TECHNICAL SUPPORT
1. GENERAL SUPPORT |
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2. GAME ERRORS |
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1. GENERAL SUPPORT |
Q: How can I play the games if I am behind a firewall?
A: Many companies and organizations restrict access to outside data using a "firewall". A firewall is a set of policies that permit some activity and deny others; this is accomplished through software installed on the organization's networks. If a company only permits activity for duties they perform and know about, they know they can feel safe keeping the Web ports open.
If you try to play one of our games and the game software on your computer is unable to connect you to our game server, you will see a blue notification box telling you that you might be behind a firewall. Try selecting the option that says, "I might be behind a firewall. Try bypassing a firewall once." This will set the game software to connect you to our game server using the same port as your internet browser, which should get through the firewall and allow you to play the game.
If that works for you, then you can set the game software to always bypass your firewall by selecting, "I am sure that I am behind a firewall. Always connect bypassing it." This will prevent you from seeing the firewall notification in the future.
If you try to bypass the firewall and are still unable to play the game, then you may need to try turning off the firewall software (if you are on a home computer). Or, you may be experiencing a different issue, such as a problem with your internet connectivity.
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Q: I keep losing my connection. What should I do?
A: There are a number of reasons why you get disconnected from the game. MahjongTime has fast & underutilized servers & a direct internet backbone connection via an extremely fast 100 MB/S full duplex lines.
Depending on your location, however, there can be up to 20-30 intermediate networks that connect you to MahjongTime - each of them is a potential point of an 'occasional' failure. Although it is quite rare, but MahjongTime.com Tier 1 network has short term outages as well.
To minimize the chance of a disconnection, when you are playing avoid, whenever possible, downloading files, receiving mail, using VoIP phones, or other bandwidth-consuming applications. The fewer applications you are running, the better.
The best connectivity test can be achieved with a shareware product VisualRoute available from VisualWare.com.
To test all the intermediate networks go to this page: http://visualroute.visualware.com and type for the server address this IP: 130.94.88.148
A network quality meter is available during the game, located on the top right corner by the exit button of the MahjongTime game screen, it indicates the quality of your connectivity to the MahjongTime server over the internet.
The meter is a VU-style progressive bar chart. The meter readings may be interpreted as follows (ping times are roundtrip times between you and our server):
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Interpretation |
Ping (ms) |
Meter |
Extremely fast. |
0-150 |
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Very fast. |
150-300 |
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Fast. connections |
300-450 |
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Very good |
450-600 |
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Pretty good |
600-750 |
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Good |
750-900 |
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Poor |
900-1050 |
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Very poor |
1050-1200 |
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Bad |
1200-1350 |
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Very bad |
1350-2000 |
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Very, very bad. No connection |
2000+ |
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The meter reading is refreshed every 3 seconds.
Note that the quality of your connection to your ISP, the quality of their connection to the internet backbones, and the quality of all paths between them and MahjongTime will have an impact on the speed of your connection.
If your connectivity is less than optimal for your modem speed and location, then somewhere on the internet — between your computer and the MahjongTime server conditions are less than optimal
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Q: If my connection fails, am I kicked out of the game?
A: Yes, you are. If it happens simply re-login and re-join the game. When you are disconnected, our game engine will wait for you to reconnect for certain amount of time, and will make a move on your behalf when the time expires.
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Q: Will cordless phone interfere with wireless internet?
A: The answer is yes. It can if you use a 2.4 GHz phone. This is the same frequency as your wireless router. It probably will not be noticed unless you have a lot of other things interfering such as satellite dishes and some remote controls also. Plus if you have a lot of other wireless in the area. It can cause problems as well.
More and more households and businesses today use cordless phones, made by a variety of companies. Cordless phones operate on 3 different frequencies, 900MHz, 2.4GHz, and 5.8 GHz. Do those last two frequencies sound familiar? Yep, at least the 2.4GHz and 5.8 GHz frequencies fall in the same frequency bands as 802.11b and 802.11a wireless LANs, respectively -- and the use of the phones can cause significant interference to your WLAN.
