connect DECT basestations to them , in effect the CLI information is passed to the SH2 from the IP network , from there to the DV adapter and then to your phone basestation and then the wireless handset, as you can see , plenty of opportunity for an error /corruption to be introduced.

At the moment it’s a reasonable assumption you own phone is OK , ( the basestation and it’s associated handset ) as a replacement showed the same errors , but that leaves the adapter and the SH2 ( my original suggestion was to replace the SH2 , without  knowing the existence of the adapter ) but now with the new information, the next logical thing to eliminate or prove as faulty is the adapter, as you don’t have a reliable alternative to the adapter , and more importantly to prove the IP network and the SH2 are working correctly, connecting your phone to the SH2 directly will confirm if the IP network and SH2 are OK , if the CLI works flawlessly for a reasonable amount of time connected this way,  then it’s pointless for BT to be chasing a nonexistent problem with the IP network .

You  could ask for a new adapter and try that , oryou could pair your DECT handset directly to the SH2 and try that , (eliminating your own basestation but it may be necessary to charge the battery in the handset ) but if after connecting directly to the SH2 and there isn’t an issue , you know it’s equipment under your control, not anything your network provider can ‘fix’ as you have proven it to be OK , obviously if the CLI is unreliable when connected in this basic way , you have proved the issue to the SH2 or IP network.

Is there a reason why you need a DV adapter for your cordless phone(s)  , isn’t the coverage from the DECT basestation connected to the hub sufficient and that means you need the adapter to change the location of the basestation ? , final point , you mention a wired extension, is that completely disconnected ?

Youhopefully realise the adapter isn’t necessary in most cases ( I have a cordless DECT base and phone connected to the SH2 working exactly as the previous PSTN system did ) and although you are frustrated and think DV isn’t very good , TBH , there isn’t anything yet to suggest the network is failing in any way , as originally stated it’s not really likely the network is at fault.

[pandaman]

Many thanks for that detailed explanation. Old wired extention to kitchen phone was still plugged into master socket but removing that made no difference to the problem. Have plugged base station into the hub upstairs and handset down in the lounge for now. Caller id works again doing this so as you say either the adapters, (?both) are faulty in some way or the hub is the problem. Is it possible both adapters could be faulty? Will wait a while to see how it goes and maybe ask BT to send a new hub at some point. In your opinion do you think the hub is the problem or the adapters? Again many thanks for your input to this problem.

[licquorice]

I still don't understand why you need an adapter if you have a DECT system. What is the handset that you have 'plugged in' downstairs and what is it plugged into?

[pandaman]

There is a basic BT wall mounted phone that we have put in the kitchen using an adapter. The other phone is a BT 4500 with answer phone on the base. This base unit we have now plugged into the hub as you suggested for a while with the handset in the lounge, not sure how battery will last away from the base unit, just have  to monitor that. It was connected in the lounge with the adapter. How can the DECT phone work without the adapter when in the lounge when the hub is upstairs?  Surely the whole idea of the adapters was in situations like our set up?

[licquorice]

You appear to use your cordless DECT system as an analogue corded phone. The whole point of cordless phones is that the base station can be located anywhere and the handset wherever you are. 

The adapter is primarily intended to provide a phone socket for those still using corded phones.