Dish Phone line question

[thiggin2]

I find that those charges are around $3-5 a month around here. I would think that one could get a basic line in some areas for around $10-15. If someone had two dual tuner DVR's then with the money you would save on the additional outlet fees could go towards a basic line if its not too much.

I have Verizon and my basic service is $11.85, but then I have those fees of $9.50, almost what the cost of the Phone line itself is and only $1.50 of that is government fees the rest is just BS fees that the Phone Company charges because it can.

 

[chaddux]

Taxes are mandated by the government but those FUSF fees and similar charges are non-governmental cost recovery fees. They are annoying but if they didn't charge them that way, they would just be rolled into the monthly rate. My $44.99 cell phone plan is actually $56.

 

[Stargazer]

I know that we get a credit back on the bill for one of the charges here. I think its the USF or something like that.

 

[thiggin2]

Taxes are mandated by the government but those FUSF fees and similar charges are non-governmental cost recovery fees. They are annoying but if they didn't charge them that way, they would just be rolled into the monthly rate. My $44.99 cell phone plan is actually $56.

Yea but when that charge(not the goverment taxes) is as much as the phone charge itself is crazy. Then if you get DSL on the SAME line as your phone they charge the same fee a second time.
My cell phone company charges me less than $1.00 is BS fees(government tax is $7.00).

 

[chaddux]

Yea but when that charge(not the goverment taxes) is as much as the phone charge itself is crazy. Then if you get DSL on the SAME line as your phone they charge the same fee a second time.
My cell phone company charges me less than $1.00 is BS fees(government tax is $7.00).

SBC charges minimal extra fees and I have local, long distance and DSL. My cell phone company (Sprint) is the one that loads up on extra fees. Thanks to a nifty trick someone told me, I'm getting credits to offset virtually all of those extra fees from Sprint.

 

[thiggin2]

Thanks to a nifty trick someone told me, I'm getting credits to offset virtually all of those extra fees from Sprint.

You need to share that "nifty trick"

 

[yooper.mi]

Basic SBC $22.45 no caller id, no value pack only unlimited local calling and no long distance!!

 

[jdr01930]

Dial out is allegedly required so that they can verify that the box is at the location it's suppose to be at, and for PPV billing (from what I've been told).

I happen to have two 522's. Not sure if it was suppose to happen that way (will elaborate if asked!), this seems to be an unuasual set up (or at least was at the time?). I have vonage for phone service, and both pass the dial out diagnostic test, however, when I look at my Vonage logs, I have yet to see a dial out at anywhere near the 3:00am time the 522's are set for.

I've only gotten one dish bill so far, and will be interested to see if they ding me for the $5. Don't know why I've seen no dial out activity. Is it an idle threat to scare you into making sure the box stays where it's suppose to??? (I just got installed late January).

 

[chaddux]

Dial out is allegedly required so that they can verify that the box is at the location it's suppose to be at, and for PPV billing (from what I've been told).

I happen to have two 522's. Not sure if it was suppose to happen that way (will elaborate if asked!), this seems to be an unuasual set up (or at least was at the time?). I have vonage for phone service, and both pass the dial out diagnostic test, however, when I look at my Vonage logs, I have yet to see a dial out at anywhere near the 3:00am time the 522's are set for.

I've only gotten one dish bill so far, and will be interested to see if they ding me for the $5. Don't know why I've seen no dial out activity. Is it an idle threat to scare you into making sure the box stays where it's suppose to??? (I just got installed late January).

If you've only received one bill, that was probably the two-month double bill. The fee is not charged then since you just had it installed. However, if the receiver does not call out within 15 days prior to your bill date, the fee WILL appear on your bill. If you don't purchase any PPV, the 522 will only call out once a month. I had the problem initially where the date it called out was more than 15 days before my bill date (billed on the 10th of each month, called out the 18th of each month). The charge appeared. You can't force a call unless you have purchased PPV. I found a clever way to change the date my receiver calls out each month so it calls out within that 15 day range. The charge has not appeared since then.

Since you have two 522s, you'll get the extra fee for each 522.

 

[jtravel]

when I look at my Vonage logs, I have yet to see a dial out at anywhere near the 3:00am time the 522's are set for.

I've only gotten one dish bill so far, and will be interested to see if they ding me for the $5. .

