HAS ANYONE HEARD OF THE "MAGICJACK" PHONE?

[barb1191]

We just installed MAGICJACK today and it's fantastic, so far. Read all about it and tell us what you think. No more expensive phone bills with all kinds of added taxes and line fees. Let's talk (no pun intended, or maybe so). :#1:

barb1191

http://www.magicjack.com/site/index.html

[JohnN]

this is pretty interesting since when we move we're thinking about getting rid of a "land line" but I don't like using a cell that much, please provide feedback in a month or two , barb

[samhass]

What do you do about internet svc?

[JohnN]

do you get a phone number, for incoming calls?? *wonders*

[l2ridehd]

That's not what they say on the web site. It lists all those as features you get. I agree I would not want it as my only phone yet. Within 2 years all local and long distance calling will be free anyway. What I would use this for is to take my land line service to the most basic available. I ordered it a couple days ago and will test all those features and provide an up date soon as it arrives. What the web site says for marketing and what the reality is.

[nitehawk]

If anyone is interested there is a discount code of mj394n for $2 off if ordering

[nitehawk]

sory the code has expired

[l2ridehd]

My MJ arrived this week and it was VERY simple tp install. Plug it to the USB, plug in a phone and wait 2 minutes for the software to install.
1. It only worked when computer is on and ready. Once system times out and it goes to sleep, phone is dead. Not a big problem, just have to change the timeout.
2. You get a phone console displayed on your screen.
3. It maintains a log of calls, number and duration
4. Caller ID does work and so does it for those you call.
5. It has a mute feature which works well.
6. Clarity is really good for VOIP, no hiss or static. And my entire house is wireless broadband including the system it was attached to.
7. Call waiting work well and even shows you the incoming ID on the screen.
8. I have not tried 3 way calling yet or call forwarding, but see how they are set up on the screen.
9. Set up the voice mail and that works fine also.
10. It did give me a new number which is perfect for my planned use.

I have an older laptop that I am not using so I plan to update it to xp, connect direct to the modem and set it up for the phone base unit then use remote phones elsewhere. That way I can leave it on 24X7. I will not eliminate my phone service yet, however I will drop it down to just basic service and use this for all long distance calling. I bought the MJ plus one year of service and so far it was a very worthwhile purchase. I am also going to buy the smallest landline phone I can find and use the MJ when I travel with the laptop. Still need to work out if I can move it system to system, but I believe I can. This should drop the current phone bill from about $60 a month to about $20 a month.

[nitehawk]

international calls coming feb 1 you will have to pay something - dont know how much - i have majic jack works great for me

[boobear51751]

MAGICJACK sounds to me like a spinoff from what we have been using for six years now called 'Vonage' from New York. The only issue I have not seen any of you address and we found to be a problem here in TV is no 911. If you do use any of these types of systems, including Vonage your area for 911 is not available here. Vonage by the way includes call forwarding, caller ID, voice mail unlimited long distance, local calls and all the other extras for $29.95. Just another name you might want to check out. The only problem we have had with this system down here is with Comcast itself. It seems to be more heat related interferance then we experience in Syracuse, New York. When the temperature is really hot the connection lags not only on the phone system down here, but also the computer systems and tv. We have three computers running almost non-stop here in the house and are aware when the systems run slow and what a good connection is and what is not a good connection. The phone conversations lag so you are just a bit behind on every other word sometimes. Again, this is a technical problem that Comcast needs to address. Vonage doesn't have this problem up north.
My suggestion: If you are going to get one of the the internet phone systems also get a local service so you can have 911 service for this area and you have a number where all of TV folks can call you too. Hope this info helps.

[beady]

We used Vonage for 2 years in NH and had no trouble. So, naturally we continued to use the service when we moved to TV. So far we are very satisfied. It seems equally as good as our previous experience.
Like Barb says, no more annoying fees and service charges that are more than the usage. :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup:

[boobear51751]

I guess the difference between Vonage and Magicjack is not only the price of course but, that you must have your computer turned on all of the time in order to receive or make phone calls with the Magicjack system. So actually the Magicjack is like a large cell phone the modem being your computer and the phone being the receiver. I wasn't aware of what it really was until I went to the sites you folks were talking about above in the previous messages. So the cost savings isn't what I thought it would be because I can't turn my computers off then and still have a phone service. We would have to run our systems 24/7 then. Gee, so much for the pot of gold I thought I just found. LOL..... Maybe someday we will get someone in office who will think all of these charges are really taxes and NOT surcharges and they need to be removed because we are being over taxed. Oh, that's another dream!

