Magic Jack is magic!

[caspur]

I just bought a magic jack, on sale was like 27 bucks, which includes the device and a year of service.

Plugged it into my HTPC/CCTV server and it works...like magic!!!. Instant dial tone, making and receiving calls that are crystal clear, all for 20 bucks a year. The PC is on all the time, so I'm not wasting any extra power. The best part is not needing the landline, which after taxes and fees come out to nearly $20/month.

I don't understand how they can make money off this stuff?

I know some people think that they track your calls or something...but as a test I searched for goat porn, then called some goat breeders, but my ads don't show anything goat related.

 

[SunnyD]

Welcome to the internet, circa 2007.

 

[amdhunter]

Do you have to register with any personal information at all? This thing seems like a goldmine for prank calling.

 

[QueBert]

it is pretty damn cool, I was considering it but ended up going with Ooma myself, it cost a lot more up front but I have no monthly fees, I went with it because it had more features. But for the price Magic Jack can't be beat, even if the company goes under in a year the one time investment is so small it doesn't matter.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

I've heard a lot of people end up with crappy service quality.

 

[Queasy]

I've heard a lot of people end up with crappy service quality.

Yeah, my brother got it last year and called me on it once. The quality was so bad that I asked him to hang up and call me from his cell phone.

I don't know if he ever got it fixed or kept the service.

 

[caspur]

Do you have to register with any personal information at all? This thing seems like a goldmine for prank calling.

Nope, you can register your info for enhanced 911, but the initial registration only needs an email address. I didn't have to use a credit card or anything.

I'm going to try it out for a year before i renew my subscription.

 

[lxskllr]

I've been really tempted to get one. That would be perfect to use with my Google Voice number, and prepaid cell.

 

[Fritzo]

Disadvantages:

1- You need a high speed connection. If you have DSL, in many places you also have to have phone service to maintain DSL service.
2- You have to keep your PC on. If it crashes or turns off, you have no phone.
2- If you lose power you have no phone.

Most old people I talk to buy these things and don't realize the above

 

[sourceninja]

Technically, if you live in the USA, all phone companies have to offer bare dsl. I know att and Verizon both have cheap bare dsl plans.

I have ATT uverse with no phone service at all. Just TV and data (the fastest service att offers)

 

[joutlaw]

I have it running on my WHS box. After some initial setup it runs really well with good quality. I set QoS on my router to always give the WHS box that magicjack runs on highest priority. This way if I'm downloading something it doesn't drop the call quality. I also set it up as service so if my box reboots the magicjack app is up and my service isn't interupted.

 

[dfuze]

Hmm, very tempting to try it out.

Curious though, if you wanted to have a phone in several rooms, are you stuck needing a pc turned on in each room?

 

[purbeast0]

if you have family over seas, this is the BEST thing you can possibly buy.

you can buy it, register it to a local phone #, then mail it off to them overseas.

then you call the local number, but you are talking to your family over seas for $20/yr!

MAGICAL!

 

[lxskllr]

Hmm, very tempting to try it out.

Curious though, if you wanted to have a phone in several rooms, are you stuck needing a pc turned on in each room?

Cordless would probably be the way to go. It works like a wall jack would.

 

[Ronstang]

Hmm, very tempting to try it out.

Curious though, if you wanted to have a phone in several rooms, are you stuck needing a pc turned on in each room?

I'm sure you can just disconnect the phone company's line from you house and then just hook the magic jack up to a phone jack on the wall and it should backfeed all the outlets in the house. Maybe not, but it works this way with services like Vonage.

 

[Number1]

I am interested in this device.

Can you transfer your phone number to it?

Will it wake a PC in sleep mode when you get an incoming call?

 

[Aharami]

i was looking at the ooma, but i might just try this out since all i need it for is to dial into my work conference calls when I work from home

OP, where did you get it from?

 

[Uppsala9496]

They sell them everywhere. Best Buy, Walgreen's, CVS, Radio Shack, etc.

 

[LumbergTech]

if you have family over seas, this is the BEST thing you can possibly buy.

you can buy it, register it to a local phone #, then mail it off to them overseas.

then you call the local number, but you are talking to your family over seas for $20/yr!

MAGICAL!

you win at the internet..

 

[amdhunter]

Nope, you can register your info for enhanced 911, but the initial registration only needs an email address. I didn't have to use a credit card or anything.

I'm going to try it out for a year before i renew my subscription.

Holy hell. This makes me feel like buying it. I can connect to anyone's wireless from a friends house and we can kill time calling people all day for fun. hahaha. Back in the days of VoIP Buster, we'd have a ton of fun calling local McDonalds and Gamestops asking the dumbest questions.

Does Best Buy still sell these?

 

[hanoverphist]

Hmm, very tempting to try it out.

Curious though, if you wanted to have a phone in several rooms, are you stuck needing a pc turned on in each room?

or youo could get any of the available phone sets with remote handsets for the other rooms. i have a jack in each room, but when i got one of those systems i didnt use any other jacks. it had a base with digital answer and speakerphone, plus a cordless handset and 3 other cordless handsets for other rooms in the house. each handset had its own wall charger.

 

[dandruff]

1. it is magical
2. works with faxes too just need to play with settings esp. the ECM
3. connect the phone cable from MJ to any existing phonejack in the house and it should backfeeed the dialtone to all the jacks in the house ... connect a normal handset and enjoy.
4. the glory days are actually over since the forceful update last year but here you go:
http://www.magicjacksupport.com/magicjack-tips-tricks-and-hacks-f4.html
5. use with openWRT MJMD5 or tomato and Google Voice outgoing dialers and you can have a full fledged phone pbx ...
6. you really have to connect an MJ to see how simple they made the process ... truly idiot-proof installation ...

and dont forget sometimes MJ international rates are cheaper than actionvoip.net esp. Australia ...

 

[Engineer]

It's actually a good product on the infomercial list (good, bad and the ugly)...

Might get one and if it works well, drop my home phone and use the cell when necessary.

 

[kalrith]

I've heard a lot of people end up with crappy service quality.

I have problems on about 1 out of 25 calls, which isn't too terrible. I've been using it with my $34/month dry-loop DSL for about a year now. I also have it connected to a PC that's on 24/7 anyways.

I think they are so cheap, because the MagicJack box pops up for every call and displays ads. I run mine as a service, so nothing ever pops up for me. I haven't had a land line in years because of my cell phones. However, MagicJack allowed me to cut my cell phone bill from $60/month for 500 minutes and 2 phones with AT&T to $16/month for about 180 minutes and 2 phones with T-Mobile prepaid.

I went all out into saving mode last year and cut my entertainment/communication bill from $2100/year (DirecTV, AT&T DSL, and AT&T cell-phone plan) to $620/year (Free OTA and internet TV, AT&T DSL, T-Mobile ppd, and MagicJack). $1500/year is nothing to sneeze at! The nice part is that I barely miss any of what I used to spend $1500/year on.

 

[TheUnk]

How do you receive calls if you just plug it in and it works? What is your phone #?