reoccuring dial tone

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 10:17 pm

hi sis a intermittent problem but when i place calls instead of connecting...i just get a dial tone over and over again. Tech support gave up ad gave me the kiss of death "we will report this to our engineers and notify you by email".
Anyone else have this or suggest a solution?

( BTW I have tried with and without a router, reinstalling software and it happens on my MAC and PC)

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:38 am

wetjack wrote:hi sis a intermittent problem but when i place calls instead of connecting...i just get a dial tone over and over again. Tech support gave up ad gave me the kiss of death "we will report this to our engineers and notify you by email".
Anyone else have this or suggest a solution?

( BTW I have tried with and without a router, reinstalling software and it happens on my MAC and PC)

Have you tried another phone? Sounds to me something is out of phase ( red and green swapped) in your phone OR in your MJ itself. If your MJ is brand new it could be defective, just return it and try another. Also if you are using the short extension cable which came with your MJ, don't and be sure, if you are using a desktop PC, you have your MJ plugged into a REAR usb port.

dogcacher · Post by **dogcacher** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:03 am

wetjack wrote:hi sis a intermittent problem but when i place calls instead of connecting...i just get a dial tone over and over again.

What is your Internet connection speed (bandwidth)?

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:17 am

wetjack wrote:hi sis a intermittent problem but when i place calls instead of connecting...i just get a dial tone over and over again. Tech support gave up ad gave me the kiss of death "we will report this to our engineers and notify you by email".
Anyone else have this or suggest a solution?

( BTW I have tried with and without a router, reinstalling software and it happens on my MAC and PC)

Greetings,

Have you tried the softphone? If the software dials out fine and the phone does not, then I would have to agree with bitstopjoe for you to try a new phone.

I know that I used to have these issues before I put a powered USB hub on my MagicJack. Rear USB ports will have more power than front ones because they are built directly into the motherboard while the fronts are a dongle cable. Although even some rear ports might not have enough power. Computer manufacturers like to cut costs. Although Macs normally always meet any power requirements in their USB ports as long as your not plugging it into your keyboard.

Try the softphone. If it works fine, then try a new phone and/or a powered USB hub.

EDIT: In most cases on the Mac if it is a power issue the Mac OS (OSX 10.1 or higher) will let you know it is such. If you get usb power notifications on the Mac then that is definitely your issue.

Sincerely,

Barada Nels

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:23 am

dogcacher wrote:
wetjack wrote:hi sis a intermittent problem but when i place calls instead of connecting...i just get a dial tone over and over again.
What is your Internet connection speed (bandwidth)?

How in the world would his internet speed ( bandwidth) have ANYTHING to do with a persistant dialtone?? Here is a hint. not a thing....

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:32 am

bitstopjoe wrote:How in thew world would his internet speed ( bandwidth) have ANYTHING to do with a persistant dialtone?? Here is a hint. not a thing....

This I would have to disagree with. The OP stated it was an intermittent problem. If the OP's connection was close but under 128kbs upload the moment he made the call it would disconnect due to the lack of bandwidth to support it and reapply the dial tone. I have seen this happen with a redneck buddy of mine that attempted to use the MagicJack on a dial-up connection then later a cheap DSL that fell under 128kbs upload.

I would still agree this is more than likely a phone/usb powered issue . . . but I would not rule out a crappy internet connection in this case.

dogcacher · Post by **dogcacher** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:58 am

bitstopjoe wrote: How in the world would his internet speed ( bandwidth) have ANYTHING to do with a persistant dialtone?? Here is a hint. not a thing....

You having a bad day, Joe?

Use that baby talk on someone else. I don't need hints.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 11:36 am

Hi:
Thanks for all the tips. this issue only happens on the "hard phone" but i have tried another phone ....a corded one as opposed to my usual cordless phone and it occurs as well. I am using both a PC and MAC an a powered USB hub . I have Telus "high" speed ADSL with about 78-80 Upload.

This is an intermittent problem. It worked for many months without any issues then this started happening last month and more frequently. I have even tried running directly from the modem (no router) and it still happens. Very frustrating. Of course MJ "support" is useless.

