Dropped Calls Problem ?

[Bob]

Hello,

Have been getting dropped calls using the Comcast phone
that is part of my package deal with them.

Their Rep came out and said all signal strengths are fine, etc., etc., etc.

Trying to understand the system a bit more.

Read many Posts that the problem might be my Comcast Modem or my Cisco
Router.

But as far as I can tell, my house phone line goes to my basement where
it is then connected to the Comcast "box" (the one with all the lights)
down there.

So, how does, or would, my Comcast Modem or Cisco Router come into the
picture ? It doesn't seem that my phone goes thru either ?

BTW: What is VOIP ?

Problem didn't happen when we had a land line (very expensive)
with Verizon. Do they use the same system and technology ?
What should I do next ?

Thanks,
Bob

[Adam H. Kerman]

It's not VoIP; there's a dedicated digital audio channel, separate from
the data and television channels. It uses a special cable modem called an
eMTA that supports voice features. Your inside phone wire must be disconnected
from outside wire, otherwise you get interference. Like the television and
data signal, it comes into your home through the drop and then is split
past the ground block to your eMTA, which serves data and phone. Typically,
the eMTA sits on the floor in the home office and the phone signal is
back fed through the inside wire, but in your case, it's in the basement,
so perhaps someone did it right. There should be a short stretch of phone
wire between the eMTA and the punchdown block from which the rest of your
inside phone wire branches off.

You can plug a telephone instrument directly into the phone jack on the
eMTA; make sure you use the Line 1 jack. Test them one at a time on various
calls. If the telephones themselves are all right, perhaps it's the inside
wire.

[Jason Woodson]

It IS a VoIP service again Comcast Digital Voice IS VoIP. It is VoIP
from the customer's eMTA to the headend then its converted over to Ma
bell which the whole backend of a telco company is now VoIP. Voice
over Internet Protocol use a realtime codec such as g.711, G.722(HD),
G.719 (HD) Comcast uses this one I'm pretty sure of, Opus, Silk and
several others. Silk was used by Skype but now they use Opus which is
a blend of Silk and CELT. G.711 is VoIP but this codec was use and
invent back in 1972 and is still used today but in a much more
automatic and digital form by the telcos and Vonage both use the same
codec but how it is routed and used is completely different. MCI uses
Voip, Verizon uses VoIP, Sprint Uses VoIP. Most cellular provicers
were using a GSM codec for mobile then and old signal used by the
military was no lnger classified and was used in mobile carriers
called CDMA which is an old format and is very flexible and reliable
and it was used by Sprint and Verizon but on different frequencies but
even though it wasn't truly voip it was a digital signal and relied on
digital coding. Now we are getting HD voice which is basicaly g.722 in
many different wrappers. The wrapper is a way to carrier the voice
package that is compatible to the network then the package is
unwrapped by the mobile phone and the caller hears the audio and works
in reverse when the voice is transmitted. That's an over simplied
explaination. However to get to the point yes Comcast IS in fact VoIP.

[Jason Woodson]

On Fri, 4 Sep 2015 19:34:32 -0400, Bob <rgs...@notme.invalid> wrote:

However Herman is right that it does in fact run on a separate signal
within the cable line but its still Voip as it it is transmitted with
an IP address with MAC address to the headend.

[noname]

On 09/04/2015 07:34 PM, Bob wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Have been getting dropped calls using the Comcast phone
> that is part of my package deal with them.
>

Do these dropped calls involve cordless or cell phones on either side of
the connection?

While wireless consumer-grade devices are certainly very convenient,
they are quirky at best. I use wired devices when I want rock-solid
reliability.

[Bob]

Thanks for help; much appreciated.

It seems to happen only after 10 minutes or so of conversation.

When we are using our land-line phone to call a particular person's
cel phone, or when they are using their cel phone to call us on our land
line.

But, when the person with the cel phone calls anyone else (having a cel
or land line), it does not seem to happen.

It only seems to happen between their cel, and our land line.

Thanks again,
Bob
---------------------------------------------------------------

[noname]

On 09/05/2015 02:32 PM, Bob wrote:
> When we are using our land-line phone to call a particular person's
> cel phone, or when they are using their cel phone to call us on our land
> line.
>
> But, when the person with the cel phone calls anyone else (having a cel
> or land line), it does not seem to happen.
>
> It only seems to happen between their cel, and our land line.
>
> Thanks again,
> Bob

Cell phones drop calls like a Canada goose drops poop. All I can suggest
is to get a phone with speed dial so you can reconnect the call quickly.

[meagain]

Bob wrote on 09/05/2015 2:32 PM:
> It seems to happen only after 10 minutes or so of conversation.
>
> When we are using our land-line phone to call a particular person's
> cel phone, or when they are using their cel phone to call us on our land line.
>
> But, when the person with the cel phone calls anyone else (having a cel or land
> line), it does not seem to happen.
>
> It only seems to happen between their cel, and our land line.

This used to happen to us until comcast (new england) upgraded us to the ARRIS EMTA.

(You should also be sure all your phone outlets have correct polarity and your total
"ringer equivalents" are under the max for the EMTA.)

[Jason Woodson]

On Sun, 6 Sep 2015 08:23:20 -0400, noname <non...@noaddress.com>
wrote:

that's not a realistic solution. If it comes to that just go back to
the phone company.

[noname]

meagain suggests it might be a faulty EMTA. Since replacing the EMTA is easy and cheap,
that would be an excellent troubleshooting step.

The dropped calls could also be the cell phones fault. Cell phones are notorious for dropping calls.
I know, I use one. My cellco's slogan is "More Dropped Calls in More Places."
(Their stock performs better than their service.)

If I had to wager, my money goes on cellular at fault...but I could be wrong.
It happened once before. ;-)