dish network and magicjack
Moderators: Bill Smith, Pilot
dish network and magicjack
I have a dishnetwork DVR 522 receiver/recorder and according to Dish Network it must at all times be hooked up to a phoneline or I will be charged $5.99 per month. I have tried and failed to get magicjack to work with this unit to avoid those charges but when I test the DVR it says no dial tone. I keep trying the line with a phone and the dial tone is there. I have no problems with my magicjack. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong?
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StrobeWylan
- MagicJack Expert
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I have had dish network for years. I've had Magicjack since May. I do not have a dvr, I own a DVD ram that works for me. The Magic jack has satisfied the Dish's need. The only nights I got the 5.99 threat was when my vista laptop did an auto update and rebooted. That kept power from the usb until I entered password and finished loading the OS. I since set it up for me to be notified before updating. 2 evenings ago I did an experiment. I left the MJ hooked up overnight as usual but disconnected the internet from the computer. It worked. No threat from Dish. Tried it again last night and it worked again. Apparently the dish only checks for a dial tone which you should get even without internet.
You said MJ works with your phone. Do you get a dial tone at the same phone jack as the DVR? Did you try plugging the dish phone line directly into the MJ? Mine seems to work even through 40 feet of house phone cableing.
You said MJ works with your phone. Do you get a dial tone at the same phone jack as the DVR? Did you try plugging the dish phone line directly into the MJ? Mine seems to work even through 40 feet of house phone cableing.
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
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- Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:59 am
EDIT: Never mind! I made a dumb mistake!
Let's erase all these comments about phone lines that are related to my mistake, because they don't make sense to be here, just as my comment from before didn't make any sense (as I found out when I went and reread what I wrote while I was so sleepy)!
Even if we can't actually erase the space the comments are in now, let's just edit them so that they say some kind of blank thing--effectively erasing them.
Let's erase all these comments about phone lines that are related to my mistake, because they don't make sense to be here, just as my comment from before didn't make any sense (as I found out when I went and reread what I wrote while I was so sleepy)!
Even if we can't actually erase the space the comments are in now, let's just edit them so that they say some kind of blank thing--effectively erasing them.
Last edited by MaxxFordham on Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:38 am, edited 4 times in total.
Sorry, but MJ is explicitly declared not to be a phone system. It is an internet information and entertainment delivery system with voice elements. As such, it is not bound by the rules governing telephone network service offerings. If the FCC ever determines that this positioning is not true, MJ as we know it will cease to exist.MaxxFordham wrote:You have to differentiate between the regular phone (line) and the mJ phone (line). If not, and you just say "phone" vs. "mJ," that would be like wrongly implying that "magicJack is not a phone system," when in fact, we know it is.
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
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StrobeWylan
- MagicJack Expert
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Re: dish network and magicjack
muskie6 wrote: I keep trying the line with a phone and the dial tone is there.
We were speaking about 'telephones' as in the device. I said nothing about MJ not being a phone service. This was a long time ago.
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
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- Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:59 am
Ohhh, OOOOPS!
OOOPS! I must've been totally asleep when I read that before and responded with my stupid response, becuase somehow my head oddly morphed that into thinking you were talking about DISH NETWORK with "the phone," not mJ with the phone. OOOPS!
I take back all I said about that (except the part that says magicJack is a kind of phone service, even if not legally deemed as such). Can we go back and erase all those comments about "with the phone," etc.? I'm embarrassed, and I apologize for stupidly correcting you where no correction was due!
I want to go back and erase that comment, and let us all erase any related comments coming after that, because my comment was so messed up it shouldn't have been there!
Even if we can't actually erase the space the comments are in now, let's just edit them so that they say some kind of blank thing--effectively erasing them.
I take back all I said about that (except the part that says magicJack is a kind of phone service, even if not legally deemed as such). Can we go back and erase all those comments about "with the phone," etc.? I'm embarrassed, and I apologize for stupidly correcting you where no correction was due!
I want to go back and erase that comment, and let us all erase any related comments coming after that, because my comment was so messed up it shouldn't have been there!
Even if we can't actually erase the space the comments are in now, let's just edit them so that they say some kind of blank thing--effectively erasing them.
