Magic Jack - The Things They Will Not Tell You Before You Buy!!
By excellasys
MagicJack
Magic Jack - A Video Of Some Issues
Magic Jack Poll Question
How Would You Rate Vocie Quality Of Magic Jack Calls
See results without votingMagic Jack is indeed a unique idea and also well intentioned. The service is meant to try to provide a low cost telephone option to the general public at a very low cost. Currently as of the writing of this HubPage the cost of the device is 39.95 one time and then 19.95 for the yearly service fee. This gets you phone service and unlimited long distance, thats not a bad price for what you get.
This is all rather virtuous, but then reality sets in; First of all Magic Jack works on Voice Over IP. I'm not a huge fan of VOIP, read my HubPage on that subject. Secondly it is possible to do this yourself for almost as cheap,see my HubPage on that as well.
Lastly MagicJack like everything else has it's downside:
- The TOS of Terms of Service Scares Me. I have read a TOS agreement and it appears to require you let them advertise and they seem to have the right to access you computer. It appears they want to send context advertising to their application on your PC. This uses your bandwidth and could barrage you with ads. I could be wrong here so read for yourself.
- Magic Jack only works as long as your computer is on, therefore if you want to have a phone on all the time, you need to have your computer on all the time. The $19.95 cost does not mention your extra power bill for having to do that.
- It also is VOIP based and the quality of the call will vary according to how good the Internet connection you have is, low speed DSL and this unit might not be a happy marriage.
- Currently you can't keep your phone number (Port it) but according to the site
this service is coming in fact it's in Beta and will cost a nominal fee, I have not tried this service. - Customer Service is not very good apparently. Getting a human to talk to is apparently not a option, you can apparently only pass text type messaging with the customer service members. It appears that they had pretty good service initially but as the use of it has exploded, service has declined. Personally I think they will get a handle on this and fix it.
- I also hear they have billing problems, but then again so does Verizon. This can be very frustrating, and is not a positive event. I continue to hear issue with MagicJack mysteriously charging people, this is not good if true.
- Your Computer should have USB 2.0 capabilities, some old computers are USB 1.x and this may not work at all , or at best, slowly.
- If the power is out your likely out of phone service, unless you have your computer, and Internet connection on Un-Interuptable Power Supply (UPS).
- If your Computer dies, so does your phone service and to get it up running again will require
you to get a new PC. That's a bit more than 19.95 folks. - I think that as more and more of these units get sold the call quality will suffer. There needs to be some back end infrastructure at Magic Jack to make all this run correctly and at their current adoption rate , capacity is sure to be a issue.
- I wonder what happens if they decide to raise the rates. I think you will have no choice but
to pay them the rate change. Unless you want to go back the phone company. - The Phone companies are going to start offering similar services soon , i have read about some in the planning from Verizon and others. So soon the "big boys" are coming to play in this sandbox.
Conclusion:
If you want a Cheap Phone and calling and do not mind having you computer on all the time and no guaranteed call quality and the TOS does not scare you then Magic Jack is likely for you and there are huge numbers of you out there.
If you want phone company type of reliability, quality and service.. the choice is yours. I'd evaluate and make a decision.
Personally I'm starting to be a Magic Jack person, I'd rather do it myself and have the control I desire but this is a pretty cool device so I've done both.
But i have to admit this is a tempting and likely very good solution for a lot of folks, I just hope the sudden growth does not bring the service quality down.
In the end this seems like a good cheap phone service for most people but it's not perfect, then again most things are not.
New Update:
Folks I have noticed that even though I swear I told the MagicJack folks not to auto-renew my account it seems that it was turned on to auto renew. I suggest that if you want this feature off you log into your accoutn and veriffy that it is off. it's located under the "MY ACCOUNT" tab and shows as "RENEWAL" for me.
"MagicJack still works great for me.. I have even expanded to faxing.. seems if I set the fax to 2400 baud it works OK for sending out. I have not tried it for incoming faxes yet.
