For those of you that have been using a Powered USB hub I have 2 questions.
1. Does it help to ring phones using whole house wiring?
I have my MJ plugged into the whole house and only the closest phone rings. I've switched the phones around and get the same results so it's not the phones, probably a power issue I quess.
2. If you turn off the computer but leave power on to the Powered usb hub and the MJ plugged in to it, do you still get a dial tone on a phone connected to the MJ?
Thanks
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
I tried using MJ with a USB hub and it didn't work at all, so I can't really answer your questions, but I did want to say one thing.
If you are connecting MJ to whole-house wiring, I would recommend using powered cordless phones, that way there is no drain on MJ's power to make the phone ring.
I'm not really interested in using an ATA. I'm happy with MJ now. I just wanted to know if a Powered USB hub would add enough current to ring more phones. I can already talk on the phones but there doesn't seen to be enough power to ring a second phone.
More important to me was question 2. I know that MJ won't work if the computer is off. Perhaps I should have stated that. But I do know that my dish network receiver only needs a dial tone overnight to satisfy its "test" to see if it is hooked up to a phone. I know this because I have been unhooking the internet from the computer overnight while leaving the computer on and the dish receiver is always satisfied. I've done this for 3 months now and it always works. This saves me $5 a month.
I wondered if I had a Powered USB hub powered up overnight with the computer off would I still have dial tone, just to fool the dish. All I need is the dial tone. It needs no ability to dial out.
So to anyone who already has a Powered USB hub. Would you do me a favor please. Leave the Powered USB hub on and the MJ plugged into it and turn off the computer. Do you still get a dial tone? Just a dial tone. Nothing else is needed.
Would really appreciate someone doing this experiment for me. Tank you in advance.
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
When I had dishnetwork I was able to get them to permanently not charge the monthly $5. I couldn't get my VOIP service at the time to make the call so they discontinued the charge. Just need to bug them a few times.
StrobeWylan wrote:I'm not really interested in using an ATA. I'm happy with MJ now. I just wanted to know if a Powered USB hub would add enough current to ring more phones. I can already talk on the phones but there doesn't seen to be enough power to ring a second phone.
More important to me was question 2. I know that MJ won't work if the computer is off. Perhaps I should have stated that. But I do know that my dish network receiver only needs a dial tone overnight to satisfy its "test" to see if it is hooked up to a phone. I know this because I have been unhooking the internet from the computer overnight while leaving the computer on and the dish receiver is always satisfied. I've done this for 3 months now and it always works. This saves me $5 a month.
I wondered if I had a Powered USB hub powered up overnight with the computer off would I still have dial tone, just to fool the dish. All I need is the dial tone. It needs no ability to dial out.
So to anyone who already has a Powered USB hub. Would you do me a favor please. Leave the Powered USB hub on and the MJ plugged into it and turn off the computer. Do you still get a dial tone? Just a dial tone. Nothing else is needed.
Would really appreciate someone doing this experiment for me. Tank you in advance.
I can't do the test now, but my recollection is that, with power to the magicJack from a powered USB hub, you will get dial-tone with the computer off. My system at home uses a powered hub and I seem to recall one day when I had forgotten I'd shut of my thin client and couldn't figure out why I'd get a dial tone on my my magicJack phone but still couldn't dial out.
Plus, I get the same result if I plug in my magicjack into my computer as it is booting up to the log-in screen. Which I think is pretty much the equivalent of a USB hub, since the operating system isn't loading the MJ software, the computer is just supplying it with power...
Most of the time I do get a dial tone, though.
I suppose you could just make sure it has a dial tone every time you shut your computer off or something.
I think your best bet is to do some experimenting yourself.
And hey,
if it doesn't work the way you wanted it to, and you can't return the hub...
Atleast you have a few extra USB ports!
Yea you're right about the power to the MJ thing. Like I said earlier the MJ plugged into a computer, even without an internet connection, will give a dial tone. you can't actually call anyone but you get a dial tone and that has been enough to fool my Dish network device.
I have been thinking about what billinjax said. I hesitate to call them about it because, depending on who you get they may mark me as someone who disqualifies since I don't have a POTS. I don't know? I have to chew on that one a while. Besides, its more fun to fool the system! and learn something in the process.
I get internet via a radio transceiver, and unplug it at night. It's near our bed and I don't see why I need to sleep 'under the wires' when I don't need to. That's how I discovered that MJ still creates a dial tone internally rather that via the internet.
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
Please allow me a stupid question regarding the Dish receiver.
If the Dish receiver only needs to sense Dial Tone on the "phone line," but never actually phones home, how does Dish Central know not to charge the $5 fee? That is, how can they distinguish between not phoning home because of not needing to (the phone line is connected and healthy) and not phoning home because of not being able to (the phone line is disconnected or unhealthy)??
It must somehow satisfy something via its satellite. All mine did was connect for 1 second. The log showed that.
The way the installation tech for Dish told me was that it only needs to verify that it is still hooked up to an active phone line. He said people were taking receivers into Mexico and this was to police that somehow. I don't know if this is true of all the different kinds of dish receivers.
We however made a mistake that I haven't been able to undo as yet. In Sept my wife ordered a pay per view by using the remote. It actually tried to dial out (log showed about a 20 second call) and the call fails. Since then it tries to dial out to call home every day at the same time she tried to order the movie. We should have ordered it via their web site instead (which we did do after the failed attempt). I called their tech service and the man gave me a prefix for the phone # it dials home with to try, but that did not help. He then said it needs to dial home to clear the movie order. I ran a temp phone line to a neighbor's house (POTS) and manually had it dial home. The screen on the TV showed it 'clearing and updating' but it now still tries to call home (actually dial out and failing the call, not just checking for a dial tone like before). It does this less often than before I used the neighbors phone line but it still does it every few days. Actually dials but the call fails.
I should be getting a new statement in a week. won't know for sure until then if I still am charged the $5. Before the pay per view incident we did not have to pay the $5 if I kept it hooked to my MJ at night when it happened to test for the dial tone. If I shut off the computer just once during the month I would get a message on the TV screen the next day and would be charged the $5 for that month.
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
Got my Dish bill today and apparently running the temp phone line to my neighbor's house POTS worked. The months bill was for $14.99, the $5.00 was taken off for my being connected to a phone line. Yet I only connected once to a POTS line. Rest of the time it was connected to the MJ. And it cannot make an actual 'call home' via MJ. So I have to conclude that if a person connects his Dish to his MJ and only uses their website to order pay per views (don't use the remote control) they will get the $5.00 reduction.
I have no idea how the Dish system finds out that the Dish receiver got a dial tone, since that is all that is required, as apposed to an actual phone call.
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