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 11:45 am

wetjack wrote:Hi:
Thanks for all the tips. this issue only happens on the "hard phone" but i have tried another phone ....a corded one as opposed to my usual cordless phone and it occurs as well. I am using both a PC and MAC an a powered USB hub . I have Telus "high" speed ADSL with about 78-80 Upload.

This is an intermittent problem. It worked for many months without any issues then this started happening last month and more frequently. I have even tried running directly from the modem (no router) and it still happens. Very frustrating. Of course MJ "support" is useless.

Hold, your up is 78-80kbs? I doubt highly its 78-80mbs upload on ADSL let alone anything else on the consumer level. If so then YES that is your issue. You need at least 128kbs upload and 512kbs download to use MagicJack properly.

Go to: www.speedtest.net to make sure. Never trust what your ISP representatives say you have because other factors (signal loss, peak usage times, etc.) can slow your up and down speeds.

If you are indeed running 78-80kbs . . . you need to up that to have stable MagicJack service.

dogcacher · Post by **dogcacher** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 11:50 am

wetjack wrote: I am using both a PC and MAC an a powered USB hub . I have Telus "high" speed ADSL with about 78-80 Upload.

The reason I asked about bandwidth is that Magicjack will provide a dialtone to an external phone while a computer is booting, before the software has fully loaded and initialized. IOW, you can get a dialtone without being fully connected to Magicjack servers. If you use the dialpad on the phone during this period the dialtone persists without accepting any input.

It's entirely possible that your Magicjack unit has become defective, it is also possible that you ran into a problem of some kind with a 'lucky you' software update. Either way, I have seen the condition you are describing and can duplicate it myself.

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 12:09 pm

Although the defective unit and/or the update messing up is a good possibility . . . my vote is that it is your internet speeds if they are indeed 78-80kbs.

If you want to check the update issue, manually update via:

On your Windows PC Click: http://upgrades.magicjack.com/upgrade/upgrade.exe

On your Mac Click: http://upgrades.magicjack.com/upgrade/upgrade.dmg

Hope this helps!

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 12:13 pm

download 5.2 upload .78
And this did occur before the "lucky you" upgrades.

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 12:29 pm

wetjack wrote:download 5.2 upload .78
And this did occur before the "lucky you" upgrades.

.78 = 780 kbs, should be more than enough if it's consistent.

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 12:31 pm

wetjack wrote:download 5.2 upload .78
And this did occur before the "lucky you" upgrades.

If you received .78 from www.speedtest.net then that means 780kbs upload. Which is well above the minimum requirements for MagicJack and therefore is not your issue, unless you are running your upload ragged with internet games, various servers, Torrent uploads, etc. If you are not doing these things . . . then it is not your internet connection. It would have to be something else.

Try the manual updates that I have already posted.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 12:37 pm

thanks for that. BTW I do recall that when I have the problem..even if I initiate calls from the soft phone it has the same issue (calls from the soft phone sing the "telephone" component. I will try to replicate the problem using the softphone headset component and see.

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 12:53 pm

wetjack wrote:thanks for that. BTW I do recall that when I have the problem..even if I initiate calls from the soft phone it has the same issue (calls from the soft phone sing the "telephone" component. I will try to replicate the problem using the softphone headset component and see.

What are the specs of your Windows PC and Mac?

They say Macs need to be Intel-based although I have seen it work on a 700mhz PPC G4 albeit not well.

Also make sure your Windows PC is not being ran ragged on the resources level. Go to your task manager and check your CPU usage and memory.

Edit: Correction on the G4 usage (before the Mac Fanboys pizzown me). It was another softphone that had it working on the PPC. I do not remember which one.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 1:14 pm

i don't think resources a re problem.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 8:40 pm

did another test today and found that I was able to replicate the issue on two different phones. A cordless and corded phone. But not able to replicate it on the softphone IF the headset was selected. It did occur if telephone was selected and the softphone initiated the call.