I have not yet figured out how to stop the ads and make the software work, I'm sure someone has hacked this but my theory is that unless it's painfully easy I'm not going to try it. The comments are great and even the questions. Thx
MagicJack Fax and Misc Update:
I've never got MagicJack and fax to work quite right, I wonder if anyone has on a reliable basis. The fax workign is really hit or miss for me and it's a bit too bad because i'd love to be able to have a reliable outgoing fax line. I can use efax for incoming, it's the outgoign fax that I'd like to get functioning. I'm still working on combinatiosn that may prove to be more reliable and I'll update this page if and when I find that combination. Until the next update it's still a great way to save costs on phone service. I still wish the interface was better but hey, it's a great cheap phone line.
Magic Jack Plus Arrives:
Magic Jack Plus appears to be a pretty good new product.
Magic Jack Links
- MagicJack VOIP Service Review - ""Magic Jack - Product has some issues!"" - Viewpoints
MagicJack VOIP Service. See consumer reviews, ratings, and advice on the MagicJack VOIP Service. Consumers say 'Magic Jack - Product has some issues!'. Read reviews of thousands of other products too. - Official magicJack Site
magicJack.com - Never pay a monthly phone bill again! Free local and long distance calling in the USA and Canada. 100% Risk Free 30 Day Trial. No Contract, No Obligation.
Comments
1) who turns his computer off these days?
2) every house in US have more then one PC. so if one pc is down we can use the other one
4) Why pay AT&T $30 a month for a phone line that I get no more then 20 calles a month ? (every one have cellphone !!!!!!!!!)
5) when the block out happend in USA even land lines went down.
"If the power is out your likely out of phone service"
6) it's works good with basic DSL from AT&T ( the chepest plan they have)
1. I turn my computer off, but point is taken. Also most computers outside of very expensive servers are not designed to be on 24x7 it reduces the computer life.
2. Good point I tend to agree.
3. AT&T and other carriers are clearly goign to have to come up with some solution,
4. If power is out the infrastructure that carries the VOIP traffic that Magic Jack takes adavantage of will also likely be down. That TA adapter you have for your DSL unless it's plugged into a UPS supply will die just like the blackout.
5. I think the quality will vary , I used to write VOIP code so it will vary but in general I think DSL will work fine as you say .
Thanks for the comments you make good points. Magic Jack appears to be a great solution for folks that are aware of the issues and willing to take the tradeoffs. Its like everything we buy . they just do not tell you about the downside.
Thanks..
Hi im from Ecuador South America, and yeah even there are some issues with this device it has been a great solution for me. I live in Ecuador and I have magic jack here and it has been a great solution for calling relatives and friends in USA and Canada. And believe me when you live here and call USA with magic jack you really save lots of money :)
Also my uncle and grandma have magic jacks, they live in Ecuador too, but in other cities, so I can also use it to call them for free. So yeah it has some restrictions but at the same time great advantages. about the quality i have had a very good quality, even though nowadays I have a 2048kbps Internet speed, i at first had just the 250kbps and the quality was great even then.
greetings
Manuel Andres
Manuel
Thanks.. I'm certain this device can be used as you do and save some money.
My son uses it and likes it. He is in college and needs to save the money.
Thanks for the info... you brought up a couple of interesting points...I've been using MJ for about a month, and for the little inconveniences, the monthly "cost" is a hell of lot better than Time Warner Cable's charge of about $60 /mo ! I'm saving about $700 a year - minus the "extra power bill" charge. But, certainly, even that extra charge still makes the switch to Magic Jack well worth it. For my money, MJ is not hype. It's a strong tool to help beat down the rising cost of almost everything, these days. Thank you MJ !!!
Regards to all !
John Duncan
John I tend to agree as I think I said before I just wanted folks to enter into the whole thinging knowing everything. I agree it's a big money saver
Did you know you can use it as a fax line? Unofficially of course, but ppl are using it! So if you have a PC @ the office always on and you have a fax line, you can use the MJ as a fax line! (Though it is not free of issues, it is still cheaper than a phone service commitment).
Magic jack does not work with linux
I signed up for Magicjack today and it is true that they offer you an extra 5 years for an additional $59.99 --- this might scare some people --- but I thought it was awesome. I liked the idea of one YEAR at $19.99 but I loved the idea to get 5 years for $11 bucks a year.
That's not a "contract" like a cellphone... no early termination fees... LOL just stop using it if you don't like it.
So far I managed to make it work with new Google Voice (free and very cool)and managed to wire it up so that the whole house will work from the one jack. :-)
the quality has been great so far too!
