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Cisco ATA 186 - Most annoying device in the world?

chmorinchmorin Member Posts: 1,446 ■■■■■□□□□□
in CCNP Collaboration
Alright so we have a site that needed 6 fax lines, which does not entirely seem to support the installation of a gateway. So we put in 6 ATA 186's and to give you my experiance with them bluntly: These are the single most ^%@^@ up #@^@ PoS @^@$^#@ devices that I have ever had to deal with.

They have frequently stopped sending dial tone to the Fax's they are connected to. When this happens, My usual rounds of troubleshooting occur. Such as:

Is the line physically capable of sending dial tone? (Plug line into a working ATA at the moment). Dial Tone. That answers that.
Is the ATA sending dial tone? (Plug ATA into a analog phone). No Dial Tone.

So the problem is with the ATA. -Resets- No Change. -Power Cycle- No Change. -Deletes and copies a WORKING config of an ATA- No Change.

Okay so maybe the ATA is flakey. -Replaces with brand new ATA- Still no dial tone. Son-of-a...

Okay, so its a configuration thing right? It has to be. So I replace it with the other ATA, and just when I'm about to give up hope looking for the problem in the config, it gives dial tone to the fax machine with, guess what, NO CHANGE.

So now with another phone call of things not working right with fax machines I'm pretty sure I'm about to devour a small child in an attempt to summon the demon lords so that they can get their freaking heads out of my analog conversions!

Anyone experienced this? What in the world am I missing? It has to be a configuration thing... but I'm not sure where. When the ATA's do not send dial tone, the call gets a ring no answer.
Currently Pursuing
WGU (BS in IT Network Administration) - 52%| CCIE:Voice Written - 0% (0/200 Hours)
mikej412 wrote:
Cisco Networking isn't just a job, it's a Lifestyle.
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    tierstentiersten Member Posts: 4,505
    What version of the ATA-186 firmware are you running? Some of them were incredibly flakey.
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    chmorinchmorin Member Posts: 1,446 ■■■■■□□□□□
    tiersten wrote: »
    What version of the ATA-186 firmware are you running? Some of them were incredibly flakey.
    ATA030204SCCP090202A.zup

    It should be the newest...

    EDIT:

    It is the newest, released in 2009 though...
    Currently Pursuing
    WGU (BS in IT Network Administration) - 52%| CCIE:Voice Written - 0% (0/200 Hours)
    mikej412 wrote:
    Cisco Networking isn't just a job, it's a Lifestyle.
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    FlyingputFlyingput Member Posts: 114 ■■■□□□□□□□
    hahaha, FAX, ATA, VG224/248....etc. Our shitty sales guys push VGs all the time for their commissions. Then we have to clean the mess again and again.

    Get POTS lines with peace of mind! :D
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    chmorinchmorin Member Posts: 1,446 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Alright well now that I have talked my boss into getting a butt set, I am able to test for a few more things. Turns out, polarity gets reversed somehow in the walls. So I fixed that today and we will see if that effects anything... who knows.
    Currently Pursuing
    WGU (BS in IT Network Administration) - 52%| CCIE:Voice Written - 0% (0/200 Hours)
    mikej412 wrote:
    Cisco Networking isn't just a job, it's a Lifestyle.
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    AlanJamesAlanJames Member Posts: 230
    Flyingput wrote: »
    Our shitty sales guys push VGs all the time for their commissions. Then we have to clean the mess again and again.

    Same at my new place of work, if a site wants 2 fax lines, they will sell a VG with a a couple of FXS ports :/

    I think ATA186 are fine. and a load cheaper than an entire voice gateway, and less complex
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    chmorinchmorin Member Posts: 1,446 ■■■■■□□□□□
    AlanJames wrote: »
    Same at my new place of work, if a site wants 2 fax lines, they will sell a VG with a a couple of FXS ports :/

    I think ATA186 are fine. and a load cheaper than an entire voice gateway, and less complex

    Before our IT department existed our company was sold 24 port voice gateway for all of 4 analog devices. What a waste of four grand.

    Can't really blame the sales guys though... its the incompetence of the department getting the equipment to blame.
    Currently Pursuing
    WGU (BS in IT Network Administration) - 52%| CCIE:Voice Written - 0% (0/200 Hours)
    mikej412 wrote:
    Cisco Networking isn't just a job, it's a Lifestyle.
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    TrifidwTrifidw Member Posts: 281
    We have nearly 200 of the things and they are reliable, never needed to replace any. Main problem is people turning them off at night!
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    Unforg1venUnforg1ven Member Posts: 108
    ^ DITTO. I have never had problems with this TA. Simple and straight to the point.
    Next on Tap>> WGU B.S. IT - Network Administration
    MCSA:2008 Complete >> Capstone left!
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    "One of God's own prototypes... too weird to live, too rare to die..."
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