Really WEIRD problem - MJP with UBEE cable modem in Florida

WinRiddance · Post by **WinRiddance** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:05 pm

Hi everyone.
After using a regular ol' MJ device for the past 2 years we recently upgraded to three MJ PLUS devices during their half off promo. Two for us and one for my parents. We use Linux at home on 4 computers so that enabled us to toss out the WinJunk machine that we had in our house, solely for the purpose of MJ.

Anyway, I registered both of the MJ plus, no problem at all. Purchased brand new DECT6 phones to use with them, 3 handsets throughout the house ... no problem there either. Already had a 3 handset cordless for the other MJ PLUS. I did install a DSL line filter on each of the MJ PLUS though, and then attached the cord from there to the phone itself. Both MJ PLUS devices work great off the computer, using the cable modem router jacks and of course a power outlet. Quality is excellent to say the least, great everything ... voice, ring, dialing, etc. Since the new cordless have a phonebook which is accessible from each of the handsets, we don't need the screen dialpad and we're not missing it at all.

BUT ... NOW WE HAVE A PROBLEM ...

The third MJ PLUS was for my parents. Please pay close attention here because the problem is really crazy. Our parents only live 30 miles away. Both of us have the same Cable company with Roadrunner high speed DSL. Both of us have the same UBEE cable modem, at least they look pretty much identical to me, front and back. Since our parents are Seniors, I purchased them the identical phones that we use, to make life a little easier on them with that phonebook feature. BUT ....

Both our MJ PLUS devices work fine, and their's does not, at least not off the USB. No problem with the registration and no problem with the number porting. The old original number shows up on the dialpad and in their online MJ account. Support chat couldn't figure it out, so we paid the $9.95 (shipping) for a replacement MJ PLUS which is pretty cheap, considering that they don't want the defective MJ back. Got the new one, no problem registering it, eventually got it working (dumb chat people), but even the new one won't work off the USB. There's a dialtone, the phone dials, and that's it, no ring on the other end. If I call my parents, there's no ring ... just an immediate switch to MJ voice mail.

What really puzzles me is the fact that we have the same phones, same cable modem, and same internet company. I do believe that my parent's cable modem light rermains orange, whereas the lights on our Ubee cable modem are definitely all green. So far I spent a total of 9 hours with chat support, having to drive to my parents house 3 times just for that. Needless to say, at this point all of us are getting pretty frustrated ....

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:17 pm

I am confused about one thing. You say you are both using the same CABLE modems yet elsewhere you say you both have the "same Cable company with Roadrunner high speed DSL" Since cable and DSL are two differnt animals and use different types of "modems" I assume that was a typo...

SOME USB ports do not provide enough power for some USB devices, espeically if you have many USB devices attached to them. So they MIGHT need a POWERED usb hub. You can also check to see in device manager, in the USB ROOT HUB section ( there are more than one USB ROOT HUB entries) that the power saving setting is not on. I "assume" you have tried another USB port on their PC? ALso does it work plugged into the router instead of the USB?? If yes why not use it that way?? Just curious.

WinRiddance · Post by **WinRiddance** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:27 pm

Thanks. I guess I should have phrased that differently ... when I said the MJ PLUS won't work off the USB I meant to say that it won't work away from (off) the USB. Their MJ PLUS works fine when it's connected to a USB port, but not when using the power outlet option. The dialpad drives my Mom nuts. She's going on 80 and has a difficult time grasping the connection between the screen and picking up the handset so the dialpad is constantly on the screen because there's (at least to my knowledge) no way to just disable that dang thing. Besides, we extra bought it for them so it wouldn't have to be plugged into the computer ....

Also, it doesn't matter how you use the MJ, both methods require that it's plugged into the back of the router ... or am I confused about that? I'm not a networking pro. Router, modem, dsl router, cable modem, cable router, it's all the same to me. I figured that mentioning Roadrunner and cable modem would be enough clarity to those who know what they're talking about ... my bad. We do use UBEE brand cable modems (Brighthouse cable attached) with high speed 20 Mbps connections. Not basic DSL services ...

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:50 pm

No when you use the Plus into the USB port this is NO connection to the router. It plugs into the USB port and then the phone plugs into it.

You may want to check to see if she has the latest firmware on the router as it seems the Plus can be picky on which router it is used for. As a test you can always bring yours over and see if it works, if yes then for sure it is something on her router causing it not to work.
You may also want to check the firewall setting on the router. If set to high, change it to low, if set to low,change it to off ( as a test of course).
I have also read that the Cat5 cable which comes with the Plus is crap, so if you have an extra good quality Cat5 cable try changing that out.

Just a few things to try off the top of my head.

mjplus2000 · Post by **mjplus2000** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:57 pm

WinRiddance wrote:Also, it doesn't matter how you use the MJ, both methods require that it's plugged into the back of the router ... or am I confused about that?