Potential 802.11b Interference
The majority of cordless phones in use today are 2.4GHz models. These phones, innocent as they may seem, reap devastating effects on 802.11b WLANs. There are cases where 2.4GHz phones severely interfere with 802.11b. Some 802.11b WLANs have even been totally shut down by somebody simply answering a 2.4GHz cordless phone.
Resolutions to Consider
What can you do to eliminate the effects a cordless phone has on your WLAN? There are a number of solutions, some of which are guaranteed to work and others that may significantly lower the interference level. The fail-safe solutions all consist of replacing equipment.
If your interference is coming from a 2.4GHz phone, the sure fire solution is to change to a 900MHz or 5.8 GHz phone or switch the WLAN to 802.11a. Both methods will eliminate the interference. These solutions are the most effective, but also the most expensive.
Before spending lots of money on new hardware, consider the following less expensive (but possibly less effective) approaches:
• With 802.11b systems, try changing the channel on the access point (at least try 1, 6, and 11). Anecdotally, people have found that they have the least interference on channel 11.
• With 802.11a systems, change to any one of the channels that are not in use by the cordless phone.
• Change the location of the access point or the cordless phone base. Maximize the distance between the cordless phones and WLAN devices, especially WLAN users operating on the fringes of the access point range.
• If you have the option, use an external, remote antenna on your computer. This will let you place the antenna as far away as possible from a cordless phone.
There are no guarantees that these actions will work, but they may cut the interference enough to allow acceptable performance. The most attractive aspect of these solutions, however, is the fact that they are free.
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Q: How do I clear the cache of my browser?
A: In most cases login problems can be resolved by clearing your browser history files. To find out how to clear your browser History (Cache) follow the instructions listed below:
If you have Internet Explorer:
Up top in the pull-down menus (File, Edit, Tools etc.),
click Tools, then
'Internet Options'
This brings up a dialog with 6 tabs across the top (General, Security,
Content, .......)
Click 'General;, then look for 'Temporary Internet Files'
Click 'Delete Files', then (if it appears, check off 'Delete all offline
content';, then click 'OK'.
Click 'OK' again and this should clear all cached pages.
If you have AOL:
From the 'My AOL' menu, on the AOL toolbar,
Click 'Preferences', Then Click 'WWW'
Look for the 'Temporary Internet Files'
Click 'Delete Files', then click 'OK'.;
That should clear your cache and give you a fresh start.
If you have Netscape:
Up top in the pull-down menus (File, Edit, etc.), click Edit,
then 'Preferences'.
Find 'Advanced'. Click the + sign in front of the word, 'advanced'.
You'll see 'Cache, Proxies, etc.........'
Click 'Cache'
On the right you'll see, buttons labeled 'Clear Memory Cache' and 'Clear Disk Cache'
First, click 'Clear Memory Cache' when the "?" dialog appears click 'OK'
Then click 'Clear Disk Cache', when the "?" dialog appears, click 'OK'.
Click 'OK' again to close the Cache Dialog box.
This will clear all old info from your browser and the error should be finished.
If you have Firefox:
Open the Tools menu.
Select Options.
Open the Privacy tab and select "Cache" sub-category.
Click the "Clear cache now" button.
Click OK to clear browser cache.
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Q: I am having technical trouble, what do I do?
A: In case you are having technical trouble contact Live Help, submit a bug report, click on the "Contact us" tab on the home page and enter the problem you are experiencing in the "Body" box. You can also look through the other questions on our FAQ page to check out if we have already answered your question.
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Q: How to whitelist mahjongtime emails?
A: Below are examples of how to Whitelist MahjongTime e-mail in some of the more popular e-mail software programs: |
• Outlook (2003 and higher)
• Outlook 2003 – Safe Senders List
• Outlook Express (version 6 or higher)
• Yahoo!