I really love my Magic Jack. I have three kids and have mine as a second line. We use it for all of our long distance calling. Now I only use my land line for local calls and incoming ones. For the price you can't get a cheaper second line! I have had no problems with it so far.
I've said this before but it appears the Magic Jack is a love it hate it device. I still worry since I see it advertised on TV everywere that they will over committ and quality will suffer. So far from the comments thats not a issue.
i just recieved and ad for magic jack, My gf calls home to russia allot to speak to her family so I believe this will save some money despite the downsides. I can put up with advertising for cheap free calls to russia and other countries, but great Hub
I shut my pc off most of the time......but you can configure a thin client to run the MJ, SAVES WARE ON YOUR PC AND ELEC., just plug the thin client into modem/router and your good to go,only use's a fraction of electric a pc would......even on ebay under magicjack I have seen pre-configured client's just plug in and play so to speak....kinda turns it into something vonage or comcast would give you......
Would I trust it as my only source of a phone.....NO!
I've had MJ for more then 1 yr 1/2 but would I go for the 5 yr plan....NO ...not really sure they will be around that long....
One thing that kind of bugs me in their TOS is they can (and will from what I've heard) shut your service down if you use it more then 20 time's the average MJ user, but will not tell you what that average is, and since not too many people have it and probably one's that do dont use it all the time it could be pretty easy to go over the 20 times limit......
All that being said Im ok with it, it can and does save your cell phone minutes (much more then 20 bucks a yr. worth) and I will renew yearly......I think of it as a neat gadget/toy for the most part......
My magicjack is almost 1 year now. soon pass 1 year. And in next year I will not use it.But I will use it the year after next year. Can I still can still have its now's number and pay the bill for extend its service license the year after next year?(means that if I do not pay its service for next year ,they ll cancel my this client?)
cere I am not sure..I think you would have to contact MagicJacK to find out for sure.
The magic jack is great for travel. I also find it useful as a second line.
Phone companies charging $30 a month is going to come to an end. Even VOIP like vonage are going to have a tough time competing. The big question is how does the government look at this when it comes to taxes?
I am not a total fan of VOIP, but land line calls to and from the US can be expensive so because of cost many people have no choice but to go VOIP. Skype and MagicJack offer the same convenience BUT you have to put up with their idiosyncrasies. Offhand, I like Skype better because of its chat option which comes in handy when the people I need to reach are all over the world (not just US and Canada). A variation that would make MagicJack interesting would be if they could desing a stick you plug directly into the router. That way, you don't need to keep your PC on the whole day.
i have a laptop compaq presario and am on dial up phone service. will the magic jack work?
ann dial up service will not work in practice for magic jack
Thank you MJ.My wife is now in Spain and we keep in contact all day calling to my cell phone.I think they will force the huge communication companies to review their abusive rates.
I'm a soldier and have taken my majicjack all over the middle east and it has saved me lots of money!!, Airborne!!!
I have Magic Jack running on a old slow laptop i dont hardly use anymore... Magic jack works like a champ no problem there.. things that might help you guys out..
I have that laptop sitting on my DMZ side of my router.. that way if the laptop gets hacked by magic jack or any hacker in that matter.. my real computers in my network will not be affected. so i dont care if they access it. i will allow it.
I have no problems with the quality of Magic jack. monitoring it.. I doesnt use to much my upload bandwith.(128k avarage). it has not interfered when im playing online on my gaming pc or xbox... while someone is talking on the phone. But i do have a good internet line at home.. 15 megs down 2 megs up
as far as a power bill hike... i dont think so.. a laptop saves more power than a pc... my bill has not gone up at all... Here is the kool part... my laptop goes to sleep mode and im still able to use my magic jack,, (i get a dial tone) keep that in mind yall... im sure im saving power that way.. just my input!!!!
Can Magic Jack or any service like it work through hard line jacks with conventiona phones? I know of one service that works that way through a cell phone.
I love it! I have used it for a while now a little over a year.I use a dedicated pc (clean machine)xp install only no other programs except an anti virus on it now with a KVM switch.
