# 721 Modem troubles



## sjhill01 (Oct 13, 2002)

I just got my 721 installed today, and, as a receiver/PVR, it seems to work great. No problems getting the guide, no problems with time zone and future recordings, etc.

However, I discovered within a couple of hours that whenever someone called my home number, the phone would ring once, then they would simply hear silence. After some experimentation, I discovered that it only happened if the 721's modem port was connected. 

I tried connecting a phone instead of the 721, and it worked perfectly. I tried unplugging it, and it worked fine until the boot process completed, then it started screwing up again.

I talked to adv. tech support, and they didn't even try troubleshooting; they just said they'd replace it (with a new one, as it's brand spanking new - had it for 6 hours).

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Any other suggestions? I'd love to get it figured out then just send back the RMA'd one they send me so I can start recording shows instead of waiting a week since I'll lose it anyway.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Most likely that 721 was shipped with a bad modem. It happens...


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## sjhill01 (Oct 13, 2002)

Got my replacement - same problem. This time they refused to send out another one... I'm waiting on a call back from engineering on Monday.


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## SteveinDanville (Jun 26, 2002)

Do you have DSL coming over your phone line? If so, you need a DSL filter. Maybe that's it. I have filters on all my phone jacks, including the one feeding into my 721.


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## sjhill01 (Oct 13, 2002)

No, my DSL comes in on an unused pair in my CAT5 source line, so I don't use any filters in the house..


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## Kagato (Jul 1, 2002)

I'll assume you've verified the run with a standard phone?

Could be a another bad modem.

Also, you might want to ask dish what the REN in for the modem. Add up the RENs of all your phones, answering machines, faxes, etc there should be stickers on everything if they are following FCC regs.

It's a long shot. REN issues are really rare since phones don't have motorized ringers anymore..

You could test this out by leaving the 721 plugged in, and disconect a couple phones. See if the problem goes away.


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## sjhill01 (Oct 13, 2002)

This happens even if the 721 is hooked directly to the incoming phone line and nothing else in the house is plugged in.

And yes, I plugged the same cord from the same outlet into a standard phone and all was well. The other thing that assures me it's the 721 is that when it's powered off, it's ok, but as soon as it finishes booting and the driver is loaded (I assume), it starts taking over incoming calls again.


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## sjhill01 (Oct 13, 2002)

Update:

I tested my 721 at another person's house, and it didn't have any problems with incoming calls. I just took it over there, plugged in the AC, waited a few minutes, plugged in the phone line, and called - the phone rang perfectly.

I tried the same procedure at my house, but with the phone line hooked DIRECTLY to the jack in the DMARC outside my house (so there were no other devices connected, just the 721) and it still did it.

According to the people I talked with in ATR, the fact that it happens even with no sat cables hooked up eliminates grounding as an issue, and the fact that I hooked it up to the DMARC eliminates additional equipment-caused problems. I tried it with and without DSL filters, so that's not the problem, and I tried reversing the phone wires (polarity) and that didn't help either. Plus the offsite test working eliminated the receiver as a problem.

They tend to want to blame to phone company, and I want to blame DISH. Sure, there must be some slight variance in my phone line, but if all my other phones and modems in the house and computers work, the issue is that their components or the drivers/software is poorly implemented!

So... any ideas?


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## Ken N. (Apr 8, 2003)

I have the same exact issue. Have you ever found the cause of the problem? I have had the phone company check the line and also had Dish properly ground everythin. Still no good. I am at a complete loss and I do not want to exchange the unit as it did nothing for you.


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## kyoo (Apr 4, 2002)

i'm assuming that you are not using one of those wireless phone adapters, are you? I've ran into the same issue when using those.. (the type that extend the phone jack wirelessly).


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## sjhill01 (Oct 13, 2002)

I haven't found any resolution to the problem - I just have to leave the PVR unplugged. Since it happens even if I connect just it at the junction box with no coax cables installed, the problem is most likely with the phone line or telco install at the junction box. I never called the phone company to have them check it out, though.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

Ken's 721 worked fine at his old location and unless the modem went bad after the move it has got to be something on the phone line (even though the telephone company tested it and said that it was fine).

Since SJHILL's 721 Caller ID works fine at another location it suggests that the phone line is the problem too. My guess is that both Ken's and SJHILL's telephone service is provided via a SLC (Subscriber Line Contrator) or some other way (besides straight copper) and that is why both are having the problem. By the way, unless you know someone at the phone company you will likely never be able to find out how the dial tone gets from the central office to your home.

Should the 721 work with "non-standard" telephone provisioning? The answer is a definite YES. Not knowing anything about the 721's caller ID hardware or software it is hard to say if the problem is in the hardware or software or possibly in the telephone companies facilities.

I suggest that each person pursue this with DISH (ask for an advance tech) and make sure that person fills out a report that goes to engineering. It could be that others may be having this problem too and it needs to be addressed in engineering.

Here is a suggestion that you may want to try. At the phone jack (or any other convenient location), put a 600 ohm resistor (or any resistor from that value to about 1000 ohms) in series with each side of the telephone line. This should not prevent caller ID from working and may fix the "line pick up" problem. Do that ONLY on the line (or jack) going to the 721.


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## Ken N. (Apr 8, 2003)

I will give this a try in a day or so. I was going to try an inline filter as a last ditch effort. Maybe the filter has an impedance characteristic that will accomplish the same thing. I'll let you know what I find out.


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## sjhill01 (Oct 13, 2002)

Bill R -

Thanks for the info. That's the most specific advice I've received on this issue so far! So where would I find such a resistor? Would it need to be assembled somehow to connect to a phone line? Sorry for the ignorance, but we're a little out of my range.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

Didn't I see another post from someone having the same problem? Maybe there is a trend going on here.


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## Danbo (Oct 3, 2002)

Not sure if there's a trend or not. I've done all the wiring for my phone lines in the house (considering there was only 1 jack when we bought the house, and I've added more jacks along with 2 more lines). My caller ID works fine. Wish I could say the same for the rest of the system.


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