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:09 am

wetjack wrote:did another test today and found that I was able to replicate the issue on two different phones. A cordless and corded phone. But not able to replicate it on the softphone IF the headset was selected. It did occur if telephone was selected and the softphone initiated the call.

This must be a USB power issue then. Try a powered USB hub. Also make sure your USB power settings are disabled (by default they should be).

Edit: Your MagicJack could be messed up. You may wish to try another one if it still does it with the powered USB hub.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:54 pm

I AM USING A USB POWERED HUB AND TRIED TWO DIFFERENT UNITS....SAME PROBLEM ON ONLY A FEW TEL NUMBERS OUT.

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:51 pm

wetjack wrote:I AM USING A USB POWERED HUB AND TRIED TWO DIFFERENT UNITS....SAME PROBLEM ON ONLY A FEW TEL NUMBERS OUT.

Oh, I am sorry. I forgot you already mentioned that in a much earlier post. It may be a service issue. There are posts around these forums that talk about people having issues with different service providers. Most are cell phone issues though.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:42 pm

Barada:
Thanks. I was advised by the MJ techs that a report was sent to their engineers as this may be an issue with "their supplier". And I am to "wait until they email me."
This maybe the kiss of death.

Barada Nels · Post by **Barada Nels** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:46 pm

wetjack wrote:Barada:
Thanks. I was advised by the MJ techs that a report was sent to their engineers as this may be an issue with "their supplier". And I am to "wait until they email me."
This maybe the kiss of death.

Well wetjack . . . I wish you the best. I feel bad for not being of any assistance. But, hopefully the MagicJack engineers will have an appropriate answer for you.

Good luck to you, sir!

Sincerely,

Barada Nels

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:57 pm

Barada Nels wrote: But, hopefully the MagicJack engineers will have an appropriate answer for you.

For the record wetjack, I'm not positive, but I don't think there is one recorded instance of the MJ "engineers" responding to anyone.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:17 pm

that's what I thought and I have protested to MJ techs who are adamant that "someone" will email me. Of course x mass is coming too! It's very frustrating because whenever I login to chat and ask for an update some bozo wnat sto to through eh whole spiel again and waste my time. It would be great o actually get someone to do something.....

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:28 pm

wetjack wrote:that's what I thought and I have protested to MJ techs who are adamant that "someone" will email me. Of course x mass is coming too! It's very frustrating because whenever I login to chat and ask for an update some bozo wnat sto to through eh whole spiel again and waste my time. It would be great o actually get someone to do something.....

The only instance of emailing I have heard about is the one they send when they offer a pro-rated refund of the service you have left. Customer service is good for a few things, but after a few attempts, it's best to give up on them.

If you have a friend or relative with a good computer and internet service, I would take my device and install it on their machine to see if you can replicate the issues. If you can replicate it, it would rule out something in your set-up as being the problem, and point to your device as the likely problem.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:36 pm

Hi:
I have tried 2 devices on 3 computers, 2 macs and one PC. All the same problem.

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:42 pm

wetjack wrote:Hi:
I have tried 2 devices on 3 computers, 2 macs and one PC. All the same problem.

Were all 3 on your "system"? Using someone else's with a different modem/router/ISP can make a difference with some issues.

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:58 pm

It just sunk in with the 2 devices comment. Unless you bought them at the same store at about the same time, that pretty much eliminates the devices themselves. It's not much help, but it sure does appear that something is going on within your set-up somewhere.

Someone else would know, but maybe connecting to a different MJ server could make a difference.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:10 pm

nailgunner: the devices are two different generations. One old one newer. I will try on a different PC with different IP address.....and see. I am not hopeful. It's a real pain if you are dependent on MJ to fix anything on their own.

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:25 pm

wetjack wrote:nailgunner: the devices are two different generations. One old one newer. I will try on a different PC with different IP address.....and see. I am not hopeful. It's a real pain if you are dependent on MJ to fix anything on their own.