Yes I notice issues every now and then echo and such,do not work on your pc at the same time your talking or it will be choppy and if you are like most people who download everything and do not uncheck extra software installs and have a hundred toolbars and a lot of programs running in the back ground yes it will chop up and silence and such. I noticed the 5 year plan has risen from $59.00 to $69.00.I use a panasonic phone system 5 unit with answering machine phone as primary and the other 4 plug in wall outlet. You will need to be able to set phone answering machine to pick up at three rings or message goes to your e-mail.But all the features caller id,call forwarding e-mail voicemail and conference calling and faxing,I have used the live chat and got answer within a minute on every issue,I think some people try and find issues about something no matter what.I think its well worth it but thats my opinion.
what is a hubpage
If the computer is off, it can be forward to your cell phone or any other phone. So it dont matter if the pc is on or off..?
I Live in New Hampshire because of communications tariffs You can not get a Hew Hampshire (603) area code number for your MagicJack so I us a Mass exchange no real problem the problem is calling New Hampshire landline phone numbers they will bot dial at all I can call cell NH Phone numbers, I can call NH Cable TV Phone Systems, but phone numbers associated with Fairpoint Communications seem be be blocked from MagicJack Access.
Has any one else experienced blocking in New Hampshire for Fairpoint Communications phone number or this in any other state, this may be a federal restraint of trade issue.
Couple corrections to earlier statements.
1. Magicjack does have their own dedicated network, unlike many other providers. I have found call quality to be much better than some of the larger VOIP service providers I've tried in the past using the same DSL service.
2. Skype will cost you more than magicJack. Check their TOS.
3. Voicemail still works even if your magicJack is in your back pocket!
4. You can't find a better deal for the features and functionality. It just plain works!
Cheers
I have Fairpoint in NW Florida. I've had Magic Jack for more than a year with no problems. Up until today I was able to make local calls within my 850 area code. Now Fairpoint is blocking my use of Magic Jack in the 850 calling area. I live in a semi-rural area so my "local calling area" is very small. I was using Magic Jack to call mostly Panama City Beach, which is the closest city to me, but now that Fairpoint is blocking my use of Magic jack I will have to go back to paying them their .25 cent "out of calling area" fee. What happened to free commerce?
My wife and I have been using Majic Jack for over a year now and are loving it. We both work from home and paying $19 a year for an unlimited talk phone with free international long distance is amazing.
We even took our Magic Jack with us to Israel and used our local number to talk to family and friends while we were away for $4.5 months. This alone was amazing as it cost us nothing extra.
We have a cell phone we split between the both of us so when one is out of the house we can keep in touch and when the computer is off at night we still have our cell for emergencies.
The quality of audio we get and receive is outstanding and we have never had a complaint. We have actually had people ask us to call them from it instead of our cell.
We have not been trying to push it at all, but as our family has caught onto our good deal they have all slowly but surly been switching over and dropping their landlines and a mobile. We have 4 different families that have made the switch and more to come.
I would say stop feeding the beast and save some money and hassle by switching over. We are sure glad we did. :)
NO THEY GOT BOOST MOBILE IS THE BEST THING OUT THERE FOR ME AT LEAST EVERYTHING UNLIMITED PLUS INTERNACIONAL CALL SO IS A WIN WIN FOR MEE.. ALSO POKET PC IS AND METRO PCS.THOSE ARE SOME OF THE COMPANYS OUT THERE RIGHT NOW AS CHEAP PRICES A MONTH FOR CELL PHONES.
I tried Vonage service first and its quality was lousy. When I cancelled, I was surprised to incur a $39. cancellation fee. Now, I'm saving money with magic jack and so far the quality of service has been better. I'm very happy.
I am trying to call area code 850 using th magic jack and does not work Can anyone tell me why?
There are certain advantages with this kind of phone service too. For instance, NO WEIRD CHARGES to your phone bill. I had a landline company that actually had the nerve to tell me I had no legal right to turn off the ability of my phone account to be used like a credit card. Apparently people can charge things to my phone number! Of course that is supposed to require my permission and since we live in a perfectly honest and undeceptive world, that is a non-issue, right? But seriously, billing errors are not errors unless you happen to catch them. My landline bill was so complex an accountant would have had trouble.
Cell phones are this way too-monstrous complexity and it is not worth your time to go over them. I just like seeing one amount charged periodically.
The billing thing you mentioned is true, it happened to me too, I had to call my carrier and "specifically" allows only charges from them directly.. no thrird parties through them. Great Point.
