Grandstream Firmware

[jlebeau]

Has anybody tried/tested the new firmware for the Grandstream GXP2000/2020 phones or the GXW4104/4108 gateways?

They currently have v1.1.4.22 in Beta for the phones and v1.0.1.2 for the gateways. The phone firmware should fix the MWI problems and random lockups of phones. The gateway firmware is supposed to fix the problems with random dropped calls. These are issues that I have seen a few posts about on the boards here.

Does 3CX test the firmware of partner hardware vendors?

 

[nb]

Hi I am thinking of testing it now - But I really don't get your point why you want to upgrade a Grandstream phone with a BETA firmware. Its not very wise. There is no reference in the firmware notes that came with the .22 that indicates that MWI problem is resolved. Try and put this question on a Grandstream forum as well - maybe we will get some further hints? I will do the testing of the new firmware - DEAl?

 

[nb]

Confirmed - MWI problem in GXP 2000 has been fixed.
Release items - boot55d.bin - 1.1.4.6
Firmware gxp2000d.bin 1.1.4.22

Remember it is still a Beta but i must agree - Grandstream seem to have done a good job in this. But I lie to hear more reviews and make a few more calls before implementing it live. I will update this post after a week and see what happens. The link to download the firmware is the following : http://www.grandstream.com/BETATEST/

 

[jlebeau]

I am definitely waiting until I know it is stable. Just was hoping that someone had been checking to see if it fixed the issues that have been out there.

Grandstream has been very poor with their responses to support questions, and they don't have a forum that I have found to discuss questions with them. It definitely shows how good we have it with the 3CX team.

 

[miraportuga]

Upgraded to this last Firmware on my GXP2000 and... phone doesnt boot now :|
All lights on, MWI light keeps blinking, and its stuck here... it sucks.... :|

 

[ktikoft]

We have 13 GXP2020s running the 1.1.4.17 firmware and we had some droputs and issues. Echo etc. On the advanced settings tab we set the layer 2 QOS from 0 to 6 ( Which is the highest effective priority) and the call isses went away for both PSTN and VOIP providers.

I do not know if the GXP2000s also have this setting but you should have a look.

 

[onestopit]

We have Grandstream GX2000's in our own office and basically I would throw them as far as I could - if it wasn't for the fact I don't have anything else to use!

Out of 8 we purchased, one has been replaced under warranty for a dead network LAN connector, several now have no backlight - or at least so dim that you can only make it out in darkness... and only just!

As for call quality, only a recent beta f/w release has improved things to make them usable but we have had no end of buzzing, echos, drop outs, lost calls after two rings, transfers into the abyss never to return... I could go on but I won't bore you.

In terms of support - almost non existant, only mad scrambling on forums and hours of tweaking codec settings, delays, packet sizes, QoS settings (which actually uses the wrong HEX setting for EF packet forwarding on most routers/switches, think it's 46 instead of 48 from memory or similar - check it out for yourself!) make any difference and now after almost 12 months of hell we've decided to replace them.

Currently investigating Aastra's latest model ranges of the 51i/53i/55i/57i or the new Polycom units... certainly cannot be any worse than Grandstream. Would not recommend anyone purchases these units!!! Actually, we also have tried a SNOM basic model (not sure of the code) which has amazing sound quality but has a quirky key layout and function... but does get good feedback in forums. (You can also get an Elmeg unit which is a rebadged SNOM - much cheaper than the SNOM but same performance/hardware... so I've been told anyway.)

Right... that's my two pence worth... hope it helps someone out there.

 

[LLangston]

We have 13 GXP2020s running the 1.1.4.17 firmware and we had some droputs and issues. Echo etc. On the advanced settings tab we set the layer 2 QOS from 0 to 6 ( Which is the highest effective priority) and the call isses went away for both PSTN and VOIP providers.

I do not know if the GXP2000s also have this setting but you should have a look.

We have been battling audio issues as well. We are currently using the Grandstream products as follows...the GXW-4104 gateway, the GXP-2000, the BT-200 and a HT-286. There is a place to adjust the layer 2 Qos (802.1p) priority level with the highest level being 7. We have tried adjusting this to the higher levels and it has locked our system up completely. Could not access the configuration pages of the phones or the gateway and had no call capabilities at all. Had to reset the gateway and the phones to factory defaults. We tried again this morning after enabling the Layer 2 QoS(802.1p) on the voip server nic card. We were able to access the config pages and make and receive calls but could not access the 3CX console. The phone then locked up again.

So my questions to you are...

Did you enable the 802.1p on the voip server nic?

Did you set the priority to the same level on the gateway?

and this last question is also directed to onestopit'

What PSTN Gateway are you using?

We have been having a lot of trouble with packet loss, echo, breaks, static, buzzing and just in general poor audio quality with the Grandstream products. I have been working with one of their techs via email and he sent me the firmware upgrade for both the gateway and the phones. Yesterday we discovered that we can no longer make a call out if one line is in use ( we have 2 lines and they are both set for 2 simultaneous calls). We can receive a call if one line is in use though. The last time that we know for sure that we were able to make a call while one line was in use was before the upgrade to the gateway. As for the MWI light on the 2000 yes the firmware made it function again but like someone else said it blinks constantly now.

As we have also become dis-illusioned with Grandstream we are looking at some other products...Does anyone here have any experience on the D-Link PSTN 4 port FXO gateway? How about the Audiocodes MP114 4 port FXO gateway? Polycom phones?

Onestopit, I certainly empathize with you on the troubles with the grandstreams. I have been pulling my hair out trying to figure them out.

 

[jlebeau]

I agree on wanting the throw the stuff sometimes. 90% of the time the stuff works fine, but people expect their phones to work.

I guess you get what you pay for with these things, but I thought seeing that 3CX added Grandstream as a technology partner meant they should work better together. Grandstream's response on things makes me think that they don't care too much about their partners though.

 

[nb]

Upgraded to this last Firmware on my GXP2000 and... phone doesnt boot now Neutral
All lights on, MWI light keeps blinking, and its stuck here... it sucks.... Neutral

It should work but - Ive tried this on a number of other phones - Im finding this latest release quite good.

How r you updating the phone? It seems that from what you are saying, you could have had a mishap during firmware upgrade. Better if you use a tftp server intead of the internet - an internet sudden (even temporary) disconnection is too risky. It can ruin the device.

By the way - the upgrade takes long - very very long - on one occasion it took me more than the 8 minutes stated on the Grandstrm site - around 15 minutes.