If it's plugged into the usb then you don't plug the ethernet cable into the router. Just plug the phone into the phone jack port on the mj for service. I would say it definitely sounds like a router issue. It could also be something as simple as a bad ethernet cable or router port. Obviously it's not the mj if you replaced it and are having the exact same problem(although you never know with mj). It's very possible that when the technician set up their broadband he set their router up differently then yours. Is it a modem/router combo or are both units stand alone?

edit: Ahh Joe!! you beat me to the punch.

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:05 pm

mjplus2000 wrote:
WinRiddance wrote:edit: Ahh Joe!! you beat me to the punch.
hehehehehehe, fast fingers

WinRiddance · Post by **WinRiddance** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:56 pm

mjplus2000 wrote:
WinRiddance wrote:Also, it doesn't matter how you use the MJ, both methods require that it's plugged into the back of the router ... or am I confused about that?
If it's plugged into the usb then you don't plug the ethernet cable into the router. Just plug the phone into the phone jack port on the mj for service. I would say it definitely sounds like a router issue. It could also be something as simple as a bad ethernet cable or router port. Obviously it's not the mj if you replaced it and are having the exact same problem(although you never know with mj). It's very possible that when the technician set up their broadband he set their router up differently then yours. Is it a modem/router combo or are both units stand alone?

edit: Ahh Joe!! you beat me to the punch.

Hi again. Thanks a bunch for the input from everyone so far. Well, my Dad just got off the cellphone with me, trying to use the MJ PLUS without a router cable at all ... but that didn't work either. I'm pretty sure that he had it set up properly but I wasn't there to see it for myself.

So it didn't work via USB either which totally perplexes me since it did work indeed via USB when I set it up last week. I tested it and called my wife at home as well as my cell, and it worked ... then. Now my Dad is saying that it won't work at all with the USB either, displaying the same symptoms as before ... dialtone ... dialing the number ... then nothing. That's what we got with the wall outlet and the router earlier. Now he's saying it's happenng on the USB without the router cable too. Had to tell him to plug everything back together the way it was earlier and that I'll drive down there on Friday to try once again.

The device they have is a UBEE brand cable modem. It's a single device with four LAN ports and internal WiFi. At least I thought that it was a cable modem. I just figured out that their UBEE is a little different than ours though. Never noticed it before, but my Dad says that he doesn't have the TV cable plugged into his UBEE ... but ours does. His also doesn't have an antenna attached in the back, near the top, as ours does. From the front & sides they look pretty much identical though ...
Aaaaarrrgggh, this is maddening ...

grgvrbl · Post by **grgvrbl** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:39 pm

Are you sure you are not connecting to both the router and usb at the same time??

WinRiddance · Post by **WinRiddance** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:29 am

Well, actually it doesn't really matter if the router is connected when using the USB option. I've tried both and both work the same. Apparently once the USB is connected, the router is just ignored.

Regardless, my Dad was mistaken. The USB option works just fine. I went back to their house and spent another 2+ hours with the chat support, going on a grand total of 9 hours so far. We got elevated all the way to engineering because the port forwarding on our UBEE router called for certain changes ... which I made without a problem ... followed by requesting additional changes on page two of the forwarding procedures. Well, our UBEE router didn't have a page two for forwarding available ...

Engineering then took over the desktop and spent about 30 minutes trying to get it to work, but it never did. Before engineering was done I had to leave in order to pick our Son up from School 30 miles away, so I haven't been able to see if engineering ever accomplished the goal of having the MJ PLUS work without the USB. Neither of my parents "do chat" which is the part of MJ that I really really hate ... the fact that anyone who has problems with computers, in particular the use of a keyboard, is flat out screwed when it comes to support issues. Shame on MJ for that !!!

Next time that I visit with my parents I'll see if I can get it to work without USB again. If not, they may just opt to return it and stop using MJ altogether. This has been a terrible terrible experience. They paid $10 extra for a replacement, another $20 for number porting, and had literally 3 weeks wasted on using MJ PLUS without USB which is why we got the MJ PLUS for them in the first place. Altogether I paid about $25 more in gasoline for numerous trips with my truck, and I'm out a total of about 12 hours time (driving included). That's just plain unacceptable.
Granted, an Ooma Telo costs $200 bucks (one time equipment cost, free service thereafter), but it's supposed to work on any router. I've tried Ooma in the past and was very pleased with the experience, just plugged it in, that was all ... but we wanted more individual line flexibility for which the MJ PLUS is perfect ... when it works. Like the Ooma, not having to run your computer 24 x 7 or being "forced" to use WinDoze is yet another reason for getting MJ PLUS since we have 4 Linux machines at home and since my parents don't want their computer running day & night.
Anyway, thanks to anyone who participated here.