I guess for the price it is OK, it is more like a toy, if you have to rely on Magic Jack, don't do it, I don't get most of my calls. they go to e-mail immediately, call quality is soso, Customer Service is horrible, and now my town prefix has been disabled, so I can only make long distance calls,still for the price I guess it is worth it,.
I yanked the plug on Qwest last week and installed a MagicJack into the house wireing running on an old Compaq laptop with USB 1.1 ports using WinXP-Home and cable broadband. It all works great except the call waiting is obnoxious. We have several phones on the house lines, but they are all cordless with power supplies, so they all ring. No complaints, yet.
Ok people your bitchinf about small problems its not a phone company thay never clamed to be and extra power bill what does a computer cost to run full time like 5 bucks a month it works for me stop being ceap and get a real phone no sweat off there back!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got a magicjack when they first came out. They didn't have my area code (which was surprising as I live in a fairly good sized effort), and customer service was lacking. You could talk to a human you just had to be a little net savvy to do figure out how. I let it go for a while, picked it back up about 18 months later and they still didn't have my area code but they did let me update. That told me that at that point they probably had their own servers (a plus), which told me that if I had a call forwarding option that it would probably forward. Now fast forward a couple of years and they now have my area code and hopefully will have an exchange or switch that is local (probably do). They do have their own network in all fifty states
so I would say with a cheap cell to boot I'm good to go. I would imagine the quality is good as well. Customer service is probably better too.
My point is this. I see this thing has steadily grown. I don't think it's going away. Negotiating access or putting in your own network will be an ongoing process. Everyone wants their grubby little fingers in the pie (like small towns that see a chance for revenue...one way or another). Etc...etc. Also, even the biggest companies have crappy Cust. Serv. Haven't you ever been with at&t, verizon, t-mobile? Just to name few. At least they'e moving in the right direction, and I'm still operating from a position of little to lose and a house payment a yr to save. Not bad odds.
You never miss a call even if the MJ is off. You get an email of the voice message. 5 years of phone service is not a big deal when you get it for about $60. You also get all the extra stuff that regular phone services charge for. I have had my MJ for 3 years now. I will never go back to a regular phone service. Had some issues but the customer service changed some settings on my computer and it is very clear. Just like talking to someone in the same room.
WILL A MAGIC JACK WORK ON A MINI LAPTOP
For the most part I have been happy with our MJ, which we've been using for over a year. However, I've had two bigger problems recently, one of which might make me have to quit MJ. The first problem was that the connection started to "stutter" and it was impossible to carry on a conversation with the other person. We think we have figured out, though, that this only happens when someone is on the internet at the same time. So that is easy enough to solve...just don't be on the internet when someone is on the phone. But the other problem...I'm not sure what to do about it. Just in the past week we have noticed that the MJ will not make outgoing calls to SPECIFIC numbers. The suspicion is that these are phone calls to people that are customers of a certain big company and that the big company may be blocking these calls from that end. These people are still able to call us and we are able to call most other numbers. It is only certain numbers...we get a busy signal every time...but if we call from another phone there is no busy signal, and the people we are trying to call have all told us that they weren't on the phone at those times that we were getting a busy signal. It's more than a little inconvenient since two of these people are the ones that I tell my children to call if we have an emergency!
Has anyone else had this problem? If you can help, that would be great.
Thanks.
My PC has been on almost continuously for over 4 years except during storms or when I'm away. since MJ has free call forward most times when I'm out I forward all my calls to my cellular. I purchased my MJ 3 years ago for 19.95 plus 19.95 activation and then liked it, so I bought 5 additional years. I was paying over 60.00 a month for ATT that is 720.00 a year in my pocket and the service is about the same, except all the extras are free, like VM, CF, 3way. For the price the value is fine, now all we need is a good 5 Cent cigar!
I am using MJ and prepaid cell for emergency purposes.
does magic jack voice work when computer is off?
Magic jack does not work when your computer is off... I wrote another hub to see how to use a older computer to to do this function and leave on all the time
Magic Jack will collect your credit card info even if is not approved or authorized by you. Be careful what information you enter on their website. I entered a Visa gift card number. they declined it. MJ Stored this number in their database and charged the card 0ne Dollar anyway. No way to stop them, and I was totally unaware of the $1 charge until I checked the balance of the card on the website. Florida AG will not open a case. Strange.