[punkpup]

I thought if you turn your computer off then calls automatically go to voicemail? I don't see that as a problem. Half the time the call is coming from someone I don't want to talk to at that particular moment anyway lol. There is at least one computer on in our house (during waking hours). I will be extremely interested to hear how it works out for everyone over time.

l2ridehd, I definitely like your idea of using the old laptop.


I have an older laptop that I am not using so I plan to update it to xp, connect direct to the modem and set it up for the phone base unit then use remote phones elsewhere. That way I can leave it on 24X7. I will not eliminate my phone service yet, however I will drop it down to just basic service and use this for all long distance calling. I bought the MJ plus one year of service and so far it was a very worthwhile purchase. I am also going to buy the smallest landline phone I can find and use the MJ when I travel with the laptop. Still need to work out if I can move it system to system, but I believe I can. This should drop the current phone bill from about $60 a month to about $20 a month.

[dadspet]

Tried it (Thanks Bernie for letting me know)>>

1.Installed simple but no 352 area code
2.Clarity is very good, a lot better than my Verizon cell phone and close to a land line
3.You get a phone number and also 911 support.
4.Very Portable - if your a snowbird you can take it back home and have a 2nd line free
5.You don't have to keep your computer on all the time >> If computer is off it goes to a voice mail - you get the messages when you turn the computer back on and dial your number. (haven't tried this yet)
6.I tried it on my WiFi connection and it also worked
7. A lot cheaper than vontage


I use a cordless phone with the base connected to the Magicjack and I can then use the cordless phone and another satellite phone all over the house.





Hard to beat at $20/year - if you can let me know

[nONIE]

Dadspet,

I do get some reverb back at me which is a little annoying, do you notice that at all?

[nONIE]

Cheap phone Barb, no volume control. Thanks for responding tho. Guess Ill just have to put up with it. Im just happy to have something other then my cell which drives me crazy!!! Overlaping conversations, static, dropped calls. Magic Jack Is WONDERFUL!!!!

[The Great Fumar]

BARB1191
Could be your hearing isn't what it used to be ,,,, Just a thought...

fumar droppin a pin :dontknow: :dontknow:

[Barefoot]

boobear....Thanks for your suggestion re Vonage. Would like to clarify pricing difference between Vonage and MJ, FYI.
Vonage is, as you say, $29.95/MONTH. MagicJack is a once-a-year charge of $19.99 the first year and something like $29.99/YEAR the following years. Yes, MJ does have all the bells and whistles, as well as 911 access and shortly will offer the capability to keep your local phone number. Huge difference in price! barb1191

We have been using Vonage for the past four months and the monthly price of $29.95 gives us UNLIMITED long distance calling to Canada as well as the USA!! A huge advantage for us as Fireboy is still working in Canada.

I do find sometimes there seems to be a bit of a time lag, don't know why. Also, it only works well when I'm talking to other landlines .. not good reception if other party is on cell phone or portable phone.

But overall we love it as we are saving a fortune on long distance calls.

[l2ridehd]

I have been using MJ for about a month now and it is still working great. I like it because I can use it when I travel as well. I always have the laptop with me and now have a free phone as well. Even from hotels, I just disconnect the hotel phone and plug it into the MJ. So for $20 a year it will always be my second phone and for TV probably my primary phone until I am there full time. VM works well and the quality has always been good so far. I also will set it up in TV using a base and multiple hand sets. Tried that at home as a test and it worked fine. At some point I may eliminate the land line completely, and at a minimum drop it back to very BASIC service. h

[TVQueen]

Thing that still bothers me about it is that if your internet service is down, so is the phone. Also, does not have call forwarding.

[Russ_Boston]

Don't know how internet service is down in TV but my Comcast service has only been down for maybe 10 minutes in the past 5 years! Not a concern.

[l2ridehd]

I would agree that internet is likely to be down more then land line over time. However both are still very reliable. And I will still always have a cell phone as back up.

[dadspet]

Nonie:

One time I got reverb. Now it seems great. Wife uses it all the time now. Quality better then Zerizon cell . We did the update to latest software level ?? Not sure what that did. Keep vol low - and turn up your hearing aid.

[nONIE]

dadspet,

Thanks for the advice will follow it all except the hearing aid part, Please dont rush the degradation of my body parts, they are getting there fast enough! 1rnfl

I CAN STILL HEAR!

