Magic Jack

[Archie Bunker]

Does anyone here have any experience with Magic Jacks?

My friend & Neighbor Jeff, let me borrow his today to try it out & I think it's great. I'm thinking about buying 2 of them. The voice quality is really good from what I can tell.

If anyone doesn't know this is VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol. However they do use a telephone provider if I remember correctly.

Your computer has to be on in order for it to work, but if it isn't it has voice mail. You can call forward with it etc.

There is one thing I noticed that doesn't work though & thats " star 67 " so you can block your caller id.

http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp

[White_Is_Right]

First of all, I think this really belongs in the Computers and Gaming forum. It's the closest forum we have for anything technology related.

With that said, I've never used Magic Jack, but I have some experience with VOIP, and I've played around with it from time to time.

I would never use Magic Jack, because I can't help but think that at the prices they charge, they aren't sustainable and won't last.

I also heard that the software that you have to install includes spyware, which I hate.

If you are serious about VOIP, then purchase IP Phones, and set up an Asterisk (VOIP PBX) server. Use SIP in every instance; it's a worldwide standard. In addition, there's software for it on nearly every platform. Linux, Windows, it doesn't matter.

Some recommendations I have:

Aastra IP Phones - The pricing may be a little rich for some, but the feature set is hard to beat. And it's better than Cisco phones that often cost more for the same features.

Grandstream ATAs - Low Cost, and seem to work well. The downside is that they don't support pulse dialing, but that is not likely to be an issue at this point in time.

Digium Analog Cards - Allows you to connect analog telephone devices right into the Asterisk server. It's also allows you to connect your home phone to an Asterisk server, so you can use your home phone as a voice trunk.

Again, the pricing on Digium cards is a bit high, but some folks have had good experiences with ZapMicro, which is cheaper.

One more thing: If you have echo problems, use the OSLEC echo canceler in place of the MG2 echo canceler when you install the zaptel drivers.

Personally, I'm somewhat reluctant to rely on VOIP as a primary means of voice communication. The savings potential is large, but if my power goes out, it won't work. So therefore, I have to maintain a landline forever, despite it's costs.

[Archie Bunker]

I just bought my magic jack today & it works great!!!

It's getting mixed reviews on youtube but I don't know whats wrong with those people. My friend let me borrow his,to try out. I used it all day without a problem so I came to the conclusion I should buy one since I did away with my home phone.

I am thinking about buying another one so I can have a Tennessee phone # so my dad can call me like it's local. Yes thats right once you buy it you can register it and put a Tennessee address down if you want that way your relatives can call you without calling long distance. I can also forward the Tennessee # to my Indiana # Later Arch

[103rapesAday]

You can get similar results with a mic, headphones, and using either Gizmo, Skype, and most IM programs. Skype has so much gear for it and can be found all over online and even some of your local stores. I'm a tmobile employee and use the tmobile at home service, similar principle and if you're already a customer with highspeed (DSL, cable, etc) then you can add this to your account for $10 per month. I think we're going to see an explosion of this technology and most ISPs attempting to block it.

[Dwight Mansburden]

We tried MagicJack but got rid of it.

Voice quality isn't quite as good as landline, it seemed.

But the main reason is that if you get rid of your landline phone, because MagicJack uses a different phone number, your friends & associates etc will not be able to look your number up in a phone book.

And you need a phone line to have have DSL anyway, don't you?

[103rapesAday]

We tried MagicJack but got rid of it.

Voice quality isn't quite as good as landline, it seemed.

But the main reason is that if you get rid of your landline phone, because MagicJack uses a different phone number, your friends & associates etc will not be able to look your number up in a phone book.

And you need a phone line to have have DSL anyway, don't you?

Actually you don't, you can request to have "naked" dsl which means you want just the data service without voice. Most DSL services don't like this and usually it's about $10 per month more this way but a properly implemented voip will easily save the difference of the two.

[White_Is_Right]

While 103 is correct, there are plenty of reasons to keep a POTS line (landline).

It's highly reliable. In my case, it's the most reliable utility I've ever had. There are even laws about minimum uptime/availability, with stiff penalties if the phone company doesn't deliver.

Another reason is the concept of line power. It's what allows your phone to continue operating even if your power goes out. Very important.

In addition, it's the only way to fax reliably. While one can fax over VOIP, it's really hit and miss, since a fax transmission is far more sensitive than a voice conversation. I know what you might be thinking...who faxes? But my ability to fax has gotten me out of a jam more than once.