I suspect the 522 is only checking for a Dial tone during the nightly 3am check. If there is no Dial tone detected you get the popup warning message.
I have been using dial-up internet at 3am and get the popup warning message.
There is a counter under diagnostics that shows the last connect date and I have noticed this only gets updated once a month just befor my billing date.
The once a month call in makes sense for uploading items like PPV billing totals and maybe how many times no dial tone was detected during the month. Its possible if its only a couple times they won't charge but if its disconnected most of the time they would charge.

 

[chaddux]

I suspect the 522 is only checking for a Dial tone during the nightly 3am check. If there is no Dial tone detected you get the popup warning message.
I have been using dial-up internet at 3am and get the popup warning message.
There is a counter under diagnostics that shows the last connect date and I have noticed this only gets updated once a month just befor my billing date.
The once a month call in makes sense for uploading items like PPV billing totals and maybe how many times no dial tone was detected during the month. Its possible if its only a couple times they won't charge but if its disconnected most of the time they would charge.

Wrong. The connect date is the last date that it actually connected to DISH Network. It MUST connect to their computers or the charge will appear. If the receiver just checked for a dial tone, how would DISH know it was connected to a phone line if it didn't actually dial out? They can't just magically know it's connected. There's no magic fairy that flies around and checks. If they could just know without it connecting, there would be no need for a phone line. The pop-up message appears ONLY after an extended period of time without connecting to DISH. Even if the receiver is unplugged 29 days, as long as it is plugged in before your bill date and connects, the charge is waived.

 

[Stargazer]

Hmm, what about those that have only a dialup internet connect and are online a lot or on the phone a lot? Does the receiver dial out at a specific time (such as the middle of the night) or just looks for a dialtone constantly until it can dial through?

 

[jdr01930]

Update: I called Dish Support. Turns out my 522's have been successfully registering, even though connection to check bill via Dish home fails. I guess those registration calls are quick enough that they get by.

He also said they do not necessarily happen at the time shown on 522 config screen (3:00am by default). He told me the dates they got the registration calls, and sure enough my vonage logs showed calls to an unfamiliar 800 # on those days - but in the afternoon and evening, not 3:00am.

 

[chaddux]

Update: I called Dish Support. Turns out my 522's have been successfully registering, even though connection to check bill via Dish home fails. I guess those registration calls are quick enough that they get by.

He also said they do not necessarily happen at the time shown on 522 config screen (3:00am by default). He told me the dates they got the registration calls, and sure enough my vonage logs showed calls to an unfamiliar 800 # on those days - but in the afternoon and evening, not 3:00am.

DISH Home connections do NOT register as successful connections for billing purposes. Whether you use DISH Home or not is irrelevant. The connection for billing purposes is entirely separate.

 

[Pixelation]

Hmm, what about those that have only a dialup internet connect and are online a lot or on the phone a lot? Does the receiver dial out at a specific time (such as the middle of the night) or just looks for a dialtone constantly until it can dial through?

Yes, I would like to know the answer to this question if anyone knows.

 

[jtravel]

Wrong. The connect date is the last date that it actually connected to DISH Network. It MUST connect to their computers or the charge will appear. If the receiver just checked for a dial tone, how would DISH know it was connected to a phone line if it didn't actually dial out? They can't just magically know it's connected. There's no magic fairy that flies around and checks. If they could just know without it connecting, there would be no need for a phone line. The pop-up message appears ONLY after an extended period of time without connecting to DISH. Even if the receiver is unplugged 29 days, as long as it is plugged in before your bill date and connects, the charge is waived.

I think we both basicaly were saying the samething with a few minor differences,

I said I think the nightly check at 3am only triggers the warning Popup on the TV connected to the 522. This check is only looking for a dial tone and the 522 could keep a hidden running count of how many nights this check failed. I can assure you MY 522 does infact check nightly at 3am and will popup with a warning message each night if the phoneline is disconnected or if Im on the phone at that time.

I agree with you and belive The real check by Dish is a once a Month connection befor the next billing cycle starts.
That is what shows up as the last connection on the 522 counter screen.
during this once a month connection Dish could also retreive other info stored in the 522 and its possible # times it failed the dial tone check would be reported.
I understand its DN were talking about here but no magic fairy would be required for this Technology to function as I described.
I don't know what Is actually going on inside the 522 and was only describing what I have witnessed happening on my 522 and attempting to draw some logical conclusions.