If MJ provides all of the features, services and reliability you require from a phone system, then indeed in your eyes you consider it one.MaxxFordham wrote:Okay, so maybe LEGALLY it's "not a PHONE SYSTEM," but in all actuality and practicality, because of what it does for us--especially since it uses ACTUAL TELEPHONES--it still IS one. And you know that.
However, until it works during a power outage, works during internet congestion, works without requiring a hosting PC, supports fax and modem transmissions, has voice mail that can be disabled, starts participating in Calling Name ID, starts participating in Local Number Portability, and works reliably with more than one telephone instrument connected to it, I have great difficulty regarding it as a phone system.
Don't get me wrong. For $1.67 a month I have no complaints. I just don't confuse MJ with a phone service.
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
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- Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:59 am
Well, you can go by your own warped definition, and I'll go with my true, simple one:
A service that lets you use a telephone to make and receive calls between yourself and another person is TELEPHONE SERVICE. Remember, we had TELEPHONE SERVICE before all that stuff you're whining about wanting to work this way or that: voice mail, caller id., etc.
A service that lets you use a telephone to make and receive calls between yourself and another person is TELEPHONE SERVICE. Remember, we had TELEPHONE SERVICE before all that stuff you're whining about wanting to work this way or that: voice mail, caller id., etc.
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StrobeWylan
- MagicJack Expert
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Most of us (I would think but could be wrong) have a cell phone for emergency. There have been enough posts stating such on this forum that I believe it to be true. I would never bet a life on MJ. But I equally hate the monopoly that any POTS has had for so many years. So much so that I consider them as the last resort for an IP. I will be using cable starting next month but I really don't like them either. Wish there was a hard wire alternative to both of them. I have been getting my internet via radio for almost a year and it scrambles my incoming packets just enough to force people to have to repeat what they say occasionally. It's not too bad but I do want to fix it. Dish network has internet but it costs too much and voip does not work with it. I only pay 14.99 for dish TV. All I have to do is have a MJ plugged in to it and a running computer. Don't even need to have the computer on the internet. I still don't know how the dish feeds back the fact that it gets a dial tone and do wonder about that. You of coarse can't make a call but it does satisfy the dish and don't get billed the extra $5, which is another ripoff I would say anyway.
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
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mberlant wrote:Yes, indeed. And which of those original telephone services stopped working whenever the power went out?
What does that have to do with anything? TELEPHONE SERVICE is not defined by whether it still works if the power goes out or not!
By the way, since your cordless phone, even if it's plugged into a PSTN (the standard phone line), will stop working when the power goes out, because the base station has a good bit of extra circuitry that it must use external power supply for, does that mean to you that it's "not really part of TELEPHONE SERVICE"?
Give me a freakin' break, dude!
Maxx, come on, think about it.. POTS is maintained, powered and fed to your dwelling solely by the POTS provider, You can still maintain POTS when the electric is off. That is a Phone Company's function, You can still maintain phone service if your PC is off. Your PC supply's your MJ service by accessing the internet. You can still get a dial tone (that will not complete a call) without being connected to the internet with MJ, but, MJ is a peripheral connected to your PC. It is not to be trusted as a replacement for POTS. It is not a Phone System it is a toy that works like a phone, but, not a system.. 
You're being a little stubborn with this, don't ya think?? It don't really matter to me if you understand that or not, but hey, If you take a step back and look at it, it may sink in.. 
You're being a little stubborn with this, don't ya think?? It don't really matter to me if you understand that or not, but hey, If you take a step back and look at it, it may sink in.. 
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
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- Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:59 am
Doesn't Have to Be...
Okay, back up for a minute. You're getting mixed up between "phone service" and "phone system," which are different things.
A telephone service is the avenue by which audio signals--either analog or digital--travel between individual telephone units or telephone systems, with separate phone numbers.
The service is what you subscribe for. The service is what provides the phone numbers. For definition as a telephone service or system, or service/system combination, no attention needs to be paid to what kind of transmission this service is; the fact that it provides you with the linkage between one phone unit and another with separate phone numbers, or between one phone system and another, is what makes it the telephone service.