That should rule out the devices being bad. Do a search in this forum for changing the MJ server you get connected to. It's probably a long shot, and I've never done it, but it shouldn't hurt.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:54 pm

couldn't find anything useful on changing MJ server

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:04 pm

wetjack wrote:couldn't find anything useful on changing MJ server

Try here:

http://www.phoneservicesupport.com/magicjack68968.html

It's buried in there somewhere.

jrogers · Post by **jrogers** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:26 pm

I had this problem and read on this forum that it was caused by a problem with USB audio drivers so I ran FixAudioXP.exe from http://www.mediafire.com/?98hxavn4soe as recommended in laserjobs Aug 16, 2008 post and the problem was corrected.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 11:00 pm

this issue is prevalent on mt MAC and PS so this suggestion is not relevant. Thanks

English_Jean · Post by **English_Jean** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:12 am

I'm a MJ user for over two years, not very tech, savvy, but I've managed to struggle thru it's many ups and downs. My MJ been fairly trouble free for the past 2-3 months but now I'm having the same, intermittent, persistent dial tone problem. Actually, the first hint of trouble was shortly before when I would lose incoming audio during the course of a call. I fiddled with the audio options and all seemed OK but now the problem of this topic. The phone will work fine for several calls and then a persistent dial tone. Rebooting the dongle cures the problem but it's becoming a daily nuisance. Looks like it's connected with the mid June MJ update; time frame is right and nothing else has changed except the audio setting. I'm hoping, like all the other bumps in the road, MJ will get this sorted out too.

My system is Windows 7 and connection thru Comcast

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:56 am

I would suggest you vigorously report it to MJ as otherwise they will do nothing.

English_Jean · Post by **English_Jean** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:59 pm

[quote="wetjack"]I would suggest you vigorously report it to MJ as otherwise they will do nothing.[/quote]

Been that route many times in the past and found it's a complete waste of time:(

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 2:03 pm

you are probably right but if enough users annoy them I hope that a newer update will eventually be released to fix the issue. (perhaps I am am delusional....)

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:01 pm

wetjack wrote:you are probably right but if enough users annoy them I hope that a newer update will eventually be released to fix the issue. (perhaps I am am delusional....)

I'm not sure delusional is a good description. Naive? Maybe a little. The people they employ in India to chat with us on Customer Support put in their 8/10/12 hour days regardless of the number of times anyone chats them up about anything. It may be possible that a particular issue gets looked at by some engineering executive after it hits the top 5 on the complaint list, but I wouldn't bet anything on it.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:30 pm

yes well every time I talk to them they tell me they are expediting a report to their engineers. I guess nothing will ever happen?

nailgunner · Post by **nailgunner** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:45 pm

wetjack wrote:yes well every time I talk to them they tell me they are expediting a report to their engineers. I guess nothing will ever happen?

No one is saying nothing will ever happen. The fact that they tell you that every time you chat with them though should be the first clue that it's a meaningless statement from them. Some people have issues go away. Some people have issues go away and then come back. If the same issue will go away for one user and not another and not even be there at all for others tells me the "engineering" department isn't fixing anything system-wide.

But search the forum and you will find tons of examples of how they deal with issues they cannot or will not fix. First they pass you on to a top 10% tech person. Then when that person has reached his allotted time limit to chat, they tell you how seriously they take the issue and that they are passing it on to their engineering department. Some even get a promise of an email. The only emails that I can remember anyone posting they actually received from MJ were offers of a pro-rated refund of the service time left.

Chris "hack" · Post by **Chris "hack"** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:01 pm

I've only skim read through this thread; I've been following it for a few days. I hope my comment hasn't already been discussed. I believe the problem here is that you're calling a busy number and magicjack is simply reverting to dial tone. It's easy to test this theory if the other party has a 2nd number to be reached at. I'm guessing another querk of the June update for some of us Lucky ones. Not guaranteed to be the cause of 100% of "reverts back to dialtone"; It's obvious that not all in this thread are having this trouble. Why some and not others? who knows.

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:59 pm

Chris:

I will try that next time. I have a way of testing it by calling on another line.

Thanks

wetjack · Post by **wetjack** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:31 pm

tested it and guess what....it does happen when it is busy!
Thank you very much for solving the problem!

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