magicJack phone connections - Pros/Cons??

[mickey'sbud]

Anyone here have experience w/ magicJack phone connection for local and long distance
http://www.magicjacktv.com/1/index.asp
How's the connections w/ both local and long distance?
Would you get it just for long distance even if you didn't change your local service?
What are the pros and cons?
Thanks.

 

[LanaJae]

I have one and I LOVE it!

I also have Vonage so I'm running dual VOIP on one connection. I would get it in addition to what you have because I'm afraid the company might not make it.

Cons:

Must leave your computer on for it to work
Can't port numbers yet

Pros:

To many to list - ask me any specific questions, I've had it for awhile now

 

[LanaJae]

I am going to revive this thread because this device is amazing.

For $40, you get unlimited local and long distance calls for a year.

After the first year, it's $20 for a year.

You need a high speed internet connection, that's it. There's no setup, you plug it into a USB port and then plug a phone into it.

The only drawback is not being able to port your current home land-line number to it, but that should be coming soon (probably with a nominal fee of $10).

It is portable so works in hotels that have free high speed.

If you were thinking of giving up your land-line phone because you mostly use your cell phone, this is perfect because you are not restricted by minutes or the time of day.

 

[Kim in SPR]

We just got this last month and it works great. The only down side is they did not offer a number with our area code so we got a 305 number. We kept our Vonage for our home phone and switched DH's business phone to the Magic Jack since he generally makes only outgoing calls and faxes. It's hilarious because his customers with caller ID wonder why he's calling from Florida (we live in NY!)

 

[Melissa_E]

My sister uses this sometimes and I can definitely tell when she is using a cell phone vs. a landline vs. this. She has high speed cable internet, so that isn't the problem. I just don't think this is as clear as other phone methods.

 

[Iluvthemouse]

I just got mine in the mail today. It took 2 minutes to set it up and we are already making calls on it. They picked a good local number for us so I am pleased so far.

 

[MaMa3Princess]

We have had it for 2 weeks and for 39 dollars for the year i cant complain. We use to use our cell phones as our main number so we are dont have frequent phone calls. Now I am able to call out of town friends and family. We have only had two occassions were the phone service was horrible. The time the weather was bad hear in Atlanta and other time when I speak to someone else who has VOIP. But 20 bucks a year I am not complaining

 

[LanaJae]

What I think would be great is to buy one for a relative in another country that had high speed internet, then they could have a US phone number and make/receive calls here free. Even if they had to bring it to an internet cafe to use.

 

[CajunDixie]

I have to ask: What happens when you call 911? Does it actually go to your local dispatch or does it go say to FL for the person who has a FL number and lives in NY??

 

[LanaJae]

I have to ask: What happens when you call 911? Does it actually go to your local dispatch or does it go say to FL for the person who has a FL number and lives in NY??

It registers the address that you choose to enter (optional or can select from several) when you first plug it in through e-911.

I did have an issue with Vonage and 911 and nearly died. I had my address registered but did not make a test call (something I didn't know about). I gave my address to the operator, but she dispatched to our former address. Test call for MagicJack worked the same day I installed it.

 

[CajunDixie]

Thanks! I know we've had problems around here with cell phone 911 calls not going to the right county's dispatch and just wondered about these new servies.

 

[Imzadi]

Is there any software you have to download to get it to work? Or do you just plug it into the USB and that's it?

How do people call you? Is there a voicemail service connected with it where they can just leave a message? I really can't leave my laptop on all the time.

I have one and I LOVE it!

I also have Vonage so I'm running dual VOIP on one connection. I would get it in addition to what you have because I'm afraid the company might not make it.

I am also worried about this company failing. I watched people get in on Sunrocket VOIP when they first started & advertised $99/yr. and many people jumped in on it. I thought, "This company hasn't even been around a full year, and they want people to prepay in advance?"

Well, they lasted a couple years, and I finally was ready to pull the trigger & get this as I got sick of paying an extra $30/mo. for my landline, and this does not even have long distance connected, as that has extra surcharges just to have it. Just before I signed up, Sunrocket went belly up. Last I heard, many people lost their phone numbers they had for years, that they had ported to Sunrocket.

I'm kind of leery now about any new phone technology that offers 1 yr service and sounds too good to be true. But, I can't keep needlessly be paying $30 for a phone I barely use.