So that phone service can be either PSTN (public switched telephone network)--a.k.a. "POTS" (and by the way, since that means "plain old telephone service, that, itself, already implies that there are other kinds of phone service--not so "plain and old"--out there, such as the ones I'm about to list)--or cellular phone service (which obviously runs on those radio towers, and so obviously they certainly aren't "POTS"/PSTN); or digital phone service which is what VoIP is in the cases where a phone number goes with it, such as Vonage, Comcast voice, and magicJack are; or satellite phone service (which I understand that the millitary sometimes uses). So as you can see, to be considered a telephone service, it doesn't matter what kind of transmission is being used between phones or if the mains power must stay on in order to receive such service.
Now, on the other hand, a telephone system, which is actually the word we were using in the beginning (as proven by this: "Okay, so maybe LEGALLY it's "not a PHONE SYSTEM," but in all actuality and practicality..."), is a term for the equipment that is connected to a telephone service, especially more considered as a system if it contains more than just a telephone unit itself. A PBX (private branch exchange) is a perfect example of a phone system. A private branch exchange requires mains power or a backup of that same kind of power to run it. But it is still a phone system. Another kind of phone system is the unit in a VoIP phone service that converts the internet avenue into a connection that a telephone unit can use. Those would be your Vonage or Comcast or magicJack hardware and software. Those require that mains power or a backup of the same kind is present in order for them to run, but they remain telephone systems nonetheless.
So, because YMax (the makers of the magicJack) uses both an avenue for sound data transmission that's the link between telephones--the internet--and provides hardware and software that allow a telephone to connect to such avenue with a phone number--the magicJack hardware and software themselves--then magicJack is a telephone service AND system.
By the way, cellular telephone service must use mains power or/and a backup (such as solar power) for its towers to transmit and receive their signals, too. If you already call cell phone service that, and you know that, then you should know that whether mains or a backup must be connected doesn't play a role in whether something is a phone service or system or not.
The same goes for private branch exchanges as telephone systems. Anyone who knows what one is should also know that it IS, indeed, a telephone system, even though the mains power or a backup must still be connected to it in order to use it. So again, whether mains power or a backup of it is required is no bearing on whether something is a telephone system or service.
I also never said that we should depend on the magicJack phone service and system as a replacement for standard phone service. I'll use the magicJack phone service and system primarily for long-distance calls and directory service. (And eventually, I'll have a separate computer running it, so that it can do whatever it wants and doesn't slow down or interrupt what I'm doing on my main computer.)
Phone service is just that: a service (no matter the kind of connection, no matter how it's powered) that allows you to make phone calls. You make phone calls using magicJack. No, magicJack is NOT a toy. It's a type of telephone service and system.
A telephone service is the avenue by which audio signals--either analog or digital--travel between individual telephone units or telephone systems, with separate phone numbers.
The service is what you subscribe for. The service is what provides the phone numbers. For definition as a telephone service or system, or service/system combination, no attention needs to be paid to what kind of transmission this service is; the fact that it provides you with the linkage between one phone unit and another with separate phone numbers, or between one phone system and another, is what makes it the telephone service.
So that phone service can be either PSTN (public switched telephone network)--a.k.a. "POTS" (and by the way, since that means "plain old telephone service, that, itself, already implies that there are other kinds of phone service--not so "plain and old"--out there, such as the ones I'm about to list)--or cellular phone service (which obviously runs on those radio towers, and so obviously they certainly aren't "POTS"/PSTN); or digital phone service which is what VoIP is in the cases where a phone number goes with it, such as Vonage, Comcast voice, and magicJack are; or satellite phone service (which I understand that the millitary sometimes uses). So as you can see, to be considered a telephone service, it doesn't matter what kind of transmission is being used between phones or if the mains power must stay on in order to receive such service.