• Gmail
• Hotmail
• MSN
• AOL (version 9 or higher)
• AOL (version 8)
• Entourage
• MacMail
• Norton AntiSpam
• McAfee Spamkiller
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Outlook (2003 or higher)
1. Open the email.
2. Right-click the sender’s email address.
3. Click Add to contacts.
4. Click Save and close.
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Outlook 2003 – Safe Senders List
1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Preferences tab, click Junk E-mail.
3. On the Safe Senders tab, click Add.
4. In the Add address, type news@mahjongtimes.com
5. Click OK.
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Outlook Express (version 6 or higher)
1. Open the email.
2. Left-click the sender icon, or right click the sender’s name.
3. Click Add to contacts.
4. Click Save and close.
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Yahoo!
1. Open your Yahoo mailbox.
2. Click Mail Options
3. Click Filters.
4. Next, click Add Filter.
5. in Filter Name box type MahjongTime
6. In the top row, labeled "From header," make sure contains is selected in the pull-down menu.
7. Click in the text box next to that pull-down menu, then enter news@mahjongtimes.com
8. At the bottom, where it says 'Move the message to:', select 'Inbox' from the pull-down menu.
9. Click the Add Filter button again.
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Gmail
1. Click Contacts along the left side of any Gmail page.
2. Click Add Contact.
3. In the primary email address box, type news@mahjongtimes.com
4. Click Save.
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Hotmail
1. Click the Options link.
2. Click the Mail link
3. Click on Junk E-Mail Protection
4. Click on Junk E-Mail Filter
5. From the selection list, choose your Junk E-Mail Filter level (select either 'Low', or 'Enhanced') and click the OK button
6. Click on Safe List
7. In "Type a single e-mail address (or domain)," type news@mahjongtimes.com
8. Click Add button.
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MSN
1. Click Help & Settings
2. Click Email Settings
3. Click on Safe List
4. In Add an item to this list, enter news@mahjongtimes.com
5. Click Add
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AOL (version 9.0 or higher)
1. Click the Mail menu and select Address Book.
2. In the pop up box, click the Add button.
3. In the "Other E-Mail" field, type news@mahjongtimes.com
4. Make our From address the "Primary E-Mail" address by checking the associated check box.
5. Click the Save button.
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AOL 8.0
1. Open the email.
2. Click Add Address.
3. Verify the sender’s contact information.
4. Click Save.
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Entourage
1. Open the email.
2. Right-click the sender’s email address.
3. Select Add to address book from the menu.
4. Verify the sender’s contact details.
5. Click Save.
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MacMail
1. Open the email.
2. Ctrl-click the sender’s email address and select Open in the address book.
3. Verify the sender’s contact information.
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Norton AntiSpam
1. Start up Norton AntiSpam
2. Click the Status & Settings tab
3. Click AntiSpam
4. Click Configure
5. Click Allowed List tab
6. Click Add button
7. In the 'Email Address' box, enter news@mahjongtimes.com
8. Click OK
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McAfee Spamkiller
1. Click the Friends tab
2. Click Email Address tab
3. Click the Down Arrow to view your Personal Friends List
4. On the Right, select 'Add A Friend'
5. In the Address box, enter news@mahjongtimes.com
6. Click Save.
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2. GAME ERRORS |
Q: How can I rejoin a tournament if my internet connection got lost?
A: To rejoin a tournament, please click on the "Tournaments" tab "or on the "All tables" tab if you were playing a Progressive tournament. Find the table you were playing at and click on it. On the right, in table info, click on the "Join" button.
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Q: : I don't know what happened but I can't sign in automatically anymore?
A: You have to check the browser Options. Please go to: Tools - Options, in the Content tag there is a button "AutoComplete", click it and in the window that appears you have to check the option "user names and Password on forms". After that you need to leave the page, Sign in again and it will remember your password and you will be able to sign in automatically next time.
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Q: The system always tells me that I've already moved or it's not your turn? What can I do?
A: The system can move your tiles if you do not discard your tiles on time. The best solution for this is to play games with higher time limit. In most cases it solves the problem.
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Q: What does it mean when I get a message that says "connection timed out"?
A: This usually means that you have lost the internet connection. Simply re-login and re-join the game that you are currently playing.
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