FYI- MAGICJACK 561-594-2140 West Palm Beach FL POS $1.00
I Use Magicjack All The Time For My Business And Free Time.
I Admit I Had Problems At First, You Have To Work Out The Bug's Guy's.
MagicJack Saves Me Thousands Of Dollars A Year.
I Don't No How How Fax With It Yet. > Do U Have To Use A Fax Machine For This.
Thanks Guy's
Albert I've had mixed results faxing and yes I use a external machine. I'd say it's a 50% event. Since fax was never meant to run over Voice over IP it's a bit problematic.
Theres a protocol for this . T.38 is the fax transmission protocol selected for H.323 (voice over IP) at least one of the codec's
I suspect a fax machine that robustly supports t.38 might work better.. but I simply use e-fax.
We have had Magic Jack for a few years but recently we discovered an International call was made from our number. We do not know anyone or have any reason for calling Internalional so we do not pay for the service to get a discount. Somen had to have done it remotely or the call was charged to our phone. We proved it was not us but we are afraid it will happen again unless we figure out how it was done and how to block any International calls made from our number. No one wants calls made using the phone without permission but then to get charged is unacceptable. What to do?
Thats distrubing.. I had not heard of anything like that happening.
I have had Magic Jack for three years now and have not had any major issues that were not computer related. I have my Magic Jack on an old Sony desk top and it works fine. If you have a network and there is a lot of activity such as – streaming a movie and/or playing online games, this can cause loss of call quality. In my case it would be both of those things going on at one time that caused a call to be choppy.
The other thing is the advertising that Magic Jack sends to your computer is at this time only advertising for their product or deals on mutable year service and things like that. Ads are seen in the advertising space on the Magic Jack soft phone and has never interfered with anything I was doing – no pop-up’s or anything like that. I think that eventually they are going to sell advertising space to other companies in that space.
How does one handle multiple phones in a residence ?
what about fax manchine ? plan to cut off my local monthly service and have mj but is it working with mj?
Say what You like I know for a fact the jack is a gift to all man kind who wants to except it. You know every time something is to good to be true we tends to knock it down because it sounds like a scam. We already get so use to every thing in life being sky hi that when someone tries to help to ease the burdens we say it's a hype. I have my jacks going on three years and please know that calling overseas was a blessing for us. the phone company just get's rental from me to use my phone for local calls, but overseas i try get all my family jacks so we could talk for free and don't have to but international minutes. Embrace and enjoy the service. Batelco in the Bahamas is the Hype because only them one has service here so bring a billion jacks to the Bahamas and you would get them sold.
I can solve your problem with the billing. Go to Magic Jack go to your account the same place you saw that you were a renewer. Scroll down to the credit card information click on it to add a new number. Put in your number but the wrong date, which will show as a cc for you but when it is run it will reject. If you want to look around and after you put in the new number remove the old. That one is on you good luck
I BOUGHT A MAGIC JACK OFF THE T.V. THEY DON'T GIVE ANY INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE IT OR PLUG IT IN. THEY WANT YOU TO CALL A HELP LINE AND CHARGE YOU $38.00 AT LEAST TO GET IT UP AND RUNNING. THERE IS NOTHING SAID IF YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS IF IT WILL COST ANOTHER $38.00. I NEED SOMEONE TO WALK ME THROUGH ON HOW TO USE IT. IW ANYONE OUT THERE WILLING TO TELL ME HOW TO SET IT UP? IF SO PLEASE CONTACT ME AT dgorme@aol.com. PLEASE HELP ME!!!
I was told by Comcast that Magicjack does not work in the state of New Hampshire. Any truth to this?
I have not heard that New Hampshire has banned Magic Jack. I think that woudl be difficult to do actually , they'd have to block IP addresses et all. It may be more of a case of Comcast wanting to pitch it's VOIP phone instead.
A friend had his majicjack cancelled because he had guests makng a bunc of calls in ashort span of time so they thought he was a telemarketer and they not only cancelled his service, but banned his IP address, so he can never have a magic jack in that address
I use Magic Jack only for long distance calls. Can I cancel the long distance charges through AT&T and still use Magic Jack for long distance calls?
I do not know your exact setup but Magic Jack works via voice over IP which is thru your internet connection and not likely related to your phone. I would guess you can do what you had described.