Now, on the other hand, a telephone system, which is actually the word we were using in the beginning (as proven by this: "Okay, so maybe LEGALLY it's "not a PHONE SYSTEM," but in all actuality and practicality..."), is a term for the equipment that is connected to a telephone service, especially more considered as a system if it contains more than just a telephone unit itself. A PBX (private branch exchange) is a perfect example of a phone system. A private branch exchange requires mains power or a backup of that same kind of power to run it. But it is still a phone system. Another kind of phone system is the unit in a VoIP phone service that converts the internet avenue into a connection that a telephone unit can use. Those would be your Vonage or Comcast or magicJack hardware and software. Those require that mains power or a backup of the same kind is present in order for them to run, but they remain telephone systems nonetheless.
So, because YMax (the makers of the magicJack) uses both an avenue for sound data transmission that's the link between telephones--the internet--and provides hardware and software that allow a telephone to connect to such avenue with a phone number--the magicJack hardware and software themselves--then magicJack is a telephone service AND system.
By the way, cellular telephone service must use mains power or/and a backup (such as solar power) for its towers to transmit and receive their signals, too. If you already call cell phone service that, and you know that, then you should know that whether mains or a backup must be connected doesn't play a role in whether something is a phone service or system or not.
The same goes for private branch exchanges as telephone systems. Anyone who knows what one is should also know that it IS, indeed, a telephone system, even though the mains power or a backup must still be connected to it in order to use it. So again, whether mains power or a backup of it is required is no bearing on whether something is a telephone system or service.
I also never said that we should depend on the magicJack phone service and system as a replacement for standard phone service. I'll use the magicJack phone service and system primarily for long-distance calls and directory service. (And eventually, I'll have a separate computer running it, so that it can do whatever it wants and doesn't slow down or interrupt what I'm doing on my main computer.)
Phone service is just that: a service (no matter the kind of connection, no matter how it's powered) that allows you to make phone calls. You make phone calls using magicJack. No, magicJack is NOT a toy. It's a type of telephone service and system.
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conniemadagain
- Dan isn't smart enough to hire me
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StrobeWylan
- MagicJack Expert
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- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:41 pm
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The important trick is not to use the TV screen to order Pay per view. Use their website. Otherwise your dish will keep trying to make an actual call home. You will pay the monthly fee until it can make that call. But using the website avoids that problem.
No we're not at the edge of the earth, but I can see it from here.
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
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- Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:59 am
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MaxxFordham
- magicJack Apprentice
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:59 am
foltz61 wrote:My guess would be that I basically pointed out that this thread is almost useless with regard to Dish. This is my last post in this thread unless I have something helpful on the subject to say. Even if/when I get flamed.MaxxFordham wrote:Why is that so funny, Connie?
Sounded to me like they were giving some useful advice about using Dish with magicJack. Why did you think it wasn't useful?
(Good thing you weren't being flamed just then.)
What about Direct TV
Any one care to weigh in on MJ and Direct TV? Does the same trick with the dial tone work?
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UPdownLoAD
- magicJack Apprentice
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Re: What about Direct TV
Yes directv works with my mj. No problems with ordering movies with the remote or the receiver using the phone line to get in contact with directv.1oldman wrote:Any one care to weigh in on MJ and Directv? Does the same trick with the dial tone work?
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StrobeWylan
- MagicJack Expert
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Dish TV and MJ
So, 
without getting so technical, because I just don't understand. Please, 
tell me how do I satisfy having just MJ as my phone service and not get charges the $5.99 from DISH TV? My computer is in a different room than my satellite tv dvr. I tried to mess the box outside of my house, but oh boy forget it. Please help 
without getting so technical, because I just don't understand. Please, tell me how do I satisfy having just MJ as my phone service and not get charges the $5.99 from DISH TV? My computer is in a different room than my satellite tv dvr. I tried to mess the box outside of my house, but oh boy forget it. Please help JOHN 3:3
Re: Dish TV and MJ
You can look at getting a wireless phone jack from walmart. They can be a little expensive but if you look around you may be able to pick one up at a discount. I just checked Amazon and they have wireless phone jacks for less than $30.rmysnt58 wrote:So,
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conniemadagain
- Dan isn't smart enough to hire me
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Re: Dish TV and MJ
rmysnt58 wrote:So,
Tell them you use a MJ and it may not work and if they want to charge you 5.99 then tell them dtv won't and "When do you want to pick up the dvr?"