I had been using one of those old 10-10 long distance numbers, but found they add a 39¢ surcharge to each call. If I end up getting someone's voice mail, that one minute call to just leave a message has just cost me 40¢. My last bill from them cost me $60. It would have been cheaper had I used my Tracfone. Ouch!

Speaking of Tracfone, when I did have to call 911 a couple of months ago, the first thing the dispatch asked was what city & state was I calling from. (I was 300 miles away from my local calling area.) This way, she was able to get a patch into the local police department while I was telling her "the nature of my emergency."

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I'm just wondering

We looped the inside wiring in the house so that the Vonage rings every phone in the the house, not just the receiver that is hooked to the Vonage device. Does the MagicJack work the same way?

I really might be interested in this if the company is viable. I'm not thrilled that they can't port my phone number yet though.

 

[LanaJae]

Is there any software you have to download to get it to work? Or do you just plug it into the USB and that's it?

How do people call you? Is there a voicemail service connected with it where they can just leave a message? I really can't leave my laptop on all the time.

I am also worried about this company failing. I watched people get in on Sunrocket VOIP when they first started & advertised $99/yr. and many people jumped in on it. I thought, "This company hasn't even been around a full year, and they want people to prepay in advance?"

Well, they lasted a couple years, and I finally was ready to pull the trigger & get this as I got sick of paying an extra $30/mo. for my landline, and this does not even have long distance connected, as that has extra surcharges just to have it. Just before I signed up, Sunrocket went belly up. Last I heard, many people lost their phone numbers they had for years, that they had ported to Sunrocket.

I'm kind of leery now about any new phone technology that offers 1 yr service and sounds too good to be true. But, I can't keep needlessly be paying $30 for a phone I barely use.

I had been using one of those old 10-10 long distance numbers, but found they add a 39¢ surcharge to each call. If I end up getting someone's voice mail, that one minute call to just leave a message has just cost me 40¢. My last bill from them cost me $60. It would have been cheaper had I used my Tracfone. Ouch!

Speaking of Tracfone, when I did have to call 911 a couple of months ago, the first thing the dispatch asked was what city & state was I calling from. (I was 300 miles away from my local calling area.) This way, she was able to get a patch into the local police department while I was telling her "the nature of my emergency."

It's just like a regular phone and it comes with voicemail. You plug it into any USB port and software downloads automatically. You don't have to use the software though, you can just use the phone and not deal with the software.

If your computer is shut off, the calls go to voicemail.

This has been getting a lot of press so I'm a little more relaxed that they won't go under, but still not secure enough to think it'll last forever, although they said that about Vonage and we've had it for years.

Sorry I didn't answer this sooner, haven't been getting thread update emails so I missed it.

I'm just wondering

We looped the inside wiring in the house so that the Vonage rings every phone in the the house, not just the receiver that is hooked to the Vonage device. Does the MagicJack work the same way?

I really might be interested in this if the company is viable. I'm not thrilled that they can't port my phone number yet though.

Same concept as Vonage, I just use a splitter from the Magic Jack so all phones ring. For anyone else, this is how you can do it: http://www.mi-telecom.org/distribute.html

I just read that you had trouble with Magic Jack so I'm wondering what your internet connection is? My brother got one and it's working great and then two of his friends did too and they love it. We're all on Comcast though. Maybe it's a bad unit?

Just to give you an idea of what we have running on the cable here (all using basic residential cable internet):

4 PCs (hard wired)
2 notebook computers (wireless, not continuously connected)
Nintendo Wii (wireless, not continuously connected)
Vonage
Magic Jack
2 TiVos (hard wired, downloads and transfers between the two)
2 Audrey internet appliances (hard wired)
2 Nintendo DS (wireless, not continuously connected)
Clie PDA (wireless, not continuously connected)

I know this looks excessive, but my husband is a computer programmer and I sometimes do development, and all our kids are tech nuts too.

I did have trouble once with the phone sounding garbled, but I discovered that my son was uploading a video to youtube while I was talking.

Because we still have Vonage and I'm not ready to give it up, I have one phone plugged into the box so it rings, but I also have Vonage setup to ring the Magic Jack line simultaneously so that we're using that only to make sure it's something we might want to eventually switch to and give up Vonage. I'm not giving out the Magic Jack phone number, but of course it's showing on caller ID for others - I just tell them it's a second line and to keep using our regular number.