How do you stop the majic jack from taking over your computer? It is like a demon possessed.You can't do anything on your computer until it has had it's schizo fit. I had to just unplug it and is laying over on the table.
There is a program available that keeps the MagicJack windows always minimized. Do a search for MagicBlock.
hi everyone. i was thinking about getting a magicjack but i don't like the idea of my computer being on all the time. does anyone have any problems with their magicjack and comptuer? thanks for your help
MagicJack now makes a version of the product that does not require a computer, it is however more expensive to purchase and to renew yearly. I'm getting one so I'll review that is a new page soon.
I have transferred my phone line from Concast to magic jack connected directly to my router and on top of that I have 2 other bases that work great all around the house. It rocks for me.
I have had Magic Jack for almost 3 years and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Told ATT to kiss off my $40 a month bill for ld and now use the Magic Jack. It does have a few small problems, but they are a minor in comparison with the value of this little gem. Hooking up was easy, it works on ALL 4 phones (and my ans machine) and if the pc is OFF, it will switch to voice mail you will see when logging back on, so, in essence, you won't lose a phone call. If you are thinking about it, go for it...for $40 it is well worth the investment and kiss your ld phone company GOODBYE!! I highly recommend it.
someon here in canada is selling a used magicjack for $10, can I use it with a new #, and is it worth buying used, let me know thanks
Hey there, some of the downsides mentioned above might be true but i havent actually experienced them myself. i just want to clarify one thing though that if ur computer is off so is ur phone. that is only true if you need to make an outgoing call from you magic jack. many people dont know this but i found out just by browsing the application when i installed on my computer that you can forward incoming calls to ur homephone and cell phone depending on which ever you want to use and i receive calls even though my computer is off and my magic jack thingy is not even plugged in to my computer. so i loooove it just for being able to get my calls on the go while my mj is sitting on my shelf (unplugged it since my baby kept on pulling at it and it became loose). i only plug it back if i need to call
I have a MJ for almost a year now and it is working just fine maybe I am one of the lucky ones. I did not pay a phone bill since I have it except when I would have to renew it. Thanks to MJ I have saved two thousand plus Canadian dollars already and it is not yet a year since I had it.
This thing is still great, worked perfect out of the country over the holidays.
Like the MJ Plus except for the ad that certain callers hear--seems like the MJ ad runs if calls are placed from a computer-assisted callers. What is that and does anyone know how to turn that off?
The yearly rate is going up to 29.99 after January 2012. MJ has a lot of hooks sunk in deep. Time to reel them in :)
Great post... they have not sent me any info on the rate change.. maybe I'm lucky. I bet not.. I think they must be trying to align all there service prices.
I don't have house phone number, because we all have cell phones, and if I get the "Magic Jack" does the magic jack come with phone number?
Yes it comes with a number.. you get to choose the number when you sign up.
I've been considering getting the Magic Jack Plus to use at the office and to bring home on days I choose to work from home, without missing any business calls. I shut down my home phone line over a year ago and only continue to have a home DSL line, so I assume that I can simply get a new number and run the MJ+ through my home and work DSL lines easily. However, I've been reading complaints about how the old MJ knocked out peoples home phone and DSL lines and led to nightmares for business people. Does anyone know whether I need to worry about that, as I do still have a monthly AT&T bill for my DSL, but I don't have a phone number/line?
Well, I was told by MJ customer service via on-line chat that if I do not have a home phone line connected to my home DSL line, installation of the MJ will not effect my DSL service when registering the product on my home DSL line. They also say that other internet lines outside of my home will not be effected if I transport and use MJ outside of the home, so long as I am authorized to use the outside internet connection. Guess I'll give it a try!
well i spent last night trying to register my new magic jack plus, webb site is down... good luck phoning anyone.
other than that i have had 2 old maj jacks for 2 year one at home one for family in aussi. seems to work well, few glitches but resonable for the money, their customer service stinks but but for about 130 for 6 years.still cheap once set up. apperently they dont think that nwt canada is part of north america cause i cant call yellowknife on it at all , lodged a complaint a month or so ago and thay said they would refer it to thier techs, checked back once after 2 weeks, said wee will contact u.... been another month havnt heard nothing..like i said service stinks. i recomend not replacing your home phone but is good as a long distance add on to an exsisting phone to cut the bills.
as one poster said,leaving the pc on 24/7 reduces pc life extremely!!i don't relish the thought of of dealing with bad fans or worse yet ,having to go out and by a brand new pc every year, in trade for having magic jack.and yes..you leave your pc on for 24/7 and i'd be surprised that your pc will last a full year from that point.
