Many of those funny little boxes that plug into the internet and make dial tone have trouble putting out a proper caller ID signal. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a cheap Magic Jack or Uverse.
Something cheap to try is putting a 100k 1/2 watt resistor across the line. I find it ironic that AT&T's Uverse won't work fully with AT&T's Merlin, but apparently the resistor knocks the rough edges off the signal or just drops its level a bit and it's a fairly popular kludge with Magic Jacks. I never tried the resistor trick myself as I run my Legend system with BIS-10s and old rotary phones, and the MLX-20L only comes out if I need to program something.
Speaking of desk-smashers, I've got a PFC-34 - essentially a BIS-34 grafted onto a fax machine. What I'm after now is the exact opposite in size. Offhand, I think it's called a 7101a - it's a single line POTS phone styled like a Merlin set. Nice and small for the bathroom.
Oh, and I know what you mean about the Merlin ring. I've even got it as a ringtone on my cell.
