George Bush Made My Contact List Disappear!

[Darkman90808]

It just occurred to me that "W" was in office when I bought my Magic Jack. If I hadn't bought it while he was in office, I probably wouldn't have had the early problems I experienced with the echo and I would still have my original contact list.

I also got back together with my ex-wife when he was in office. Thanks for nothing, George!

[SIR****TMG]

Mine did the same thing two days later it was back...

[Darkman90808]

I have two Magicjacks... The one with the local area code I use regularly lost all the contacts, I'm pretty sure permanently. I plugged in the other one just to see what it would do, kept all the original information.

[bitstopjoe]

I have two Magicjacks... The one with the local area code I use regularly lost all the contacts, I'm pretty sure permanently. I plugged in the other one just to see what it would do, kept all the original information.

That is so messed up and it shoots the server theory to hell. One would "assume" both units are on the same MJ server. Just luck of the draw I guess when they updated their database....

Mine are long gone and I had to re-do them, from what I can remember. As I know there are many I have missed. Oh well since they took away our ability to back them up not much we can do other than to make a list pen/paper...

Joe Sica

[tsmith]

And to add to the confusion, my contacts came back before the update and have remained (in green).

[Darkman90808]

my contacts came back before the update and have remained (in green).

Mmmm..... green. Just like how the planet is going to be when put an end to evil global warming and read our contact lists by candle light. Romantic.

<Done with my best Homer Simpson voice>

Hey, I figure it's okay as long as I keep it in Rants and Raves!

[bitstopjoe]

my contacts came back before the update and have remained (in green).

Mmmm..... green. Just like how the planet is going to be when put an end to evil global warming and read our contact lists by candle light. Romantic.

<Done with my best Homer Simpson voice>

DOH!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe Sica

[Darkman90808]

You're too fast for me Joe!

[bitstopjoe]

You're too fast for me Joe!

Nah ONLY if I posted that before you did


Joe Sica

[SIR****TMG]

mine is green also

[tsmith]

Cowabunga Homer!

[Chris "hack"]

I'm still using the original contact list that I scavenged from Windows3.1 (cardfile.exe = 91kb). I "would" sympathize with you guys about a Contact List except that I'm all wrapped up with call quality issues. I had most all of them at one time or another and can honestly say that "my" mJ works flawlessly about 10% of the time. Calls "usually" start out perfect and then within 10-30 seconds degrade quickly.

Issues over 18 month period:
1. Phones don't ring. [FIXED: learned that brass bell induction coil ringers and mJ don't mix]
2. Panasonic cordless no dial out [really a non-issue compared to other call quality issues; Now FIXED after the update that caused BEEPING]
3. Choppy audio, really choppy to the point of having to hang up and call back. [started with the update that caused BEEPING, NOT FIXED]
4. Beeping [dtmf tone] at times but not nearly as bad as many in the sticky BEEP thread. [NOT FIXED]
5. Echo, annoying echo but the call can carry through if need be. [NOT FIXED]
6. Volume dropping from normal down to nothing within 30 seconds - 2 minutes of first notice. [NOT FIXED]

At first I didn't think things could get any worse... hahaha, silly me, every few months there's some new surprise.

A funny thing I notice is that the unsolved issues above occur when calling certain numbers. Some numbers have the echo EVERY TIME, others have the choppy EVERY TIME, but I have yet to notice two problems on one call or the echo number have choppy problem and vice versa. I guess be patient and that will happen too!

IMHO magicJack is a fun toy and hobby, nothing more. Dan is correct in calling it an "internet experience" and not a telephone service. Maybe Facebook will soon have a toy phone service and magicJack inc will have farms.
Facebook - FarmvilleJack
magicJack - magicJackVille

[crackerjack]

[quote="Chris "hack" "][/quote]
Just for yuks, run this diagnostic
voiptest.8x8.com --requires Java--

have you gotten the latest MJ update yet? It has major provisions to try to overcome internet connections that are borderline in terms of stability by implementing a dynamically monitored jitter buffer, which is why the aircard settings went away

Let us know.....

[Chris "hack"]

Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 9698856 bps
Upload speed: 985784 bps
Download quality of service: 98 %
Upload quality of service: 98 %
Maximum TCP delay: 92 ms
Average download pause: 2 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 24 ms
Average round trip time to server: 28 ms
Estimated download bandwidth: 26400000bps
Download TCP forced idle: 32 %
Number of VoIP lines supported: 48

VoIP test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 4.7 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 4.4 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 0.0 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.0 %
Packet discards: 0.0 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Estimated MOS score: 4.0


Thanks for the link Mr Jack. I run the voip test from a few places occasionally, usually here [http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php]. I get pretty bad results quite often, including several bad tests this month. I call up the ISP TimeWarner occasionally and they always claim their side is fine but trouble clears up mysteriously. BTW, TimeWarner is always sure to point out that my contract with them does NOT guarantee quality voip especially when I mention bad "jitter" scores I get on test results. Another frustration, choppy audio on mJ doesn't always coincide with bad speed tests [but it usually does].

No one involved in this has accepted blame, including myself and equipment. What happens in the past is I get involved in long drawn out troubleshooting and somewhere along the line it clears up. Here are some things that appeared suspect when things cleared:
1. one time a magicJack update seemed to clear choppy audio; except that it comes back at times
2. changing the DNS setting to mJ suggested one appeared to have an immediate affect on choppy audio
3. Calling the ISP seemed to have immediate effect but eventually it came back [maybe because service quality waned?]
4. Using a batch file to force certain mJ servers seemed to fix choppy audio (until it came back)

I will never waste any time with magicJack tech support again. I've spent 5-6 episodes with them and received zero help. This forum has provided 100% of the solutions. Thank all of you for that. I hope I can be part of the solution too. It's fun to tinker with it and when it works, that's even better.

