Dial out error

[doogie]

I've had my dish for about 2 weeks now... for the 1st time this morning there was a message box on the screen when I turned the TV on... it said something like my 522 wasn't able to dial in and that it needs to be connected to a phone line at all times... which it is.... is there a way I can test to make sure its connected? Is there an option in the one of the menus?

 

[Toph]

Yes!

Yes, you can!

Press MENU>>>6>>>3>>>Connection>>>>SELECT

You should see "Phone Connection OK"

If not then you have a problem somewhere in the 522 and within a months time DISH will add $5 to your bill.

This happened to me and I had to have my 522 and 322 swapped out....Next month I should get a $10 credit back for problems that were beyond my control.

Good Luck...Let us know what you find out!

 

[apocrapha]

Just a couple of things to add to Tophs post

If the connection fails you may want to make sure the phone line hasn't come loose or unplugged.Unplug it and plug it back in at the receiver and the wall jack. If it still fails the connection test and you are using a phone splitter try connecting the receiver without it- sometimes the splitters are flakey.
If all those fail and a phone will get a dial tone from the jack the receiver is using then there is a problem with the 522.

As for the message you received saying you might be charged that appears to be just a "nag screen" - if you call Dish Customer Service and ask you'll get different answers about when you'll get charged. They seem to pull answers out of their a**. My wife was told if it fails twice in a row you'll get charged. I've read others post that they were told different things.It appears to me that when the system reboots and gets it's update at night it does a dialtone test and if it fails you get the "nag screen".A couple of times I've gotten it when I was on the internet when the system updated.

But as pointed out in this recent post from Chaddux the 522 seems to only actually call "home" once a month. Checking mine and it seems to call "home" once a month also.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=31203
menu>6>3>counters then hit page down and the last connection will be the last one on the list

Anyway hope this helps

 

[rhollinger]

...
If all those fail and a phone will get a dial tone from the jack the receiver is using then there is a problem with the 522.

Don't forget to plug the phone cord that you are using into an actual phone as well, the cord could be bad...

As for the message you received saying you might be charged that appears to be just a "nag screen" - if you call Dish Customer Service and ask you'll get different answers about when you'll get charged. They seem to pull answers out of their a**. My wife was told if it fails twice in a row you'll get charged. I've read others post that they were told different things.It appears to me that when the system reboots and gets it's update at night it does a dialtone test and if it fails you get the "nag screen".A couple of times I've gotten it when I was on the internet when the system updated.

I don't know why they can't have a consistent response for this. The policy has got to be pretty simple. In any case, it is about once a month (I'm pretty sure) that it dials out, so getting the NAG screen twice isn't necessarily going to mean that you will be chargee. I've actually had problems for over 2 weeks and didn't get charged. In reality if you want to know if you are in danger of being charged, go to Menu->6->3->Dial Out. If it says "No dial-out pending" then it's not actually trying to dial-out yet and you should have some time to get the problem resolved. If it does say that and you are able to determine that the problem is not the 522, simply hook a cable up and tell it to dial out again, once it connects you should have a couple of weeks at least to resolve the problem.

If it is the 522, remember that a replacement will likely be a refurb. If this unit is new, I would demand a new replacement. If you are still in the first 30 days you could probably demand that the installer come back and "finish the job" (bringing a new 522 with them). Granted you might have to escalate but a used 522 to replace a brand new faulty unit is pretty lame IMO.

 

[SimpleSimon]

... If it is the 522, remember that a replacement will likely be a refurb. If this unit is new, I would demand a new replacement. If you are still in the first 30 days you could probably demand that the installer come back and "finish the job" (bringing a new 522 with them). Granted you might have to escalate but a used 522 to replace a brand new faulty unit is pretty lame IMO.

If you owned the unit, your point would be valid. However, E* owns them. They can provide refurbs or whatever they want - even on a brand-new install. I think that would be dumb, but it IS well within their rights.

 

[chaddux]

A message saying it can't dial in is different than it not even trying. It appears that without purchasing PPV, it should only try to call home once a month. If it tries but fails, it could be due to any number of factors mentioned (bad modem, bad phone line, bad phone jack, no DSL filter, etc).

 

[apocrapha]

I also just noticed that this problem appeared after doogie had a service tech out
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=31894

Another thing that could be a problem other than bad/loose phone line is if someone changed the phone system setup screen-like changed from touchtone to rotary or added a prefix when it's not needed.

Does anyone still have a rotary phone system anymore?

 

[chaddux]

Does anyone still have a rotary phone system anymore?

I actually had a CSR ask me if I had a rotary phone system.

"Yes. I'm calling you from the 1950s. I've figured out how to time-travel but I can't figure out why my DVR can't make a phone call."