Cell Phone Problems Archives • McLarenblog

Ring Devices Fail To Provide Alert Sound On Apple Phone.

12/10/2022 Score Card

I personally have been very frustrated that my Ring cameras only, some times, fail to make an alert sound on my Apple cell phone.

Possible Solution that I discovered: TURN OFF BLUETOOTH.

This sort of makes sense because with bluetooth on, the cell phone is set to send audio to your bluetooth headsets and not your cell phone speaker. Obviously, most of the time you are not wearing a bluetooth earphone so you should remember to go to cell phone Settings and look down to find Bluetooth and view the toggle switch to run Bluetooth on or off:

On if wearing bluetooth headsets. Note that if you are wearing headsets you should hear Ring alerts.
OFF if you want to hear Ring devices from your speaker.

NOTE: The Apple left side slide switch must be ON to allow the Apple cell phone to provide you the Ring audible alerts.

POSTED: 12/10/2022

Alleged Scam Using T-Mobile Customers As Targets

07/04/2021 Score Card

I am a T-Mobile use and July 4, 2021 I get a phone text message that appears to be sent by T-Mobile. Next is the full text I received into my cell phone.

T-Mobile / T-Mobile Limited Offer, Grab a chance to win prizes worth up to 100 USD. Visit:https://mobile1.blob.core.windows.net/74123/74123.html

Next is the web page that I am directed to.

Following are some of the survey questions. So far, this looks to be an honest T-Mobile event.

I had to complete 5 more questions.

I can receive a reward up to $100 cash, if I complete a survey about what I think of T-Mobile products and service. I complete the survey and then I am shown a very long list of alleged reward options to choose. I think this to be really odd. I select ear buds because I am unhappy with my newly purchased Apple Earbud Pro. Once I choose the earbuds, I am asked to pay for shipping and handling. I think this to be rather odd also. I am asked to fill out my credit card information. I complete the whole transaction and think this is done. A short time later I get an e-mail showing that the earbuds are being sent to me as a 15 day trial. I will then need to pay for the product. I was lied to and am not receiving any benefit. I am livid. I find a phone number and call to cancel the order.

Particulars:

Cell phone message came from “notifybbh@mobilbh.com”. My search for this web site showed nothing. When I do a search for just “mobilbh.com”, I get the warning message “mobilbh.com’s server IP address could not be found.”
Visit: https://mobile1.blob.core.windows.net/74123/74123.html
Cell Phone: 844-995-1963. I called this number to cancel the order. I was told that the order was cancelled.
Credit card charges: Jul 4, 2021. DANGOBUDS – ANC EARB. $5.95. Pending. I am worried that they may still try to charge me.

I then call T-Mobile and spent well over a half hour explaining this event with them. I was told that other customers have complained about this and that T-Mobile was tying to solve this issue.

My mistakes:

I failed to look at the address of the party that sent me the text message. The T-Mobile customer support told me that the address should show “T-Mobile”.
When I viewed the really long list of :rewards” for my participation, I should have stopped and checked the situation out further.

My Actions:

I send T-Mobile Media Relations a copy of this event, at the urging of the T-Mobile customer service person, I was on the phone with.
I logged a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

Posted July 4, 2021

Apple Airpod Pro Review

05/21/2021 Score Card

Apple Earbuds Pro

Years ago I purchased wireless bluetooth Apple headsets and they seemed to work fine until March 2021. Then, the batteries within the earbuds failed. I went out and purchased the new Apple Airpod Pro paying close to $200 before tax. I have been disappointed with this purchase for the following reasons:

My main complaint is that the audio level has diminished. They provide a much lower volume than the older version of Apple bluetooth headsets. I use an Android LG-V30 cell phone and have tried to increase volume settings but nothing works. I did discover that if I tap on the left earpiece the volume seems to go up a tiny bit. I walk outside along roadways and the traffic noise easily drowns out the audio I am listening to. I find that I have to plug in corded headsets to properly listen to my cell phone applications. With the cord headsets my cell phone allows me to increase volume. This option fails to show when I am using the Apple Airpod Pro.
A constant problem is that the audio frequently fails to arrive at both ear pieces at the same time. I get sort of an echo type of effect. My solution is to switch out of one audio playback application and enter another different application which frequently results in synchronized audio. I then switch back to the audio application I wish to listen to and for a while it plays properly. The best solution is to, again, use wired headsets.
I tried to make a phone call using the Apple Earpod Pro but the party that I called immediately complained that he could not properly hear me. I think he said that my audio was distorted. I told him that I would call him back. I removed the Earpods and used the phone microphone and speaker to make a second call to the party I wanted to reach and the person at the other end said the audio was now perfect.
The changeable ear piece fittings, of which there are three, is a possible improvement maybe for some people. They are a bit difficult to unplug and attach, in my opinion. I have yet to find one of the three ear gaskets that keeps the device in my ear without falling out.

The Good:

The connectivity between this unit and my cell phone has really improved over the prior Apple wireless model.
Audio quality is very good.
Pairing between the headsets and the audio source is good.

The Bad:

Low apparent maximum audio level.
Audio fails to reach both headsets at the same time, occurs frequently.
Possible distortion in my microphone audio when using with a cell phone to make a call.

Summary: I do NOT recommend this product. I have resorted to wearing my very old corded headset, which NEVER provides echo problems, never falls out of my ears, gives good audio output level, but the cord is a bit of a pain. I really do think I wasted my money.

________________

My Solution:

Years ago I purchased a very expensive handheld ham radio. It is a Kenwood TH-D74 costing over $800. I discovered that one of its many features is that the user can connect a bluetooth headset to it so the user can listen and talk on the radio. But, for years I could not find any bluetooth headset that showed to work with the radio until 2021. One ham radio operator stated that he found three bluetooth headsets would work. I rushed out and purchased two of them and they do work. My surprise was that the Plantronics Voyager 5200 was so good that it not only connected to my handheld ham radio but also to my Android cell phone. It could connect to BOTH! This headset is perfect for me for the following reasons:

Perfect audio. The audio level can be turned up. When I walk along any highway the passing car noise is loud so I turn the volume up or down to my liking. I also found out that if I hear a vehicle approaches from behind me on the road, I can take my hand and press the headset into my ear and the volume really goes up.
Quick charge.
Very nice controls.
Perfect voice commands. This headset notifies you of any incoming call and asks you if you accept or deny the connection.
There is a very small switch that you need to flip when you use the headset or not. When you turn the headset off and plug in the USB charge cable there is a very small blue light that shows you that the headset is charging.

Summary: I am so happy that I purchased this headset. It costs about half what Apple Airpod Pro costs. The one slight deficiency is that you only get audio into one ear. I find this slightly annoying.

Posted May 21, 2021
Revised: July 1, 2021

Cruise To Alaska and Canada Technology Problems

05/11/2019 Score Card

Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
Cruise Ship: Island Princess
Cruise: 7 Day Alaska – Inside Passage
Cell Phone Service Provider: T-Mobile
Phone: LG-V30
Date: May 1 to May 8, 2019

I do recommend Princess Cruise 7 Day Alaska – Inside Passage. This blog post only criticizes some external factors that were a surprise to me.

Our cruse ship does offer Internet service for a fee that I think is quite high. We decided not to pay for that service.

I am a bit of a news and weather interested person. At home, I check both news and weather frequently. The trip to Alaska was wonderful in many ways except for receiving news back in the main states and weather around me and for my next destination. Weather in Alaska can change quickly and it would be nice to plan how to dress for the day before leaving my cabin.

None of my cell phone weather applications would show up to date weather during our stay in Alaska and Canada. No weather applications worked while in Vancouver Princess Cruises dock, over 4 hours duration at dock.

