Hi Jon.
I just installed the SPA3000 with mixed success.
I ran a network cable out of the basement office and through a bunch of floor joists to reach the demarc point of the phone line by the fuse panel. I then wired in a couple phone boxes so I could connect a phone cable from the demarc point to the box feeding the house phones (to keep things "normal") but that also lets me connect the SPA3000 in between so I can 'test' and put things back to normal when done.
First, the "House Line" doesn't seem to work at all. If I try to make a call I get a long pause and then a busy signal. Incoming calls appear on the orbiter, but if I route it to the "House Line" no inside phones ring. If I route it to voice mail, I can hear the prompt to leave a message, and when I do and hang up, the message never appears.
After creating the "dummy" phone line, when I went back into the FreePBX admin and looked at the Incoming Route for the boardvoice line, and Custom App option, it contained "custom-linuxmce,103,1". So I went back to the Incoming Route for the House Line, and changed its custom app line to match as instructed. (so it used 103,1 instead of 102,1)
I didn't see anything else in the instructions that varied. I reloaded the router before testing incoming/outgoing calls. When I went back into FreePBX I noticed the "Apply Configuration Changes" bar was there again so I clicked it and continued with the reload, tested again, same results.
I do see status boxes on the top left of the orbiter saying call lost or something in rather odd times (while I'm speaking to the voice mail for instance?)
I do have one major issue...
We use Bell HSE (ADSL) for our internet and when I connect the SPA3000 and then hang the house phones off it, we lose our internet. I guess I'll need to purchase a splitter and run a filtered line into the SPA and leave the jack on the SPA, which would feed the house, empty, feeding the house from the other side of the (unfiltered) splitter at the demarc point.
In this setup, as far as I can tell, the only things I'd gain are:
1) on the orbiters... I'd be able to see the incoming phone number displayed. Can it display the name of the caller along with the phone number?
2) the answering machine function should work
Would it be able to make outgoing calls (in the case of security alarm messages) set up this way?
The other way of doing the connection would mean relocating equipment and running even more network cable throughout the house, or perhaps running a dedicated phone wire to the upstairs dining-room to the ADSL modem and separating that from the rest of the house feed.
On a more general note, when this is set up in the manner you've described, does somebody have to route the call on an orbiter each time a call comes in? I'd like it to fall through to the house line and ring normally.
We have an existing answering machine and I already know the better half is not interesting in trying to get her messages from LMCE. I believe there is a setting somewhere to disable LMCE from taking messages?
