Forum Discussion

DocT's avatar
DocT
Freshman
7 years ago

Problems with voice dropping calls - had been working fine

We have a problem with our HughesNet phone service for the past 2-3 weeks.  After 8-10 minutes or so the call drops.  Sometimes we cannot reestablish the call without trying 5-6 times; then when we reestablish the call it drops within 2-3 minutes or less.

Sometimes, after dropping the call, we will get a phantom ringback (caller ID shows the number we were just talking to) as though the system is trying to reestablish the connection.  When we pick up, it’s just a dead line.

It happens at all times of day, but seems to be worse in the evening, or perhaps that’s when we tend to be on the phone with family and friends.

In any case, this is making it very difficult to do business during the day or call our daughter in the evening.

This problem did not arise until 2-3 weeks ago; prior that that it was fine for 9 months, so I would assume that the handset equipment, wiring, setup, and configuration are not the problem.  Perhaps the voice adaptor?

I have done numerous power cycles of just the phone adapter and of the whole system; doesn’t seem to make any difference.

Can we run some remote diagnostics to check the modem and ATA?

  • DocT's avatar
    DocT
    7 years ago

    OK, it looks like we have a fix!  Happy dance!

    I had an online chat with customer service yesterday afternoon, posting the same description that I have above.  The rep I chatted with was Angela Gray, and she was methodical and patient.  (I have an IT background and I understand the need for tedious detailed steps.)  I will admit that I was skeptical of her solution, but I think she was absolutely correct.

    This is how I had things wired.  It was installed this way, and worked fine for 9 months.

     

    MODEM
    MODEM - - - - - - - - - - - ATA- - - - - - - - - - -ROUTER - - - - - - other stuff

    MODEM

    MODEM

     

    Angela said that the wiring should look like this:

     

    MODEM

    MODEM - - - - - - - - - - - ATA

    MODEM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -ROUTER - - - - - -  other stuff

    MODEM

     

    That is, NOTHING should be plugged into the fourth (green) port on the ATA.  The internet comes in from the modem on the yellow port, the phone jack plugs in to Phone 1 (blue?) port.  That's it.

    The modem has four internet out ports on it, so plugging the router into one of those was simple, once Angela got it through my thick head that this was an option.

    We have not had a call drop since.  We talked to my daughter for over an hour last night.  I'm calling this a solution.

    I commend Angela's patience, clarity, and knowledge.

  • Liz's avatar
    Liz
    Moderator
    7 years ago

    Hi DocT,

     

    I see it's your first post here, so welcome to the community! Thank you for the useful information, this helps. I ran diagnostics and the equipment looks fine. I've escalated your case to our VOIP team to see what we can do for you. I'll reach out when I have an update to share.

     

      Your cooperation, patience, and understanding are much appreciated.

     

    • DocT's avatar
      DocT
      Freshman
      7 years ago

      Thanks for the quick reply.  Let's see if we can make it work again!

      • DocT's avatar
        DocT
        Freshman
        7 years ago

        I haven't heard from the VOIP team.

        Last night, our first call was dropped after about 12 minutes.  The phone began ringing repeatedly as though the person we were talking to was trying to call back (she wasn't) and when we would answer, the line was dead.  Hang up.  Repeat.  I turned off power to the ATA to make that stop.  After that, we could make a call and it would last a minute or two before disconnecting.

        I hope to hear from the VOIP team soon.  We have no cell phone signal at home, so we can't really call customer service.