Troubleshooting a ShoreTel IP655

Before I tell you the story of how I troubleshot this device, let me first tell you about the product.

ShoreTel IP655

The ShoreTel IP655 is the latest IP Phone produced by ShoreTel, and is typically designed for hosting conference calls. Some key features this phone has to offer is a Gigabit port, Integrated VPN Client, Visual Voice Mail and a 640x480 backlit LCD display. The UI is entirely touch-based for initiating calls, changing the Call Handling mode, and much more. The phone also comes with 12 lines that can be used for calls, speed dials, and other features. Alright, time for the story now.

I installed one of these bad boys at a clients site a few weeks back, after they got fed up of their old IP8000 constantly dying during boardroom meetings. Just when I thought we resolved the problem, this phone started to act up too. "The screen is black!" was the complaint this time; I figured I could just go there, check the power and leave, it wasn't so easy. I got there seeing the phone look dead as a door nail, so I go to unplug it and plug it back in. Upon unplugging it, I heard an audible *click!* sound meaning there was power!
This time however, the screen turned on but displayed "No Ethernet". "Okay, time to verify we don't have any bad or disconnected cables!", I thought. I swapped out the power adapter with a new one and a fresh CAT5 to test with. After powering back on the device, the error was still there.

Next, I went to check the port on the Access Switch. The LED port for where I installed it last time wasn't lit, so there definitely was a bad connection in the path of the cables. Now, I think to try a different drop in another office but had the same result. I couldn't confirm whether that drop was activated, so I connected the phone to a port that I know was servicing a working phone. No Ethernet still!? this is a brand spanking new phone from ShoreTel and it's defective somehow??? The phone is getting power, yet there is a problem with the connection. I verify the cable is seated properly in the port and not loose. As a last effort before requesting an RMA from ShoreTel, I try to push the cable in a bit further into the phone.. WE HAVE LIFE NOW! the phone makes contact with the DHCP server to get it's IP Addressing info. I switch the cable to the other side thinking that end of the cable was bad; the error presented itself again so I jammed it in further, it worked again!

I look at the back of the phone this time to see if something is wrong with the LAN port and everything looks kosher. I look closer now and see one of the pins look a tad off from the rest. Now, I try looking at the port from a different angle and BINGO! one of the pins is protruding right out of the port!.



It only takes one pin to be offset to cause the connection to fail. The phone had power because PoE only uses a couple of pins and not all eight of the pair; however, sending and receiving data is a whole different story. Now I'm definitely going to RMA this piece of junk!