Dennis I have several computers I leave on 24x7 and they have lasted years. In the end it will reduce the computer life. I suggest just get a old coputer with XP on it, connect it up and use that.
Magic Jack PLUS don't need a computer to be used as a phone. If you have a cable modem and you have only one RJ-45, Ethernet port, then get a small router (not a wireless one) and you can have Magic Jack PLUS and have the computer on or off.
about the comment of Jman, I would like to know more about the comments made.
If I have a modem from Brighthouse incl. a wireless set up to my Laptop - do I need a different modem???? For I do not want to leave or even need my laptop in order to use a phone line.
Can anyone explain?
I'll take a stab, first you would need the new Magic Jack Product, take a look here as I reviewed it as well.
http://excellasys.hubpages.com/hub/Magic-Jack-Plus
If your wireless router has free ethernet ports and you have the new Magic Jack.. then you will not need to have a computer runing 24x7 to have it work.
I don't know if it is a Canadian feature only, but whenever I have my computer off, it goes directly to voice-mail, and then I receive an email with an attached recording. I'm not sure why that would be a problem or limitation as I prefer not having my magicjack ringing in the middle of the night. The VoIP criticism is fair, but it's really a problem with all VoIP services, and they have made improvements from the time this blog post was published some 2 years ago. The one thing I would like to see magicjack offer is 1-800 toll-free numbers. All in all, I'm very impressed with magicjack, and have no issue with them pushing ads through the phone interface - a problem easily solved by minimizing the console onto the taskbar.
just got the majicjack plus, but can not see how you can puug into the wall outlet and use both router that only has one ethernet plug and majicjack that only has one ethernet plug and makwe it work when you need to plug ethernet to majicjack and router and computer, can someone tell me how you did it
Johnson typically your router will have more that 1 ethernet port on it. I suspect you do not have a router and you have a cable or dsl modem. In that case you need to go get a cheap router from someplace like newegg.com and plug your router into the modem, then the majic jack into one of the ports on the router
I noticed this original article was posted 2 years ago. Some of the comments are outdated as well, where as I, have no answer at all for anyone? BUT I thought of something I'd like to share. --- MJ has addressed some of the usability issues. They have the new computer free system, that's cool.--- As for the customer service complaints, it's like, I have heard people that have nothing but trouble with my cell phone carrier while I enjoy trouble free service since 2007. Go figure :/ Again, my friend bought me that Jupiter Jack for the cell phone through your car radio because it works like a dream in HER car and I just can't get it to work in mine. It stinks, but that's the nature of the beast. You can't tell until you try it! --- I will say that there are many times a problem with the way your computer is set up with USB devises. I have USB ports that will accept my speakers but not my headset with the boom mic, not even the speakers in the headset will work. There is only ONE USB port I can plug my head set into. Strange. --- It's not always Magic Jacks fault. You need to find a competent computer geek in your family that knows where all the settings are. You wouldn't believe where Windows put some of the switches that open and close operations of supported devices! Ask your kids who's dad is good with computers. My neighbors teenager has a friend around the corner, whose dad does computer repair and tune-ups for $50. I would have never known until I started asking around my neighborhood to help me with my flying simulator. He found some internal "switches" that were in the wrong position. After a half hour of poking around he found some setting were not compatible with video games. Computer repair shops are on almost every corner. I'd take the Magic Jack AND your computer to a tech and say "Make it work!" --- One last thing, my friend owns a flight school and every time I go in an visit, he brags about Magic Jack and how well it works when he calls his in-laws in the Philippines. He said he has no complaints. ME? I'm considering getting one and was looking for sites like this one to become informed. Like you all. --- Tah Tah For Now :)
@ Johnson .. electronic stores have Ethernet splitters. it has a bank of 3 or 4 plugs on a little bar. It looks like a mini wall outlet power bar. One in, 3 or 4 out.
excellasys 2 years ago
Update: I recently heard from one of my friends that they try to get you to sign up for 5 years !!! of service. I will have to look into this but if thats true, thats worse than the cell phone contracts.