[dadspet]

Turned off my computer last night and this morning it wouldn't come back on - seemed like it was hung trying to start Magicjack. Turned it off and same thing happen. FOUnd out comast was down since I couldn't use the internet. Not sure if there is a relationship between comcast not being up this am and MagicJack but comcast has been down before so I'm not sure there is.

This does bring up the point that its probally not a great idea to use magicjack as a only Telephone but still seems like a great solution for cheap phone service if you have a cell phone.

[DickY]

I have Vonage so when the internet is down my Vonage phone is also. However they have an option to forward a call to another phone when this occurs. I have it set up to forward to my cell.

[Shirleevee]

Any new information on Magic Jack?

I just ordered it for TV. Comcast, our ISP in TV does not have telephone service.


Shirleevee

[islandgal]

Shirlee -

I received a call from Comcast last week to let me know they now have phone service here.
I already have their broadband, but Thursday I will be connected to their phone service to replace Embarq and cable to replace Dish.

You might want to give Comcast a call. They have some good deals because of the service being new here.

[Harry]

I have had majicJack for approx 3 months. I don't have any land line. This works fine. Price is right and I don't miss having a $74 a month phone bill. $40 the first year which includes the unit that plugs in to a USB port and $20 every year after that. Yes, per year.

[Shirleevee]

Thank you WiWi.

I have Comcast Broadband and cable......will call them


Shirleevee

[SteveZ]

Thought I'd try if after reading about it on TOTV. Love it!

Got two (can only hook up one on any computer) and have had no problem. for the price, it was worth the experiment.

Don't care if the internet goes down - that's when the cellphones kick in.

Would recommend it to anyone with broadband internet and who leaves the computer on 24/7.

If nothing else, having a spare telephone for $40 for the first year and $20 thereafter is a bargain.

[drdodge]

I bought my magicjack thru amazon and recieved a $30 cash back discount net $16 dollar cost for system and 1 year deal. Magicjack is great. Turn off screen and leave cpu on, works great. If computor is off calls go to voicemail and when you turn on again you will have email letting you you have calls in voicemail

drd

[chelsea24]

We have Voice Pulse and love it. We had it in Illinois and carried our numbers with us here to FL and added a virtual number with a FL exchange. We went with them as Vonage was not as reliable as up as Voice Pulse, plus VP has a ton of features. And yes, if the internet goes out, it also goes automatically to my cell phone. Check it out at voicepulse.com
It's clear as a bell and very reliable.

p.s. Nonie and I have spoken several times and she's always had feedback with the MagicJack. So the conversation can be choppy. But I still love talkin' to you darlin'! :-*

[nONIE]

Chels, unfortunately ALL of my phones(magic Jack, cells) were choppy when talking to you. Whats up with that???? :dontknow:

[Barefoot]

With Vonage I sometimes have echos, delays, just not the best reception. Seems to happen when I'm talking with people on cell phones, portable phones, or who have Vonage service. Other times the reception is great. (Still I love the price for International long distance).

I brought my Vonage Florida phone system home to Canada and added a local number here. However at present, I'm paying for two systems to run parallel. I don't want to cancel my Canadian land line until I'm positive Vonage is going to operate properly. :dontknow:

[chelsea24]

Nonie, I think it's because we try to talk over each other! LOL Just two big yakkers!
I miss you dahling. :-*

[Shirleevee]

I just finished installing the Magic Jack. I called locally, (NY, NJ), and California with no sound or service problems. Hopefully, it will work as well in TV as here.

Thanks to all for their input.

Shirleevee

[renielarson]

I'm in the process of returning our Magic Jack for a refund. This is why:

Here in TV there was no local area code so anyone local who called us would have to pay long distance rates. I couldn't live with that...doing that to my friends.

At home in Michigan, we could have registered with a local area code, however, the thought of changing our phone number with all our contacts was too overwhelming for us.

We decided the Magic Jack was not for us although while we used it for a test run the sound quality was excellent.

[dadspet]

I've used MagicJack in TV with good success. But they have promised new area codes for months with nothing. Their customer service (at least they answer the phone ) will tell new area codes soon but trying to press them for an specific date or time frame is worthless they continue to say soon. Forums on Magic Jack have indicated this has been a continuing issue with them.
Another issue I have with them is I can't use the keypad to input responses to computers when they request "Press number x for this and y for that" > it just doesn't seem to work. But for the price and reasonable quality (better than cell phone or at least as good in most cases I tried) it hard to beat. The area code issue may be a problem with the other common carriers giving them out ?? and I think there is an update to the hardware they are selling now but I don't know what it fixes if anything.