[quote="Chris "hack" "]

Just for yuks, run this diagnostic
voiptest.8x8.com --requires Java--

have you gotten the latest MJ update yet? It has major provisions to try to overcome internet connections that are borderline in terms of stability by implementing a dynamically monitored jitter buffer, which is why the aircard settings went away

Let us know.....[/quote]

[sabresfan]

Have you ever tried a different MJ server other than the one your MJ is set for. In the last week I tried a couple of different proxies with the dongle and found the quality of calls can differ using different proxies. A few proxies I have found to be poor for me are Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami and Philadelphia. I have found San Diego, Washington, Pittsburgh and Sacramento to have good quality.

[crackerjack]

You can call me Crack, no need to be so formal as "We're all Bozos on this bus" (credit to Firesign Theater--late '60's)
The best ammunition you can supply to upper level TW techs is documented proof produced by longterm readings by pingplotter.com. Best not to mention VOIP, tell 'em you're a serious online gamer and they will commiserate more. Expand the settings in pingplotter to include packet loss and jitter as the defaults ignore these.
I would use my nearest MJ proxy addy as the target. You may also like to check a few of the more obscure MJ gateways to see of you get better results as TW can employ some funky routing. I think there is also a TW sponsored forum at dslreports that deals directly with higher level techs.

What you will likely find one of their upstream edge routers is overloaded and starts a cascade of high ping times back to your gateway.
Does your router support QOS?
If you have access to VZ FIOS I guarantee your results will improve exponentially...
Keep tweakin'', no, not that way, just with your PC!!!

[utguy88]

Have you ever tried a different MJ server other than the one your MJ is set for.

HOW do you change your MJ server?

[tsmith]

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/MagicJack/ ... oxy_Change

[Chris "hack"]

Have you ever tried a different MJ server other than the one your MJ is set for. In the last week I tried a couple of different proxies with the dongle and found the quality of calls can differ using different proxies. A few proxies I have found to be poor for me are Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami and Philadelphia. I have found San Diego, Washington, Pittsburgh and Sacramento to have good quality.

Yes and thanks for asking. At first that seemed to help but soon poor qos came back. Strangely, at the time mJ was preferring a Miami server [which had long transit times & jitter] even though I'm in Los Angeles. Now it properly defaults to my LA proxy server but as you say that can still be part of the problem.

You can call me Crack, no need to be so formal as "We're all Bozos on this bus" (credit to Firesign Theater--late '60's)
The best ammunition you can supply to upper level TW techs is documented proof produced by longterm readings by pingplotter.com. Best not to mention VOIP, tell 'em you're a serious online gamer and they will commiserate more. Expand the settings in pingplotter to include packet loss and jitter as the defaults ignore these.
I would use my nearest MJ proxy addy as the target. You may also like to check a few of the more obscure MJ gateways to see of you get better results as TW can employ some funky routing. I think there is also a TW sponsored forum at dslreports that deals directly with higher level techs.

What you will likely find one of their upstream edge routers is overloaded and starts a cascade of high ping times back to your gateway.
Does your router support QOS?
If you have access to VZ FIOS I guarantee your results will improve exponentially...
Keep tweakin'', no, not that way, just with your PC!!!

Hehehe, thanks for the warm welcome Crack, I'll have to get used to that nic name . And thanks for PingPlotter. I went and got it installed, followed your "tips" and ran it for quite some time. I'm still learning about what it means although it's not "that" hard but I have to "know" before I can accuse TimeWarner of fowl play. I've attached a screenshot in case you care to have a look. I do suspect the ISP TW as the most likely suspect since you all on the forum(s) in general have "ok" service with the mJ... which is all that I expect [cell quality calls]. My mJ has produced landline quality calls at times so I know it is possible. No FIOS option at this time but changing ISP is something I'm considering.

PS: I've switched routers one time so far from a Linksys BEFSR41 [old old original version] to a Dlink 624. Neither have QOS but the switch seemed to have helped at least some. I have since acquired a Dlink 615 which does have QOS so I will employ it as soon as I learn to setup the QOS.

[Chris "hack"]

Ok I think I can clear this up with my QoS problems. I ran another test today. The results... My mJ works on friend's DSL perfectly. Their DSL voip test scores were worse than mine, the plan they pay for [2M/1M] is slower than my TW plan [10M/2M]. I used the exact same dongle, same 3 inch cord they say not to use and same phone plus add to that mux a USB hub bought at the 99 cent store. All of that plugged into my laptop, the same laptop that when using TW cable for internet at my house gave choppy magicJack voip. The setup worked great when using the friend's DSL.

I doubt there's any hope of getting the cable company Time Warner to fix this since they've already told me they don't fix jitter problems. I'll swap out the modem tomorrow and see what happens but likely it's a traffic congestion problem that normal users don't notice or scream about. Oh well, thank goodness for competition. Here in the middle of Los Angeles I shouldn't have any trouble finding another internet provider for about the same price or less.

Thanks for listening guys and now we can get back to fixing the contacts list problem. Maybe redpepper can write a program to put them back on our HDD's.