Finally, don't forget that if your cable or DSL goes down temporarily, dial-up really is better than nothing at all.

[Archie Bunker]

Plain Old Telephone Service "POTS" is not bad. I just had it shut off when I got my cell. I didn't think I could afford 2 phone bills when I barely used one.

When I got the jack it was crystal clear but I have had some problems today. My friend called & it was breaking up & started to get worse, so I hung up & called him back & that fixed it.

[White_Is_Right]

Plain Old Telephone Service "POTS" is not bad. I just had it shut off when I got my cell. I didn't think I could afford 2 phone bills when I barely used one.

When I got the jack it was crystal clear but I have had some problems today. My friend called & it was breaking up & started to get worse, so I hung up & called him back & that fixed it.

If you're willing to learn a little bit, you may be interested in the Callcentric (http://www.callcentric.com/) VOIP service. It's not the only such service, but it's one that I've had some experience with. One thing I like about it, is the toll-free numbers. It allows me to use payphones without any coins, and so far it's been reliable when I used it for that.

If you use such a service, you would also need an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter). Such a device basically lets you attach a regular telephone to a VOIP service. One such device that's cheap, and works well is the Grandstream HT-286.

[BlackBastard]

Try an old freeware app called "Roger Wilco"

its designed for gamers to have group conversations through a mic :coffee

[103rapesAday]

I came across this site (http://www.chimpout.com/forum/redirector.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Funinstallmagicjack .com%2F) and thought I should post it here, it seems they install a program on your computer that analyzes your usage habits and sell and share it with other parties (http://uninstallmagicjack.com/?cat=1), if this is true this may be one of the worst products a person can buy.

[niggersarelowlife]

You need a DSL or Cable to use the thing. So you have to pay that part. Plus the "MagicJack" part. What happes when your computer goes down? Or your power goes out? Looking at it, a Pay as you go Cell Phone would be better.

[357Magnum]

I don't use it but my cousin in the P.I. does and it works fine. She bought it here in the states and took it back with her. Calls back here all the time as long as she wants and never pays shit.

She's had it two years now and pays the $20 a year. May suck here in the U.S. but buying one and sending it or using it overseas is one hell of a way to screw the phone companies out of the money they screw us out of gnomesain?

[niggersarelowlife]

I don't use it but my cousin in the P.I. does and it works fine. She bought it here in the states and took it back with her. Calls back here all the time as long as she wants and never pays shit.

She's had it two years now and pays the $20 a year. May suck here in the U.S. but buying one and sending it or using it overseas is one hell of a way to screw the phone companies out of the money they screw us out of gnomesain?

Don't you still have to pay for the DSL or Cabile line?

[357Magnum]

Don't you still have to pay for the DSL or Cabile line?

Yeah but you get as much use as you want from high speed internet for one price compared to getting butt-raped even still to this day for using a landline phone to make international calls, gnomesain?!

[NAACPtookmybabyaway]

See i've never seen the point in this VoIP stuff. It's sort of like an unnecessary half-way between an actual phone connection and using a mic in IRC...

[357Magnum]

See i've never seen the point in this VoIP stuff. It's sort of like an unnecessary half-way between an actual phone connection and using a mic in IRC...

Pretty much only good for international calls, gnomesain?!

[103rapesAday]

Don't you still have to pay for the DSL or Cabile line?

It is but high speed cable or dsl service can save people money when properly abused. Most people pay for supplemental TV services such as satellite and cable TV when they could simply ditch them, wait 48 hours, and watch their favorite shows online at various sites (hulu, network, or even some shows hosting themselves), streaming TV sites (search on google and you can watch even pay per view events this way though in lower quality) or file share legal/illegally (some countries like Canada it's legal to file share while in the US many files are illegally shared). A $40/month cable/dsl high speed Internet service + $19.95 Magic Jack + supplemental services/file sharing is about $500/year which is much cheaper than most people's home phone service + dial up Internet + cable/satellite TV total bills per year.

:think

[103rapesAday]

See i've never seen the point in this VoIP stuff. It's sort of like an unnecessary half-way between an actual phone connection and using a mic in IRC...

It's mostly for the technophobic user, many people fear installing programs and crashing their home computer, but if you give them a piece of hardware that's somewhat familiar and installs it's own software then those same people won't think twice about it. I know it sounds odd or stupid but I've seen this too often not to believe it.