Magicjack

[jeffski]

I'm giving the Magicjack a free 30 day trial. Has anyone else been using this? So far so good and I believe we'll sign on. Quality is really clear and includes caller id and voice mail and other features.For $40 (incl.Magicjack) for 1st year and $20  a year after that,you just can't beat the price for unlimited phone service.They even offer a 5 year plan for $60 :eek:  We can cut our cell phone minutes now and go to the next lower plan thats $20 a month cheaper. And to think,I used to waste $40 a month for TWC digital phone. :huh?:


http://www.magicjack.com/9/index.asp

[Bebop]

It would have been better if a computer connection wasn't needed.

[jeffski]

It would have been better if a computer connection wasn't needed.

Yes,that is the downside of it. When my wife and I are @ work during the day,I have pc off(as well as overnight) and if any calls come thru the home phone,it goes right into voice mail or I can have any incoming calls forwarded to my cell phone. Free incoming on the cell is nice to have.

[jkane]

It is very inexpensive.  Then again, there are dozens of similar options.  This is nothing more than a proprietary soft phone.  Do a search on soft phones like skype and you will see what other choices you have.

It does not like running on a computer that is not logged in.  If you have multiple accounts and only one computer, you have to hack it to get it to work.  I have recently done this and the hack does keep it connected.  But patches and such are manual after doing so.

They still don't offer phone number porting.  They only recently offered 262 area codes!  They have been promising number porting for about a year now.  Not only no progress on that front, but more silence than before, making it seem like it may not happen.

What you may not realize about Magic Jack is just how tiny of an operation it is!  This at times seems like a one man show.  The one person who calls you back for tech support (the line is NEVER answered live) seems to also be the person who deals with any other issues.  Sales and warehousing and number changes ...  You name it, Dan (I think that was his name) is the man.  The ONLY man.  Seems shady and not very long term.  Don't get me wrong, I am all for the home based business.  But given they say how many are already out there, it's time to build some infrastructure!

There is no guarantee they will be around next year, due to the small size.  That means I would not go for a multi year plan.  However, there is also no assurances that the price will stay $20 a year if they ever get phone number porting!  That will be the big jump in service for them.  Many people are holding out for that feature.

Yes, you have to have a dedicated internet connection.  Or do you?  They have phone forwarding where you can have it automatically forward to your cell if you like that kind of thing.  I have not used that feature.  Technically, you could never hook it up and only use the built in forwarding and answering machine features.  Then use someone elses phone.   :p

The nice part is you can take the jack with you and plug it into any computer that is not stuck behind a proxy server and you have your home phone for incoming and outgoing with you.  This is great for kids at school who you want to call you.  Also, if you travel around the world, calls back to the US are no extra cost using a kiosk computer.  Proxy servers break it since it is not on port 80.  It needs a real internet connection, no filtering.

One irritating thing is the self advertising!  It splashes their name on your screen in a window that forces itself to the top and will not get out of the way of what I am doing already.  This is bad.  They also have plans for making this their marketing plan.  It will remain $20 a year, but they have the ability to put any advertising on your screen any time they want to!  I'm not saying they will, but They can, and have in the past!  Buyer beware.

I have had mine for about 4-5 months now.  I had a lot of problems early on.  Now it works pretty well.  The only issue I have is that the sound card in my computer does not like this thing.  It does not work with it.  But, I only use it with a wireless phone plugged in to it anyhow.

[jeffski]

Thanks for the info Jeff. This is why we won't sign on to even a 2 year plan. It's wait and see. One problem I've had is I don't get a stutter dial tone when there is a voice mail and the vm light doesn't light up on the phone. I called tech support and she directed me to the update link which didn't solve the problem. But the voice quality is great from people we talk to they said it's noticably clearer on their end compared to when we talk to them on our cell phones. So there are pros and cons I guess.

[jkane]

You triggered me to check up on the latest status.  I had not called for a long time.  They now seem to have hired a tech support service.  You will get a person who answers, but they have a script and follow it, so don't expect great service.  Then again, seems like every company is going this route so we are going to be stuck with it even if you have Bell as your phone company.

As soon as number porting is available, I may jump ship and use just the magic jack for the house.  That is mostly because we use cell phones for almost all outgoing calls now.  For now, MagicJack is just a cool tech toy to play with.

[Nels Harvey]

I haven't picked up the Magicjack yet, but my daughter in Seattle, and son in Ripon, WI have done so.  Neither has a landline phone.  My daughter has nobody at home most of the time, and my son ported his old home phone number to his cellphone.

The many calls that I have received from them seem to be quite low in volume.  I believe this is a result of restricted bandwidth, or routing (They both have Seattle area codes).  We really need to listen carefully to hear either of them.

I'm wondering if other users are hearing comments about low audio?  I have Vonage here, and find it's quality far superior to the Ma Bell line I use for faxes and landline backup.  That line never gave me better than 24,000 baud when I was using a phone modem.

Nels....

[UncleMeat]

Thought I'd bump this one... been thinking about getting Magicjack recently.  I think our household is ideal for it, as we almost never use our landline (less than 10 calls/month, all local or toll free) but refuse to get rid of the landline as we don't want anyone and everyone calling us on our cell phones.  Any updated reviews?

[jkane]

I never use mine.  Keeping the program running has been next to impossible.  It keeps hanging or dying.  And every Wednesday after Microsoft patch Tuesday, it is dead and needs to be restarted manually.

I gave up on it.  Not sure if I'll renew when the 1 year expires.  Must be soon.

I would rather have a phone labs dock-n-talk and use my cell phone with my home lines.  I do that up north at our cottage, but have not quite decided to do it here.  People complain about not having a single number to the house versus using my cell to talk to my kids.  I agree, not letting my kids us my cell, they have their own!

[jkane]

Oh yeah ... they were in the news recently.  Seems they will likely never offer phone number porting.  Has to do with how they compete.  If they were to offer it, they would then be required to do something they can't (for cheap) and so it is easier to just not offer number porting.  Not sure if their web site says that or not.  It was in an article on phone systems I read earlier this month.

[LoadStar]

As an alternative, you might consider Ooma. Not anywhere as cheap (about 10x the price) but no computer required.

Personally, I'll stick with my Vonage, but that's just me.

[ArgMeMatey]

If they offered LNP, they might be subject to more regulation ... and there goes their pricing advantage.  

Have you looked at Google Voice with Gizmo software client?  I use GV and point it to my cell phone and landlines as needed, but I can point it at Gizmo and it works fine.  

You can apparently use Gizmo with WiFi phones and ATAs, similar to what you'd do for MagicJack, I don't have details on that, but if you're looking to be really cheap, do a little research on that alternative.  

http://www.gizmovoice.com/

[Bebop]

It works, but only the first 3 minutes are free.

I haven't tried with a ATA yet.

[UncleMeat]

I just signed up for Skype phone service with an online number.  Unlimited calls throughout the US (not that I use it) and a much more trustworthy brand compared to MagicJack.  I think virtually any VoIP phone will work... skype.com has a USB handset for like $25.  However, my computer has a built in mic, so I just use it as a speakerphone.  Can log into skype on my smartphone and access everything as well.  Haven't paid enough attention to go into detail, but call quality seems very comparable to traditional landline service.  Requires an active internet connection and PC or Mac.

I'm paying 3 months at a time, and it works out to about $9/month in the end.  Can save more by paying 1 year at a time.  Much better than $30 for in-state only with TWC.

No emergency calling features in the US, so that's a drawback for some.  However, I use my cell for that and 99% of all other calls.  This is mainly a number to give employers, banks, other people I don't want calling me on my cell.