None of my cell phone news applications would update and store more current news for most of the trip. Even when arriving at Vancouver and docked better part of a day my news applications failed.

The Weather Underground application would fail to open and update way more frequently than Yahoo Weather even when back home where there is rock solid Internet.

For most of the trip, lousy e-mail into my cell phone. T-Mobile’s coverage map for Alaska and Canada is way less than the main part of the United States but it does show some coverage in places we traveled. Why then this failure?

For some reason, text messages did work at times. At the end of the trip I traded texts with friends on board ship while in Vancouver.

Odd: Starbucks cell phone application did work in Vancouver while weather applications failed.

In Vancouver, about a 15 minutes bus drive from boat dock to airport, I got weather application to work but frequent signal dropouts.

At Vancouver Airport Terminal. Weather applications did function. But, not NEWS!

Our cruse ship TV failed to provide any weather channel. The only option we could find was to watch the BBC because they show the world weather as part of their news but it is a large over view lacking any detail. There was a channel dedicated to the ship’s course on a map including the current outdoor temperature only at the ship’s current location.

The AP News application updated very slowly. I must keep the application open for AP to receive updates, it seems. When in the air and no Internet, the full story text is missing. This application sucks for later reading almost as bad as all the other news applications. The New York Times would still not updating, a near total waste.

Weather Underground application started showing temperatures for locations but no expanded weather information.

The New York Times cell phone application fails to show last stories but shows white screen. Once it updated with few days old stories and then removed them for much older stories. Really weird and stupid.

At the end of our trip and at the Portland Oregon Airport, I was finally able to sync my Fitbit Ionic to my cell phone Fitbit application and then the Ionic now showed the correct time!!! So for most of the trip, my Fitbit Ionic showed the incorrect time by one hour because we moved into another time zone. Why the Ionic fails to synchronize to the cell phone application time by Bluetooth is really stupid.

Portland Oregon Airport provided good cell phone connectivity.

Note: The cruse ships are made of thick steel and as such are really shielded from cell tower signals. The further inside you go into the ship the chance of receiving any cell phone signal is minute. It is my guess that one may need to go outside those shield confines to increase your chance to get good phone service. We did, at times, walk on outside decks but it was very, very, cold to do so.

Solution: Because the weather in Alaska can change and my cell phone weather applications failed me and day trips are away from getting to needed change of clothing, I decided to take along a comfortable, rather small, back pack made by Eagle Creek (no longer made). It has enough space for a rain jacket or pack able jacket and two side pouches for umbrellas and water bottles and a back pouch for snacks and first aid kit.

Summary: Once home I realized that not much had taken place in the United States for the week we were out of touch with the news. The ship did provide free TV in our rooms with a good selection of news channels. Problem is, I spend so little time in my cabin. I rather read the news in the dinning rooms. As for weather, absolutely no provided information from the ship and my cell phone. My cell phone, T-Moblie service provider, really was quite awful in Alaska and even in larger cities of Canada, such as Vancouver. It was not until I got into Washington and Oregon that it provided good service.

Posted May 11, 2019

Your Apple Account Has Been Breached.

12/30/2018 Score Card

December 30, 2018, I get a call on my cell phone telling me that my Apple account has been breached and to press the number one on my phone to talk to technical support. I press number one but get disconnected. I look at my cell phone call log and write down the phone number that shows for this last call. I go to my computer and do a phone number reverse lookup and discover that the call shows coming from Apple. I call that number and after wading through their awful automated answering machine I get to talk to a live person. I describe what happened and the technical support lady said the call was a scam. I told her that my phone showed her number in my call log. She said that it was easy for people to show other phone numbers as the call back number. I thanked her and hung up.

Why is it that anyone can alter their call back number? The phone industry is retarded for allowing this to take place. I propose that altering your call back number become a criminal offense because I fail to see any good reason why it should change except for nefarious reasons.