Magic Jack...

[Mel6197]

Hi all
im sure you have all seen the commerical about Magic Jack the Telephone for 20 dollars a year system
I read that it plugs into your broadband computer and thats how you get your phone,

and you could get rid of your Land Line.

What I couldnt find information on is if I dont have a land line, i get my phone threw my computer anyway, Threw my Cable company, So I get Internet, Phone and TV threw the 1 company,
Could I still get Magic Jack as a extra phone line?

Anyone know who has this?

 

[Colleen27]

That is too funny, I was just about to post the same question. We don't currently have a land line, so we wouldn't be replacing our main phone with it or anything, but we were thinking it might be a good back-up for the house now that DS is getting older and starting to stay home without us once in a while.

 

[wmharley]

Hi all
im sure you have all seen the commerical about Magic Jack the Telephone for 20 dollars a year system
I read that it plugs into your broadband computer and thats how you get your phone,

and you could get rid of your Land Line.

What I couldnt find information on is if I dont have a land line, i get my phone threw my computer anyway, Threw my Cable company, So I get Internet, Phone and TV threw the 1 company,
Could I still get Magic Jack as a extra phone line?

Anyone know who has this?

Magic Jack is VOIP... so you could have 3 landline numbers at your home, and still have magic Jack..

MJ using the internet, like Vonage, and Skype. If you don't have cable/dsl/fios internet, then you cannot use MagicJack.

Having, or not having normal phone service doesn't impact MagicJack or any other VOIP phone services. They are two different technologies. One has a dedicated line to your house, the other piggybacks the calls on the internet.

The downsides are this... if the power goes out, then unless you have a backup powersupply, your router box will go out, which means your MJ will too. Having a UPS would allow you service for as long as it supplies power to your PC and internet router in the event of power loss.

Also, 911 doesn't workt the same. its e911. You have to submit info to a 3rd party (or the company) so they relay the 911 info to the actual 911 center in your area. normal 911 pulls your info directly from the phone company. with VOIP, they have no idea where you call from, so this registration is "supposed" to notify them of your address and phone number. Not exact though, and could not work in case of actual 911.

We had Vonage before and loved it.

 

[dfchelbay]

Please be sure to research this product. When I looked into it, there were MANY unsatisfied customers. It would crash their computers, or wouldn't work at all and technical support is little to no help. That's what I found when I looked into it about two weeks ago. Research on budget buddies.

 

[DreadpiratK]

We've been thinking about it. My parents have it, and it's OK. Not great, but it works for them. They are not very computer savy, and they got it to work, so it's simple, but the call quality is not always great. They have a slower DSL line though, so that might be why. Also, theirs only works on the phone by the computer. I think you can set it up for the whole house, but that might be more difficult. I need to look into it more, any savings would help at this point.

 

[wmharley]

We've been thinking about it. My parents have it, and it's OK. Not great, but it works for them. They are not very computer savy, and they got it to work, so it's simple, but the call quality is not always great. They have a slower DSL line though, so that might be why. Also, theirs only works on the phone by the computer. I think you can set it up for the whole house, but that might be more difficult. I need to look into it more, any savings would help at this point.

with vonage.. if you ahve the correct CAT wiring in the house, you would disconnect the landline wire (google it) on the outside box so that you are completely seperated from the outside world, if you will.

then you plug a phone line from the Vonage router into your house phone jack in the wall. At that point, the Vonage links all the house jacks in a loop, so you could then plug in a phone to any other jack and get calls when someone calls.

downside of Vonage and many VOIP is that alarm systems won't work. There are some that do (again Google) and most big companies offer cellular modules to use at additional $$.

 

[Mel6197]

So since I already have my only phone threw my Computer, I wont be able to use magic Jack as a extra line.



Thanks a Bunch for letting me know

 

[BriAlie]

Just my 2 cents on MagicJack, as I've used it for over a year now, in several countries as well as the United States.

I do not have a regular land-line, as we mostly use our cell phones for making calls, but we do consider our Magic Jack line as our "home phone" and use it now and then.

The quality can be spotty, depending on your internet connection. You could use it as an additional phone line even though you have a phone line through your computer, as it works off the internet. It plugs into a USB port on your computer. It won't work with dial-up internet or satellite internet, only with high-speed internet. We have the magic jack connected to a phone that has two extensions (cordless extensions) in other rooms around the house. This is a set I bought at Sam's club for like $40, a total of three phones. One in our bedroom, one in the living room, one in the kitchen.

Sometimes it's hard to answer, it just rings for a long, long time (the first ring can be three times longer than a "normal" ring, for example). Sometimes I answer and it takes several seconds of me saying "hello?...Hello??" before it connects the call properly, which is annoying . And the reception is crackly at times, other times it beeps in and out...again, it depends on your internet and the computer you are using. If the power goes out, unless you are using a laptop with a battery, your computer will go out, and no more phone service until you get the power back and the internet up and going again.

Hope this information is useful.

Alie