I think its still a bargain and if they get the area code issue worked out it will be even better.

[renielarson]

dadspet

I would have kept the Magicjack had it been able to cover all area codes like other phone companies. I had no problem with the quality although setup was difficult until I realized my phone wasn't compatible. Once I bought a new phone (that we needed anyway), it worked just fine. Obviously our old 2.4 mgh wasn't good enough but a 5.8 was.

Once they include all local area codes, I may consider it again. Just not now.

[PR1234]

Any updating to report on Magic Jack? Is it still cheaper than using Comcast?

[conn8757]

I just renewed mine for one year for 19.95 although they had a $59.95 special for 5 years. I figure phones will be totally different in 5 years.

[l2ridehd]

What is the area code issue? I have one with the area code 352. Couldn't get TV for the next 3 digits, but got a town close by. And really what does it matter? If anyone is still paying for long distance, they are missing out. I have a Magic Jack at both homes and one in Virginia. Have 3 for what I paid Verizon for a month. Plan on getting another for travel. Most hotels now have free wireless and I usually travel with a laptop so just unplug the room phone, plug it into the magic jack and make free calls. Just renewed my first one which is now two years old for the 5 years for $59. That's like $12 a year for calling anywhere in the US and Canada. They work great.

[babbs455]

i suggest you google "majicjack complaints" and read what others who have it are saying...
i am a big googler before i purchase something I like tocheck out what others are saying about the product...complaint wise
happy googling.

[schotzyb]

Had my Magic Jack for over three years and have never had any problems with it. Got to love the price of $19.95 a year which is less than one months service with any other phone service.

[Shirleevee]

I use Magic Jack both in TV and here in NY.....I love it.......

[Shirleevee]

i suggest you google "majicjack complaints" and read what others who have it are saying...
i am a big googler before i purchase something I like tocheck out what others are saying about the product...complaint wise
happy googling.

The problems I have encountered are by those who do not read how to troubleshoot their MJ......I was told by my land line carrier that I would have nothing but trouble and that is NOT the case.

[Shirleevee]

Any updating to report on Magic Jack? Is it still cheaper than using Comcast?

I don't know about Comcast, but here in Ny I pay $90.00 monthly for Verizon and $19.95 for 5 years of service with Magic Jack.

[SteveFromNY]

I haven't read through this entire thread, but I did see quite a few positive comments about Majic Jack. I've had mine for over a year (before they introduced the ability to get a 352 area code - I have a 407). I have been thrilled with it at times, and very disappointed with it other times. I have had some periodic garbling making it sound like you are underwater (needing to redial maybe a few times to get a better connection), frequent need to reboot the computer to get dial tone, and I always have to wait what seems like a long time to get dial tone. And I get a little annoyed that I have to leave the computer on 24x7 to have phone service. However, when it does work, it's great. And we have cells as back-ups anyway.

I have heard about a device that costs around $200 that plugs directly into your internet and needs no computer to gat you phone service. It's called Ooma. I am considering that as an alternate to the Majic Jack.

Here's a link: http://www.ooma.com/

[conn8757]

Steve - I had area code 407 and just called MJ and they changed it to 352 free of charge.

[SteveFromNY]

Steve - I had area code 407 and just called MJ and they changed it to 352 free of charge.

Thanks. I have had nationwide long distance with whatever phone company I've used what seems like forever, so it wasn't a big deal to me. But apparently there are a lot of folks still paying long distance. I think Majic Jack 352's are Ocala based, so do folks have to pay long distance to call Ocala?
I will change it though.

[Mintjulep]

I have a 352 Gainesville exchange and am waiting til they get a local exchange to get my MagicJack # changed.
They advertise that they'll change your # once for free, then a minimal charge to change it after that.
We love our MagicJack. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but for the price, it just can't be beat.

We have Comcast Lite hi speed internet ($24 mo.) and run 2 laptops (thru our linksys wirelss router) with the MJ on one laptop with no problems. The Comcast installation tech tried to convince us we would have problems with the MJ. But they were wrong. We've had this setup for over a year with no problems.

[SteveFromNY]

I wouln't be the least bit surprised that my computer was at fault in my Majic Jack problems. Since re-booting generally clears things up, it's likely the fact that it's really old and slow causing the issues.

[2BNTV]

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