how to fake dial tone?

[dishrich]

How does the fact that it is an installer rrather than a customer make a difference?

Geeze, some people JUST don't get it...

It makes a difference, because ALL this guy is trying to do, is get the box totally prepared in his shop, including getting ALL the software downloaded, BEFORE he takes it to the customer's house, which saves a LOT of time at installation. Many of us installers do this with either D* or E*, but particulary with E* receivers, due to the download time required, as well as they are NOT the most stable units out there. Also, it DOESN'T matter WHERE this takes place; my phone line will get the job done just as well as the customer's. This way, if we get one that is bad out of the box, we can get another one prepared to install, without the embarassment & inconvenience to the customer.
I do the same thing particulary with D-Tivo units as well, so all I basically have to do when I get to a customer's house, is connect it & I can show the customer immediately how all the unit's features work.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

People are buying boxes off of EBAY, Dish IS activating them (if you yell and scream at them enough) Many people are dropping their landline phones and are just having cell phones.

Again no special dialtone generator is going to work with a unit like the 522/322 because the unit must call home for it to work correctly.

I really wish all Dish boxes had Ethernet or wireless connections built into them to get around the phone line stuff.

 

[dishrich]

People are buying boxes off of EBAY, Dish IS activating them (if you yell and scream at them enough) Many people are dropping their landline phones and are just having cell phones.

Again no special dialtone generator is going to work with a unit like the 522/322 because the unit must call home for it to work correctly.

Scott, something else people should know, is that some of us over at Claude's board have heard that if a customer orders these units directly, & tells the CSR that they are a cell-only household, that E* will STILL waive the $5 "no phoneline" fee.

 

[mattyro]

If you show me ANYWHERE in this thread where I would know that THIS IS AN INSTALLER TRYING TO PREP A BOX FOR INSTALLATION AT A CUSTOMER'S HOME WHICH HAS A LAND LINE..... I will apologize for my lack of comprehension and be on my way. Excluding of course the post above that tells me it was an installer--ANYWHERE b4 that one.

 

[dishrich]

If you show me ANYWHERE in this thread where I would know that THIS IS AN INSTALLER TRYING TO PREP A BOX FOR INSTALLATION AT A CUSTOMER'S HOME WHICH HAS A LAND LINE..... I will apologize for my lack of comprehension and be on my way. Excluding of course the post above that tells me it was an installer--ANYWHERE b4 that one.

You STILL don't get it...

I did NOT say it was being prepped for a home WITH A LAND LINE. I said he was trying to prep it - PERIOD. And, unfortunately, on these POS 322/522's, the ONLY way right now you can complete the initial software download, IS with a live phone line. (FYI, E* has told us dealers, that supposedly another software update coming, is supposed to eliminate this problem) Once this step is complete, THEN the installer can deal with whether the customer actually HAS a phone line or not - that is between him, the customer & E*. AND, if you read my last point below AGAIN, you would realize he is ONLY trying to get the download completed - he ALREADY KNOWS the customer will need to pay $5 more a month - OK already?

BUT, after I re-read his 1st post, he actually is doing his prep work at the customer's house, that does NOT have a landline at all; hence the reason he was asking about something to "fake dial tone", so that his download would complete. I would not have that problem, since like I said before, I prep receivers at my shop (that has a land line anyway) BEFORE I take it to a customer's house.

As far as knowing that he was an "installer", how about these posts:

"When the customer of a new Dnet install does not have phone service installed on the property"

"It "seams" some tickets i have been getting, the customer doesnt have a land based phone line installed"

"im not trying to avoid any charges of any kind -- on the contrary, when they dont keep the phone connected they are assessed a 4.99 per month fee., im just trying to complete these installs so i can get paid."

Edited to remove attacking comment - silversurfer01973

 

[Wayd Wolf]

Dish customer service tells people most of the time that a phone line is required and then they promptly ignore it.

In states where wiring a phone line is not allowed without a special telecom license, wiring a line back to the interconnect is not allowed.

So you bring a very long phone extension cord and run it to a jack they do have, activate, then remove it and instruct them to get a landline jack installed nearby and hook it up.

In the case of the customer without a landline, "prepping" a box is not economically effective if in the end you are backcharged for not following Dish installation requirements. Easier to explain it to the customer and have them reschedule for when they do have a landline or someone at Dish makes it work for you. Doing end-runs is in the end a losing proposition on our paychecks.

 

[iburnbud]

its nice too see so much input on this matter -- some good tips, facts, and opinions are present. !

since the original post in this thread, ive moved from working with retailers to a home service provider, although this is less frequent now - it still has partial play. take dish mover for instance. customer moves, and the phone service is not hooked up yet. lets say they have a dish mover upgrade with a 522 getting added on-- well than its phone line test time after taking the stream upgrade. brick wall.

ill have to try the calling in to dish to have them send the hit some have mentioned... at this point -- theres not much else you can do if theres plain flat out no land based telco service on the property. ? (and assuming you want to complete and get paid for the install)

upgrading the irds at home sounded kind of interesting -- if you got it like that... when i come home -- i dont want to spend my time upgrading recievers... and than theres the point about E*(or someone..) possibly having concerns about that practice.

great boards.


peace